Chapter 219 Monkey's Tricks (4K2)

At 6:30 pm on Sunday, night fell, and lights rose in houses of all sizes in London.

On the dark Thames, on the Waterloo Bridge connecting Lambeth on the south bank and Charing Cross on the north bank, from the gentleman riding a tall horse, to the lady riding a carriage, to the dock workers who just got off work wearing flannel blue overalls and sweaty, and the company employees wearing gold-rimmed glasses, wearing a small white shirt, and a coat on their hands, or the middle and lower class women dragging plaid skirts, wearing small headscarves, rushing in groups to buy discounted food before the closing of Covent Garden Market, from the upper class to the middle class to the lower class, the crowds are bustling, the world is in all its forms, and all walks of life in London are passing through this bridge connecting the lifeline of London's transportation.

Here, you can see the true appearance of London society. Just stay here for half an hour to see the stories that happen every day in this largest industrial city in Europe.

Among the overwhelming and gorgeously decorated transportation vehicles, an ordinary public carriage with a black canopy and sealed compartments seemed ordinary.

Arthur, smoking a pipe, sat in the carriage. He looked up at the Thames reflecting the lights of fishing lights outside the window, and then looked at the bridge named to commemorate the victory of the Battle of Waterloo, which would become famous in the future because of a love movie called "Waterloo Bridge".

However, he was not interested in appreciating the rich city fireworks here at this time, because for him, the series of events that would happen tonight could not allow him to be distracted.

In the darkness, Tom could not see Arthur's face clearly, but could only see the red dots that flickered in the darkness.

In the loneliness, a white mist slowly dispersed like clouds, and Arthur's voice, which became slightly hoarse and low due to smoking, suddenly sounded.

"Tom, have you arranged everything I told you to do?"

Tom naturally did not dare to neglect Arthur's question, but after such a long period of experience, he was no longer the little police officer who dared not even stand in the prosecution seat of the magistrate's court a few months ago.

The starlight at night shone directly on Tom's shoulders through the carriage window, illuminating the three V-shaped shoulder straps, which symbolized his current police rank.

Not a landless farmer, nor a shoemaker, but Sheriff Tom Flanders.

The sheriff naturally had to act like a sheriff. Tom flipped through the documents in his hand and made a formal report to Arthur word by word in the moonlight.

"At the Russian Embassy, ​​Miss Fiona Ivan has been hired with her half-baked Russian and German, as well as her Russian ancestry. From her feedback this morning, it seems that the embassy has temporarily arranged for her to do elementary cleaning work. But I believe that with Miss Ivan's intelligence, she will be promoted soon.

As for the special operation against the Russian Embassy tonight, according to your order, LPS Sergeant Tony Eckhart and Sergeant Charles Field will act together with general employee Allen Pinkerton. The infiltration operation will be carried out simultaneously with the concert. The action team will launch the infiltration at 7 o'clock. Pinkerton will be responsible for the infiltration, Tony will be responsible for driving and keeping watch, and Field will be the mobile group.

If the infiltration operation is successful, the action team will evacuate as planned and arrive tonight. After the concert, the harvest will be delivered to your residence at 36 Lancaster Gate immediately.

If the infiltration fails and the embassy catches Pinkerton on the spot, Miss Ivan will send a signal, and Sheriff Field will lead the team to intervene and claim that a thief that the police are chasing has broken into the embassy area.

If the embassy releases the person normally, then we will prosecute Pinkerton according to normal procedures and arrange a suitable prison for him to serve his sentence in peace, so as to minimize the embassy's vigilance. If they do not release him, then you may need to come forward to deal with the subsequent matters. "

In the darkness, Tom only saw the burning red dot shaking up and down, and then he saw a pair of eyes flashing with a light red light in the darkness. Only then did he realize that Arthur had been closing his eyes just now.

Although he had always been curious about why Arthur's eyes glowed red from time to time, and he had asked him about this question, Arthur always joked with him and said that he had pink eye disease.

But even if Tom didn't know whether Arthur really had an eye disease, he had been with him day and night for more than a year, and he had deeply understood that whenever Arthur's eyes showed this kind of light, it meant that he was serious.

Arthur put on the gloves little by little, and then stretched out his hands to the window and compared them. The white gloves of the superintendent level uniformly distributed by Scotland Yard were very delicate and almost flawless.

The gloves tightly wrapped his hands, which were calloused because of holding the police knife. At first glance, they looked slender and beautiful, as if these hands could really play the piano.

"I hope their actions tonight will go smoothly. If we miss tonight, then we will not find a better opportunity than this during the London meeting. Time is tight and the task is heavy. Whether LPS can prove its value depends on tonight."

At this point, Arthur's words suddenly stopped, and he looked at Tom with a smile: "Tom, is it happier to do this kind of work than to be on duty at Scotland Yard?"

Perhaps it was because of the night, Tom, who had always been gentle and even a little weak, also mentioned some wildness, and he smiled and nodded.

"To be honest, it's much better than on duty. Although you have to use your brain and learn to write documents here, fortunately there is no psychological burden when doing things. But when you are on the front line, even if you are physically tired, you still have to face it head-on. For poor people like us, it is better to just visit the Russian Embassy once than to drive away the street vendors all day long..."

When Tom said this, he suddenly glanced unbearably at the fat French man sitting next to him who was tied up and his mouth was even gagged with a rag.

He pointed to Alexandre Dumas beside him and asked: "But, Arthur, can you tell me why you tied up Mr. Dumas when you went to the concert to perform?"

As soon as Tom finished speaking, Alexandre Dumas, who had lost much strength due to the violent resistance, suddenly became energetic again. He suddenly nodded at Tom, and then kept raising his head at Arthur. , his eyes were as wide as pocket watches, and his mouth made a series of uh uh uh sounds.

Although his pronunciation was very unclear, Tom could still vaguely tell that Dumas seemed to be saying: "Arthur, are you fucking crazy! If I had known that I would have this kind of experience, I might as well have just let him know Pirates, take me away! Take off the rag, I’m going to choke you to death!”

When Tom heard this, he asked Arthur for help. "Arthur, why don't you take the thing out of your mouth? He can't run away anyway."

When Arthur heard this, he just took a puff of cigarette: "I blocked his mouth for a reason."

Tom looked at Alexandre Dumas' face flushed with excitement and hesitated: "But..."

Seeing him like this, Arthur just sighed and said, "Okay, Tom, you asked me to pick this, so listen carefully."

After saying this, Arthur reached out and took off the cloth stuffed in Dumas' mouth.

As soon as the strip of cloth left his mouth, before Dumas could take a breath, his powerful national curse rang out in the carriage: "You stupid British blue lobsters, I'll fuck you..."

However, before the word 'Mom' left his mouth, Arthur filled the piece of cloth back into his mouth.

Arthur looked at Tom expressionlessly and said calmly: "So, do you understand now? I once thought that I could impress him with true feelings, but French people's emotions are usually unreliable. In terms of emotions, They have more fun than the British upper class."

Tom looked at Alexandre Dumas with a complicated expression, and then asked Arthur: "I have no objection to gagging, but why on earth should I bring him to the concert together? Isn't this fat man just a pure burden?" ?”

Arthur said: "I didn't plan to bring him with me originally, but Mr. François Vidoc from France seemed to have issued a criminal warning to me. He said that he planned to bring me to BU on the day of the concert. . Since this fat man still has a bounty on his head, I think it is necessary to be cautious. After all, if we lose him during the London Conference, we will be embarrassed. "

After hearing this, Alexandre Dumas blew air from his nostrils. After a while of vague French chanting, he finally said something that Arthur could understand: "Just for this little thing, you tied me up." I've told you before that Mr. Vidocq won't kidnap me. Besides, isn't this what you like to talk about the most? "

Unexpectedly, after Arthur heard this, he just said calmly: "You think the same thing about those friends on the road who were brought to justice by Mr. Vidocq. In my opinion, Mr. Vidocq didn't do anything just because the price was not enough. I have inquired, Mr. Vidocq's annual salary at the Grand Paris Police Department is 6,000 francs. For these 6,000 francs, he can send in 800 friends a year, and the bounty on your head is now two to three thousand francs. pound.

Alexander, although you are a literary playwright who is obsessed with literature and art, and you have always been lavish in handling property, you should know that the exchange rate of pounds to francs is one to twenty, right? Your head is worth sixty thousand francs. It would take Mr. Vidocq ten years to catch you alone. With so much money in front of you, who wouldn't be confused?

As for the human rights issue you mentioned, Mr. Thomas Paine, who wrote "The Rights of Man", was indeed great, but after he finished writing that book, he was wanted by the government and had to go to France to participate in the Great Revolution. Britain has the soil that gave birth to the Human Rights, but unfortunately, at least at this time, we have no room for it here. If you want to talk about "Human Rights", I can also consider sending you back to France immediately. "

Alexandre Dumas was so angry at what Arthur said. After a long time, he finally choked out a sentence: "Then at least take off the rag from my mouth, right? "

Arthur glanced at him: "Of course you can take off the rag, but you have to promise me not to explode."

Alexandre Dumas was so angry that even his shaggy hair seemed to stand up: "I promise!"

When Arthur heard this, he reluctantly took the thing out of his mouth: "By the way, I want to correct you, these are not rags, but socks kindly sponsored by Elder."

"Ah? Arthur, what the hell..."

Before Alexandre Dumas finished speaking, his mouth was instantly blocked again.

Seeing that he was so excited, Arthur knew that he couldn't make the fat man angry, otherwise he would definitely have to write a scolding in a book later.

He said kindly and comfortingly: "Alexander, bear with me for a while. You will be safe when we get to the theater. Tonight's show is quite exciting. I have prepared a small box with a good location for you. Except that you cannot move freely before the end of the show, all the treatment is top-notch."

The carriage crossed Waterloo Bridge and moved along Waterloo Road while Arthur and others were talking.

After driving forward for about ten minutes, the carriage finally stopped slowly in front of the Coburg Theater, which was surrounded by red brick theaters.

At this time, the theater was already crowded, with strong perfume and the laughter of gentlemen and ladies everywhere.

Occasionally, a few pairs of malicious eyes flashed in the crowd. They were the pickpockets and thieves who came from all parts of London.

Correspondingly, many single women with pitiful and weak makeup could be seen in the crowd, but they were not serious noble ladies, but high-class prostitutes waiting for customers to come.

In occasions like this, their business is always indispensable.

For example, there is a person who is consulting right in front of Arthur's eyelids.

"Oh! Ma'am, I... Haha, no no no, don't get me wrong, I don't want to rob you, I have no ill intentions at all. You have to know that I have received a good education. You didn't see that I actually graduated from Oxford. Haha, yes, that's right, of course I have a decent job with my education background. I work in the Royal Navy, and I have a good income. I live near Hyde Park, and there are many people who want to please me.

Like the superintendent of Scotland Yard, a French playwright, a pastor who graduated from Cambridge, and a magazine editor and newspaper reporter. Oh, you really don't know, these people are so annoying. They always ask me to help them deal with some embarrassing things, but although helping is troublesome, it is always rewarding.

Look, I happen to have two tickets here, box The tickets were all given by those people. Unfortunately, my female companion is not feeling well tonight and cannot come on time. Alas, she is really unlucky, and it makes me a little sad. But she can't come, so I have no female companion to accompany me tonight. If so, I will be too embarrassed in front of my friends.

Look at you, you are so beautiful, just like the stars in the night sky. I wonder if you can be kind enough to accompany me to the concert tonight? To be honest, seeing you, I can't help but think of Lord Byron's poem-young people are full of energy, just like the spring river water. I... I want to know you better. "

Arthur looked at the familiar face, his eyelids twitched slightly, and the legs that had just stepped out of the carriage were retracted.

And Dumas behind him also stretched his head to take a look, and then hurriedly sat back down.

Arthur closed the door, coughed lightly, and said to the driver apologetically: "Sir, please go around to the back door of the theater to get off. There are too many monkeys at the front entrance of the theater."