The Scottish Play Murder by Anne Rutherford Read Free Book Online

one more or less makes little difference, so long as he’s only killing rabble and foreigners.”
    Suzanne shook her head. “I believe we commons should discourage murder of our kind as carefully as the king frowns on regicide. Letting murderers have their way will only encourage others to kill. Some who might otherwise live innocent lives.”
    “Perhaps.” But Daniel’s tone suggested he really meant
u
nlikely
.
    Suzanne let that go, for she didn’t care to struggle with Daniel about class distinction and the inherent grace of commons, or lack of it. There was no deterring him from his opinion that only commoners who were his friends had value, and even then less value than nobility who were not his friends.
    After rehearsal was finished, the troupe dispersed for the midday meal, and Daniel departed for home, Suzanne sought Arturo to speak to him before he could leave to join his family in the tenement they’d rented in the next street.
    “Master Arturo,” she said when she found him. He turned to her, attentive, amusement on his face at being called “master.” “Arturo, I wanted to tell you how glad I am you and your mummers have decided to rejoin us.”
    He shrugged, as if it were of little matter. “No reason to stay away anymore, and the work here pays money enough to make us happier than elsewhere. ’Tis good to be back.”
    “Excellent. We were hard put to fill our playbill without you.” Quickly she proceeded to the real reason she’d stopped him, and probably caught him by surprise. “You have a knowledge of the people around here I rather envy.” Most men had connections she envied. Men in general were reluctant to confide in women, and she could never ply one with liquor without finding a hand up her dress at some point in the proceedings. She’d had to learn how to talk to men in their own language. In the past Arturo had been a rare source of information for her, for he knew her and trusted her well. He also knew how to behave himself around a woman who was not his wife, for his wife was quick with her kitchen utensils and tolerated little in the way of disrespect. Naturally he was one she liked to go to for information.
    Suzanne continued, “Have you heard anything about that poor fellow who was killed outside the Goat and Boar some days ago?”
    He nodded. “Certainly I have. Poor sod. Have you come to ask about Ramsay, then?”
    “What about Ramsay?”
    Arturo hesitated. “Oh. Well, nothing. I was only wondering.”
    “Were you there that night? Did you hear the noise outside? Did you see who did it?” If he had, it wouldn’t have surprised her that he hadn’t reported it to the constable. Nobody in this neighborhood liked a witness too eager to talk to the authorities.
    Arturo shook his head. “No, I wasn’t there then. But the night before I witnessed a fight between him and Ramsay. Right there in the public room.”
    “Is that why you thought I wanted to ask about Ramsay?”
    Arturo nodded. “When I heard of the murder, the first person I thought of was Ramsay. New in town and all that, and all of a sudden he’s got in a tangle with a man who turns up dead the next night. Seems awful suspicious.”
    It did seem strange. Even more strange that a man so new to Southwark would have so many people eyeing him for this and that all of a sudden. She’d never known even an actor to attract so much attention. Suzanne was forced to take this with a grain of salt. “Tell me what happened. What did you see?”
    “Well, the room was all peaceful-like, everyone having a pleasant enough evening, when there was a great shout of, ‘You thief!’ Which, of course, caught the attention of the entire room, for ‘thief’ is a name most in there could own. In any case, I seen this big Scottish fellow get up and make for the door. I didn’t know his name at the time, but he’s difficult not to notice, as big and loud as he is. The Spanish sailor, whose name I never knew, leapt up from the