Ruth Downie - Ruso and the Root of All Evils

Probus’ slave ushered Ruso through an entrance hall that had changed little in the years since his last visit. The heavy iron-bound chests in which his former father-in-law kept other people’s money were still flanked by two surly-faced men armed with clubs and daggers. The man who had told him about Marcia’s attempts to borrow money, now back on duty, showed no sign of recognizing him. He followed the slave out into the garden, where he had once asked for Claudia’s hand in marriage, and wondered whether Probus knew that she had murdered her latest husband.

Probus was seated by a fountain that much resembled the one in Ruso’s own garden, except that it was built properly and it worked. When the slave had been dismissed, he said, ‘Keep your voice down. We won’t be heard over the water.’

Evidently Probus did not trust his staff any more than he trusted Ruso, who perched on the side of the fountain and trailed one hand in the cool water. He wondered what Claudia was telling the investigators. None of it would answer any of his own questions: questions like how she had managed to poison Severus without harming the rest of the household, and why he had been such a fool as to believe her.

Probus was still talking. ‘… but I haven’t heard anything.’

Ruso cleared his throat. ‘Anything about what?’

The corners of Probus’ mouth turned down even further than usual. ‘You were the one who wanted to meet, Ruso. Kindly have the courtesy to listen.’

‘Sorry.’

‘You wanted to know about Severus’ business affairs.’

Ruso nodded, although in the light of what he now knew, they were of limited interest.

‘Everyone knows the Gabinii are hard men if you cross them, but until recently I thought he was honest. If I hadn’t, I would never have loaned him the money for the shipping deals.’

‘Or let him marry your daughter,’ put in Ruso.

‘Of course not.’

Ruso had been considering telling Probus what he had found out about Claudia, but the arrival of the investigators had changed everything. With luck, they would find out about her for themselves. He would be clear of the murder charge without incriminating her himself or incurring Probus’ revenge in the process. On the other hand, her denial had been remarkably convincing …

‘… whether it was Justinus all along,’ Probus was saying.

Ruso did not like to admit that his attention had wandered again. He said, ‘Ah.’

‘But Justinus was with me for fourteen years and was always entirely reliable.’

‘Like his sister,’ put in Ruso.

‘I like to think I know how to judge a man,’ continued Probus, ‘but when the letters of credit started appearing in different ports after the ship had gone down, it was difficult to know what conclusion to draw.’

Ruso frowned. ‘You mean things turned up later that should have been at the bottom of the sea?’

Probus gave a tut of exasperation. ‘You’ve never really understood how business works, have you, Ruso?’

‘No. Did you say there was more than one shipping deal?’

‘This was the third. The others had gone smoothly, so I had no reason to suspect there was anything wrong when Severus asked for a bigger investment.’

Probus’ voice was calm, but there was a faint involuntary flicker of the left eyelid that Ruso had not noticed before.

‘When Justinus left here, he was carrying a certain amount of cash, but certainly not enough to fund him for the whole trip or purchase the cargoes. That was arranged in the usual way, with letters authorizing him to withdraw cash up to specified amounts from bankers in the various ports with whom I have arrangements. Since the ship disappeared, someone has been going round withdrawing the cash.’

‘So you started to wonder if he really was dead and went to ask Cass if she’d heard from him?’

‘He may be dead,’ continued Probus, oblivious to any distress he might have caused. ‘Or he may have been part of a conspiracy to rob me. As I’m fairly certain Severus was.’

‘The letters could have been washed up on a beach somewhere. Anybody could have got hold of them.’

‘Justinus had orders to keep them on his person at all times and destroy them in the event of shipwreck.’

‘I see.’

‘No, you don’t!’ Probus seemed to startle himself with the sudden exclamation. He glanced around the colonnades that surrounded the garden, then dropped his voice again for ‘I accept that you probably didn’t kill Severus. I don’t know who did and, frankly, I’m not interested. He was a serious disappointment, he lost me a lot of money, and my advice to Claudia was to get rid of him.’

He caught Ruso’s eye and added, ‘Divorce him, of course.’

‘Of course,’ agreed Ruso. ‘Divorce him. Unless you and she decided to take revenge on him together.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, Ruso. We don’t all do business like the Gabinii.’

Probus dismissed the possibility so summarily that Ruso was inclined to believe him.

‘But if you stir up some false connection between Severus’ death and this shipping business,’ Probus continued, ‘the Senator’s investigator will start poking around in all sorts of affairs that could have …’ He paused. ‘Unintended consequences.’

‘There may already be a whisper in Rome that Severus was up to something,’ said Ruso. ‘Did you know that two investigators have arrived this morning? Apparently they were already up here.’

Probus was as surprised as Ruso had been, and no more pleased. He leaned back in his seat and surveyed his former son-in-law. ‘Let’s hope they can be persuaded to keep out of things that don’t concern the inquiry.’

‘I think they’ll be the ones doing the persuading.’

Probus sighed. ‘You may be clueless about business, Ruso, but until now you were always fairly good at keeping your mouth shut.’

‘Thank you.’

‘And you do appear to have some residual sense of duty to my daughter. So I’m going to tell you exactly what I think happened, and then perhaps you’ll understand why it’s so important that I know if your Cassiana hears from her brother. At the same time you’ll understand what a difficult position you’ll put me in if you aren’t discreet.’

Ruso waited. If he could glean some information to help Cass, this would not have been such a wasted meeting.

‘It’s my suspicion,’ said Probus, ‘that the captain and the crew sold the cargo — or possibly there never was one in the first place — and then scuttled the ship, which my informants now tell me was practically worthless. Presumably Severus paid next to nothing for it, despite having taken a large sum of money from me to invest in a decent vessel. They may have done away with Justinus and stolen the letters, or he may have joined them and used the letters himself to defraud me. What matters is that this is kept confidential. If there’s any whisper of suspicion that there are unauthorized letters of credit circulating around the banking fraternity in my name …’

‘You’d be ruined. Nobody would ever trust your seal again.’

‘This is only a short-term problem,’ insisted Probus. ‘The letters had cash limits and an expiry date on them. All I have to do is weather the storm. But after the loss I sustained on the ship in the first place, it’s a considerable nuisance.’

Ruso thought for a moment. Over the years experience had formed a small clearing in the fog of his commercial ignorance, and it had revealed some of the dangerous terrain of borrowing and lending. ‘Who else put money into the shipping deal?’

Probus visibly stiffened. ‘I was acting alone.’

‘I’m surprised,’ observed Ruso. ‘With that large a risk, I’d have thought you’d want to spread it. The first trips went well. Severus seemed to know what he was doing. I’d have thought you might suggest to a few clients that, if they had money to spare, they might want to invest it in something that would give them a good percentage.’