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Later we notice that it is Sir Leicester Dedlock, Baronet, who sets Inspector Bucket
on the trails of the killer of Tulkinghorn and the whereabouts of his wife, Honoraria. "Let
no expense be a consideration". This evening he (Bucket) will be casually looking
into the iron extinguishers at the door of Sir Leicester's house in town; and tomorrow he
will be walking on the leads of Chesney Wold".
"Come night, come darkness!!" In contrast to the Bleak House-characters, I now
have to leave the trail and to take refuge in guessing. Not one publication about the
"Peelers" or the "Detectives" gave any hint that it was possible to hire public detectives
for private goals. It can be that at the time that the solution of the puzzles of people
like Tulkinghorn and Sir Leicester were not seen as private goals but as a public good.
This is credible as long as it concerns the solving of a murder or the search for a missing
person. It is less credible when it just concerns the curiosity of Tulkinghorn to get to
know more about the law writer so that he employs Bucket to hear the story of the boy.
Actually, Bucket interrogated the boy.
5. Dickens's picture of the police
Dickens gives the police force a prominent place in his novel Bleak House. As we
know, Dickens was a social critic, so let us look to the conclusions that can be drawn
from the police-picture he has drawn.
In general, I would say that on first sight a very favorable picture is given. We
see the beadle, a man not too smart but outfitted with great zeal, who runs errands for
the Coroner and is helpful in freeing little Peepsie's head by nearly decapitating the poor
boy. We see the constable, who, after a little while, does not let his colleague of former
times down. He restores the peace when the people are taunting the beadle. We find him
in places where he is supposed to be and looking at things he has to look for. We see
Bucket, a wise and clever, very warm-feeling, intelligent, discreet and diplomatic detective
who, on top of this also happens to be a loving husband.
Still, Dickens does not offer us a picture of an arcadian police force. His main
criticism is not with the people, but with the duties of the institution. It is the constable
who is instructed to 'move this boy on' (p.238). Dickens's comment on this practice is,
"Do you hear, Jo? It is nothing to you or to any one else, that the great lights of the
parliamentary sky have failed for some few years, in this business, to set you the example
of moving on. The one grand recipe remains for you - the profound philosophical
prescription - the be-all and the end-all of your strange existence upon earth. Move on!"
Later we meet Jo again. He tells that he never did anything wrong, apart from the fact
that a few times he did not move on. He tells that he is now moving on to the "berrying-
ground, that's the move I am up to". It is as if Dickens wants to show society that carrying
out this "move on" law is only leading the poor to their graves. Is that what society wants
to happen?
