The Shadow of Great Britain

"Victor?" Arthur was momentarily taken aback, a hint of surprise in his voice: "That’s quite the rare guest. Please inform the meeting room that I might be a few minutes late."

The clerk nodded to go and relay the message, while Arthur turned and stepped into the nearby reception room.

As soon as the door opened, a strong tobacco aroma hit him, and the person waiting was standing by the window, back facing him, wearing a faded yet immaculately pressed gray coat, slightly water-stained trousers, and a five-year-old felt hat. He was rubbing a yellow copper nose snuff bottle with his thumb, familiar as ever, but his figure was more bloated than Arthur remembered.

The sound of footsteps made the man slowly turn around.

A slightly aged but still sharp face appeared in the morning light, bushy sideburns extending downward, connecting to a French-style short beard.

"Ah, mon ami, your newspaper arsenal is quite hard to find."

Arthur looked at him and gently closed the door: "Mr. Victor, you should have written to me before coming. We had an appointment, and I could have sent someone to pick you up at the dock."

"Why bother?" Victor chuckled: "Besides, you know my habit. I don’t like to reveal my movements in letters. Anything that has to be delivered by others is unreliable. I don’t want the Paris Police to know where I’ll be going. Who knows if they might set up an ambush for me on the road."

Arthur joked half-heartedly: "They wouldn’t dare to kill their former Security Department chief, would they?"

"That’s not for certain." Victor shrugged: "Even though I was once a part of the Paris Police, it’s precisely because of that I know never to overestimate their character. Of course, many among them are quite capable. Yet the more capable, the more I must be cautious of their private revenge."

"What trouble are you in now?" Arthur pulled out a cigar box and tossed it to Victor: "Murder? Arson? Theft? Or highway robbery?"

Victor took out a cigar and sniffed it: "Worse than that."

Arthur picked up on it: "You embarrassed them in public?"

"More or less."

The two old detectives communicated with ease, perhaps because being in Britain made Victor reluctant to disguise his words: "You know I opened a detective agency in Paris, right?"

"How’s it going? Business is booming?"

"Booming? More than booming." Victor raised his wrist to show Arthur his newly bought gold watch: "See this? It’s nothing major. Last month, I bought a Spanish school painting at an auction, cost me seventy thousand francs, a work by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo."

Though Victor is renowned as a great detective, in the end, he’s still French, so naturally, he’s inclined to show off.

Once he starts talking about his extravagant lifestyle, he can hardly stop.

"My daily expense is 100 francs. Annually, that’s 36,500 francs. Although the Breaux Detective Agency’s fees for clients are not high, even so, deducting all expenses, my income last year still reached fifteen thousand two hundred francs."

Victor couldn’t help but be proud: "Arthur, you know? Just in the first two months of this year, I helped 11 businesses recover sixty thousand francs in funds. Though no big cases have come up since March, I believe doubling my income this year shouldn’t be a problem."

Arthur had no reason to doubt Victor’s bragging, as he had heard Great Dumas mention Victor’s rising fame over the past two years.

Due to his detective agency’s profitability, soon enough, many private detective agencies emerged in Paris, following Victor’s lead. Agencies like "Lighthouse Detective Agency," "Alarm Bell Detective Agency," and "Illuminator Detective Agency" were once strong competitors of Victor’s.

But Victor didn’t feel the slightest panic with the emergence of these new detective agencies.

On the contrary, he predicted that these detective agencies would close within a year or two.

The outcome proved his point; Lighthouse Detective Agency announced bankruptcy after just six months, and their boss was imprisoned in Saint Belaki Prison for fraud. The boss of Alarm Bell Detective Agency also ended up behind bars, currently serving in Meiziyier Prison. Illuminator Detective Agency, despite its bright name, was revealed to have assisted criminals in eliminating evidence, leading them to prison as well.

It’s understandable that detective agencies become hotspots for crime, after all, their work skirts the edge of legality, and detectives easily acquire various private information and use it for extortion.

If Victor does better than his peers in some aspects, besides being highly capable, it’s that he follows rules, respects ethics, and maintains integrity in business.

More commendable is the meticulous division of labor and service range at Victor’s Breaux Detective Agency.

He would even send someone to a clothing store owner to collect 25 francs owed by a troublesome customer.

First, a polite notice; second, verbal threats; and if still unpaid the third time, Victor sends in the professionals.

Great Dumas even mentioned a case where Victor assisted someone in recovering wages.

It was said that Mousar, a well-known music concert agent, refused to pay his gardener’s wages. But because this gardener purchased Victor’s lowest tier detective service, Victor immediately sent someone to find Mousar, nearly forcing him to settle the payment.

With Victor conducting detective business in such a way, it’s hard for his operations not to flourish. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Not only has he profited but also earned a good reputation.

The entire Paris society, from top to bottom, almost everyone praises this Parisian Sleuth.

And Victor seized the opportunity to expand his business scope, even starting to handle robbery cases.

However, Victor’s actions made his former colleagues, the bureaucrats of the Great Paris Police Hall, look very displeased.

Or rather, this wasn’t just displeasure but extreme indignation.

In their view, Victor, this ex-member of the Great Paris Police Hall, actually raised a team capable of rivaling the Great Paris Police Hall. Moreover, many citizens encountering crimes now think of reporting to Victor first rather than the police!

Granted, even if citizens report to the Great Paris Police Hall, they may not handle the cases well.

Some cases are beyond their ability.

But just because the Great Paris Police Hall can’t handle it doesn’t mean Victor should take them on; Victor’s actions challenge the authority of the Great Paris Police Hall.

And it’s well-known that the dignity of the Great Paris Police Hall is sacred and inviolable. If you want to challenge it, then let’s ride the mule and watch the opera — just wait and see.

What’s worse, perhaps due to Victor’s past suppression at the Great Paris Police Hall.

So now, having risen again, he seizes every chance to let loose.

He not only solves cases quickly and efficiently but also bossily instructs Paris police to promptly arrest this person, detain that person.

The Great Paris Police Hall is reluctant to be bossed around, but they know deep down that suspects identified by Victor are likely actual criminals, so they have no choice but to act.

Back and forth, naturally, deepens the resentment between the two sides.

Victor also took up representing clients in debt cases, beyond just offending the Great Paris Police Hall.

Due to his detailed evidence and a substantial fee for eloquent lawyers, he is virtually undefeatable in civil courts, winning each time he goes to trial.

This situation led to Paris judges seeing him as a thorn in their side.