## Chapter 235: The Book of Perfumes
After giving Fiona her instructions for the next few days, Arthur tipped his hat and bid her farewell.
“Don’t be angry, Fiona. Think of it this way, once you finish this job, you’ll become a little rich. Six hundred pounds is enough to buy a whole wardrobe full of beautiful dresses, fill your dressing table to the brim, and you’ll even have some left over to buy yourself a small house or something.”
Fiona rolled her eyes at him. “Why do you always ask me to do these things? Even though the reward is good, my girls aren’t professional trackers, and they’re all delicate ladies. Don’t you have any compassion at all?”
“You’re right, Fiona.” Arthur nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. “It’s precisely because they’re not professionals, and they’re delicate ladies, that no one will suspect them of being trackers. That’s your advantage. Can you imagine me going to stalk someone? If Mr. Bernie Harrison found me trailing behind him, he’d think I was planning to rob him in a secluded place.
But if he found a lady following him, like you, he wouldn’t think that way. He’d think it’s because he’s charming, and he might even stop and chat with you. Trust me, I have a reason for saying this.”
“But the premise of all this is that you have to be beautiful,” Fiona stood up and adjusted her corset, proudly stating, “Mr. Hastings, you’re very fortunate. My sisters are all incredibly beautiful.”
“You’re right,” Arthur agreed. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to hook my friend Alexander. That French fatso, besides being a great writer, also has a keen eye for beauty. By the way, I almost forgot, Alexander didn’t come home last night. Did he fall into your hands again?”
“I don’t know, but as far as I know, there were no Frenchmen caught in our trap yesterday. You should go to the West End and ask around. There are other businesses like ours there. I have a few business cards from acquaintances. Do you need them?”
Arthur considered it for a moment before extending his hand. “Give them to me. Hopefully, Alexander was just tricked into a scam, and he didn’t fall drunk into the Thames River. Otherwise, I’d have to hire someone to fish him out.”
“I offer fishing services as well, but considering your friend’s weight, we’ll have to charge double.”
Arthur merely raised an eyebrow at this. “Then let him rot in the river. I guess it’s time to teach him a lesson. That fatso has been getting increasingly arrogant since he wrote half of The Count of Monte Cristo.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
Arthur leaned back in his chair. “He paid his rent in advance a while ago.”
Fiona looked puzzled. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
Arthur sighed. “The problem is, he paid for thirty years in advance. He also told me that if he died prematurely, like in a fire or something, his ashes should be placed there.”
Fiona burst into laughter, covering her mouth. “If that’s the case, even if you didn’t pay, I’d have to send someone to fish him out of the Thames.”
“Suit yourself, but after you fish him out, remember to burn him for me. Oh, and remember to add plenty of olive oil. Alexander is a great patriot, and I believe he would enjoy this French cooking style.”
Fiona pushed open the door and stood outside. “Mr. Hastings, burning bodies is against church protocol and illegal.”
With that, she slammed the door shut and went downstairs, half-lifting her skirt.
Through the thin door and walls, her voice could still be heard coming from downstairs. “Mr. Martin! Is it really that slow to cook a meal? Mr. Hastings is going to starve to death upstairs!”
Agareus leaned against the windowsill, muttering to himself. “Besides being a bit of a chatterbox, Miss Ivan is quite capable overall. Arthur, you picked the right person.”
Arthur leaned back in his chair, flipping through a book, and said, “Aren’t you the same? I picked the right person and ghost. If we can’t find anything this time, then I have nothing to say.”
The Red Devil shifted his gaze. “Arthur, what are you looking at?”
He leaned closer and read the words on the page. “Carefully blend various sweet or bitter orange blossoms together, then mix with plant oil extracted from the orange bark, and finally distill to produce perfume. Hmm? Arthur, what do you mean? The shock of the women’s clothing that Vidocq brought you hasn’t subsided yet, and after six months of contemplation, you finally decided to try it yourself?”
“Not really, you need a proportionate physique for women’s clothing. My height is far too tall for the average London gentleman, and it’s too eye-catching. Being too conspicuous isn’t good for intelligence work.”
“Then what are you looking at?”
“I don’t know, I just picked it up and read it. Fiona brought it over, probably bought it from a roadside stall. I’ll tell Mr. Martin later, and he can put it away. After all, a book like this isn’t cheap.”
The Red Devil reached out and flipped the book over, glancing at the cover. “Hmm… The Book of Perfumes. The magazine name is quite artistic, it sounds like a forbidden curse magic from our hell.”
Arthur leaned back in his chair and said, “This magazine seems to be quite popular among ladies. I heard some gentlemen discussing it at a party the other day. After the July Revolution last year, many French perfumers fled to London to escape the war. One of them, named Remy, teaches everyone how to make cologne in The Book of Perfumes, and I heard he makes quite a lot of money.”
“How so?” Agareus raised an eyebrow and chuckled mischievously. “Is it not enough for you to play Arthur Sigma in The Englishman? Are you now thinking about teaching everyone how to make perfume? I have a formula here, it only costs one soul. After you make it, don’t say I didn’t warn you, even an elephant would be knocked unconscious by the smell. Arthur, what do you think? My price is fair, right?”
Arthur glanced at him. “Is that perfume?”
“Perfume is just a name, what are you obsessing over it for?” Agareus said seriously. “Anyway, my formula is quite fragrant, and it’s actually water when you make it, I can’t control anything else.”
Arthur’s fingers tapped on the table, and after a moment of contemplation, he suddenly said, “Are you sure it really works on elephants?”
Agareus was just joking with Arthur, but when Arthur asked this question, he was stunned.
He said cautiously, “What are you trying to do to elephants, you little bastard?”
Arthur took out a pen and paper. “I don’t have any plans for elephants, but if you can guarantee that this formula works on elephants and giant pythons, I might consider buying a copy and sending it to Eldred. For the sake of our friendship at the University of London for so many years, I think I should consider the safety of my old friend. Even from the perspective of promoting scientific progress, I can’t let Charles lose his research results.”
Agareus snorted and waved his hand, pinching his nose. “I thought it was something else. Don’t worry about Eldred, the managers of heaven and hell still have some brains, they shouldn’t be looking for trouble for a while.”
Speaking of which, Agareus slapped The Book of Perfumes again. “By the way, what are you going to do next? Frankly, Arthur, relying solely on Fiona’s investigation results is probably not enough to solve your current predicament. I think devils are more reliable than women. How about it, my offer from this morning still stands, I can even give you an extra discount.”
Arthur was completely indifferent to Agareus’s concession. He flipped through the pages of The Book of Perfumes and said,
“I remember Mr. Bernie Harrison is also a doctor and pharmacist, he started his political career by selling various cosmetics and recommending suitable products to bigwigs and ladies at parties.
If Fiona and her girls can’t make a breakthrough at Harrison’s, maybe I should go to Regent Street. I remember there are many shops selling makeup products there. Someone who’s a celebrity in the industry like Harrison, there must be a lot of people who know him there.
By the way, Agareus, the bundling strategy doesn’t work on me. You have this energy to talk to me, you might as well write the next issue of The Englishman for me.
The readers said the update speed of The Hastings Detective Collection is too slow recently, and the plot progression isn’t as strong as usual, especially that article about Solomon, it’s really too dry.
You have to understand, the sales of The Englishman directly affect our living standards and quality of life. I’m fine with just eating bread every day, after all, I’m a country boy from York, I’ve experienced worse days than this. But you’re different, you’re a noble Duke of Hell, you need to maintain a high standard of living. As a contractor, I’m inclined to satisfy you as much as possible within my ability.
But if you continue like this, I’ll have to cut your red wine allowance for this month. After all, you know, Burgundy wine is very expensive outside. I’m a simple guy who grew up in pigsty mud, I can’t fall into the consumerist trap of merchants.”
With that, Arthur got up, clutching The Book of Perfumes, and walked outside.
The Red Devil looked at Arthur’s retreating back, and it took him a long time to recover. He slammed his fist on the table and cursed. “Hey! Arthur, you son of a bitch! You just called me a name once, why are you still holding a grudge until now?”
(End of Chapter)