The Republic of Thieves

he’d strip my hide. He took the box … about fifteen minutes later I lost patience. I went looking for him, and when I asked Salvard’s clerk for Jasmer Moncraine, the man looked at me like I’d been drinking. That’s when I figured it out.”

“Moncraine’s taken the money and buggered us all,” whispered Alondo.

“Beggared us all,” said Jenora. “I can’t even … I don’t know what to say. It’s like all the gods are having a long hard laugh at our expense.”

Sylvanus threw his bottle to the ground and buried his face in his hands. No more eloquent commentary was possible, thought Locke, than that a situation would make Sylvanus Olivios Andrassus waste wine.

“I’m a gods-damned fool,” said Galdo. “I should have known.”

“He’s an actor,” said Sabetha. “More’s the pity, a good one.”

“Let’s get after him,” said Calo. “He can’t be dumb enough to have gone to any of the landward gates, the way they’re guarded! He’d be insane to put himself on the roads knowing an alarm was a few hours behind at best. So where would he go?”

“The docks,” said Chantal.

“Well, then, let’s find him and cut off that damn hand he was scheduled to lose! He’s a big old fellow, how hard can it be?”

“We’ve got no standing here,” said Locke. “Remember? We’ve got no right or call to push anyone around; we are merely actors so long as we’re in Espara.”

“And you’ll never find him,” said Jenora. “Giacomo’s right, Jasmer won’t go by land. The docks are thick with Syresti and Okanti. He’ll get out on his choice of ships and no nightskin will ever breathe a word of it to the constables. The dockworkers have no cause to love the countess’ servants.”

“So we just … we just let him fuck us!” said Bert. “Is that the plan?”

“No,” said Sabetha. “There’s one thing we can do very easily. We can make it look like Jasmer Moncraine killed Lord Boulidazi.”

“I like the sound of that,” said Locke. “It’ll certainly give the story more weight than Lord Boulidazi getting drunk and setting a stable on fire.”

“A stable!” cried Jenora. “You can’t mean—”

“I’m sorry, Jenora, I know I should have said something sooner. But it’s obvious. We can’t burn the inn down, and we can’t just have him spontaneously combust in the yard. Don’t think of it as losing a stable; think of it as not letting your aunt hang.”

“Castellano, what did you tell the carriage driver after you realized Moncraine was gone?” said Jean.

“I gave him two coppins for his trouble and told him I’d decided to stay awhile,” said Galdo. “I didn’t know what to think. I just didn’t want to cause a scene.”

“Well, you’ve saved us by keeping your head,” said Sabetha. “Here’s the new story. After the play, I went with Boulidazi to the bathhouse. Boulidazi received the money from Malloria; she’ll testify to that, and she has her sealed chit to prove it. We claim that we don’t know what Boulidazi did with the money; all we know is that when he came back here to have a talk with Jasmer, he did not have it with him.”

“Simple enough so far,” said Chantal.

“Simple is how it stays,” said Locke, looking at Sabetha. “If I can presume … I think I know where Verena’s going next. We all saw Boulidazi come here. We all saw Moncraine come here. They had a long private conversation, then an argument. They went out to the stables together for some reason.”

“A few minutes later we noticed the stables on fire,” said Sabetha. “Boulidazi dead in the wreckage and Moncraine vanished into the night. His guilt will be clear even to a child.”

“We’ll need to bring Mistress Gloriano in on this,” said Jean. “I’m sorry, Jenora, I know we meant to keep her out of the lies, but she of all people has to tell the constables that Moncraine and Boulidazi were here tonight.”

“There’s no helping it, Jovanno, you’re right.” She put her arm over Jean’s shoulder. “Auntie won’t be best pleased, but I can get her to do anything we need. Don’t worry about her.”

“This is still a miserable mess,” said Chantal. “Boulidazi’s people may yet try to wring every copper they can from us. Maybe even fold the company and take its assets. Hell, that’s assuming the constables don’t just throw us all in the Weeping Tower as assumed accomplices.”

“I think,” said Locke, “that we might just have a friend in a fairly high place. Or, if not a friend, someone with an abiding interest in keeping scandals as subdued as possible.”

“There’s no subduing the fucking murder of an Esparan lord!” said Bert. “Maybe you Camorri will get yourselves off the hook, but the rest of us—”

“No,” said Locke. “We are absolutely not abandoning you, any of you. Haven’t we done enough to convince you of our sincerity? And haven’t we pulled off some amazing things together already?”

“Fair enough,” grumbled Bert.

“Moncraine fucked us, so we’ll all fuck him right back,” said Locke. “And for what he’s done, let me assure you … he’s made an enemy of our master back in Camorr. He must know it. He’s got enough money to live on for a couple of years, but he’ll never be able to stop running. As for the company … I’m sure we can convince our master to lend a hand there as well. He has resources beyond what you’d believe.”

“At this point I’d believe just about anything,” muttered Alondo.

“We’ll rehearse our story together,” said Sabetha. “Almost like a play. After sunset, we’ll dress Boulidazi one last time and arrange the stable fire. Once it’s roaring, members of the company absolutely have to be the ones to go running and fetch the constables. You all have to act surprised and shocked.”

“Shock will be easy,” said Chantal.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Calo eased it open, revealing Mistress Gloriano wiping greasy hands on her apron.

“Meat’s done,” she said cheerfully. “And there’s good boiled rice and some apricots … what? Why are you all staring at me like that?”

“You’d better come in and shut the door, Auntie,” said Jenora. “Meat’s not the only thing we’ve got to cook before the night’s over.”

10

“I DON’T believe you Camorri,” muttered Mistress Gloriano as she helped carry the shrouded corpse of Gennaro Boulidazi from the wagon to her stables just after dark. “Assuming this would be the first time I’d ever helped make a body disappear!”

“How the hell were we to know?” grunted Locke.

“I’m in the inn trade in a low part of town, boy. I do like my orderly life, but I’ve had some folk die in my rooms when it really would have been more convenient for them to be found floating in the bay. So a-swimming they went.”

Mistress Gloriano had certainly been upset to learn the truth, but once she’d accepted that Lord Boulidazi had been stabbed by her niece in the middle of an attempted rape, she’d accepted the loss of her stables as a sort of vengeance.

Calo and Galdo had one end of the corpse, Locke and Gloriano the other. They heaved the heavy parcel into a pile of hay, and Gloriano shook a faint alchemical lamp to life. Jean had moved the wagon and horses to the other side of the courtyard, leaving the structure empty.

“Gods, what a smell,” coughed Galdo as they finished unwinding the dead baron. “Reeking meat and alchemical dust!”

“He has looked prettier,” said Calo. “Damn, he’s stiff. This ought to be fun.”

The three Gentlemen Bastards wrestled with the rigor-bound body, fitting it with the jewelry, the boots,