Ruth Downie - Ruso and the Root of All Evils

‘I was acting alone,’ insisted Probus. ‘It was a family arrangement between myself and my son-in-law.’

‘Come on, Probus! Most of your reputation is built on introducing rich lenders to good borrowers.’

‘Will you keep your voice down?’ hissed Probus, halfway out of his chair. ‘You have no idea how these things are arranged!’ When Ruso made no attempt to argue, he settled back down again. ‘Even if there were other investors, I couldn’t possibly divulge their names,’ he insisted. ‘No more than you would divulge details of a patient. Everyone who invests in shipping knows they risk losing their money. That’s why the interest rates are so good.’

‘So you haven’t told your investors that you think they were swindled by the man you recommended to them.’

‘Even if there were other people involved,’ said Probus, skirting round the question, ‘none of them has complained. So if nobody suspects anything, nobody would have a motive to do away with Severus.’

‘And they won’t be asking you to refund their money.’

Probus winced. ‘Ruso, try not to interfere in things you don’t understand. The loss of the ship is not relevant to the murder.’ He leaned closer. ‘If word gets out, Claudia will be ruined. All she has is what I can give her. It looks as though that worthless husband left her nothing at all.’

‘So who’s got the money? He can’t have set all this up for nothing.’

‘I have no idea. If it’s here, he hid it away somewhere neither Claudia nor I can trace it. Possibly it’s all still over in Arelate with his contact there.’

Ruso looked up. ‘He’s got a man in the port?’

Probus sighed. ‘Of course he has. You don’t imagine he made all the arrangements from this distance by himself, do you?’

‘Who is he? This contact?’

‘I always assumed he kept the name to himself so I couldn’t deal with the man direct and cut him out altogether. I’ve been told since that he was called Ponticus. He must have been in one of the marine shipping guilds, but nobody seems to know how to find him now. There’s a rumour he drowned on the ship with the captain and crew.’

‘If he’s that heavily involved in a fraud, he probably started the rumour himself.’

‘He’s not someone I want to do business with,’ agreed Probus. ‘The sooner I can wash my hands of this whole affair, the better.’

‘What I can’t understand,’ said Ruso, ‘is how you can know that Severus was doing business with violent and ruthless criminals who did away with your own man, and yet when Severus himself is poisoned, you’re confident it didn’t have anything to do with the shipping deal. Is there something else you’re not telling me?’

Probus frowned. ‘Obviously it wasn’t the same people. Severus was on their side.’

Ruso reached for his stick. ‘You need to go and have a serious talk with your daughter, Probus. There are things she might tell you that she won’t tell me.’

‘What? Why? Claudia knows nothing about any of this.’ Probus’ voice rose as Ruso stood. ‘I thought we had an understanding.’

‘Talk to her.’

‘Where are you going?’

‘To Arelate,’ he said. ‘There’s something else going on here. Something I think the investigators might already know about. I’m going to find out what it is.’

‘You haven’t seen Tilla, have you?’

The slave brought his hand-cart to a halt on the way to the midden heap. ‘I don’t think so, sir.’

‘Never mind,’ said Ruso, heading towards the winery. It was a shame the boy was not a year or two older. Before long, he would have no difficulty remembering whether he had seen a young woman like Tilla.

The winery contained only his brother. Lucius did not look well enough for a trip to Arelate, even if he could be persuaded that anything useful might be found out when they got there.

Ruso leaned on one of the tree-trunks that supported the press and watched the precious juice ooze out and trickle down the sides of the slats. Deliberately casual, he said, ‘How’s the head?’

‘There’s nothing wrong with my head,’ growled Lucius, squinting at the angle of the massive main beam and checking the pulley ropes that held it in position. ‘Why is it if a man has a few things to say, everyone assumes he’s drunk?’

Ruso moved away from the press and began to pick his way between the rows of jars set in the floor. The magic of fermentation had begun. Yesterday’s juice had vanished beneath a froth that sparkled in the streak of sunlight from the double doors. By contrast, the black pitch that coated the insides of the empty jars made them look like the openings of tunnels into a dark underworld. He said, ‘I take it Tilla’s somewhere around with Cass?’

‘Cass has been avoiding me all morning. I don’t know what the fuss is about. If people would listen in the first place, I wouldn’t have to shout.’

Ruso reached the far wall and turned. From here, his brother’s bulk was dwarfed by the colossal apparatus of the press. He said, ‘The investigators have turned up.’

Lucius glared at him across the jars. ‘You said we had weeks!’

Ruso explained the coincidence of them being over in Aquae Sextiae.

‘Why?’

‘There must be something else going on that we don’t know about. Maybe the Senator sent them to keep an eye on Severus.’

Lucius gave a sigh of exasperation. ‘They’ll be crawling all over us here before you can blink. How far have you got with saving the family by geometry?’

Ruso wove his way back between the jars, realizing he knew very little that he was yet prepared to tell anyone.

Lucius dipped a scoop into one of the jars and tasted the contents. ‘Well?’

‘When I was in Britannia — ’

‘You told me. Gaius. Does it ever occur to you to wonder why you get tangled up in this sort of business?’

‘I was only going to say, things often get worse before they get better.’

Lucius gave a grunt. ‘I hope that comes out with a bit more conviction when you say it to your patients.’ He took another sip from beneath the froth in the scoop. ‘Mm. That’s about ready for the concentrate.’

Ruso, feeling he should take an interest, tipped the scoop and savoured the rich juice that slid out from beneath the froth.

Lucius pulled the cloth cover off a jug and tasted the contents before pouring the rest into the jar he had just sampled and giving it a vigorous stir. He said, ‘Let’s hope they turn up tonight.’

‘Who?’

‘The Senator’s men. Arria’s invited that Diphilus to dinner. I’m surprised anyone dares to eat here.’

‘She’s invited the widow next door as well.’

Lucius tapped the last drops off the scoop. ‘Lollia Saturnina?’ he said, dipping it in a rinsing-bucket and wiping it dry. ‘Might not be so bad, then. As long as nobody mentions bankruptcy or poisoning.’

‘Or the Pride of the South ?’

The silence that followed revealed more about the depths of the previous night’s marital row than the shouting had. Ruso was about to change the subject when Lucius said, ‘This thing with Justinus has sent her odd in the head. Your Briton hasn’t helped, telling her Severus as good as murdered her brother by hiring a rotten ship. What’s the matter with these women?’

‘I haven’t got time to speculate.’

‘Now she’s got some mad idea about me going round interrogating sailors. As if I’ve got time to rush off to Arelate in the middle of the vintage!’

So that was what the argument had been about. Grateful for the cue, Ruso said, ‘I’ll go.’

Lucius looked at him oddly. ‘You?’

‘If the investigators turn up while I’m gone, don’t say anything about the ship unless they ask. If they do ask, make it clear that Cass didn’t know what state it was in before yesterday, so she had no more reason to dislike Severus than the rest of us.’