The Shadow of Great Britain

677: Chapter 330: News from France_2 677: Chapter 330: News from France_2 Just as we caught up with them, we heard someone shout the boss’s alias “Jean Louis” from behind us.

We turned around to see it was Frost, an old acquaintance from our street days.

Seeing a familiar face, the other crooks also came out of hiding, and we all lit up, passing the flame and calling each other “brother.” They told us the police seemed to be onto them.

Our boss then took the initiative to suggest we scout ahead for them.

Those little twerps kept thanking him profusely, saying, “Everyone on the street says Jean Louis is all about honor.

Seeing it in person today, the reputation surely isn’t unfounded.”

They led us to a lumber yard on Saint Sebastian Road, where they stashed their loot.

Then Frost proposed that he wanted to take the boss to meet the fence to discuss the price, claiming, “My name doesn’t carry much weight, but if Jean Louis comes with me, we can definitely negotiate a better price than usual.”

To convince the boss to agree, that idiot Frost even promised to give us a thirty percent cut if the deal went through.

So the boss went strutting off with Frost to the fence’s place and busted it wide open.

Upon hearing this, Arthur couldn’t help but ask, “Mr.

Victor did this once or twice, alright, but after arresting so many, didn’t the people on the street eventually learn his true identity?

Coconut Tree grabbed a croissant, nibbled on it, and replied.

“Those guys only know that a new expert in catching crooks, Victor, has recently joined the Paris police headquarters, but very few have actually seen what Victor looks like.

In the eyes of the Parisian riffraff, ‘Jean Louis’ and ‘Julius’ are still the go-to guys with a solid reputation on the street.

Moreover, the boss had his identity well arranged, every time he appeared as ‘Jean Louis’ and ‘Julis’, he was sure to be arrested along with the crooks.

To draw out the criminals’ stories, he would often arrange to be thrown into the same cell as them.

Once, when dealing with an overly cautious guy, he even staged a jailbreak to rescue him from the cell, and of course, it was a resounding success.”

At that, Arthur laughed knowingly, “Now I finally understand how Mr.

Victor managed to reduce Paris’s crime rate by forty percent in the first year of the Security Department’s existence.

From this point of view, it was a mistake for the Paris police headquarters to sideline him afterward.”

Coconut Tree tore a piece of bread, tossed it into his mouth, leaned back on the chair, and rolled his eyes, “That wasn’t their only bad decision.

And the tactics they used to pressure the boss to resign were downright dirty.”

“Are you talking about the cloak incident?”

“It’s more than that.

Before that, they spread lots of nauseating false messages throughout Paris.”

Coconut Tree felt a surge of anger just thinking about those incidents: “Honestly, Mr.

Hastings, you know, I am a gentleman, a French gentleman, naturally romantic, and I love to woo ladies.

When I was rising through the ranks with the boss in Paris, and after earning some savings, I began to focus more on matters of the heart…”

Arthur sipped from his teacup, “Mr.

Coconut Tree, you don’t need to beat around the bush with such elaborate preambles, just tell me you’ve had lovers, I understand what you mean.”

Coconut Tree laughed heartily, “In this respect, you really don’t seem British, your frankness is almost Italian.

Yes, I had a lover, a captivating Jewish girl—I’ve been thinking about her since I was 20 years old.

But back then, I was a petty thief who hardly knew where his next meal was coming from, while she came from a respectable family, so naturally there was no chance.

Things changed later, though, when I became an important member of the Security Department, with money and status, so our relationship quickly blossomed.

What I didn’t expect was that Duplacey spread lies to bring down the boss, actually bribed her to tell everyone, ‘One evening, I was all dressed up and ready to go out to meet my dear.

But as I passed Swallow Road, one of my suitors started tailing me.

He told me that my darling was getting hot and heavy with another woman.

I didn’t believe it, so he led me to a courtyard, and as soon as I entered, I heard moaning.

Peering through the window, I was shocked to find Victor and my dear assaulting an elderly laundress.’

Arthur nearly spat his tea onto Coconut Tree’s face upon hearing this.

Coconut Tree spoke with a dark look, “Mr.

Hastings, you also think this joke makes no sense, right?

Damn it, to get us to leave, those ass-fucking bastards spread even these kinds of slanderous tales.

Saying we raped a sixty-year-old laundress, why didn’t they just say we raped a sow?”

Arthur wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, “I reckon if you guys had stubbornly refused to leave, raping a sow might have been the next rumor.

But thankfully, Duplacey has since been kicked out and with Mr.

Victor’s return to the Security Department, things must have changed for the better now?”

The coconut tree laughed at himself in self-mockery, “Improved?

Of course, when they first asked us to return, naturally we were treated like saviors.

But now, look at me, why would I be in London if things had turned out well?

Isn’t this worth pondering over?”

Arthur certainly knew what the coconut tree was talking about; he was only feigning ignorance.

Having corresponded with Victor for a long time, Arthur, if not completely familiar with the dynamics of the Paris police, at least knew them thoroughly.

Since the July Revolution, the Paris Police Headquarters on Jerusalem Street had become like a bus station, with various forces taking turns on stage as each other’s replacements.

Starting from 1830, in less than two years, the Paris Police Headquarters had switched chiefs seven times.

Mr.

Casimir Perier, a banker by profession and France’s Minister of Justice, still had not figured out exactly who should be appointed to manage the Paris police.

If viewed from a normal person’s perspective, the leadership of the police station should naturally be selected from experienced police officers.

Unfortunately, as representatives of the great financial bourgeoisie, the officials of the July Monarchy followed a different logic in their appointments.

They preferred to promote steady and reliable businessmen.

It was for this reason that in September of that year, Mr.

Perier officially appointed his old acquaintance, Mr.

Henry Jissoke—who had been an apprentice at his bank for seven years and eventually established his own bank—to take over the Paris Police Headquarters.

Compared to his predecessors, Mr.

Jissoke was apparently doing much better.

However, after Paris, just like Britain, was hit by the cholera epidemic, the Paris police, which had just gotten back on track, quickly found themselves mired again.

In London, the military police and Guard Cavalry were mobilized to deal with cholera, and Paris was no better off.

After cholera claimed the lives of more than three hundred people in one day, there were several incidents in Paris where mobs attacked government offices.

And the Paris police, who were busy everywhere, were rumored to have taken advantage of the situation to put cholera viruses into the drinking water of Jewish people.

At such a moment, the political atmosphere in Paris also naturally became highly sensitive.

In London, cholera mixed with parliamentary reform, and under the dual pressures, a large-scale uprising could break out at any moment.

In Paris, cholera could puncture the already shaky rule of the July Monarchy at any moment and bury Louis Philippe’s new dynasty in the coffin.

And at such a time, the complicated nature of Victor inevitably made him susceptible to suspicion from those above.

Victor, who came from the streets, had in his early years joined the Bourbon army and served the government of Napoleon.

Moreover, he had many connections with members of the Paris Second Literary Society such as Hugo, Musset, and the Great Dumas.

Therefore, in the eyes of the July Monarchy government, he might well be in contact with supporters of Bonaparte, the Legitimate Dynasty, or the republicans.