The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 903: Chapter 20: Murder for Money or Lovers’ Feud? _2

”Hiss...”

Vini’s speech not only shocked the Great Dumas but also stunned the theater regular Victor, and even Sir Hastings from London choked on his coffee.

Arthur initially thought the London social circle was already quite chaotic in terms of romantic affairs, yet looking at Paris, the French always managed to surprise him with some new tricks.

Seeing them remain silent, Vini thought they didn’t believe his words, so he continued: ”At first, I didn’t believe that Sainte-Beuve would seduce Adele, but then I read his ’On the Romantic Life of the Heart’ and realized that this guy had long been coveting Adele.”

The Great Dumas eagerly asked: ”What did he write in it?”

Vini recalled, cleared his throat, and said: ”Every passionate woman, if her first love is too early, often has a second love. No matter how intense her first love at eighteen might be, nor how favorable the circumstances, it will not last beyond twenty-four. After twenty-four, there’s a period of dormancy, during which her heart rests, allowing new emotions to mature.”

The Great Dumas suddenly understood: ”No wonder he always writes reviews praising Hugo’s new works, calling him the new leader of the romantic school in the French literary world! He aims to ingratiate himself with Hugo, thus lulling him into a false sense of security so as to get closer to Adele!”

Vini added: ”Not only that, you should know that writing literary reviews doesn’t earn Sainte-Beuve much each month. Despite this, he still rented a room at St. Paul’s Inn, not far from Hugo’s residence, precisely to make it easy for Adele to visit him on foot.”

The Great Dumas pursed his lips, angrily slammed the table, as if he had forgotten how he had been amicable with Vini’s lover Dovar not long ago: ”How could Sainte-Beuve undermine Hugo? Hugo had helped him so much before.”

Upon hearing Dumas’ comments, Vini remained silent, as both Sainte-Beuve and Hugo were rather good acquaintances of his, and he was not eager to jump into this muddy water.

However, seeing the two other guests dumbstruck, he couldn’t help but feel his cheeks burning, and seriously requested: ”Gentlemen, I’m only telling you this, please don’t spread it around.”

Arthur and Victor exchanged a glance, the two veteran policemen smiled and nodded: ”Of course, Mr. Vini. Perhaps you don’t know what we do? We tend to be very discreet.”

Vini slapped his forehead: ”I forgot, you two, one is the head of Scotland Yard, and the other is a sleuth in the Security Department. If that’s the case...I...”

At this point, Vini suddenly became anxious, as if he wanted to say something but was hesitant.

Arthur asked: ”Is there something you need help with?”

Victor took the opportunity to advertise his detective agency: ”Sir, you know my reputation in France. As for Sir Arthur Hastings, he is the first policeman in all of Britain’s history to be knighted. If you have any tricky case to hand over to us, as long as the price is right, we can settle it quickly.”

The Great Dumas chimed in: ”Vini, they’re not bragging. Mr. Victor’s deeds have long been circulated in our Parisian literary circle. As for Arthur, I can guarantee he is the most reliable cop in the British Isles. It’s thanks to him that I was saved from being kidnapped and sold to America by pirates.”

Persuaded by the Great Dumas, Vini hesitated for a long time before finally making a decision: ”Well... Alright, since there are no outsiders here, I’ll tell it like it is. Mr. Victor, Sir Hastings, I do have a task to entrust to you.”

Arthur smiled and refilled Vini’s coffee cup with the teapot: ”Don’t rush; we still have plenty of time today, you can speak slowly.”

Vini held the coffee cup, a look of reminiscence appeared in his eyes: ”To be honest, gentlemen, recently I’ve felt as if I’m being watched all the time.”

As soon as Vini said this, the Great Dumas interjected: ”Vini, are you being overly suspicious? Though I don’t wish to say so, your mind is sometimes too meticulous, leading you to paranoia. For a successful poet and playwright like yourself, being noticed by the public is perfectly normal.”

Arthur responded jokingly: ”Alexander, you can’t say that, at least from what I see, Mr. Vini’s intuition is quite accurate. Take, for instance...Dova...”

But before Arthur could finish, the Great Dumas suddenly raised his arm and shouted: ”Please brew a fine pot of tea for this gentleman from London; these damned Englishmen can’t stomach coffee made with Seine River water.”

Victor, seeing the Great Dumas trying to disrupt his business, also misled Vini with flattery: ”These worries aren’t usually baseless, Mr. Vini, as Mr. Dumas said, all of Paris knows how successful you are in theater. Writing a good play, performing for fifty shows, earning two thousand francs per show, that’s a total of one hundred thousand francs. As Mr. Dumas mentioned before, you writers usually pocket 10% of the proceeds, plus earning 5% of the total box office revenue as manuscript remuneration, which adds up to fifteen thousand francs. Making this much from a single play, to those lurking street hooligans in Paris, you are nothing short of a goose that lays golden eggs! They’re likely targeting you, dispatching people to map out your travel routes, planning to kidnap you for ransom once the timing is right!”

Vini was frightened pale by Victor’s words.

Indeed, as Victor said, he had considered this possibility himself.

Even worse is, if it were just him feeling watched, it could be explained away as paranoia.

But some time ago, when he and Mrs. Dovar were discussing a ’new play,’ Dovar inexplicably mentioned: ”My little sweetheart, have you felt like you’re being watched recently?”

Initially Vini thought Dovar had gotten cozy with someone else, hiding another man in the house, and was deliberately saying this to cover up her odd behavior. So if that person was discovered by Vini, Dovar could use the excuse of being monitored to brush it off.

Once Vini considered this possibility, he immediately jumped out of bed, rushed towards the suspicious wardrobe door.

But he found nothing in the wardrobe, though his jumping off the bed prompted rapid footsteps outside the door.

In a fury, Vini hastily threw on a pair of pants and chased outside, but upon reaching the door, he only caught sight of a shadow darting around the corridor corner.

Vini initially guessed that shadow was likely the Great Dumas, but judging by Dumas’ current attitude, it didn’t seem like him.

What’s more, the shadow appeared two weeks ago, and at that time Dumas hadn’t arrived in Paris yet.

Recalling this, Vini became more incensed and fearful.

Angry because if the figure was a new rival in love, he would certainly want to take him down personally.

Frightened because if the figure was indeed a gang of robbers plotting murder, he was far too reckless in chasing out the door that day. Fortunately, he had been reluctant to pursue in disarray, otherwise catching up would have played right into the enemy’s trap.

Vini pondered carefully, feeling that in response to such situations, he needed a group even more ferocious and professional than robbers to protect him and Dovar.

He thoroughly recounted his bizarre experiences from these past weeks, shocking the Great Dumas.

Victor calmly took out pen and paper for notes, and at the end, this Parisian Sleuth couldn’t help but teasingly ask the London colleague for a professional opinion: ”Inspector Hastings, what case do you think this is? A murder-kidnapping case in scouting stage, or perhaps...a prelude to a duel staking romance and honor?”

Arthur wasn’t in a rush to make any conclusions. Though like Victor, he had been gracefully retired by the government, his career as a police officer had ended, it didn’t mean he wanted to disgrace his former employer Scotland Yard.

Arthur copied down some key information from Victor’s notebook and pocketed the paper: ”Mr. Vini, before we ascertain the truth, I suggest you hire Breaux Detective Agency for private security services. Because, before unveiling the truth, we may need to investigate around your travel routes for several days.”