The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1476: Chapter 237: Lord Black’s Advanced British Interrogation Techniques

The cast-iron stove of the Moscow Police Department crackled, and Arthur’s knuckles lightly tapped on the gold-embossed cover of the “Police Regulations.”

Through the slats of the blinds, he could catch a glimpse of Herzen in the office, holding a book to pass the time, the Holy Image on his neck slightly shimmering in the morning light.

For a young man arrested for the first time, Herzen’s performance was actually not bad; he neither lost his composure nor appeared overly excited.

The Police Chief noticed Arthur’s gaze, turned his head to look at the office, and immediately smiled, saying, “You noticed him? That’s the one. We just caught him yesterday. Fortunately, he’s quite well-behaved. Otherwise, given his family background, he’d be really tough to deal with.”

“Tough to deal with?” Arthur teased, “If he’s tough to deal with, why did you arrest him? Isn’t this inviting trouble for yourselves?”

The Police Chief sighed and complained to Arthur, “It’s not the same, Sir. Take dealing with cases, for instance. I heard that in London, everything is done according to the rules, from custody, arrest to prosecution, each step follows the procedure. But here, once tasked from above, we wouldn’t eat or sleep for days if necessary, just to get the job done. The higher-ups say the word, and we must go down to the mud pit, find a way even when there’s none, twist the mud into rope, and use it to strangle those who deserve it.”

At this point, he didn’t forget to give Arthur an example: “And this isn’t just in police work. Take my brother-in-law, for example, he’s a local police chief. Once, the province issued a command requiring a fish be delivered on a naming day, and it had to be a big fish. Although it didn’t have to be as big as a whale, it still had to be impressive. My brother-in-law ran around frantically, like he’d been gassed, for a day or two, finally got a fish, but it was never the type designated by the superiors.

Either the fish’s head unfortunately resembled a big shot being named, and if sent, it would certainly provoke accusations of personal attack. Or the fish was too lean, not plump enough. Or the fish fins lacked prestige. And in our hometown province, they are very particular about everything. My brother-in-law contemplated a bit, gritted his teeth and fiercely rounded up all the local fishermen and detained them in the police station, giving them three days to catch a fish that met the standard.”

Since coming to Russia, Arthur had heard many similar stories, but fortunately, there was always something new about each tale, so it didn’t become boring.

“Catching a fish in three days? I say your brother-in-law’s way of handling tasks is pure nonsense. All this fuss over one fish, what does that amount to?”

The Police Chief earnestly replied, “Don’t doubt it; in the end, he really did get that fish. Although I also feel that such a way of handling tasks is rather inconsiderate, in Russia, sometimes this is the way you have to go about it. You’re a foreigner, so you don’t understand the Russian official customs. In Russia, orders are layered over layer; the province wants to show off in front of the central government, and the city wants to show off to the province, so these seemingly nonsensical tasks are exceptionally common.”

Arthur rubbed his chin and nodded slightly, “Like the matter of the Moscow fire this time?”

The Police Chief laughed wryly, “Of course, this time it’s different, as it’s a command directly from the Emperor. But I can still give you another example from my brother-in-law’s experiences. Once, the province wanted to impress the higher-ups, so they ordered the city to catch a vagrant, and not just any vagrant, but a notorious one. My brother-in-law then scurried around busily, sniffing everywhere, checking if any places with lights were gathering large groups of vagrants.”

Arthur couldn’t help but laugh at this point, “Vagrants are hard to find? It’s not just locally; I saw plenty even in Moscow and St. Petersburg.”

The Police Chief waved his hand, “That time was different, the demands from above were quite strict, so my brother-in-law didn’t dare report just any old crippled old woman. He stayed in the city for a week, until he finally encountered a lost pilgrim, a completely inept vagrant. He picked up the pilgrim’s sack, pulled out a mess of books, like ‘To the Inhabitants of the Holy Mountain of Jerusalem,’ ‘To the Religious Propagators of the Joys of Heaven,’ ‘To Those Whose Good Deeds Outnumber the Stars in Heaven,’ etc.

You’re a devout Christian, so you surely know, these handwritten books are complete nonsense, nowhere to be found in the Bible. So my brother-in-law, feeling like he’d struck gold, threw this loyal servant of God into jail. The next day, he wrote a long and elaborate report to the province. It said that the situation was this and that, and Mr. So-and-So diligently never rested in safeguarding city security. Then followed with impressive rhetoric, about heresy, frequent dealings with accomplices, dangerous individuals jeopardizing the nation, and the necessity of thorough eradication. That report was so impressively done that even a literary master couldn’t find a fault in it.”

Arthur praised, “From what you’re saying, your brother-in-law seems to be quite a character. Handling tasks so efficiently, why didn’t the province treat him like gold and transfer him to work in the police headquarters?”