## Chapter 67: Where is Fred?
The rain in London was relentless, pouring down outside the windows of Scotland Yard. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, casting an ominous glow on Inspector Clemens’ face.
It wasn’t just him, though. Most of the other inspectors looked equally grim, so he didn’t stand out from the crowd. As they left the meeting room, they exchanged worried glances.
“This is getting serious, isn’t it?” one inspector said.
“Didn’t you hear our young commander, Superintendent Arthur? The roads out of London are guarded by armed police, and the stations are swarming with officers. If we don’t quickly uncover these people who deal in death, we’ll be in for a rough time.”
“Let’s go back and review all the recent death cases. Maybe we’ve got a few dead rats sitting in our files.”
“Damn those idiots! Why sell corpses? We’re all working overtime tonight. We need to search every hotel in our jurisdiction. Maybe those who profit from death are hiding some bodies.”
“Are you out of your mind? Didn’t you hear our young commander say we should investigate the hospitals first? Corpses don’t stay fresh. They must have rushed them to the hospitals after the murders. We need to check the autopsy records and arrest anyone who can’t explain the source of the bodies.”
“We need to check the hotels too! Didn’t they say they used laughing gas for the murders? And opium tincture. If we find a large supply of anything related to narcotics, there’s a high probability of something fishy going on.”
“We need to question the shops and street vendors that sell these things. Anyone with a large transaction record needs to be thoroughly questioned.”
“We need to check the cemeteries. The undertaker teams might not be clean. These corpse sellers probably didn’t just kill people. After all, grave robbing for fresh corpses has been going on since the last century.”
“Damn it! I know of a few dirty grave robbers. I was too lazy to deal with them before, because they were smart. They only wanted the bodies, not the burial goods. So even if we caught them, they’d just get a small fine for illegal possession of a body. But now that we’re forced to act, I’ll hand them over.”
“You were too lazy to catch them? Those grave robbers are all loaded. I heard they get ten to twelve pounds for each body. Are you sure you or your men haven’t taken bribes from them?”
The inspectors were in a heated discussion, but Clemens remained silent. He excused himself from the group, quickly heading towards his liaison office at Scotland Yard.
As he opened the door, he saw a familiar figure waiting inside. It was the chief inspector, Braden Jones, who had replaced Arthur’s old boss, Inspector Willowes.
Clemens breathed a sigh of relief and closed the door behind him. He took off his hat and placed it on the desk. “No one saw you coming, did they?”
Jones noticed a rare hint of nervousness in his old superior. “What happened?” he asked.
Inspector Clemens pointed to the door. “Your current boss, Superintendent Arthur Hastings, is in the meeting room.”
“Superintendent Hastings is here?”
Now Jones was starting to panic. “How did he end up here?”
Clemens took a deep breath and furrowed his brow. “The Home Office ordered a full investigation into the missing persons case in St. Giles. The War Office sent armed police to assist. I don’t know how your boss got authorization from the Home Office, but he’s now the operational commander of the investigation team. All the inspectors from the involved jurisdictions are under his command, including me.”
“This…” Jones was visibly shaken. “We can’t investigate St. Giles! If he digs into it, our secret will be exposed.”
Clemens slammed his fist on the desk. “Damn those corpse sellers! They almost ruined my whole plan. I should have dealt with them properly! I barely managed to block the Duke of Sussex’s request for an investigation. Now this!”
“What do we do, sir? Do we try to block Superintendent Hastings’ investigation?” asked Jones.
Clemens stood by the window, staring at the heavy rain. His thoughts slowly returned to their usual calm, and his mind became clearer.
“No,” he said. “Haven’t you heard the saying? When the rooster starts crowing, it won’t be quiet unless the morning is over. People always worship the rising sun, not the setting sun. Your boss is riding high now. Don’t cross him. You won’t have a good ending if you go against him. It’s obvious that Sir Peel values him highly. Those who value us are not in power right now. We must endure this period. In my opinion, the Tories won’t last much longer. When the Whigs come to power, we’ll have our patron.”
“You mean…?”
“We need to cooperate fully with Superintendent Hastings’ investigation. Not just cooperate, but investigate faster than him. We need to find some of the corpse sellers before he does. Only then can we pin the rest of the missing persons on those corpse sellers.”
“But how, sir? This case is not easy to investigate,” said Jones.
Clemens asked, “Where is Fred now?”
Jones immediately understood what Clemens was up to. “I sent him to the old ship prison two days ago, as you instructed. He should still be there.”
Clemens pondered. “Find a way to get him out. Leave the goods at the prison, they won’t run away. Get him to use his connections in the underworld and find some of those corpse sellers. Tell him to act quickly and efficiently. I need those corpse sellers urgently.”
Jones swallowed nervously. He remembered the last time he saw Fred.
“But… what if Fred refuses? He’s… not quite right in the head…”
“Refuses?” Clemens turned around, grabbed Jones by the collar, and glared at him. “Tell him that his crimes from his time in the Life Guards are still in my hands. He can bully Willowes, but he can’t bully me. I have plenty of ways to ruin him. If he dares refuse, you shoot him on the spot. It’s not that different in the end. We just lose some extra income. We can hand Fred’s body over, and the missing persons case will still be explained.”
Jones stared at his old superior, his cold sweat pouring down his back.
After a long silence, he finally saluted. “Yes, sir!”
(End of Chapter)