Medicus

64

There was no sign of her at the house, where he only stopped long enough to clean off the mud before going to the hospital. There he found two messages: Albanus was trying to track him down, and Priscus wanted an urgent meeting. Ruso managed to find Albanus first. As they entered the surgery the clerk asked,

"Any word on your housekeeper, sir?"

"Nothing. What did you want me for?"

"Officer Priscus says-"

"Yes, I know. Urgently Was that it?"

"No, sir, not entirely." Albanus checked to make sure the surgery door was closed. "It's about that delicate matter, sir," he began. "I told them at HQ that I'd lost a document and it was all rather embarrassing, and they let me have a private hunt through the post records. You'd be amazed at the volume of correspondence, sir."

"And?"

"I've been through every list for the last two months, but I can't find a letter from a Saufeia anywhere."

"Damn," muttered Ruso.

"Would you like me to go back any farther, sir?"

Ruso shook his head. "There's no point."

"If there's anything I can do to help you find your housekeeper, sir…"

Ruso settled himself on the corner of his desk and folded his arms. There were things he needed to know, but he was more likely to acquire a broken jaw from the second spear than any information. Valens had offered to sound out his friend in civilian liaison, but the only sounds forthcoming were negative ones. Ruso was going to have to consult a source he despised: army gossip.

"Albanus," he said, "who or what do the men think was responsible for the deaths of those two girls?"

Albanus's eyes widened. "Do you think the same person might have taken your housekeeper, sir?"

"I hope not. But I'm running out of other ideas."

Albanus thought for a moment. "To be honest, sir, nobody seems to know. Most people just think there's a madman around who likes killing women."

"I've been through that. Why two from one bar?"

"It could be a very important customer. Somebody the management is scared of."

"How important?"

Albanus scratched his head. "I can't see the legate or any of the tribunes frequenting there, to be honest, sir, can you? It's more likely somebody with a grudge against the management."

"Right. How many people would that include?"

"If you count all the men who've ever been thrown out of Merula's?

Quite a lot, sir. That's before you consider the staff there."

Ruso decided not to mention doctors who had been poisoned by the food. Even if both the girls had been victims of one man with a grudge, that grievance must have been incurred long before his own arrival in Deva. His chances of discovering the right complainant-and quickly-were slim.

"Of course, there might be no connection at all, sir."

"Do you think Asellina really did try to run off with a sailor?"

"To tell you the truth, sir, most people think she led poor old Decimus on a bit of a dance. It would have taken him years to save up enough to buy her. And he's still got fifteen years to serve, so he couldn't run away with her instead-not unless he deserted, and then what would they have had to live on? So, she decided to go with the sailor instead."

"Does anyone know anything about this sailor? Nobody seems to have seen him."

Albanus frowned. "I don't know, sir. It was all looked into at the time. Then it all blew over and everybody forgot about it. Except Decimus, of course. And I suppose the people at the bar." He glanced up. "Perhaps that was why Saufeia thought she'd give it a try, sir. Because she thought Asellina had gotten away with it."

It suddenly occurred to Ruso that he might have been looking in the wrong place for a letter. What if Saufeia had been trying to contact the last successful runaway? "Do you happen to know," he said, "whether Asellina could read and write?"

Albanus shook his head. "I shouldn't think so, sir. From what I hear, Saufeia was a bit unusual."

"She certainly doesn't seem to have been as popular as Asellina."

"No, sir. Of course there are the other theories about Saufeia."

Ruso was beginning to suspect that the hospital staff had spent more time considering this case than the official investigators. "Tell me."

"Well, one is that her own people killed her because of the shame she'd brought on the family by working at Merula's, sir. Which does sort of make sense, because what was a girl who could read and write doing in a place like that?"

"I don't know. From what I hear, she'd probably been hanging around with soldiers for years. Anything else?"

"I did hear a rumor that it was one of the married officers who'd had a fling with her and didn't want his wife to find out what he was up to."

"No name, I suppose?"

"No, sir. But most people seem to think she wandered off, then had an argument with a client who didn't want to pay and he turned nasty."

"Hm," said Ruso. "Well, that seems to cover every possibility."

"Cheer up, sir. If it was any of those, then your housekeeper's disappearance has nothing to do with the others, does it?"

"No," agreed Ruso, scratching his ear. "It doesn't." The thought should have been reassuring, but it wasn't, because it left him with nowhere to look.

"Unless there really is a madman, of course."

"Yes. Thank you, Albanus."

"Sorry, sir. I didn't mean to-"

There was a rap on the door. Albanus opened it and a familiar voice said, "Didn't you get my message, Ruso?"

"Ah," said Ruso. "Priscus. There you are."

Glaring at Albanus, Priscus added, "I specifically stressed that this was most urgent."

"I was just sending him to find you," said Ruso, noting inwardly that his ability-and readiness-to tell lies had improved dramatically since he had come to Britannia. He dismissed Albanus, then motioned the administrator to a stool, while he himself remained seated on the corner of his desk, reversing their usual positions. "How can I help?"

"I haven't come here to ask for help, Ruso. I have come here to tell you how I am going to help you out of a very awkward situation."

Ruso, wondering which of his many awkward situations Priscus had found out about, raised his eyebrows and waited.

"Your missing servant," Priscus continued, unaware of the relief these words offered to his listener. "I take it she hasn't been found?"

"Not yet."

"Very well. I have had notices drawn up. They are being distributed as we speak."

Ruso found himself scratching his ear again. "Notices?"

"Missing slave notices. The usual sort of thing. I'm surprised you haven't done it yourself."

"I was hoping she would turn up," said Ruso, feeling he probably should have.

"Frankly, Ruso, I was also surprised not to be notified of her loss. As custodian of the Aesculapian fund."

Ruso looked him in the eye. "The loan will be paid in full," he insisted. "On the due date."

Priscus inclined his hair in his usual careful manner, and said, "Of course."

Ruso remembered that hair sticking out in a wild clump during his visit to Priscus's house, which it seemed the administrator was going to pretend had never happened. "So, from your point of view," he continued, forcing himself to concentrate, "the girl is irrelevant."

"Nevertheless, as a responsible custodian-"

"Priscus, the auditors can't hold you responsible for my slave running off."

The hand that smoothed the hair trembled slightly, and for the first time Ruso wondered if the man was genuinely frightened of the imperial auditors. "Nevertheless," Priscus was repeating, "as a responsible custodian I should be seen to be taking precautionary measures."

"Very thorough of you," said Ruso, wondering if the administrator stuck his nose this far into everyone's affairs, or whether he was particularly unlucky Surely this couldn't still be revenge for the linen closet? Standing up to terminate the interview, he said, "I seem to be in your debt, Priscus. Let's hope your notices will do the trick, eh?"