SGB Chapter 365

## Chapter 365: News from France

Arthur Hastings settled into a window seat at a small cafe on the side of the road, casually ordering some French pastries like crème brûlée, croissants, and Mont Blancs.

Just as the desserts were served, a tall gentleman with slicked-back hair pushed open the cafe door.

The wind chime tinkled, followed by Arthur’s voice as he raised his hand in greeting.

“Mr. Coconut Tree, long time no see. You’re still as youthful and radiant as ever.”

Mr. Coconut Tree, carrying a small briefcase, walked over. He chuckled self-deprecatingly, “Thankfully, you’re alone today. If I see your friend again, I’ll have to make him give my steel-plated pecs a good rub.”

As he spoke, his eyes fell upon the pastries on the table. “You’re quite thoughtful, but to be honest, these pastries are delicious, but what I miss most are those simple, ash-covered pies we used to eat with the old crew after a day of work in a cheap tavern.”

Arthur didn’t rush into the main topic.

Since his encounter with Mr. Vidocq, he had been eager to recruit the legendary detective and his team.

While the Criminal Investigation Department of Scotland Yard had already been built from the ground up under his leadership, no one in the world could surpass Vidocq in terms of detective department management and application.

Over the past year, through their communication, Arthur’s respect for the fifty-year-old French gentleman had only deepened.

Whether it was the ballistics and forensic evidence techniques pioneered by Vidocq, the Parisian undercover detective team under his command who could flawlessly disguise themselves and keep tabs on all the dissenters in Paris, or the secret files of the Security Department that recorded all the underground criminal organizations in Paris, these were all things that made Arthur drool with envy.

It could be said that if Vidocq was willing to come to London to seek a new position, Arthur could immediately hand over the command of the Criminal Investigation Department to this grandfather of the detective industry.

Perhaps for the officials of the Paris Police Prefecture, Vidocq was a headache—a capable yet restless fellow.

But for Arthur, a rootless weed in Scotland Yard, watching Vidocq grow in Scotland Yard was not a bad thing. After all, with his own strength, it was difficult to compete with the original shareholders of Scotland Yard – the senior officers from the army.

He had just gone to Liverpool, and Chief Inspector Rowan almost completely dismantled his base.

If it weren’t for Home Secretary Viscount Melbourne’s consideration of Lord Brougham, the Lord Chancellor, Arthur might have had to pack his bags and move his forward base from Scotland Yard to the newly established London District Prosecutor’s Office.

However, as the saying goes, there are no sixty-year-old crown princes, and naturally, there are no sixty-year-old Lord Chancellors.

Although Lord Brougham seemed to be firmly in place as Lord Chancellor, those familiar with the political landscape of Britain knew that radicals like Brougham couldn’t stay in high positions for long.

He was able to take the position of Lord Chancellor at this time only because the Whig Party needed to push for parliamentary reform in order to consolidate its power.

Not only Lord Brougham, but also the current Prime Minister, Earl Grey, was in the same situation.

Once parliamentary reform was completed, if these two radicals continued to push for other liberal reforms, their positions would be replaced sooner or later.

From Arthur’s understanding of Lord Brougham, his mentor was clearly not one to compromise easily.

Therefore, to ensure his own invincibility in this turbulent situation, there were only two reliable paths to choose from.

One was to maintain good working relationships with both parties. For those like them who were responsible for picking sides, firmly picking one side was undoubtedly a foolish act.

But even though this was the case, maintaining good relationships with both parties was not easy. If not done well, they might end up pleasing neither side and ultimately become a target for everyone.

To solve this problem, they had to put some effort into building their own base. As long as their base was solid, whether it was the Whigs or the Tories, they would have to weigh the gains and losses before taking action.

In other words, Arthur needed some reasons for the bigwigs not to replace him—some solid work achievements, some good social reputation, and ideally, some negligible personal connections.

Vidocq could help Arthur solve the first problem.

Mr. Coconut Tree recalled, “That was a beautiful time. We were all young then. The boss didn’t go by Vidocq back then, he preferred to use aliases when he went out to do things, like ‘Jean-Louis’ or ‘Julius.’

I remember the first time the boss took us on a mission. We were standing on the street in front of his house on Rue Saint-François, smoking, and suddenly we saw a few guys carrying heavy packages come out of an alley.

But as soon as they came out, they saw us and went back in, as if they were avoiding the lights and people outside. We were about to go up and question them, but the boss stopped us with a wave of his hand. He told us not to scare them away. We’d follow them, those snakes would eventually have to come out of their hole again.

As soon as we started following them, we heard someone behind us call out the boss’s alias, ‘Jean-Louis.’ We turned around and saw Frost, a fellow who had been a thief back when we were still on the streets.

The other thieves, seeing a familiar face, also came out of hiding, and they all gathered together, smoking and chatting, calling each other brothers. The thieves told us that the police seemed to be watching them. The boss then volunteered to scout ahead for them, and those little bastards were so grateful, saying things like, ‘Everyone on the streets says Jean-Louis is a man of integrity, and now that we’ve met him, it’s true.’

They led us all the way to a lumberyard on Rue Saint-Sébastien, where they stored the loot. Then Frost offered to take the boss to meet the buyer, saying something like, ‘My name doesn’t carry much weight, but if Jean-Louis goes with me, the price will definitely be higher than usual.’

Frost, the idiot, was afraid the boss wouldn’t agree, so he promised to give us a 30% cut if the deal went through. As a result, the boss swaggered along with Frost to the fence’s den and cleaned the place out.”

Arthur couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Vidocq did this once or twice, but after catching so many people, wouldn’t the people on the streets know his real identity?”

Mr. Coconut Tree grabbed a croissant and ate it as he replied.

“Those people only know that the Paris Police Prefecture has a new thief-catcher named Vidocq, but only a few have actually seen him. In the minds of the Parisian gangsters, ‘Jean-Louis’ and ‘Julius’ are still well-known figures on the streets.

Besides, the boss had already made arrangements for his identity. Every time he appeared as ‘Jean-Louis’ or ‘Julius,’ he would be arrested along with the gangsters. To extract confessions from the criminals, he would often arrange to be put in the same cell as ordinary people. Once, he met a guy who was too cautious, so he even staged a rescue from the jail, which was, of course, a great success.”

Arthur heard this and smiled meaningfully, “Now I finally understand why Mr. Vidocq was able to reduce the crime rate in Paris by 40% in the first year of the Security Department’s establishment. From this perspective, it was a mistake for the Paris Police Prefecture to push him out later.”

Mr. Coconut Tree threw a piece of bread into his mouth, leaned back in his chair, and rolled his eyes, “Their mistakes were not limited to that. Besides, the way they forced the boss to resign was really low.”

“Are you talking about the cloak incident?”

“Not just that, they had people spreading disgusting rumors in Paris before that.”

Mr. Coconut Tree was furious when he thought about those things. “To be honest, Mr. Hastings, as you know, I’m a gentleman, a French gentleman, I’m romantic by nature, and I love to flirt with ladies. Back when I was following the boss and climbing the ranks in Paris, I had some savings, so I started to focus on love…”

Arthur took a sip of tea, “Mr. Coconut Tree, you don’t have to go through all this trouble, just tell me how many mistresses you have. I understand what you mean.”

Mr. Coconut Tree laughed loudly, “You’re really not like an Englishman in this regard, you’re more like an Italian in your frankness. Yes, I have a mistress, a beautiful Jewish girl, I’ve had my eye on her since I was 20.

But back then, I was a petty thief who couldn’t afford to eat tomorrow, and she was from a respectable family, so naturally there was no chance. But later it was different, I became an important member of the Security Department, I had money and status, so our relationship developed quickly.

But what I didn’t expect was that Diplaycy, in order to bring down the boss, actually bribed her. He had her spread rumors everywhere saying, ‘One night, I dressed up beautifully and was about to go out to meet my darling. But when I was passing by Rue de l’Hirondelle, I was followed by one of my suitors. He told me that my darling was having a hot time with another woman. I didn’t believe him, so he took me to a courtyard, and as soon as I went in, I heard moaning sounds. I peeked through the window and saw that Vidocq and my darling were actually assaulting an old washerwoman.’ ”

Arthur heard this and almost sprayed his tea on Mr. Coconut Tree’s face.

Mr. Coconut Tree said with a black face, “Mr. Hastings, you think this joke is ridiculous, too? Damn it, those donkey-brained bastards, to force us to leave, they even spread such rumors. They said we assaulted a sixty-year-old washerwoman, why didn’t they say we assaulted a sow?”

Arthur raised his handkerchief to wipe his mouth, “I think if you had stood your ground and refused to leave, you might have been assaulted by a sow later. But thankfully, Diplaycy is gone, and now that Mr. Vidocq is back in the Security Department, his situation should have improved, right?”

Mr. Coconut Tree laughed self-deprecatingly, “Improved? Of course, when they first asked us back, they treated us like saviors. But now, look, why am I in London? Isn’t that something to think about?”

Arthur knew what Mr. Coconut Tree was talking about, he was just pretending not to know.

Due to his long-term communication with Vidocq, Arthur had a good understanding of the situation in the Parisian police force, even if he couldn’t claim to know everything.

Since the July Revolution, the Paris Police Prefecture, headquartered on Rue de Jérusalem in Paris, had been like a bus stop, with various forces taking turns on the stage.

From 1830 onwards, in less than two years, the Paris Police Prefecture had gone through seven different chiefs.

Mr. Kashmire Perier, the French Minister of Justice, who came from a banking family, still couldn’t figure out who to appoint to manage the Parisian police.

From a normal person’s perspective, appointing the head of the police department should naturally be done by selecting from experienced police officers.

Unfortunately, the officials of the July Monarchy, as representatives of the big financial bourgeoisie, followed a different logic.

They favored stable businessmen.

As a result, in September of this year, Perier appointed his old acquaintance, Henri Gisoket, who had worked as an apprentice at his bank for seven years and eventually founded his own bank, to take over the Paris Police Prefecture.

Compared to his predecessors, Gisoket did a much better job. However, after Paris, like London, suffered a cholera outbreak, the Parisian police, which had just gotten back on track, quickly found themselves stuck in the mud.

London had deployed troops, police, and the Royal Horse Guards to deal with the cholera, and Paris was naturally no better.

After cholera claimed the lives of over 300 people in a single day, there were several incidents in Paris where rioters attacked government offices.

The busy Parisian police were rumored to be taking advantage of the situation and adding cholera virus to the water supply of the Jewish people.

In such a situation, the political atmosphere in Paris naturally became highly sensitive.

In London, cholera was mixed with parliamentary reform, and the dual pressure could easily lead to a large-scale uprising.

In Paris, cholera could easily pierce through the already fragile rule of the July Monarchy and bury Louis-Philippe’s new dynasty in a coffin.

In such a time, Vidocq, with his complex background, naturally became the target of suspicion from above.

Vidocq, who came from the streets, had participated in the Bourbon Legion in his early years and had served the Napoleonic government. In addition, he had frequent contact with members of the Parisian Second Literary Society, such as Hugo, Musset, and Dumas.

Therefore, in the eyes of the July Monarchy government, he could be connected to the Bonapartists, the Legitimists, and the Republicans.

(End of Chapter)