shadow of britain

Chapter 794 Sir Arthur Points Out the Direction of Development
Perhaps someone else wouldn't have understood why Arthur suddenly mentioned Ridley and Huang Chunju Street, but the devil sitting by the window with a small bottle of liquor had already seen through the little brat's tricks.

After all, Agares has probably spent the longest time with Arthur in the world.

Red Devil knew perfectly well that this York rascal would never be so bored as to make sentimental jokes. He simply wanted to use Fiona's suspicions to make her more attentive to Ridley's recent movements and to ensure that the cross-dressing gentleman was indeed doing a good job for Sir Arthur Hastings.

Perhaps this is how people who work in intelligence are; Fiona also suffers from severe paranoia.

Arthur's side of the story alone is not enough to convince her that Arthur and Ridley's relationship is innocent.

Given this young lady's temperament, she would most likely need to send someone to follow and monitor her for three or four months before she could feel completely at ease.

Of course, she wouldn't say these things aloud. Instead, she had to pretend to believe Arthur's arguments wholeheartedly in order to make him lower his guard and let her catch him red-handed.

But just as Fiona wouldn't tell Arthur all her thoughts, Arthur also had his own set of calculations.

If it weren't for unavoidable circumstances, he would actually be reluctant to use the Nightingale Mansion connection.

Although these women have many advantages in gathering intelligence and often obtain a lot of unexpected information.

However, considering that Arthur no longer held an official position at Scotland Yard, there were always various inconveniences in openly protecting them.

Fortunately, Thomas Garth Jr.'s status as a royal illegitimate child was also a secret, so entrusting this matter to Nightingale Mansion was a good fit for their business.

Although the social purification movement led by the church and the middle-class petty bourgeoisie increasingly regards brothels as a symbol of decadent cities and regards reducing the number of nightingales and closing brothels as an important sign of improved social morality.

However, the government's attitude toward such venues has always been very ambiguous, contradictory, and even somewhat hypocritical.

Sex work has never been legally defined in the UK, but the government has never actively cracked down on it.

Legally, the 1751 Public Order Act and the 1824 Public Places Morality Act have always been the main legal basis for government intervention in moral issues; however, none of them contain a clause specifically targeting prostitution.

The provisions of the Public Security Law that are often cited to punish brothels state that anyone who operates a house that disturbs public order shall be considered a nuisance and may be prosecuted according to law.

The Public Places Morals Law targets homeless people. It stipulates that any prostitute wandering on public streets or highways who makes noise or behaves indecently can be identified as a homeless scoundrel.

Therefore, the prostitutes arrested at Scotland Yard usually only face two charges: either disturbing the peace and disturbing public order, or being classified as homeless vagrants for loitering on the streets.

This legal ambiguity grants local governments and police departments considerable discretion in related cases.

The punishment for such crimes is often extremely varied, ranging from drastically different to drastically different from person to person.

If the case is caused by a neighbor's complaint, it usually goes through a civil lawsuit and results in a fine.

However, if the cause is media attention, or a recent crackdown issued by the Ministry of the Interior, or some kind of urban cleanup campaign being promoted by the municipal government...

Well, I'm sorry, this time it's very unfortunate. It will involve criminal proceedings, starting with the maximum penalty of six months' imprisonment. Later, there's a possibility of being ordered to stay in custody by the court, or at the very least, a good behavior order from the judge requiring the suspect to promise never to re-offend.

Of course, these experiences mainly happen to solo nightingales or lower-class "entertainment venues".

If it's a high-end club frequented by nobles and social elites, like Nightingale Mansion, it's usually not easily targeted. Generally, someone will tip them off before any action is taken, allowing them to close in advance. Of course, in rare cases, even tipping off won't work, namely when they've become embroiled in political turmoil.

However, even for ordinary small clubs, there is no need to worry too much about the government's cleanup campaign.

Ultimately, the frequency with which the government cracks down on related crimes does not depend on their willingness to improve public morality, but rather on whether there are any shameful incidents that need to be covered up.

If a member of the royal family is recently embroiled in a scandalous affair, or if the cabinet is overwhelmed by parliamentary infighting, and if a few security incidents happen to occur on the streets, then on Saturday night, a night when citizens are most likely to drink and indulge, Scotland Yard is very likely to launch a high-profile moral cleanup campaign to "promote civility and establish new customs."

The actual frequency of cleaning at Scotland Yard, if you look closely at the calendar, is often when the officers "don't know what else to do, but have to do something," that is, when they're looking for something to do.

On average, there is only one large-scale rectification campaign every two years.

Thankfully, God has blessed us, and from the Parliamentary Reforms of 1832 until this year, there has been a lot going on in London.

Therefore, Scotland Yard has not had a large-scale cleaning of the area for three years.

Three years have passed, and although Sir Arthur Hastings, the Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolitan Police, is no longer in his position, the 25-year-old Scotland Yard veteran has continued to follow Scotland Yard's development.

To this day, the Metropolitan Police Intelligence Service still invites this seasoned veteran to revisit his old haunts, hoping that this founder and pioneer of the police force can offer advice and guidance for the future development of Scotland Yard.

At the beginning of the meeting, Officer Charles Field, who had been promoted to Superintendent of the Metropolitan Police for his outstanding work in solving the Royal Robbery at Golden Cross Station and was also acting as the head of the Police Intelligence Service, first expressed his sincerest gratitude to his former superior on behalf of the Police Intelligence Service.

Acting Superintendent Charles Field pointed out that Sir Arthur Hastings was a witness to and participant in the development of the Police Intelligence Service from its inception to its current scale. He was a founder and witness to the department's development, and an indispensable asset and vital force in the Service's growth. It is precisely because of Sir Arthur Hastings' contributions that the foundation of the Police Intelligence Service today has been laid.

Assistant Commissioner Thomas Plenkitt emphasized that Sir Arthur is experienced, passionate, and upright. He is dedicated to his work, courageous, and selfless. Although he has been away from the Intelligence Bureau for many years, he has always silently cared for and supported its development, actively sharing his work experience and helping young officers grow, making significant contributions to the Intelligence Bureau's development.

Sir Arthur, seeing this scene, was naturally moved and unhesitatingly shared his valuable police experience with everyone.

Sir Arthur pointed out that public morals issues are crucial to London's image and the mental health and moral order of its citizens. While their harm may not be as overt as murder, their insidious and pervasive infiltration and insidious spread require serious attention and systematic governance from all levels of police forces. Sir Arthur emphasized the need for unwavering determination, swift action, and well-defined systems to resolutely curb the spread of prostitution and other vulgar and harmful phenomena in the London metropolitan area. He stressed adhering to the working principles of "combining prevention and crackdown, addressing both symptoms and root causes, focusing efforts precisely, and implementing targeted measures," strictly cracking down on illegal businesses, public disturbances, and group sex violations according to law and regulations, while actively guiding public opinion to foster a positive, ethical, and clean urban atmosphere.

Acting Commissioner Inspector Charles Field stated on the spot that, in response to Sir Arthur Hastings's speech and to earnestly implement the Home Office's strategic plan for the current urban character, and to further promote public moral governance, reshape social ethical norms, and promote a new era of urban civilization, the Police Intelligence Service would immediately report to the Office of the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, requesting a four-week campaign to crack down on prostitution in the areas of Soho, Piccadilly, Lambeth, and Whitechapel.

"So, you called me here today just to tell me the outcome of that meeting?" Fiona rolled her eyes. "Aren't you just making trouble for me? Four weeks of being unable to operate, do you know how much money I'll lose?"

At this point, she gave Arthur a perfunctory bow, as if resigned to her fate: "Alright, at least you've asked, so I'm grateful to you, sir. The girls need a rest, too. I'll do as you say, close the shop this month, let them go to Brighton to soak up the sun, and maybe change the wallpaper color while they're at it."

"What's your hurry? When did I say you had to close down?" Arthur said slowly, "Nightingale Mansion cannot close down during this period."

Fiona paused for a moment, but quickly realized what she meant, and even her smile became sweeter: "Darling, so you mean... while all the other shops are closed, you're letting Nightingale Mansion have all the business? You've already taken care of things at Scotland Yard?"

Arthur didn't answer; he just shrugged.

His action instantly made Fiona lose confidence again. She asked suspiciously, "You want me to risk getting a client? During the Scotland Yard reform movement? Do you want me to go to jail?"

“No,” Arthur said calmly, “I will handle Scotland Yard.”

Fiona asked, "Who are you trying to win over? Tom? Tony? They're not in charge of the Covent Garden Market area."

“Don’t get me wrong, Fiona. When I said ‘get it sorted out,’ I meant to have Scotland Yard conduct a surprise inspection of Nightingale’s Mansion.”

Fiona sat on the sofa armrest in a daze for a long time, so much so that she didn't notice that the cigar in Arthur's hand almost set her expensive dress on fire.

"Are you crazy? You eat my food and then smash my pot! When you were short of money the other day, who lent you the money?"

Her voice finally crackled with anger: "Arthur Hastings, what the hell are you doing?"

Arthur patted the file folder on the coffee table: "Didn't I tell you? For the next week, your brothel will be the only one open in all of London. And Thomas Garth, that troublesome guy with the royal checks who can't be seen in the light of day, has nowhere else to go, so he'll most likely come here."

"You're trying to lure him in?" Fiona's eyes widened. "No, how can you be so sure he'll come here? Are you so certain that you don't have strong connections at other places? Maybe they'll still dare to operate normally."

“So, this is where Ridley comes in.” Arthur slowly exhaled a smoke ring. “You open for business and serve them both. I’ll notify Scotland Yard to raid Nightingale’s Mansion.”

Fiona was furious when she heard this: "Does it have to be my place? My place was raided by the police. If word gets out, who will dare to come here in the future?"

Arthur didn't immediately respond to Fiona's question. He just looked at her silently for a while before gently stubbing out his cigar in the ashtray and saying in a low voice, "Fiona, if there were anywhere else I could trust, I wouldn't have come looking for you. In London, there aren't many people I can trust, but you're one of the most important."

Fiona paused for a moment, seemingly not expecting him to suddenly say something like that.

Her gaze avoided Arthur, as if afraid he would see some flaw, but the corner of her mouth twitched slightly involuntarily.

She lowered her head, lifted her skirt, and squeezed out a sentence: "Don't give me that... You're making it sound like I'm some kind of saint."

Arthur didn't understand how her thoughts suddenly jumped to the saintess, but since he needed someone's help, he didn't dare to be too presumptuous in his words.

"So, you agreed?"

Upon hearing this, Fiona immediately raised her eyebrows again: "Isn't this progress a bit too fast? Mr. Hastings, when did I say I agreed?"

"Hmph!" Fiona snorted, but her tone softened considerably: "I can cooperate, but I have to raise the price. The girls' compensation, the renovation compensation, and I also want a truckload of scented candles from Paris. I've wanted those before, but it seems they're hard to order."

Arthur frowned and said, "The appeasement money and compensation are easy to discuss, but the Parisian perfumes..."

"Um?!"

“Alright, fine, I’ll do whatever you say, beautiful Miss Fiona. I’ll go find Alexander right away and see if he can help you. That fat man seems to have a lot of connections in Paris.”

"That's more like it." Fiona snorted, turned over and sat up straight, but the smugness in her tone was hard to hide.

“However, I have a few points to add.” She raised a finger, her eyelashes fluttering, and her voice deliberately lowered by half an octave: “First, I need you to promise me personally that after this operation, no newspaper, especially The Times, is allowed to appear in any headlines. I don’t want to see Nightingale’s Mansion in any news headlines. If my place is mentioned, even in the slightest hint, then you will personally go and work to attract customers until Nightingale’s Mansion returns to its former glory.”

“It’s not excessive,” Arthur said. “I never intended for you to be on the front page.”

Fiona nodded in satisfaction, then held up her second finger: "Secondly, after the operation, Scotland Yard should arrange a security check, under the guise of hygiene and safety, so I can legitimately reopen, with official certification and official seal. Ideally, one of your intelligence agency's rookies should also be interviewed and publicly state that Nightingale Mansion is 'hygienically compliant, orderly, and provides enthusiastic service,' you know what I mean?"

Upon hearing this, Arthur narrowed his eyes: "I can consider the first half, but the second half..."

Fiona didn't care whether he listened or not, and raised her third finger: "Third, I want Scotland Yard to foot the bill for those two unlucky guys after they're arrested by the police. They have to pay full price for everything, no discounts!"

"This is extortion!" Arthur slammed his hand on the table and stood up. "Unless you can guarantee you don't intend to raise the price at the last minute."

"You're framing me!" Fiona glared at him defiantly. "We're both equally guilty. Do you think you're so righteous?"

(End of this chapter)