The Shadow of Great Britain

72: Chapter 33 Where is Fred?

72: Chapter 33 Where is Fred?

Today, London’s heavy rain was relentless, with lightning flashing and thunder rumbling outside the windows of Scotland Yard.

The booming thunder and the occasional flash of lightning made Superintendent Clemens’s face look particularly unsightly.

But fortunately, most of the superintendents’ complexions were just like his, so he didn’t stand out among the crowd.

The superintendents left the conference room, exchanging glances.

“Seems like things have escalated?”

“Didn’t you hear what our young Commander Arthur said?

Military police units are stationed on all the roads leading out of London, and the stations are now guarded by army and police.

If we don’t dig out all those involved in the trading of corpses soon, we’re going to suffer for it.”

“We should go back and review all the recent death cases, who knows, we might actually have a few dead rats under our hands.”

“Damn those idiots!

Why the hell sell corpses of all things!

Tonight, we’re working overtime.

Let’s search all the inns in our area, for all we know, those who profit from the dead might really have some bodies stashed.”

“Are you stupid or something?

Didn’t you hear what our young leader said?

First, check the hospitals in our jurisdiction.

A corpse can’t be kept fresh, they must send it quickly to the hospitals after killing.

First, investigate hospital autopsy records.

If the source of a body can’t be explained, cuff them all for interrogation.”

“We have to check the inns too!

Didn’t they mention using that what, laughing gas, for murder?

Oh right, and opium tincture, any place related to narcotics, if they find a large stock in an inn, there’s a nine out of ten chance there’s a problem.”

“Shops and peddlers who trade these substances need to be questioned too.

Anyone with significant transaction records, we need to grill each one of them!”

“We must also check the graveyards.

Those funeral procession teams could also be dirty.

Those trading in corpses are probably not just murderers; after all, grave robbing for fresh corpses has been around since the last century.”

“Damn it!

I know a few dirty grave robbers.

I’ve always been too lazy to deal with them because these buggers have gotten smart, taking only the corpses, not the burial objects.

So even if we catch them, at most they get charged with illegal possession of a corpse and a fine before they’re released.

But now that we’ve been pushed to this point, I might as well hand them over to settle this.”

“Are you too lazy to arrest them?

The grave robbers are all rich.

I heard they can get ten to twelve pounds per corpse, are you sure you or your men haven’t taken benefits from them?”

The superintendents were having a heated discussion, but Clemens didn’t join in.

He quickly bid farewell to his colleagues and hurried towards his liaison office at Scotland Yard.

As soon as he opened the door of his office, he found a familiar figure already waiting there.

It was Brayden Jones, the chief constable under Arthur, who had replaced Arthur’s previous superior, Chief Constable Wilcox.

Clemens sighed with relief and quickly closed the office door.

He took off his hat, placed it on the table, and asked, “You weren’t seen coming here, were you?”

Jones noticed his old boss showing a rare sign of nervousness and asked in confusion, “What happened?”

Superintendent Clemens, pointing outside the door, said, “Your current boss, Arthur Hastings, is right there in the conference room.”

“Police Superintendent Hastings is here?”

This made Jones somewhat panicky.

He asked, “Why would he be here?”

Clemens took a deep breath, frowned, and said, “The Home Office has ordered a thorough investigation of the missing person cases in St.

Giles Parish, and the Army has also sent military police for support.

As for your boss, I don’t know how he managed to get the authorization from the Home Office, but he’s now the operational commander of the investigation team, and I, along with other superintendents from districts involved in the case, now all have to follow his orders.”

“This…” Jones was obviously flustered as he began, “We can’t look into St.

Giles’ affairs!

If he investigates this, wouldn’t our matters also be exposed?”

Clemens slammed his fist on the desk, “Damn it!

Those grave robbers, they nearly ruined everything for me.

Had I known it would come to this, I should have taken care of them from the start!

It was not easy to block the Duke of Sussex’s request for an investigation into his report, and to think, in the end, I stumbled here.”

Jones quickly asked, “Commander, what do we do now?

Should we block Police Superintendent Hastings’ investigation?”

Clemens stood by the window, looking out at the pouring rain, slowly regaining his composure, his thoughts gradually clearing.

He suddenly asked, “No, haven’t you ever heard the saying?

Once the rooster starts crowing, it won’t stop, not until the morning time has passed.

People always worship the rising sun, not the setting one.

Your boss is riding high right now, don’t cross him, confronting him directly won’t end well.

It’s clear, Sir Peel holds him in high regard, and those of us he values aren’t in a position right now, we must endure this period.”

I anticipate the Tory Party won’t last much longer.

Once the Whig Party rises, we’ll have a patron.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have to actively cooperate with Police Superintendent Hastings’ investigation, not just cooperate, but we have to find the body sellers faster than him, get to some of them before he does.

Only by doing so can we pin the remaining disappearances on that group as well.”

Jones said, stunned, “But as you say that, how do we do it?

This case isn’t easy to investigate.”

Clemens asked, “Where’s Fred now?”

Upon hearing this name, Jones immediately understood what Clemens had in mind and hurriedly replied, “I followed your orders the other day and arranged for him to pick up the goods from the Old Ship Prison; he should still be inside now.”

Clemens calculated, “Find an opportunity to get him out quickly, keep that batch of goods in the prison for now; they’re not going anywhere.

First, get him to use his underground connections to pull out a few of those body sellers for me.

Tell him he must act quickly and efficiently; I’m in urgent need of that batch of body sellers!”

Hearing this, Jones suddenly swallowed, remembering the last time he had seen Fred.

“But…

but what if Fred refuses?

That man…

doesn’t seem to be quite sane…”

“Refuse?”

Clemens turned around, his eyes glaring as he grabbed Jones by the collar, “Then you tell him the crime he committed back in the Guard Cavalry is still in my hands.

He can pull his stunts with Wilcox, but with me, he’s out of his league!

I have plenty of ways to finish him off.

When you meet him, remember to bring a gun.

If he dares refuse, just kill him on the spot for me!

In fact, the result would be the same either way; we would just lose a little extra profit.

If we hand over Fred’s body, the missing person’s case can still be explained away.”

Jones stared at his superior officer, unable to stop the cold sweat running down his back.

After a long while, he remembered to raise his hand in salute, “Yes, Commander!”