Granville's estate

"Carbo? Viscount Durand actually named his attendant that name."

Alred smiled in surprise when he heard Kabo's name, then he frowned inexplicably, and looked at his friend: "However, Louis, how do you know that the person next to the Viscount is called What?"

"Ah, when we were at, at the Opera House, I heard the Viscount call that to the squire next to him."

Louis didn't expect Alred to ask such a question suddenly. He explained something in a panic, and then changed the subject immediately: "Did you give the letter to Karbo, Joseph?"

"Ah, sir, I recognized the valet, but he didn't recognize me." Joseph said, looking very proud: "When I think that the two gentlemen are still at home waiting for me to go back, I feel anxious." I rushed over and bumped into the gentleman—the people who followed him were shocked by me, thinking that I wanted to steal his money box! I slipped the letter to the gentleman and said to him 'This is what Mr. Louis du Farentin wants to give to Mr. Viscount de Durand', after that Mr. Carbo figured it out, he asked me to wait outside, and then went in with the letter."

"Then did the Viscount ask Mr. Dumont to come here with you?" Alred asked. At this time, he heard Bernard's rough voice from downstairs, and hurriedly signaled Joseph not to speak.

I don't know what Mr. Dumont said to Bernard after they left, although Bernard's voice still sounded so rude, but he didn't have the same aggressive momentum when he treated Alred like before: "No , Mr. Dumont, this is absolutely impossible! Because of Mr. de Granville and his accomplices, I lost a lot of money, and I should be compensated accordingly!"

"Mr. Bernard, you should not only see a small benefit in front of you, but ignore the bigger crisis. You know, if such a thing is spread, not only the customers in Paris will question the credibility of your firm Even the old customers in Plymouth who have cooperated with you for more than ten years will also doubt the quality of the tea they have bought from you for so many years."

Mr. Dumont's voice was gentle and placid, but his words were not so mild and innocuous: "England has stricter penalties for tea fraud than our laws, because they drink tea as we drink wine, So it is even more intolerable to poison the people by adulterating tea. Mr. Bernard, I have heard of a case where a grocer sold fake tea for less than one hundred pounds, and the judge in London in this case Awarded him a fine of £2000, which is fifty thousand francs—I suppose, sir, you don't want your Plymouth customers to be suspicious of your goods on some bad gossip, and send your firm to Go to the judgment seat in England. Then your troubles will be endless."

"Sir, old Jacques has always done business with integrity. The goods sold by my firm have never had any problems. I am not afraid of what you said."

Although he said such tough words, Bernard's momentum was obviously at a disadvantage in the contest with Dumont.

Louis and Alred upstairs almost held their breath listening to the conversation downstairs. Obviously, Mr. Dumont knew Bernard's business dealings very well, and he listed several tea merchants in Plymouth. The big customers even know where these customers will resell the tea they received-these details are so detailed that it is impossible for ordinary people to grasp the information, which must be better than the storm in the ears of the tea merchant who has a ghost The thunder before it comes will be even more terrifying!

"This Dumont is really powerful, no wonder Viscount Durand sent him here." Alred whispered to Louis, and Mr. Dumont's behavior really made him angry: "He knows so much, even Bernard This kind of person knows which batch of tea sold is delivered to which merchant ship. This kind of person is really terrible! If he reports the news to the police station in England to expose Bernard's tea as a problem, Bernard Nader is definitely going to have a big fall."

"This should be the reason why Viscount Durand asked us to listen to him in everything." Louis said, thinking that with Mr. Dumont around, his friend could be freed from Bernard's blackmail, he felt sincerely Blessed; but he felt his soul shudder at the thought of the promise written in the letter he had Joseph send to the Durand Bank.

Holy Mary, please forgive my soul!

His thoughts and emotions seem to be divided into two halves. One half of Louis is praying that Mr. Dumont can quickly defeat the conspiracy of Clement and Bernard, so as to save his friend from the whirlpool of crime; The prayer time passed slowly, and slowly, so that he didn't have to think about how he would face the fact of Viscount Durand.

The conversation in the living room on the first floor was still going on, and when Bernard was at a disadvantage in this negotiation, Officer Clement's unhurried voice intervened: "So, Mr. Dumont, do you want this The crimes implicating M. de Granville disappeared."

"It was for the best that it never happened, Monsieur Inspector, for you, or for Monsieur Bernard, or for Monsieur de Granville and my client."

"You are embarrassing me, Monsieur Dumont, and while I sympathize with Mr. de Granville being compelled to be involved in this crime, since it was a wrongful act in my jurisdiction, I respect I cannot fail to fulfill my duties as the officer in charge."

"Of course, sir, the entire No.12 district is under your jurisdiction, and you have the responsibility and power to investigate crimes."

After saying what seemed to be a compliment, Mr. Dumont suddenly changed his subject: "But with all due respect, Officer Claremont, your boss, Mr. Thomas, Police Chief, has an upright personality, hates evil, and is a bit irritable. When I took office, I ordered the entire city to hunt down all criminals, and even those who stole bread crumbs should be thrown into prison."

"If you let Mr. Thomas know that in your jurisdiction, under your nose, such a criminal activity that lasted for several months and will implicate the reputation of many merchants and the reputation of several nobles, you would Never noticed it—with all due respect, sir, Mr Thomas is in such a character that he must have doubted your abilities or your character."

"You speak too seriously, sir. Any reasonable person will know that it is unrealistic to wipe out all the criminals in the world. Those criminals who should be sent to prison can always come up with the most ingenious The means and methods of crime, and it is only our duty to fight these criminals."

"Yes, that's always the case, but at this particular time, Mr. Inspector, being too conspicuous is not a good thing."

This was a tough negotiation. If time could be turned back, Officer Claremont would probably choose not to let the people on St. George Street send any letters, so Alred and Louis would never have the strength to fight them; but , although Bernard did not get the manor he had been coveting, Clermont police officer got another result he wanted from Mr. Dumont: Mr. Dumont promised that as long as this matter goes smoothly, he can Say something nice to the Vicomte Calliste de Durand, so that the Viscount can say something nice to the policeman before Monsieur Thomas, the prefect of Paris, and His Royal Highness the Count Artois—for the first man who is striving to become rich. For Clermont, the next senior police officer in District 16 or District No. [-], this is undoubtedly what he needs most.

Of course, Mr. Dumont is not the Viscount de Durand, and the benefits of a few words from him are not enough to make Officer Clermont let go. Some reasonable remuneration will be paid accordingly.

After more than an hour of negotiations, Mr. Dumont sent his servants up to the second floor to ask Louis and Alred to come down.

"Gentlemen," said Dumont to Alred and Louis as they entered the drawing-room on the first floor, "I have reached an agreement on this matter with M. Jacques Bernard and M. Clermont, and I Two thousand francs will be paid to Monsieur Bernard for the two deeds in his possession, and twenty thousand francs to Monsieur Guillonet du Clermont for his disposal of Sologne Grostel The cost of those criminal traces left in the No. 12 area."

This result was beyond Alred's expectation - it was clearly a fraudulent scam set against him, yet Dumont still had to pay those two vampires a large sum of money!To be honest, he was unwilling to give them a penny: "Why..."

Just when Alred's question was about to blurt out, Louis pulled his friend hard, and then said before Alred: "Sir, I have left this matter to you, and Trust your ability and judgment to bring about the best outcome for us."

"Thank you for your trust, Mr. Farentin." Dumont said to Louis, and at the same time he gave Alred a warning look.

This look undoubtedly reminded Alred of what he said before, and in the end, the young nobleman still had to lower his head, gritted his teeth and said his approval against his will: "I agree with your decision, Mr. Dumont. "

Even more reluctant than Allred was Jacques Bernard, the frustrated tea merchant whose face was as gloomy as the sky before a storm, and after hearing Allred's words, he He took out two neatly bound contracts from the pocket-sized tuxedo jacket and threw them on the table in front of Dumont.

"Ah, Monsieur de Granville, you have enviable luck this time!"

Bernard's eccentric tone when he spoke to Alred was very uncomfortable. He looked at Louis and sneered: "I sincerely hope that with the help of your friends, your good luck will last forever. Stretch out."

"Then, Inspector Du Clermont, the matter is settled."

Mr. Dumont acted as if he hadn't heard Bernard's malicious words at all. After Alred confirmed that the two documents on the table were indeed documents related to his family's reputation, he signed two bills, one One was given to Bernard, the other to Guillonet du Clermont.

When handing the 10,000-franc note to Bernard, the senior executive of the Durand Bank also said something to the cunning tea merchant very sincerely: "Monsieur Bernard, if you have [-] + If you have cash in francs, you can consider depositing the money in our bank. Although the annual interest rate we give is lower than other banks, we are absolutely reliable and guarantee that we will not cheat customers or act like some small banks Just like going bankrupt at will and letting customers lose all their money.”

These words made Bernard so angry that he snatched the bill from Mr. Dumont's hand and stuffed it into his pocket, then kicked the chair next to him, and didn't even look back without saying goodbye. walked out.

In contrast, Guillonet du Clermont's performance was much more decent. The police officer took the bill signed by Mr. Dumont without changing his face, and then stood up to greet them: "Well, See you later, gentlemen."

"Goodbye, Mr. Inspector."

After Officer Clement also left the living room, Allred finally couldn't bear it anymore: "Mr. Dumont, why did you..."

"Ah, gentlemen, I know what you want to say, but I will wait until my servant returns."

"servant?"

Mr. Dumont's words confused the two friends, but they didn't wait for long. After a few minutes, the servant named John brought by Dumont came in from the outside.

"Sir, those two gentlemen have gone away in a carriage."

"Did they say anything when they left, John?"

"Here you go again, sir, and you know what they will say, in the presence of two honorable gentlemen."

"Of course I know what they're going to say, but I just want to hear it, John."

"Well then, since that's what you want to do." The servant John said, he looked at Louis and Alred on the side, then cleared his throat, imitating Bernard's voice, and said word by word The tea merchant commented on Mr. Dumont:

"That damned lackey of Durand Bank!"