Observations from France (3)

"Keep an eye on him, but don't give anything away," the policeman instructed before leaving. He then went out the door and headed to the next hotel.

After a busy morning, young policeman Vieri finally returned to the police station. He first went to Chief Inspector Alain to report the situation, as was customary.

"Sheriff, this is a list of new guests checking into each hotel today," Vieri said, handing the notebook to Alain.

"Is there anyone noteworthy?" Alain took the notebook, set it aside, and asked.

"There was a Britain named Kolya who lived next to Fifth Factory. You know, this factory belongs to the Northern Industrial Company and produces all sorts of deadly things. Some foreigners have always been very interested in some of the secrets there."

"Of course I know that. Wasn't it because Inspector Olivier caught an Austria spy trying to steal secrets at Fifth Factory that he became the deputy director?"

"That's true. I heard that Deputy Director Olivier has been trying to persuade his superiors to let him return here as deputy director to continue investigating that case. He said there were still some fugitives who escaped last time," Vieri said. "Deputy Director Olivier isn't young; he's only two years away from retirement. Why is he working so hard? Does he still want to be promoted to director?"

"Promoted to bureau chief? How is that possible? Let's not even talk about the fact that he's almost retired. Bureau chief isn't something you can just become by solving cases, is it?" Alain said with a pursed lip. "He can forget about becoming bureau chief, but he definitely wants to get his salary increased by two levels before he retires, to the top of the deputy bureau chief position, so he can go home and live a comfortable life with a good retirement pension."

For a deputy director to become a director is almost as difficult as Madame du Barry (Louis XV's mistress) becoming queen. But to get a two-grade raise, all you really need to do is solve a few cases.

As he spoke, Sheriff Alain flipped through the logbook. He quickly found Fagin's record, stared at it for a moment, then shook his head and said, "He just registered his own nationality directly, without even bothering to get a fake document to disguise it. There shouldn't be any major problems, right? But whether there are problems or not, we still have to keep an eye on things. Even if we catch a clumsy thief, that's still a contribution..."

Just then, an old man dressed in plain clothes walked in from outside.

"Director Oliveira, what brings you here again?" Alain quickly stood up.

"Ah, this is my old haunt. It feels so familiar here. The police station is so boring. Ah, on my way here today, I saw a thief. Definitely a thief, I knew it at a glance. He was right next to Fifth Factory, chatting with those workers. I didn't want to alert him, so I didn't follow him. Um, could I see your hotel registration information from yesterday..."

As a result, Deputy Director Oliveira immediately noticed the record about Fagin.

"Hmm, interesting." Deputy Director Oliveira immediately noticed Fagin's entry. "A Britain openly living next to Fifth Factory, making no attempt to hide his identity... Alain, do you think they might be part of a large group, this Britain ..."

Deputy Director Oliveira pointed to the record with his finger and said, "This Britain is likely a decoy. He'll operate openly to draw our attention, thus providing cover for the other thieves hiding in the shadows. Hmm, if that's the case, we're in for a lot of trouble. Alain..."

Deputy Director Oliveira glanced at Alain, noticing his somewhat listless expression, and said, "Alain, you know, I'm about to retire."

Those words had an immediate effect. Alain was instantly motivated.

"Chief, should we arrest that Britain and interrogate him thoroughly?"

"No need, but have someone keep an eye on him. Just two rookies will do, of course. I think that old scoundrel I encountered might be the key figure. Hmm, tomorrow Vieri, you keep an eye on that Britain. Alain, you put on civilian clothes and come with me to find that old scoundrel..."

The next afternoon, Fagin returned to his hotel. He had been out all day and had seen quite a bit. In general, France was far from paradise. Although the workers' lives were much better than in Britain, they could barely manage to fill their stomachs. Compared to before the revolution, their lives had changed considerably and improved significantly, but they were still vulnerable to any upheaval; sudden illness or injury could wipe them out.

"If I had joined the army and gone to war back then, things might have been different." Many workers and Fagin mentioned this point. "In fact, not many people die in the army. But the pay is quite good, and there are many benefits after discharge. For example, you can buy land from the government at a low price—with land, who would still work in a factory?"

Besides lamenting not being able to join the army during the war years, many people also had another expectation.

"I've heard that ships can now freely navigate to the New World, so going New World might be a good option. It's just farming, right? I've heard it's relatively easy to acquire a piece of land there. Once I've earned enough money in the factory, I'll go to the New World and become a happy farmer..."

"France workers, compared to their Britain counterparts, not only had more bread, but at least they had more hope. Although many were hoping for war to break out soon, that didn't seem like a good thing..."

Besides this, Fei Jin also discovered that someone was following him. The follower was a seasoned pro; he had traveled from the Saint-Antoine District to a nearby affluent area, employing various tactics, including finding a police officer and feigning panic, saying, "Officer, I've noticed someone following me, from the XX bank all the way here..." Only through these methods did he manage to shake off the pursuer. Encountering a skilled stalker in such a slum was no ordinary occurrence.

Generally speaking, such skilled stalkers are either police officers or gang members. However, in terms of numbers, police officers are more numerous. Moreover, there are some differences between the methods used by police and gang members in stalking. For example, gang members usually don't follow someone out of their own territory, and the Saint-Antoine District and the adjacent wealthy area are clearly not the territory of the same gang. Therefore, Fagin estimated that the person following him was most likely a police officer.

Although the Saint-Antoine District has police (which is much better London), the number of police officers is far less than in other areas. The probability of encountering a skilled individual is naturally even lower. It seems too strange that I've been targeted by the police so soon after arriving in Paris.

"Something big must have happened here, so... I just happened to stumble upon it."

With that thought in mind, Fagin returned to the hotel.

As soon as Fagin entered the hotel, he saw the owner approaching with a France policeman.

"Mr. Kolya?" asked the young policeman Vieri.

"Yes. Is there something you need?" Fagin was slightly surprised; he hadn't expected to encounter a policeman in a run-down hotel in a slum.

"It's like this," Vieri said, pulling out a sheet of paper. "We often need to check the information of the travelers here... What brought you to Paris?"

"It seems there really is some big case," Fagin thought to himself, and replied, "I have a friend who came to France a few years ago. I recently heard he's in Paris now, so I came here to see him."

"What's his name? Also, do you have his address?" Vieri asked as he took notes.

"Jacob Gallen," Fagin replied, adding that some trivial details were better true than fabricated, "But I've only heard that I've seen him in the Saint-Antoine District of Paris; I don't know where he lives."

"Paris is a huge city; it's not easy to find someone. You came all the way to Paris just because of a rumor?"

"Of course not, I'm just passing by. I'm heading south in a few days," Fagin replied.

"What business do you have in the south? Ah, you don't have to answer that question."

"Ah, it's no secret, just doing business. Of course, I can't say anything more specific," Fagin replied.

"One last question. When do you plan to leave Paris?" Vieri asked.

"The day after tomorrow. I'll inquire again tomorrow and try to find him. I'll leave the day after tomorrow," Fagin replied. To be honest, he didn't want to be dragged into some big case for no reason.

"Okay, thank you for your cooperation. I hope I haven't bothered you too much." Vieri put away his notebook and left.

Vieri hadn't gone far from the door when he ran into Deputy Director Oliveira, who was disguised as an old worker.

"Vieri, what did that Britain you just saw look like?" Deputy Director Oliveira asked.

Vieri then described Fagin's appearance and clothing in detail.

"Damn it! This is the same old thief I saw yesterday! What on earth is he doing?"

"Should we send men over immediately to arrest him?" Vieri asked.

"No need, keep an eye on him. I'll keep an eye on him this time. He's definitely up to something!" Deputy Director Oliveira said.

Being rid of by that old scoundrel in that way left Deputy Director Oliveira feeling deeply humiliated. He was determined to uncover the man's conspiracy.

However, the next day he discovered that his previous guesses might all be wrong.

The next morning, the old thief went out as usual. The cunning fellow went straight to the wealthy area. Yesterday, Deputy Director Oliveira, dressed in worker's clothes, was stopped by his colleague because his attire was too out of place in the wealthy area, and he lost his target.

But this time was different. Deputy Director Oliveira dressed in clothes that would be acceptable anywhere and quietly followed behind Fagin.

As for Fagin, he didn't deliberately play hide-and-seek with Deputy Director Oliveira today. Instead, after learning about the situation in the wealthy area, he went directly to the Ministry of Truth.