In order not to arouse suspicion, Lawrence sent someone to secretly send Grosso and the three injured patrolmen to Grosso's own station halfway.
And the Earl's followers have also been imprisoned in the dungeon by Lawrence.
"Has everything been taken care of?"
Lawrence sat in the lobby of the station and asked old Sean who was coming up from the dungeon.
Old Sean scratched his head in embarrassment and said:
"Uh... Monsieur Bonaparte, you brought too many people this time, and the cells can't even fit in them."
"It's okay, just squeeze together."
Lawrence waved his hand and said:
"They won't be in the dungeon for long anyway."
"Not long?"
Old Sean pondered this sentence with some confusion, but did not ask Lawrence out loud.
As a human being, Old Sean knows very well what things he should know and what things he should not know.
"Old Sean, bring me a clear-headed one among those people..."
Lawrence was giving instructions to old Sean when he suddenly remembered the Maria who was arguing with him just now. He didn't seem to have drunk much, so he should be more relaxed when asking questions, so he said:
"By the way, bring the man who just called himself a gentleman."
"yes."
Old Sean responded, turned around and returned to the dungeon. After a while, he brought Maria to Lawrence's side.
Maria's face was half frightened and half angry, and she walked to Lawrence uneasily.
Having just walked around the dungeon and seeing the numbness and pain of the other prisoners, he no longer even had the confidence he had just now:
"Monsignor Bonaparte...what do you want to do?"
Lawrence patted the chair next to him and said with a smile:
"Please take a seat, gentleman."
Later, Lawrence said to old Sean behind him:
"Old Sean, you go to the dungeon to supervise and put the British in place."
"clear."
Old Sean left quickly after saying these words. As smart as he was, he immediately understood what Lawrence meant. This was because he did not want a third person to hear the conversation with the British man.
"Your Excellency Bonaparte, sir! Please believe me, I really did not participate in the fight. I did not fight those four Corsicans."
Maria sat down next to Lawrence tremblingly. As soon as she sat down, she kept mumbling.
"Okay, I'll ask questions and you answer them. As long as you cooperate well, I will find out the truth. Do you understand?"
Lawrence waved his hand to interrupt Maria's mumbling and said bluntly:
"What's your name? Where are you from? What do you do?"
"My name is Maria Hawke. I'm from London. I'm... a doctor."
"You came here on the Reasonable, right? Why did you come to Ajaccio?" Lawrence nodded and asked.
"this..."
There was obvious hesitation on Maria's face, and she calmed down for a while before saying:
"I came here with my employer."
"Employer? Who is your employer?"
The answer he wanted was close before his eyes. Lawrence suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked without changing his expression.
When Maria heard this question, her expression froze for a moment, and then she nervously said with divergent eyes:
"It's...a wealthy businessman named Lures Hanna."
Lawrence glanced at Maria, his unfocused look typical of lying in a tense situation.
In addition, the identity of the employer mentioned by Maria did not match the count that Lawrence knew, so Lawrence directly warned in a deep voice:
"Mr. Maria, I would like to give you a kind reminder. I will ask the same question to other people. If I get a different answer, it will be very interesting."
Maria swallowed nervously, and he could tell that Lawrence knew he was lying.
"not to mention..."
Lawrence looked at Maria, who was trembling a little, and continued:
"If everyone else gave the same answer, and you, Mr. Maria, gave me a different answer, I would have to reconsider who was the leader of the fight."
"me..."
Maria was speechless and froze on the spot, finally able to say a complete sentence:
"But, Your Excellency Bonaparte, we have received orders to identify the employer, and we really cannot disclose it..."
"Well, it seems that Mr. Maria has a strong sense of contract."
Lawrence's sharp eyes swept across Maria's face, and he said slowly:
"I think I should talk to other people. I believe not everyone is as determined as you. You can go back to the dungeon."
After hearing Lawrence's words, Maria was still stunned in her seat. It would be as uncomfortable as death for him to return to the dark and damp dungeon. It was not a place for a well-educated gentleman like him.
What's more, in Maria's eyes, once the iron door that imprisons her is closed, who knows if there will be a chance to open it.
Lawrence also noticed Maria's struggle and did not urge him to leave. Instead, he sat in his seat and waited for him to make a decision.
After a long while, I heard Maria suddenly say hurriedly:
"He...his name is William Pitt, who is also the Earl of Chatham. He is a politician. Your Excellency, Bonaparte, I can only tell you so much!"
This short sentence seemed to drain all the strength from Maria's body, and after finishing speaking, she collapsed on the chair as if she was exhausted.
William Pitt...Old William Pitt?!
Lawrence's pupils trembled slightly, the appearance of this name was beyond his expectation.
Although William Pitt does not appear to be outstanding when looking at the entire history, if we focus on Europe at the end of the 18th century, then his name is definitely well-known.
Because he was the former Prime Minister of the Kingdom of England and was the number one hero in commanding the English army to win the Seven Years' War. Even Frederick the Great of Prussia once commented on him:
“Britain’s long period of colic produced real men.”
Although there were thousands of thoughts in his heart, in front of Maria, Lawrence still pretended not to care as if he heard the name of a farmer. He just nodded with satisfaction and did not continue to ask about William Pitt.
Lawrence knew very well that after Maria was released, she would definitely be questioned about the conversation with him. If he continued to question him at this moment, he would be away from the subject of the interrogation of the fight.
Later, Lawrence casually asked a few questions about what happened in the tavern at that time. Maria was very excited by these questions and kept telling her innocence.
"Okay, okay, Mr. Maria, I believe in your innocence and you won't stay in the dungeon for too long."
After a while, Lawrence waved his hand impatiently to interrupt Maria, and drove him back to the dungeon.
With Maria's departure, Lawrence could finally free his mind and began to ponder the information he had just obtained based on his memories from his previous life:
"William Pitt... It's 1770, so he should no longer be the Prime Minister of England."
In Lawrence's memory, Pitt lost political power in 1768, was forced to resign as prime minister, and was granted the title Earl of Chatham.
Obtaining a title of nobility is not a good thing for British politicians, because it means that they will not be able to act in the House of Commons and can only stay in the House of Lords without many rights to retire.
And this time Pitt was willing to leave the political center of London and take huge political risks to come to remote Corsica, which convinced Lawrence that he must have come with some unknown purpose.
As the former Prime Minister of the Kingdom of England, it is no wonder that Paulie received his visit with such a high standard that day.
What puzzled Lawrence even more was that such a person actually chose to hide his identity and come to Corsica on a warship.
This combination can only mean one thing, and that is that Pitt's visit to Corsica will not be a private act, but a meeting with Paulie on behalf of England.
Moreover, the content of the talks may be a secret agreement that must be hidden from the Corsican people and even from neighboring countries.
"Now it's just a small step closer to the truth... William Pitt, what exactly is he and Pauley plotting."