Medicus

57

"No file copy, sir?" Albanus looked surprised. "Just one for me. I'll have the notes back with it when you've finished."

Albanus turned over the top leaf of the Concise Guide. "There's quite a lot of work here, sir."

"I'll see you're rewarded," promised Ruso, reminding himself that it was only three days until payday.

"Oh, I didn't mean that, sir!" Albanus seemed genuinely shocked. "Three pages is nothing. What I mean is, I wouldn't recommend keeping the only fair copy and the notes together in one place. If there's a fire, or the roof leaks over them, you could end up having to start all over again."

"Are you telling me," said Ruso, incredulous, "that you keep file copies of everything?"

Albanus shook his head sadly. "No, sir. There isn't room. We have a list of priority items to keep, which end up in HQ-men's records, that sort of thing-and the rest is stored for a time depending on what it is, and then burned."

Something stirred at the back of Ruso's mind. "And is that just the hospital, or the whole fort?"

Albanus blinked. "I think that's what everyone does, sir. You simply can't keep everything, there wouldn't be space."

"So a letter that came in would be kept for-how long?"

"I don't know, sir. I could find out. I suppose it depends on what it is.

And obviously there's no control over personal letters to the men."

"Ah." Of course. Even if Saufeia had addressed her mysterious letter to a legionary boyfriend, she was hardly likely to have been corresponding via the official post. He was not thinking clearly.

"They just go on the daily lists," added Albanus.

Ruso stared at him. "Daily lists?" he repeated. "Are you telling me someone sits down with the post sacks and makes a list of every letter received in the fort?"

Albanus nodded. "Ever since a letter got lost that told the camp prefect his mother had died, sir. There was a bit of a fuss. So now if it comes through the gate, it gets noted down-recipient and sender-and signed for."

"And who has access to these lists?"

"The HQ clerks, I suppose, sir. To be honest I don't think anybody looks at them much. It's one of those things you don't need because you've got it."

Ruso scratched his ear. "And how easy would it be," he asked, "for someone to make a discreet inquiry?"

"For someone like you, sir? I think the clerks would want to know why you were looking. In case you were going to put in a complaint about them."

"I see."

"But you wouldn't need to do it, would you, sir?" Albanus's face brightened. "You've got me."