The Shadow of Great Britain

304: Chapter 196 Parliament Immunity (4K) 304: Chapter 196 Parliament Immunity (4K) London, Westminster, 4 Whitehall, Greater London Police Department.

Compared to half a year ago, Arthur’s office had undergone many changes.

The most obvious was the addition of several nameplates outside the office door, intended to showcase functions and authority.

Besides the formidable-sounding Criminal Investigation Department of the Greater London Police Department, there was also a seemingly inconsequential sign—Office of External Liaison of the Greater London Police Department.

Of course, the Office of External Liaison was only the public-facing term; most people within the system of the Home Office referred to it as the London Police Intelligence Bureau.

After this year’s public sector budget was approved by Parliament, Arthur, who had just made significant contributions on Britain’s behalf in a London conference, received a generous grant from the Home Office.

Although the funds he could currently mobilize were far from reaching the ever-expanding scale of Scotland Yard, for an independent entity that initially had only five staff, scraping together ten thousand pounds from the Home Office was already quite satisfying.

What exactly did this ten thousand pounds of financial allocation mean?

According to the “Administration Regulations of the London Police Intelligence Bureau,” drafted by Arthur and sanctioned by the Home Office, the bureau categorized its intelligence personnel into permanent and temporary.

Permanent staff was further divided into three levels.

From level one to three, they could respectively draw an annual intelligence allowance of one hundred pounds, eighty pounds, and fifty pounds from the bureau.

Therefore, even if all the bureau’s staff were considered level one intelligence personnel, the yearly expenditure would amount to no more than a mere five hundred pounds.

How to spend the remaining nine thousand five hundred pounds became an issue that vexed Arthur considerably.

Based on the historical experience that Arthur learned in his history studies, staff expansion was, of course, the best and most tangible solution since throughout history, both domestically and abroad, the more people under one’s command, the greater the department’s power.

However, as an organization with a sensitive work function, the Police Intelligence Department, despite its desire to recruit, couldn’t proceed haphazardly.

Otherwise, recruiting a few unreliable people, causing some trouble, a newly established small organization like the London Police Intelligence Bureau would not endure the scrutiny of the Cabinet and Parliament.

So, for the sake of caution and to expedite the spending of funds, Arthur could only resort to adding his few old friends to the bureau’s roster.

Darwin and Eld, far away in South America, had been hoodwinked into signing work contracts in a little diner at the Port of Plymouth before they left.

The recently prosperous landowner Mr.

Wheatstone was also coerced into marking his thumbprint on the contract and signing his life away.

Now, Mr.

Wheatstone has transformed into the London Police Intelligence Bureau’s science advisor, though officially, he still hung the title under Scotland Yard.

Even the broad-browed, curly-haired French fat man, Great Dumas, had now betrayed republicanism and sided with Britain.

As for Miss Fiona Ivan, who had just been promoted to Deputy Housekeeper at the Russian Embassy, Arthur generously settled all overdue payments to her in one go.

But given her surplus of craftiness, Arthur felt her official status needed further consideration.

After all, compared to someone like Fiona, who had developed a set way of thinking, Arthur believed that college graduates fresh out of university had a clearer outlook.

Moreover, one obvious advantage of recruiting from universities was that those who could afford higher education seemed to come from generally well-off families and could even choose to work without pay.

This phenomenon wasn’t limited to students; it was particularly evident among the middle-class groups with a lot of spare time, such as poets, painters, and writers.

Influenced, perhaps, by the increasingly popular magazine “British,” these readers of the middle class, who had read detective stories from the “Hastings Case Files” by the fashionable novelist Arthur Sigma, developed a strong interest in the emerging profession of detective.

Although the reputation of Scotland Yard officers was still subpar, the mention of police detectives commanded their respect.

If you told them that we were recruiting police informers, they would likely be displeased; not only displeased but they would also curse Scotland Yard for engaging in police rule and autocracy.

But tell them that London’s morality is declining, crime rates are soaring, and we are short of hands, in need of good citizens to voluntarily act as detective assistants, and these cultured gentlemen and ladies would eagerly extend a helping hand.

Although the London Police Intelligence Bureau’s liaison personnel grew slowly, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Greater London Police Department, led by Arthur, expanded rapidly over the past six months.

Today’s Criminal Investigation Department boasted twenty-five professional detectives, tasked with investigating various serious cases.

Perhaps realizing that Arthur’s rise to power within Scotland Yard was unstoppable, in the face of history’s tide, Chief Rowan chose a cyclical work ethic of taking breaks on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, continuing to find replacements on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and resting on Sundays.