what do you think sherlock

Chapter 33 Gladstone's Response

"Business, what kind of business do you want to do with me, or in other words, respectable Prime Minister, what do you need to exchange with an old man who is at home like me?" Disraeli picked up a cup of black tea , holding it in front of him, did not drink, but gently sniffed the tea.

Gladstone didn't answer, he took a teacup for himself, then reached for the teapot and poured himself a cup.

The hot tea was poured into the cup, the fragrance of the tea was overflowing, but it was still a little hot, he blew on it, and then said: "Did you arrange that letter?"

"Your reputation is not as important as the life of a citizen." Disraeli chuckled.

"Hey," Gladstone smiled too, "so you're following the trend?"

"It's what you say." Disraeli said casually after taking a sip of tea.

"The Cabinet Office recently received a special letter, saying that Her Majesty the Queen wants to put her crown on display in the British Museum as an appeasement to a series of recent events in London." Gladstone suddenly changed his mind. topic.

"God bless Your Majesty, thank you for her kindness." Disraeli made a gesture of prayer.

"However, we believe that the security measures of the British Museum may not be able to meet the requirements, so we suggest that Her Majesty withdraw her orders." Gladstone took a sip of black tea and added, "This is not the cup of tea I wanted."

"If you don't like it, you don't have to drink it." Disraeli made a gesture of letting go.

"But since the tea is brewed, it shouldn't be wasted, right? Your Excellency the Earl." Gladstone raised his teacup and gestured to Disraeli, "I guessed a little bit, not much, but there is indeed a little."

"Tell me," Disraeli looked at Gladstone with great interest.

"It's easy to guess. After all, there are only a few things that a former Prime Minister who is plagued by illness can think about, isn't it? I know, you have been worried about him." Gladstone said confidently.

"You are still the same as before, Mr. Prime Minister." Disraeli shook his head.

Gladstone acted as if he hadn't heard it, and said to himself: "You can't ask Lawton to do this, it's too dangerous, and others, I'm afraid you don't have any suitable ones under your command. But I have one on hand." Very good candidate."

"What candidate?"

"Mansfield Smith, apparently working for the Royal Navy, is actually a member of the Secret Intelligence Service. He is now in Egypt, a second-level transcendent." Gladstone said calmly, "He is very good at intelligence. Working with spies, he is the most talented guy I have ever seen, just like the young McCoff, but compared to someone like McCoff who is already behind the scenes, he is still at the age of daring to fight .”

After Gladstone finished speaking, Disraeli did not reply immediately, but began to think silently.

He needed to judge Gladstone's sincerity and whether he could trust that Smith.

After a while, he spoke slowly:
"It's not enough, Gladstone, it's not enough, Scotland Yard, you need to make a place."

Now Gladstone was silent.

After a while, he said calmly:
"Assistant Chief Superintendent, we have a spot available."

"Okay," Disraeli nodded.

The deal was concluded, and Gladstone didn't stop there, stood up directly, and walked out the door. When he was about to reach the door, he turned around again and said to Disraeli:
"Don't fall in front of him, Disraeli, at least you have to watch him fall."

*
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At night, a large group of reporters still gathered in front of the gate of No. [-] Downing Street.

"In 10 minutes, Mr. Prime Minister will hold a press conference." A secretary walked out of the office and said to all the reporters squatting here.

This statement immediately elicited murmurs from journalists:
"I thought the honorable Mr. Prime Minister would wait until tomorrow to clarify."

"Clarification? At best, it's just repeating the same old tune. For example, what we already know, we take this matter very seriously, and Scotland Yard has started self-examination but it will take time. After a while, our government will A report will be issued quietly, telling everyone that there are actually no problems, whether it is the political officials or the administrative department, there are a group of reliable gentlemen."

"I hope Mr. Prime Minister can give us some materials today, at least we can give an explanation to the society."

……

Ten minutes later, Gladstone emerged from 10 Downing Street, a copy of his speech in hand.

Walking to the podium, he put down his speech and said to the reporters present:
"I'm sorry to keep everyone waiting for so long, but I promise, I will bring you a big news today." He smiled, and the reporters present all showed surprise expressions.

"My team drafted a very solid speech for me, but I'm going to put it away now, and I think you'd rather hear me talk than read me? After all, we're a A press conference rather than a book club, isn't it?" Gladstone gave a fitting grin.

"Of course, sir," responded some reporters, some of whom even whistled.

"First of all, the first question, is that letter written to me? My answer is, absolutely not. For this reason, I not only welcome third-party private detectives to check the letter, but also entrust the National Security Council to investigate the letter. My team and I will conduct the review, and I will also invite members of the shadow cabinet as representatives to monitor and witness the entire process."

As soon as Gladstone finished his first sentence, the reporters on the opposite side exploded.

Since the establishment of the electoral system in the British government, the two parties have been in power for a long time in turn. The party in power will form a cabinet to exercise power, while the party in opposition will form a reserve cabinet for preparing to come to power, which is the shadow cabinet.

It can be said that in the whole of Great Britain, no member of the shadow cabinet wants the current cabinet to fall more than the members of the shadow cabinet. Therefore, if they find any small problems in the supervision process, they will probably make a big deal out of it. Therefore, the members of the shadow cabinet are invited to act as third parties Supervisor, Gladstone's decision is really bold and decisive.

"Second question, regarding the recent case of Russian spies sneaking into London, the current cabinet and the government are deeply ashamed. We admit that there are major loopholes in ensuring the security of the capital. For this reason, the assistant in charge of security matters in the Greater London area Chief Inspector Furtwängler handed in his resignation to me this afternoon, which I approved and a new shortlist has now been sent to Buckingham Palace."

"In addition, the current cabinet will increase the national security budget and strengthen the defense system of the greater London metropolitan area. We will also establish a new special operations department under the National Security Council, with emergency support and emergency response special public safety. power of events."

"Finally, I will send an overnight note to the Russian ambassador, condemning the killing of British citizens by Russian intelligence agencies on British soil. If Russia fails to give Great Britain a reasonable explanation, then we will use economic means to impose sanctions on St. Petersburg. "

At this time, because the series of news was so shocking, the reporters could have exclaimed a few times, but at this time they did not dare to make a sound at all, and just kept taking notes quickly.

"By the way, there is a piece of good news at the end. In view of the recent events in London, Her Majesty the Queen intends to exhibit part of the royal collection for free viewing by the public, including Her Majesty's most precious treasures."

Gladstone paused for a moment, and waited for everyone to react one by one, before slowly saying the noun that everyone had guessed but felt unbelievable:

"The crown on which the sun never sets."

(End of this chapter)