Chapter 12: A Clue

Chapter 12: A Clue

As the members of the Black Sheep Gang were talking, they suddenly heard a commotion nearby—it sounded like someone was being robbed in broad daylight.

The Royal Guards immediately rushed over, shouting warnings, "Get down right now, or we have the authority to shoot you!"

Two thugs from the Horse Gang, however, completely ignored them. They slashed their victim and then ran toward a nearby alley without looking back.

These Royal Guards were nothing like the poorly equipped police. Each was armed with a musket and wore breastplates.

The guards quickly lined up, raised their muskets, and the leader shouted one last warning, "Final warning, get down now!"

Instead, the robbers made an obscene gesture behind them and ran even faster. From their experience, as long as they were bold and quick, no one—police or otherwise—could stop them.

However, this time they were facing France's most elite guards.

"Fire!" At the leader's command, five muskets rang out in unison. The two thugs stumbled forward and fell face-first to the ground, their backs riddled with fist-sized holes, blood gushing out.

The precision and deadly efficiency of the Royal Guards left the Black Sheep Gang members trembling with fear.

They exchanged worried glances and, forgetting about checking on their fallen comrades, hurried back to report to their boss.

The Prince's Guard, like an unstoppable force, swept through the entire Saint-Antoine district. By 10 a.m., six gang members had already been shot, and the two gangs, who had been causing havoc everywhere, suddenly lost all their momentum...

This was the order Joseph had given to the Guards: if they encountered criminals and couldn't capture them, they were to be shot on sight! Severe problems required strong measures. If these gang members weren't taught a bloody lesson, who knew how many innocent citizens would continue to suffer? After all, this was the era of absolute monarchy—no one could argue about the criminals' rights. There was no room for mercy!

The leader of the Horse Gang huddled in his hideout, peeking through the curtains at the tall, imposing Royal Guards marching down the street. The sight made his eyelids twitch uncontrollably.

The door to the hideout was constantly being knocked on, bringing news of captured or killed gang members.

By the end of the day, he had lost 17 men. His heart ached,

"I'm just a small-time crook—do they really need to bring in the military?"

The Black Sheep Gang reacted a bit quicker. By noon, they had pulled all their members off the streets, losing only about ten men.

For the next two days, there were no more major incidents in Saint-Antoine. Although Similion offered high rewards, the Royal Guards didn't hold back, killing on sight. No amount of money would be worth it if you didn't live to spend it!

The news that the gang members were retreating reached the police station, and everyone was thrilled, praising the Prince's decisive actions and the Royal Guards' impressive might.

Joseph, however, wasn't swayed by their flattery. He knew well that the Guards had only temporarily intimidated the gang members with their overwhelming force, but it wouldn't be long before the gangs found a way to strike back. After all, the Guards were unfamiliar with the area and had no expertise in criminal investigation.

Moreover, the Guards were mostly knights with titles—asking them to patrol the streets continuously would soon lead to low morale and neglect.

You can't guard against thieves forever. If they didn't root out the mastermind behind this chaos, there would inevitably be more major crimes.

Inspector Arden knocked and entered the room, bowing as he reported,

"Your Highness, we've interrogated the captured criminals. They're all small fry, but many of them mentioned that every time they committed a crime, their leader would get 1,000 livres, and they'd get a good share of that."

Joseph frowned. These guys were indeed being paid to commit crimes. 1,000 livres per job? The mastermind behind this was spending a lot of money!

He instructed Arden to continue the interrogations when a Royal Guard officer quickly entered the room and respectfully bowed,

"Your Highness, my men just captured someone named Valian, and he seems to be a significant figure…"

"Valian?" Arden immediately perked up,

"He's the second-in-command of the Black Sheep Gang! How did you catch him?"

The officer explained,

"He was involved in a brawl at a casino. When we arrived, he tried to escape. My men shot three of his underlings, and he would have been killed too if he hadn't shouted his name."

Arden swallowed hard, feeling a bit of pity for the gang members. He then turned to Joseph,

"Your Highness, Valian might know something. I'll go interrogate him right away!"

Less than an hour later, Magoni came rushing back, not even having had time to wipe the blood off his clothes. He handed a confession to Joseph,

"Your Highness, we've struck gold!"

Joseph read the Black Sheep Gang leader's confession. A man named Raymond had been paying them to cause chaos, offering 1,000 livres per job. He even promised that whichever gang caused the most trouble after a month would receive an additional 20,000 livres.

Joseph frowned slightly,

"What does this Raymond do?"

Arden shook his head, but the police clerk standing nearby suddenly exclaimed,

"He's Mr. Similion's cousin!"

"Similion?" Joseph thought the name sounded familiar.

The clerk clarified,

"The former police commissioner of this district."

Joseph immediately understood. No wonder nearly a hundred officers had requested leave at the same time—their old boss was the mastermind behind all this. Everything made sense now.

Arden, who had been promoted from the civilian patrols, didn't quite grasp the complexities and looked at Joseph with a questioning gaze,

"Your Highness, should we arrest Similion?"

Joseph was about to nod but then paused as something occurred to him. He asked the clerk,

"What was Similion's salary?"

"It should have been 30 livres a month, Your Highness."

"Did he come from a wealthy family?"

"No, Your Highness. Mr. Similion's father was a minor government clerk. They were a modest family."

Joseph narrowed his eyes,

"It would take him over 50 years to save up 20,000 livres at that salary. Where did he get such a large sum of money?"

Arden was startled,

"You think…"

Joseph replied slowly,

"There's likely someone else behind him."

Arden pondered this for a moment,

"Your Highness, I remember Valian mentioned that Raymond showed them a bank statement for the 20,000 livres to prove he had the money. It was from Havre Bank."

"This could be an important lead." Joseph nodded and pulled out a map, finding that Havre was a small bank with only two branches in Paris.

"Earl Aymon, you and Arden…" He hesitated, then shook his head,

"Never mind, I'll go myself."

At the Havre Bank branch closest to City Hall, the bank manager initially refused to allow any records to be checked. But after Joseph revealed his identity and threatened to send secret police to investigate, the manager finally relented.

Similion's transactions were straightforward—just a few entries. He had cashed a 30,000-livre promissory note and then split the money into several deposits, one of which was exactly 20,000 livres.

Joseph silently lamented how unaware people of this era were of financial tracking. But then he found the information he most wanted—the payer of the promissory note was none other than Paris Chief of Police, Viscount Guizot!

(End of Chapter)

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