Arthur heard this and lightly reminded, "If I recall correctly, the opening line of the anonymous piece you wrote for 'Spark', 'The Midnight Murder in Paddington', was 'A severed hand struck a gas lamp post'."
"That's different!" Eld rebutted triumphantly, "That's literary presentation! It's artistic exaggeration! It's to reveal social darkness! I wrote those to let readers know the real dark side of London!"
Arthur fiddled with the manuscript in his hand, not looking up, "And what about 'The Secret Exposure of the Maid' and 'Confession of a Female Family Teacher'? Eld, isn't the real London a bit too dark? Writing like this makes it seem like my work at Scotland Yard is failing."
At these words, Eld stiffened his neck.
