Chapter 26: Country Life 20: The Secret of the Back Mountain
Heather carefully knelt down, her skirt lifted. She pulled a pair of plain white cotton gloves from her pocket and put them on. Gently, she picked up a dead leaf from the ground, flattening it in her palm and examining it carefully.
"Silver-gray leaves, radial in shape." Heather was so focused on examining the object in her hand that she didn't even notice Lancaster squatting next to her.
She tried to crush a small piece of the outer edge of the leaf.
"The interior is filled with fibrous vascular bundles, which is clearly not the cold-resistant structure of a native British plant. Furthermore, there's a blue chemical substance at the base of the leaves, which I don't know what it is. So it must have been brought in from abroad."
Lancaster looked at her deeply and asked, "You know a lot about plants?"
Heather was completely lost in her own world. "Understand? Yes, it looks familiar, I should be able to guess it, but what exactly is it?" She brought it a little closer and sniffed it. "There's a strange smell, not that of plants. Is there something on it?"
Lancaster said, "If it was brought here by humans, there should be more than just a few leaves." He stood up and looked around, following the trail of scattered leaves. "Look, there's a box over there. Perhaps it has something to do with these leaves."
Heather looked up immediately. She agreed with Lancaster's idea and was about to reach out to take the box and take a look.
Lancaster stopped her, pulled out a pair of thick black leather gloves, and said, "Stay away for now. I'll do it. I wonder if there are any dangerous chemicals in here."
Heather obediently withdrew her hand, waiting impatiently for him to check.
Lancaster first poked the box with a branch. It looked like an ordinary wooden box. Since it had not rained in Longbourn, although it had some signs of being broken, it was generally intact and was placed diagonally on the slope without sinking into the soil.
Lancaster turned it over, and they all leaned over to examine it. Inside the box were cigars.
Heather excitedly grabbed Lancaster's sleeve and whispered, "So that's how it is! No wonder I thought the leaves smelled like smoke! They must be using this plant to moisturize the cigars during transportation. I'll go back and check if cigars have high humidity requirements, and then I'll find out."
Lancaster couldn't help but glance at the sleeve she was holding, and thought inappropriately that she really looked like a child holding his parents in front of the glass case in a candy store.
He coughed and said, "No need to check. You're right. Cigars are made from fermented tobacco leaves, and it's best to maintain a humidity level of around 70%. Too dry will cause the leaves to crack and taste acrid, while too moist will make them difficult to ignite and taste sour."
He pulled a cigar from the box, turned it halfway around, and found a small mark. "This is a Cuban Havana cigar, the most valuable and precious commodity in London right now. Due to the long shipping distances and the difficulty in preservation, the quality of Havana cigars on the market varies greatly. Even so, Havana cigars still command high prices. However, not long ago, customs discovered a batch of cigars in extremely good condition. Could there really be some special new method that allows them to withstand such long sea journeys?"
Heather understood completely. "That's right, it must be a small wild epiphytic pineapple. I saw it in a book called Tillandsia diversifolia. Its leaves are covered with shield-like hairs that absorb moisture from the air. Its fibrous stems can absorb ten times its own weight in water and then slowly release the moisture."
Heather used a small branch to pry the cigars apart a bit. "Look, there's Tillandsia diversifolia underneath the cigars. Soak them in water, squeeze them until they're half-dry, and spread them on the bottom of the box. Maybe they'll keep them moisturized longer. Apparently, a caravan accidentally dropped them while transporting them here. That's a clever idea."
Lancaster thoughtfully took out all the cigars and plants and placed them on the handkerchief spread on the ground. The blue velvet lining at the bottom of the box was exposed, and there was nothing else.
He knocked on the sides and bottom of the box, then pondered for a moment. "It's a perfectly valid argument. This method might be very suitable for widespread use. However, I still feel something is amiss. The problem lies with the box itself. The sides are made of wood of normal thickness, but the bottom is exceptionally thick and heavy."
Lancaster took off one of his gloves and took out a delicate silver tweezers from his inside pocket. Heather looked at him in surprise. He actually carried such a thing with him. Could it be that besides being a lawyer, he was also a specially hired police officer or a forensic doctor?
Lancaster used tweezers to pick up the edge of the velvet at the bottom, and with a little force, he completely peeled off the thin cloth. There was actually a whole wax block fixed underneath, and the surface of the wax block was dyed a mottled blue by the velvet.
Heather started brainstorming and guessed, "So it's the weight of the wax. That shouldn't be a problem. Maybe it's to keep the box more stable during shipping, or to act as a buffer, right?"
Lancaster didn't say anything. He quickly put the cigars and plants back into place, then took out a folded black cloth bag from his pocket and put the entire box in it.
He grabbed Heather's arm and pulled her up, whispering to her, "Follow me closely, let's get out of here first. This definitely doesn't come from a legitimate source. This is probably a fixed smuggling route. It would be dangerous if we ran into their convoy."
smuggling?
Heather was frightened. She had not personally experienced the escape from France, nor had she been exposed to the modern mentality of large-scale criminal activities. Suddenly, she went from an outdoor botany class to the scene of today's speech, which made her panic.
Heather immediately grabbed Lancaster's arm, looked around, and lowered his voice and said, "Could it be that some smugglers are here to scout the area? Don't scare me, Mr. Lancaster. Were we deliberately lured here to catch them in a trap?"
"Excuse me." Lancaster half-hugged Heather as they walked down the mountain, saying, "Don't be afraid. It's not dark yet, so it's highly likely no one will come. Besides, I'm armed with a gun, so even if someone does come and confronts me, I might not lose."
Heather was even more frightened after hearing this, so she could only urge him to run down quickly. When they finally got out of the woods, the sun had already disappeared.
After reaching the main road, Lancaster let go of Heather. Heather breathed a sigh of relief and then remembered to ask him.
"How do you know it's smuggled? I've heard people say there are a lot of London-bound traders in Longbourn. Perhaps it's just cigar dealers?"
Lancaster shook his head. "If the plant you're talking about is used to moisturize cigars, wax blocks would pose a risk during transportation. Wax blocks melt easily in high temperatures and could seep into the tobacco if you're not careful. Furthermore, impurities in the wax blocks could react with the cigar oils and produce a rancid odor. I've never seen anyone add wax blocks during transportation."
Heather suddenly realized that this was the case. She had never been good at chemistry and knew very little about this kind of knowledge.
Lancaster's expression was unusually serious. He continued, "I once worked in the Customs Department. I know that cigars are the most common contraband. Similarly, wax blocks are often used to conceal contraband. But the two are obviously not suitable for each other. This means that there is something else hidden in the wax block."
They could already see the Bennett house in the distance. Heather was now completely relaxed. She began to speculate excitedly: "What could it be? Jewelry? Pills? Could it be secret information?"
Lancaster chuckled softly, "If the intelligence was truly lost, after all the digging and digging for so many days, we should have been able to find it along the way."
He pulled out the blue velvet cloth that he had not had time to put back from the bag and spread it out for Heather to see. If you looked carefully, you could easily see some glittering gold powder on it.
"Could it be gold?" Heather's imagination ran wild.
"That's right. The law prohibits the export of gold during wartime to prevent the loss of gold reserves. Also, some European countries, like France, are currently experiencing a gold shortage and are buying back gold at high prices, so smuggling gold can be very profitable. Furthermore, gold dust is much easier to store than gold bars. Once it's cleared from customs, you can extract the gold dust by heating a wax block over water."
Lancaster thought of more than that. He could easily imagine the deep rot beneath the splendor of London: the king who was unable to govern due to mental illness, the regent who was extravagant and dissolute, and the customs who could be easily bribed.
This woman in front of me seemed to know nothing and had nothing to do with the undercurrents of London. She casually and easily removed the gauze on the festering scar that had just appeared, and found the thread that many people hiding in the dark could not find.
Lancaster was able to stand firm in the center of the vortex, which showed that he had great abilities. He disdained to associate with some low-quality things for the sake of money and power. But if someone thought that he was a loyal and patriotic pillar because of this, they were totally wrong.
Most of the time he was just too bored, so bored that the more dangerous and difficult the matter was, the more he wanted to watch and intervene. It was one of his hobbies to admire those self-righteous fools getting themselves into trouble.
However, Lancaster did not explain the complicated and dark things behind the incident. He just said, "Don't worry. This matter touches the interests of those bigwigs. When I return to London, someone will come and clean up this smuggling route. It will not affect the peaceful life of Longbourn."
Heather looked at him worriedly. "You don't want to report this to the higher-ups alone, do you? It's too dangerous. What if someone gets desperate and does something?"
Lancaster walked Heather to her doorstep and stopped. "Eat well and sleep well. Tomorrow is the hunt you've been looking forward to. Don't worry, I've been in London for so many years. I'm not the only one who can tip off others. I won't get into trouble."
Heather frowned and repeatedly asked him, but Lancaster patiently gave him a positive answer. Heather thought about it and felt relieved: "Okay, for now, I believe that Mr. Lancaster is omnipotent, so you must pay attention to safety and don't let me down."
Lancaster laughed again, waved to her, and walked towards Netherfield in the sunset.
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