Medicus

38

The man who came to crash open Ruso s shutters and wish him a hearty good morning found him propped against the wall with his head lolled to one side. An abandoned scroll lay beside him on the bed and a solid pool of wax marked the site of a dead candle. "How are you today, sir?"

Ruso rubbed his neck and tried to maneuver his head back to an upright position. As he did so he suddenly realized why he was here. "I'm still alive!" he announced to the surprised orderly.

The pleasure was short-lived. He had just remembered his first job this morning: to go and retrieve the contents of that pot from the mortuary and find Decimus.

How quickly a man's hopes could crumble. The porter clutched the little bead in his heavy fist as he tried to rub away the tears spilling over into the creases between his fingers.

"I'm sorry," said Ruso.

The porter nodded and managed, "Thank you, sir." He sniffed.

"How did you know it was her?"

"I didn't. But I knew your girl had disappeared some time ago and I thought you'd be able to identify her jewelry."

"I wish I hadn't said them things about her."

"You were the only one who kept looking for her."

The porter sniffed again. "Did she suffer, sir?"

"I'm told there were people on the scene very quickly, but nobody heard any cries for help. It's quite possible she lit a fire to keep warm, fell asleep, and knew nothing about it." Had it not been for the dogs, would he have woken last night? Would he have realized what was happening? He didn't know.

The man had opened his fist and was rolling the bead around in his palm with the tip of a finger. "I bought this for her in Viroconium when I was on leave, sir. It was on a necklace. Just a cheap thing."

"She must have valued it to wear it."

"She told me not to waste a lot of money on presents. I was saving up. I was going to get her out of there. She promised me she'd wait." Ruso said nothing.

"Why didn't she tell me she was going to run away?"

"Perhaps she went on the spur of the moment," suggested Ruso.

"She didn't have time to send a message."

The porter sighed. "She was a good girl, my Asellina. I know what people said. But it wasn't her fault she had to work in that place. I was going to buy her out. We had plans." The man looked up suddenly "All that about the sailor. I knew it wasn't true. First they tried to blame me for stealing her, then they just made up that sailor to shut me up. What do you think made her run away, sir?"

"I don't suppose we'll ever know," said Ruso, not voicing the thought that finding the girl's remains proved nothing: She could have been hiding while waiting for any number of sailors. Or soldiers. Or even a well-heeled local. He put his hand on the man's shoulder. "I'm very sorry, Decimus."

The man picked up the bead between his forefinger and thumb. "Can I keep this, sir?"

"Of course." Ruso coughed, and wondered how much smoke he had inhaled the night before. "Tell me some more about her," he suggested." She sounds…" He paused, not sure how to phrase it. "She sounds like a kindhearted sort of girl."

"Wouldn't hurt a fly, sir. She never had no enemies, Asellina. Got on with everybody." The man paused. "Except… well, you know. But she never meant no harm."

"There were people she didn't like?"

"Oh, no, sir. She liked everybody. Well, near enough. They have customers down at the bar that nobody likes. But they have to be nice to them, it's their job. The thing was, sir, she used to see the funny side of things. She used to make me laugh. But not everybody knows how to have a good laugh, do they, sir?"

"No," agreed Ruso, relieved. Clearly Asellina had not been vindictive in life: Even if there were such things as ghosts, there was no reason to suppose that in death she would be any different.

Decimus wiped his nose on his fingers and got to his feet. "She deserves a decent funeral, sir."

"Now we know who she is, I'll get the civilian liaison to go and see Merula. Then you'll have to talk to her about funerals."

Decimus nodded and squared his shoulders. "I'll see to it. Are you all right yourself now, sir?"

"Fine, thank you."

"I was sorry to hear about your troubles last night. And now they go and find my Asellina this morning. What do you make of that, sir?"

"Nothing," said Ruso, to whom daylight had brought the conclusion that he must have left the candle burning. "It's just a coincidence." The puppy must have then knocked it over and rolled it across the floor, where the flame had caught a trailing edge of his blanket. "One last thing, Decimus."

"Sir?"

"If you're going to drown your sorrows, don't do it at Merula's. And don't go alone."

The porter managed a weak smile. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

After Decimus had left, Ruso thought about the girl who had always seen the funny side of things, who had lain cold and unburied for all those months while the rest of Deva carried on its business around her. The second girl from Merula's bar whom he had met only in death. Now, surely, there would be a proper investigation. In the meantime, he had to go and see what was being done about making his lodgings fit to live in.