Europa Universalis 1867: Start by inheriting an armory

"Young Master!" Sean's arm, which was being held by Richard, trembled. "I had no idea where the money and letter came from! You know me best; I would never do anything to betray you!"

Richard glanced at him, then reluctantly shifted his gaze to the row of metal cabinets.

Logan walked to the innermost cabinet. The cabinet door was open, and inside was an old coat that was not folded very neatly. On the shelf below the coat was a small stack of gold coins.

A dozen or so Union Crowns, each bearing a right-side silhouette of William I's head on the obverse, with the suspicious letter pressed beneath them.

Logan carefully pulled out the letter and unfolded it.

The handwriting on the paper was neat and dense, without a heading or signature, but the format was impeccable.

He quickly glanced at it, then sighed and handed the letter to Richard.

Richard took it and began to read.

The letter essentially instructed the recipient to assassinate Richard using anhydrous cyanide. It even detailed the location of Richard's arsenal office floor and the placement of the magnifying glass, and its concise writing style resembled a battle plan.

Reginald, who had been watching closely, also finished reading. He cleared his throat and said, "It seems the case is quite clear now..."

Richard abruptly interrupted him before he could finish speaking.

"Wait a minute, before you draw any conclusions, let me say two things."

Reginald paused, his lips pursed.

"First, if my foreman really is a spy, would a man who worked his way up from the bottom really leave a large sum of gold coins and secret letters in an unlocked factory locker room?"

He glanced at the workers whispering behind the policeman and added, "God knows how many people will sneak through his cigarettes during shift changes. He's not stupid; he'll definitely put this somewhere we'd never expect it, right?"

Reginald pursed his lips, and Richard continued, "Secondly, if this letter really was addressed to my foreman, wouldn't he know where my office is?"

He slapped the letter in his hand: "Why go to the trouble of writing down every detail of the office? This is clearly a frame-up."

Reginald nodded ambiguously, but his tone remained arrogant and commanding: "I understand. Your possibility isn't without merit, but when it comes to a murder case, we can't let any suspicious suspects get away. Especially when it involves...spies."

For some reason, he emphasized the words "spy" and "murder" in particular.

He waved to the patrolman who was holding Sean: "Take him away."

Just when Sean thought he was about to be dragged away by the police officers on both sides, Inspector Logan suddenly stepped forward.

"Wait a minute," he said.

Reginald raised his eyebrows, and every word that followed was delivered like a line from a stage performance: "Anything else, Inspector?"

Logan looked directly into Reginald's eyes and replied firmly, "You yourself said it, this is first and foremost a murder case. Whether espionage is involved is still uncertain, but if it's a murder suspect, Scotland Yard should take over."

Richard's heart sank. Wasn't Logan just standing on his side analyzing the case? How come he's taking Sean to Scotland Yard in the blink of an eye? The interrogation rooms there are no better than the operatives' dungeons.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to stop him, Logan reached out from his side and pinched his arm hard.

Richard paused, swallowing back the words he was about to say.

Reginald shook his head, and threatened slowly, "Detective, this concerns national security. Can you take responsibility for anything that happens?"

Logan put his hands behind his back: "If I ask you anything related to espionage, even a single punctuation mark, I guarantee you'll be the first to know."

Reginald stared at him for a few seconds, then his lips twitched and he tugged at his shirt.

"Alright then, take him with you." He turned around. "I still have to inform Sir Armstrong of his death and write a whole bunch of reports."

As he walked past Richard, he tilted his head slightly, turned his face toward Richard, and blinked rapidly.

Richard immediately understood.

This isn't Logan and Reginald fighting for jurisdiction; it's them putting on a show.

Reginald was tasked with labeling the case as "espionage," letting those in the shadows know that the Secret Service was already closely monitoring the case.

Logan was tasked with taking Sean away under the pretext of a murder, both protecting him and taking him to one of the safest places in London, Scotland Yard, while also making those people mistakenly believe that there was a rift within their team.

Richard glanced at Reginald's arrogant back, still lost in his own emotions, and then looked at Logan's face, which had instantly become the character he was portraying. He couldn't help but give him a thumbs up in his mind.

This is what a veteran actor is like.

Logan walked up to Sean, lowered his head, and whispered a few words in his ear.

Sean's fear and confusion were immediately wiped away by someone's hand, replaced by a look of doubt.

He shifted uncomfortably, not only because the handcuffs hurt, but also because his mind hadn't quite caught up.

Logan straightened up and waved to the patrol officers on either side: "Take him away."

Sean was shoved toward the horse-drawn carriage parked at the factory gate, and the police began shouting to disperse the onlookers.

Richard walked over to Logan and asked, "Do you two have some kind of secret code? You got into character way too fast."

Logan chuckled, a weary sense of humor in his voice: "Yeah, every time this guy sounds like King Lear, I know I'm in for his show."

Richard took a deep breath: "I'll keep that in mind."

Logan pulled his hat brim down further: "Don't worry, your foreman will be fine, but whatever you want to do, you'd better do it quickly. The murderer is in such a hurry to frame someone, he's obviously been alerted, we don't have much time."

Richard shook his head confidently: "The more alarmed he gets, the smoother the plan will proceed."

"Well... take care, Richard." Logan couldn't see through Richard's plan, but he felt the boy was trustworthy, so he patted Richard on the chest and followed the remaining policemen toward the door.

The workers gradually returned to their posts, and Richard knew it was time to confront Eleanor. He didn't want to end up fighting her, because in his eyes, Eleanor wasn't an enemy.

His greatest wish was to completely remove Millie and Eleanor from the life of spies, but if force was necessary...