Chapter 480: Marat's Fighting Spirit
In the western suburbs of Paris, at the headquarters of the Public Integrity Investigation Bureau, Joseph glanced at Desmoulins, who stood before him, and then at the work report he had just brought. He casually asked, "Is Mr. Marat not here?"
"Uh… no, Your Highness," stammered Desmoulins, the second-in-command at the Investigation Bureau. "He… he left for Poitou the day before yesterday."
Joseph remembered that the Governor of Poitou, the Earl of Norfolk, was one of the two governors opposing the abolition of the tax farming system. He nodded slightly. "Is he investigating the Earl of Norfolk?"
"No… no, Your Highness," Desmoulins shook his head. "He's investigating corruption in the waterworks department regarding repair funds."
Joseph frowned as he flipped through the investigation bureau's report and asked, "Has Mr. Marat recently assigned a lot of new investigation tasks?"
"Yes… yes, Your Highness."
Desmoulins helped him turn to the last few pages, where, sure enough, there were many investigation plans listed. But as Joseph skimmed through them, his frown deepened—the majority of these investigations were assigned to a single investigator with only five to eight days to complete them. What could possibly be uncovered in such a short time with so few resources?
Damn! Joseph suddenly realized that Marat was just playing him. He wasn't taking the investigations seriously at all.
Joseph felt a surge of anger. If the Intelligence Bureau were more efficient at uncovering corruption and if using intelligence agents to investigate officials wouldn't provoke an outcry from the bureaucrats, he would have handed the job over to Fouché.
He was about to reprimand Desmoulins when he remembered that doing so might backfire with the Jacobins. With a sigh, he rose to leave.
"It seems I'll have to put some pressure on Mr. Marat."
As he got into the carriage, Joseph thought for a moment and then said to Eymard, "Take me to the Intelligence Bureau."
"Yes, Your Highness."
...
In Bourges, a city in central-southern France, Séchilien, a second-class investigator from the Public Integrity Investigation Bureau, was listlessly flipping through the city's financial records, stifling a yawn.
Just as Mr. Marat had said, the city commissioner, Baron de Bastion, and the city treasurer, Mr. Côme, appeared to be clean. This investigation was turning out to be nothing more than a sad political maneuver.
The records were spotless. Over the past few days, Séchilien had also checked their bank accounts and spoken to other officials who knew them, but found nothing suspicious.
"That's enough," he muttered, closing the ledger and standing up. "Just two more days, and I can head back to Paris. This has been more like a vacation than an investigation."
As he left the city hall and was about to hail a carriage, a burly man with a low-pulled hat suddenly bumped into him from around the corner.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" Séchilien shouted after the man, but he acted as if he hadn't heard, keeping his head down and disappearing into the crowd.
When Séchilien returned to his hotel and reached into his pocket for his keys, his fingers brushed against a piece of paper. He didn't remember putting anything like that in his pocket, so he quickly pulled it out to read it. The note contained only two sentences: "Go back to Paris. There's nothing for you to find here. Leave now while you can, or you'll meet with disaster!"
Séchilien's face flushed with anger. Personally chosen by Marat, he was a staunch Jacobin, committed to his duty. Gritting his teeth, he growled, "Cowards! Do they think they can scare me off with this? For the sake of the people, I will expose your corruption to the world!"
He tore the note to pieces and wrote a letter to the Investigation Bureau, stating that he believed there were serious issues in Bourges and requesting an extension for his investigation.
Then, following the techniques Marat had taught him, he went straight to the home of Bourges' most reputable journalist.
Meanwhile, the man who had bumped into him earlier watched as Séchilien left and smiled. That evening, he sent a letter to his superior at the Intelligence Bureau, reporting that the "ignition" plan was proceeding smoothly.
At the same time, investigators across France who were tasked with investigating those 40-plus officials were encountering a variety of challenges.
Some were threatened at knifepoint by thugs, warning them to stop their investigations. Others were robbed, with all the evidence they had gathered stolen. Some even watched helplessly as the documents they needed were destroyed in mysterious fires.
Soon, these investigators, who were just as stubborn as Marat, were enraged!
Initially, they had thought these officials were clean and merely victims of political struggles. But now it seemed that they were all corrupt. If these officials were panicking even before the investigations had gotten serious, then there had to be something dirty going on.
How could they return to the people of France without uncovering the truth?
Of course, all these threats and disruptions were orchestrated by Fouché's agents, following the Prince's orders. They might not have been skilled at uncovering corruption, but they were experts at creating these kinds of situations.
Meanwhile, Marat, who was investigating in Poitou, received a flood of requests for help from his investigators. After reading about what his subordinates had faced, he was also infuriated.
He immediately wrote back to Desmoulins, instructing him to put less important tasks on hold if necessary, to send reinforcements to assist the threatened investigators, and to make sure they thoroughly exposed the corrupt officials!
The entire Public Integrity Investigation Bureau suddenly went into overdrive.
...
A little over two weeks later, at Versailles Palace, Marat stood before the Prince, his expression full of guilt and self-reproach.
"Your Highness, I was wrong to doubt you before. Please accept my sincere apologies. Just as you suspected, those officials were indeed corrupt."
"I never blamed you, Mr. Marat. The results show that your work is as excellent as always." Joseph smiled as he flipped through the report Marat had delivered. In less than 20 days, this "piranha" of an investigator had uncovered solid evidence of criminal activity involving 16 officials!
The charges ranged from embezzlement to abuse of power, collusion with merchants, smuggling, and even a murder case!
For a moment, Joseph wondered if Marat should be in charge of the Intelligence Bureau. His efficiency in uncovering evidence would certainly put Fouché's agents to shame.
But he quickly dismissed the idea. The Intelligence Bureau had to handle a lot of "dirty work," and Marat's rigid personality made him unsuitable for such tasks. Only someone like Fouché would execute Joseph's orders without hesitation.
Joseph waved the 16 reports in his hand and said to Marat sternly, "For these parasites and bloodsuckers, I ask you to handle their cases with absolute impartiality."
The Public Integrity Investigation Bureau had the authority to arrest suspects directly and could hold them without evidence for even longer than the police. Once the evidence was secured, they only needed to submit an application to Joseph for approval to initiate prosecutions.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Joseph nodded with satisfaction, then glanced at the remaining reports on the other 30-plus officials for whom no solid evidence had yet been found. His brow furrowed slightly.
(End of Chapter)
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