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“Can you blame her? He can’t get it up.”
Roberto interjected, “Marshal Rosselli, look at my brother. Better yet, look atme. Wouldn’t you rather screw us than Baron Zito?”
The men laughed again.
Only Marshal Rosselli frowned, at Franco. “Signore, if you’re having an affair with his wife, it’s worse for you. I’ll believe you burned everything because you’re jealous of him.”
“No,hedid it. He hired someone to burn it all down. He’s the culprit.”
“Baron Zitodid it?” Marshal Rosselli recoiled, incredulous. “Why would he do such a thing?”
“To frame me, because I cuckolded him.” Franco snorted. “Listen, ifmywife were screwing the help, I’dkillthe man. But Baron Zito lacks the balls. He uses you to arrest me. He warps the law to fit his own ends. He has no regard for justice. The nobility act high and mighty, but they don’t know the travails of working men like you and me.”
“You, what do you do?” Marshal Rosselli glanced at Roberto and the men.
“We protect lemons on the way to market. We make sure bandits stay away.”
“Since when?”
“A while now. You need to get out more.”
Marshal Rosselli bristled. “I work every minute in the capital city.”
“I meant no disrespect. I know you’re busy, so men like us step into the breach. You can’t deny there’s a difference between law and justice in Palermo. Law protects nobles like the Baron, and they use you to keep power. But justice protects men like me, and we rely onourselves for its dispensation.” Franco gestured to thecarabinieri. “Men, we could use you, too. Anyone who wants to join us may apply. You see the best among us wear a special belt buckle.”
“Signore, are you saying you want tohiremy men?”
“Yes, if they want to do justice, for a change.”
Marshal Rosselli shook it off. “This isn’t on point. Why would Baron Zito burn down his own properties?”
“They’re not his. They’re the Baronessa’s dowry, both of them. He did it to spite her.”
“But it still costs him money.”
“So? He has plenty. Can you imagine being cuckolded by me, a jumped-upbracciante?” Franco shook his head. “He even destroyed his beautifulgiardinoto spite me. It was my life’s work.”
Marshal Rosselli pursed his thin lips. “Baron Zito is furious about his financial losses, which he tells me are astronomical. A man in his position will not take that lying down. You’re tangling with him.”
“He’s tangling withme.” Franco decided to play his winning card, which was the boy in the madhouse, whom Baron Zito believed Franco had murdered. “You tell Baron Zito, from me, that if I go down, he goes down.”
Marshal Rosselli blinked. “What do you mean?”
“It’s not for you to know. Say those exact words.” Franco met his eye. “After you do, he’ll beg you to drop the complaint. In fact, he’ll offer to wet your beak to do so.”
“I accept no bribes,” Marshal Rosselli shot back.
“I merely said he’d offer.”
Marshal Rosselli paused. “One other thing. The Baron said you stole his stallion, a white Arabian named Arabo.”
“That’s another lie.”
Marshal Rosselli pointed to Arabo, grazing with his mare in the pasture. “Isn’t that him?”
“No.”
“He looks like an Arabian.”
