#obviously my knowledge of britain in general is lacking
(LOL RIP, LH only had the latter half of chapter 35. Unfortunately I couldn’t find raws of the first half, but no worries, I found a detailed JP summary of the whole chapter and used the CN scans as reference…)
While he was out to shop, Watson overhears that the children in town like to pretend to be the Lord of Crime as a game lately. However, the townspeople disapprove of this, saying that those children should use the recently much talked about young Member of Parliament (MP) as a role model instead of mimicking the Lord of Crime.
At the British Empire’s Houses of Parliament, the House of Commons is currently holding a session. Adam Whiteley, the much talked about young MP, proposes a bill that will give all citizens the right to vote instead of just several of the wealthy people.
After exiting the Houses of Parliament and answering the media’s questions, Whiteley is about to board his carriage when notices a strange smell coming from it. He finds a bomb underneath and quickly warns everyone around to evacuate at once. His carriage explodes in the next instant.
Whiteley looks around and captures a man he finds suspicious. He then claims that he can tell just by looking at a person’s face what they’re thinking as they are looking at him. And true to his words, the police found a fuse and a pistol from the captured man’s bag.
Whiteley’s life appears to be targeted by people who would be inconvenienced by the amendments he is trying to pass for the upcoming election. Not to be put down by this, he instead uses this opportunity to exclaim that his dream is to bring equality into reality, which garnered him even more support from the commoners. The commoners then start yelling that people should cease relying on the Lord of Crime, and instead support Whiteley, the true representative of the people.
At the company Heim (sp? ハイム Haimu), a journalist attempts to write a newspaper article on Whiteley’s case, presenting him in a good light. Unfortunately, the editor-in-chief says that Milverton, their president, would not approve of the way the article was framed and asks the journalist to rewrite it. Their newspaper is considered Quality Press (which according to Wiki is a “category of British newspapers in national circulation distinguished by their seriousness”), and is not aimed towards the common people.
At the Milverton residence, Milverton is looking the published newspaper which has an article speculating that Whiteley might have staged the assassination attempt himself.
No matter how good a person Whiteley truly is, no one but the people who were actually there with him could attest to that. The truth that everyone will believe is whatever is published in the newspapers. Milverton claims that this is his power.
Milverton believes that the person who hired the hitman for Whiteley is from the House of Lords. He decides to finish off the captured hitman and use it as leverage for negotiations with the House of Lords.
The next morning, the hitman was found dead in his cell from an injury to his neck caused by a pen. Patterson then informs Whiteley about the matter.
Whiteley thinks that if the hitman was only in it for the money, then it was unlikely that the latter would commit suicide. However, if the hitman was murdered, then that means there is a traitor within Scotland Yard.
And so Whiteley asks Patterson if he could choose the people who will be in charge of the investigation himself. He glances at everyone in the room and picks two investigators– Sturridge and Robinson.
If the investigation goes well and they can prove that there was connection between the hitman and the House of Lords, Whiteley thinks that he can use this information as a bargaining chip to get his bill passed.
Patterson sees right through Whiteley. However, he worries that Whiteley would decide to announce the evidence publicly instead of negotiating for his bill behind the scenes. This matter could turn out very messy. After all, there’s a possibility that it would make the commoners go off the rails and start a revolution, which would then ruin William’s plans to unite the nobles and the commoners.
Patterson then goes to the Moriarty’s and informs them of the situation. William and the others decide to wait and see what Whiteley will do first. The Moriartys might not even have to push through with their plan at all depending on whether or not Whiteley can succeed in bringing equality to the British Empire.
Meanwhile, Milverton returns from his meeting with the House of Lords. The House of Lords asked Milverton to get rid of Whiteley. To do this, Milverton decides to paint Whiteley as the villain, and oust him from his hero status.
