The Shadow of Great Britain

Under the meticulous preparation of this Parisian Sleuth, except for Arthur, everyone else had almost entirely changed their appearance.

Louis patted his fake chin in the mirror; compared to before, his chin had almost grown a whole size bigger.

Great Dumas couldn't help but joke: "Louis, I mean no offense, but I must say, your current appearance exudes more of a royal aura than the original. With a chin like that, anyone would think you're a member of the Habsburg family if you walked down the street."

Heine touched the fake mole on his face: "This thing is really lifelike. Mr. Victor, perhaps I should take some time to learn from you someday, make a fake hemorrhoid or something, and then on a dark and windy night, sneak into Metternich's bedroom and stick it on him."

Victor had his legs propped up on the desk: "Of course, no problem, but before making a fake hemorrhoid, you have to show me what a real one looks like first. I'm a stickler for details, and if it's not perfect, it's not acceptable."

Heine raised an eyebrow: "That's no problem, someday I'll bring Metternich's behind to you, and you can see the original directly."

Victor laughed loudly: "I must admit, I misunderstood the Deutsch before; I thought you all had no sense of humor."

"Oh, that's not really a misunderstanding." Heine leaned on the corner of the desk: "I'm just an exception."

Louis adjusted his bow tie: "Alright, alright, we can put Metternich's hemorrhoids aside for now. I just want to ask one question. Even if you're creating a façade for Gervais's gang, why not just hold a fake party? Holding a real one would easily expose us."

"Hmm…" Victor naturally wouldn't reveal his plan to commit bank fraud; he merely replied, "Your Excellency, there's no need for you to pursue this. You must understand, sleuths always have their little quirks when handling cases, and we need to keep some secrets so there's surprise when the truth is revealed."

"Alright." Seeing Victor's reluctance to speak, Louis didn't press further: "But our lady companion today should be that Bohemian girl and her…"

Louis paused, suddenly recalling what Arthur told him yesterday, causing his words to halt.

Although Arthur's words were quite vague, Louis clearly remembered that the Bohemian girl seemed to have connections with Young Italy, and Victor, apart from working for the Paris police, was also hired by the Austrians to track down the whereabouts of Mazzini and others.

Therefore, even though he admired this legendary figure in the Paris police, due to political stance issues, he didn't intend to discuss the Bohemian girl with Victor.

Arthur saw through the mirror the expressions of Louis and Victor, each hiding their own motives, confirming his plan was halfway to success.

In fact, among those present, not only did Louis and Victor have their thoughts, but the seemingly indifferent Sir Hastings also had something on his mind.

Because just yesterday, before he went out to meet Louis, he saw another group of people in front of the hotel where he was staying, a group of Brittany farmers who, at their wits' end, desperately sought his help.

Arthur clearly remembered they had lost a companion, unclear whether he had drunkenly drowned in the Seine River at midnight or had been caught by the Paris police…

Or perhaps…

Arthur stared at his reflection in the mirror, but his peripheral vision fell upon Victor, leisurely reading a newspaper behind the desk.

Arthur's lips moved slightly, his voice so low only he could hear: "Or could it be… Mr. Victor, is this your plan within a plan?"