Chapter 608: Retribution Comes Swiftly
After confirming that all senior staff at Lightning Company had "disappeared," London's mayor ordered the forced entry of the distillation workshop.
The facility was brightly lit but eerily empty. The shiny metal retorts and other equipment sat silently, as though mocking the intruders.
"Get them running!" Herbert barked at the technicians.
The technicians exchanged uncertain glances, ultimately admitting that none of them knew how to operate the machinery.
By noon, two scholars from the Royal Society arrived to inspect the site. After repeated attempts to activate the equipment, the elder of the two regretfully informed Herbert:
"I'm sorry, Mayor, but these appear to be nothing more than hollow iron tanks."
"They can't even sustain prolonged heating," added the other scholar, pointing to the furnace. "It holds no more than 50 pounds of coal—utterly incapable of distilling enough gas for all of London."
Desperate, Herbert ordered the scholars to search the entire Lightning Company facility. The final conclusion: the only functional equipment was in the basement, capable of producing a small amount of gas—just enough to power a few dozen lamps near City Hall as a "showpiece." Beyond that, the entire operation was a facade.
Herbert stood in stunned silence for several minutes before finally grasping the enormity of the scam.
Not just him—all of London, and perhaps all of England, had been duped.
That evening, the scandal reached the desk of Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger.
Pitt glared at the Duke of Portland, the Home Secretary, his brows furrowed tightly.
"So you're saying this Lightning Company also issued tens of thousands of pounds in bonds through the Commercial Credit Bank?"
The duke nodded. "Yes, sir. It's owned by the Goldsmith family. I've already ordered an investigation, but initial estimates suggest at least 70,000 pounds in bonds."
Pitt felt a wave of dizziness.
Seventy thousand pounds. That figure was enough to cause an uproar throughout London. For context, the entire gas streetlight project had a budget of just 30,000 pounds.
Pitt snapped, "What's the relationship between this bank and Lightning Company? Freeze all their accounts immediately!"
"I've done so, Prime Minister," the duke replied. "However, the bank's accounts only hold about 20,000 pounds. The rest has likely already been moved. As for their relationship, they appear to be colluding partners."
The funds raised from selling bonds had long been siphoned off, leaving only a pittance behind.
Pitt slammed his fist on the table. "Can we still suppress the news?"
"That would be... difficult," the duke admitted. "Too many people are involved, and the streetlights across London remain dark."
Pitt exhaled sharply. "Fine. Begin liquidating the bank and Lightning Company assets immediately to mitigate the fallout. Also, have Mordaunt resign from Parliament. As for Herbert... he's the direct person responsible. He'll have to take the blame to appease public outrage."
At this stage, Pitt still viewed the scandal as a massive fraud—albeit an unusually large one. He focused on damage control and minimizing the scandal's political repercussions.
However, he had yet to grasp the full scale of the catastrophe. The subcontractors involved in the gas streetlight project would soon unleash a far more devastating wave.
The Fallout Unfolds.
By the next afternoon, nearly every Londoner was aware that the gas streetlight project was a sham.
On the bell tower of a church, Sir Elvis stared blankly into the distance.
He had poured his entire fortune into Lightning Company bonds. Just yesterday, he had boasted to everyone about his investment acumen and his bright future. Today, he was the butt of every joke.
He thought bitterly of how he had fawned over Baron Watson, even going so far as to offer his sister to him, only to have the scoundrel run off with his money.
"You're the biggest fool in the world!" he screamed at himself. "Fools don't deserve to live!"
With that, he leapt from the bell tower.
Reality, while harsh, can be impartial. Had Joseph not uncovered the earlier fake orders scam and mitigated some of the damage, countless bankrupt French factory owners might have met the same fate as Sir Elvis.
A Chain Reaction of Collapses.
In the following days, London's situation spiraled further out of control.
Dozens of subcontractors involved in the gas streetlight project descended upon City Hall, demanding payment for their work. Herbert flatly refused, pointing out that the city had no contracts with them—they had all signed agreements with Lightning Company.
By that afternoon, two subcontractors declared bankruptcy.
The scale of the project had enticed many companies to pour resources into manufacturing streetlights, laying pipelines, and other work—often at great expense. Now, with no payments forthcoming, they faced massive losses.
Over the next month, nearly 20 subcontractors went under, triggering a cascading wave of insolvencies among their suppliers.
Suppliers of raw materials and equipment, unable to recover their payments, soon joined the ranks of the bankrupt.
The economic shock spread further down the chain, resulting in mass layoffs. Hundreds of unemployed workers took to the streets, joining protests outside City Hall.
Windows were smashed, walls defaced with filth, and officials were too frightened to show up for work.
When protesters began lighting fires outside City Hall, Herbert panicked and ordered the police to disperse the crowd.
Clashes broke out. Over a hundred protesters were arrested, with dozens of injuries on both sides.
A Grim Revelation.
The true extent of the crisis began to surface when City Hall attempted to hire contractors to repair a section of damaged sewer pipes—only to find that no such companies remained in business.
A shocked Herbert soon discovered that nearly all London-based pipe installation companies had gone bankrupt. The allure of the gas streetlight project had drawn in every competent contractor, only for them to be wiped out in the scam.
It wasn't just pipe installation. Companies involved in pipe casting, valve manufacturing, gas lamp production, and distillation equipment had all collapsed.
The foundations of Britain's gas lighting industry had been utterly obliterated.
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