The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 634 - 313: Poland? Russia?

Upon hearing this, Arthur took out the pocket watch that the murderer had carried on their person from his pocket.

He stared at the woman’s portrait etched into the inner wall of the watch for quite a while before he found a few similarities between the features of the portrait and the face he knew.

"The quality of this painting is really poor. If you hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that the subject of this portrait is Madam Agnieszka, the Polish language tutor hired by Mr. Harrison, Defina."

Arthur closed the watch, then suddenly asked, "However, if Miss Defina is Agnieszka, then... Fiona, shouldn’t you explain to me why she has two names? Have you been deceived by her, or have I been deceived by you?"

Fiona, holding a document in her hand, said, "It’s not about who deceived whom. In this trade, it’s quite normal to have an alias. Not everyone can bear to engage in the flesh trade under their real identity. Many of the girls here think about saving up some money while they are young, then returning to their real identities to resume a normal life. I respect their thoughts and usually don’t pry into their pasts, which is why the girls are willing to work for me."

Arthur, leaning back in his chair with a wine glass in hand, said, "Fiona, I don’t mean to pry into your business secrets. But, out of curiosity, I’d like to ask, as wonderful as their thoughts are, how many of them actually succeed in the end?" freewebnσvel.cѳm

"You’re actually asking me that? I thought you would be clearer on this than I am. According to the statistics from Scotland Yard, is the number of London’s streetwalkers increasing or decreasing?"

Arthur sipped his wine and looked at the clear liquid, saying, "Perhaps you should switch careers and become a journalist. Or, if Scotland Yard were willing to recruit women, I might consider hiring you as a spokesperson. Answering a question with another question is indeed a very good conversational habit."

Fiona rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah! At least I’m more honest than you guys. I even think I could go to the Foreign Office. If I were the Foreign Secretary, I would bluntly tell the Poles to stop daydreaming that Britain won’t provide any help for you, rather than sending diplomats to the Russian Embassy for clandestine talks and, after an envoy is assassinated, hypocritically sending someone to console our Inspector Hasting."

"Hm?" Upon hearing this, Arthur’s focus suddenly locked onto Fiona’s eyes. "How do you know that the Foreign Office sent someone to Liverpool?"

Fiona replied irritably, "I’m not blind. That guy who just walked out of the hotel, I saw him when I was a maid at the Russian Embassy. It’s just that he definitely forgot about me. He would find it very difficult to associate a beautiful lady with a lowly servant."

"He’s been to the Russian Embassy?" Arthur pondered for a moment, then asked, "When was this?"

Fiona replied in annoyance, "It seems you’re more interested in diplomats than in beautiful ladies."

Arthur said, "Fiona, I mean no offense, but I do find it easier to converse with diplomats, as we communicate in a similar language, which is why our exchanges aren’t so troublesome."

"Oh really?" Fiona, holding back her anger, asked, "Am I not speaking English? Or are you looking down on my Russian heritage?"

"No, no, no, Fiona, don’t misunderstand. Russian girls are all very lovely, certainly much more so than the German girls. But, indeed, the language of the girls is different from that of the diplomats."

Fiona, furious, asked, "Would you rather deal with a diplomat full of lies than communicate with the girls?"

Arthur asked, "Why do you think diplomats can’t be trusted?"

"It’s simple, based on what I observed when working as a maid at the Embassy."

Fiona declared, "When a diplomat says ’yes’, they mean ’maybe’. When they say ’maybe’, they mean ’no’. If they say ’no’ outright, then they’re not a diplomat."

Arthur nodded in approval and said, "Fiona, I knew it was right to send you to work at the Embassy. Not every girl can be as perceptive as you are. Your observation is absolutely correct, but it seems you haven’t noticed that the language habits of the girls are almost the opposite of diplomats’. When girls say ’no’, they mean ’maybe’. When they say ’maybe’, they mean ’yes’. If they actually say ’yes’, then she is not a woman. Although I know it’s difficult, I hope that at work, you can at least communicate with me using the language of diplomats."

"Not a chance!"

"Why not?"

Fiona glared at Arthur and said, "Because you are also absolutely right. If I really were to say that, then I wouldn’t be a woman."

"Well, then." Arthur picked up the bottle and filled her glass, saying, "It seems there’s no getting you to adapt to me, so let me try to adapt to you instead. After all, I’m quite interested in many of your secrets, and when it comes to important information, it’s almost always a seller’s market."

After a few exchanges, Fiona felt that her emotions had mostly been vented.

As her mind returned to a state of calm, she began to reboot her logical processes.

Whether on a practical level or in terms of future plans, her interests were tightly bound with Arthur’s, and Miss Fiona was certainly not going to sit idly by and watch someone use dynamite to flatten the little mound that might grow into the Alps.