Buried Too Deep (23 page)

“You always like making matters more complicated than they need be, Quintus. Let’s take the evidence as it appears for now, and assume it wasn’t a professional killer. Niobe had the perfect opportunity to do it. After all if everyone knew she would be visiting the bath-house, nobody would think twice when they saw her come here, and there’d be no interruptions while she stabbed him. But afterwards she couldn’t just walk out and pretend she knew nothing about it.”

“Why not? If she’d had the nerve that’s exactly what she could have done. She’d have gone about her day’s work and waited till someone else found Magnus, a cleaning-slave perhaps, or till another member of the family noticed he was missing and went searching for him. She’d tell everyone she hadn’t gone bathing with Magnus this morning, she had no idea anything was wrong. They’d all say, as you just have, that if she had killed him, she couldn’t simply walk out, therefore she must be innocent.”

“The way people watch each other here, she may have thought that someone had seen her come into the baths at her usual time—or been afraid they had. So she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t been here. She had to say she’d found Magnus close to death, and she made up the tale of Magnus’ final words, to deflect suspicion from herself.”

He rubbed his cheek thoughtfully. “Yes, I’ll admit it’s a possibility. But why would she kill Magnus? If he was her main protector, what would she gain from his death? And if she wanted to divert blame from herself, why not throw it on Bodvocus and his men? Everyone would believe that. As I said, most of them do anyway.”

“I don’t know. But let’s put her at the top of our list of suspects.”

“She’s on the list, but not at the head of it. That position belongs to Ferox. He’s disappeared. He could be out and about on the estate, but isn’t it more likely he’s run away? He killed Magnus in a quarrel, panicked, and bolted.”

“Titch told me you were worried because both Ferox and Vividus had serious rows with Magnus yesterday. Aquilo mentioned them too.”

“Quite right. They were arguing when I arrived, and went on quarrelling all last evening. Not just squabbling, out-and-out blazing rows.”

“About whether to make peace with Bodvocus and the natives?”

“Yes. Specifically, how to respond to the Chief’s invitation to the Beltane feast.”

“Bodvocus was as good as his word then, trying to persuade them to attend his party. And Magnus agreed to go?”

“Yes, I believe he’d decided to.”

“In spite of their protests?”

“He kept a pretty tight rein on his nephews, and if he’d made his mind up about something, he’d have ignored their objections and gone ahead.”

I thought about it. “This makes less and less sense, you know. Vividus and Ferox disapproved of the idea of peace, but Aquilo was keen on it. So why would Magnus say that Aquilo had betrayed him? It seems to me Aquilo was the one nephew who gave him wholehearted support.”

“We’ve come back to the question we asked before. Is Niobe telling the truth about Magnus’ dying words, or is she making them up?”

“And if she is making them up, we’re faced with another question: why would she want to kill Magnus?”

He nodded. “We’ll know more when you’ve talked to her.”

“Thanks for your confidence. I’ll do my best. Suppose…yes, suppose Magnus was acting the heavy-handed master, and doing something she didn’t want him to do, or maybe forbidding something…Yes, of course. Magnus had proposed that Vividus should marry Clarilla, and Niobe didn’t want that to happen, because she’d lose her position as the most important woman in the household.”

Quintus laughed. “That sounds like the plot of a Greek love story. If she was really so angry about the idea of Vividus marrying a Roman lady, why not kill Vividus himself? That would put a permanent end to the scheme.”

“Ah, but perhaps Vividus wasn’t really keen on the marriage, and won’t go ahead with it now that his uncle isn’t there to crack the whip. Perhaps Niobe even wants Vividus for herself alone, only she had to get his uncle out of the way first.”

“Gods, that’s enough!” He stood up. “Let’s stop guessing and start asking some questions. I’ll start interviewing the servants. You go and pay a call on Niobe.”

Chapter XXI

Niobe’s sitting-room was as soft and elegant as she was, and its luxurious feminine atmosphere made a welcome contrast to the military air that pervaded the rest of the Fort.

“This is beautiful, Niobe. Fit for a princess!” My remark pleased her, which was what I wanted, but my admiration was genuine. She couldn’t have asked for more, I thought, if she’d been the mistress of the house in law as well as in fact.

“I’m glad you like it. I wanted a good view of the countryside.” She indicated the big glazed window which stood open to show pastures and trees, and the sea in the distance beyond. “When they were building this place, I said to Magnus, you may enjoy living in a fort, but I’m not a soldier, and I’m not spending half my life gazing out on nothing but a rampart. You can give me one of the upstairs rooms. So he did. Take a seat, won’t you?”

The seats were comfortable couches, each of which had a lavishly carved low table beside it. I chose one near the window, and she sat opposite.

“Would you like some wine?”

“No, thank you.” Something in my tone or my face must have caught her attention, because she smiled.

“Afraid of being poisoned, dear? Don’t worry, you’ll be safe enough with me.” She got up and fetched a flask of red and two glasses from a table in the corner. She poured us each a glass and held both out to me. “Choose one. Go on, I’m sure you could do with it.”

I took one, but still hesitated. “Thank you.”

She raised hers to her lips, and drank heartily.

I couldn’t help smiling. “You’ve talked me into it.” The wine was Gaulish, very pleasant, and I savoured it as I took time to look around and appreciate the room. Good taste and money had combined to make its decor something special. The wall-paintings were excellent, and one wall was mostly covered by a large coloured hanging that, incredibly, seemed to be made of silk.

She nodded, once again guessing what was in my mind. “Pure silk, that is. Aren’t the colours lovely?”

“They are. I’ve never seen such gorgeous turquoise shades. And what an enormous piece!” The only silk I own is a small square blue scarf my brother bought me once, and it cost him a small fortune. “Magnus obviously thought a great deal of you.”

“Oh this wasn’t from the old man. He did buy me things occasionally, but he’d a mean streak when it came to what he called ‘feminine foibles.’ Vividus bought it for me when he was in Egypt, although it doesn’t come from there, it’s made somewhere on the eastern edge of the world.”

“You’re lucky.” I sipped my wine. “Not just having such a wonderful present, but a man who’s prepared to give you anything you want.”

“Men are easy,” she answered lightly. “And I’d say your man would give you pretty well anything, if you’d only ask him.”

“My man?”

“Your Antonius What’s-his-name, the investigator. There’s something between you two, isn’t there? Else why would he bring you along here? You’re not telling me you actually help in his work.”

“If only. ” Suddenly I saw how I might get under her guard by gaining her sympathy. “I do help him, yes. I’ve got plenty of local contacts, and my brother’s on the Governor’s staff. That’s all there is to it, unfortunately. I’d like it to go further. Perhaps one day…”

She laughed. “You’re obviously not handling him right. Men are like fish, you know. All you have to do is throw the bait into the river, they’ll come for it. He’s a handsome enough fellow, pleasant, a bit more civilised than my soldier-boys, but not weak. You’d better watch out, I might go after him myself.”

My answer to this would have been too unladylike for such a beautiful room, so I said nothing. My silence made my thoughts clear enough to someone as perceptive as Niobe.

“Don’t worry, dear, he’s safe from me. I’ve got a good setup here, I shan’t endanger it. The Ostorius men believe in keeping love within the family, if you take my meaning.”

“Except Aquilo?” I suggested.

She tossed her head. “True, the stuck-up little fool. Not my type at all.”

“But I’m curious…no, I mustn’t ask.”

“Ask what?”

“Aquilo. Why did you try to make out he’d murdered Magnus? Putting words into the old man’s mouth like that…was it because he wouldn’t take your bait?”

She looked surprised. “I didn’t put any words into his mouth. I quoted exactly what he said to me. Poor old boy, he was nearly dead, but even then he hadn’t lost his wits.”

“But he must have been confused, to say that Aquilo attacked him?”

“Ah, that wasn’t what he said.” Her expression was pure mischief, like a little girl who’s played a particularly good trick on a room full of adults. “They misunderstood his meaning, Vividus and your Antonius.”

“Exactly what did he say?”

“He said: ‘He’s finished me, Niobe. After all I’ve done for those boys, they betray me. Even Aquilo…too late now.’” She repeated the words exactly as she’d told them to Quintus, I noticed. The sign of an accurate memory, or of careful rehearsal?

“And you don’t think he meant Aquilo stabbed him?”

“No, if he’d meant that, he’d have said so. ‘He’s finished me’ could mean any of the brothers. He mentioned Aquilo because of something quite different.”

“What was that?”

“This stupid affair of Aquilo’s with the native chieftain’s daughter. The old man was quite taken aback when he heard about it, especially the baby. He said he thought Aquilo’s only chance of getting a woman with child would be to sing her a love-song while a real man did the business.” She smiled with more than a touch of malice. “But he was angry as well. He threatened to cut Aquilo out of his will, but he hadn’t time. That’s what he meant about it being too late.”

“How in the gods’ name did he know about Aquilo and Elli?”

“From me, of course. And I got it from Antonius. Last night I overheard him telling Aquilo that Elli was at Albia’s farm having his baby.”

“Ah.” I gave a conspiratorial smile. “A bit of eavesdropping’s useful now and then.”

“And dead easy too. My bedroom is nearly above the main house-door, with a good view of the main gate too. In the warm weather I need to keep my window open wide, and voices carry very easily from down there to up here. If your Antonius ever whispers sweet love-words into your ear on the threshold of the headquarters building, believe me, I’ll be the first to know.”

“I’ll bear it in mind.” I grinned at her. “But let’s stick to yesterday. After Quintus Antonius told Aquilo about the baby, what happened?”

“Aquilo rode off in a great hurry, presumably to see his sweetheart. Then later on that red-headed lad, the investigator’s assistant, came riding in, and had the cheek to interrupt us while we were at dinner, with some ridiculous message from Aquilo, that he was staying the night with your sister because he’d met his old friend Trimalchio.
Trimalchio,
I ask you! Mind you, it would probably have got past Magnus and the boys, they’re not great readers. But I smelt a rat.”

“So you told them all what Aquilo had been up to?”

“Just Magnus, nobody else. I thought he had the right to know first, and I told him last night before he went to bed.”

She’d said, “before
he
went to bed,” which made me ask, “Did you spend the night with him?”

“No. He didn’t often want a bed-companion these days, but he always liked me to be there when he bathed. Early mornings were our time together.” She picked up her wine-glass and twisted it in her hands, gazing down at the swirling liquid. Then she shrugged. “Funny to think I shan’t ever see that ugly old body again.”

Being stoical is one thing, I thought, but that’s downright callous. It was as well she didn’t seem to expect any words of condolence, because I couldn’t have managed any. Again, uncannily, she knew what was in my mind.

“You think I’m heartless, talking like that. In my position, love’s something you dream about, but you don’t expect to find it in real life. If the masters are kind to you and don’t beat you, or humiliate you in public, that’s enough. I haven’t chosen the life I live here, but I have learned how to make the best of it.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. You have a knack of knowing what’s going on in my mind.”

“That’s because I think you’re a lot like me. You know where you stand, and you know what you want. Only you were born free and I wasn’t.”

“You’re more beautiful than I’ll ever be.”

She nodded, accepting the fact. “But not more intelligent.”

We found we were smiling at one another, and some kind of understanding passed between us, making us allies in spite of our differences. I can’t really explain this, it was something instinctive, and my instincts about other people are usually safe to trust. Now I knew for certain Niobe hadn’t killed Magnus. She was too clever to have murdered her master in such a crude, obvious fashion. She could have killed him, certainly, but she’d have disguised the death as an accident.

“Niobe, let me ask you this and then it’s done. Did you murder Magnus?”

“No, I did not.”

“Do you know who did?”

“No.”

“I believe you.”

“Thank you. But most people won’t.”

“Then you must help me convince them, by finding out who did. Will you?”

She sat silent a long time, staring out of the window. Finally she said, “Yes. But I don’t want to give evidence for a trial. I won’t let them torture me. I’ll take my own life first.”

I didn’t blame her. Whichever of our forefathers decreed that the courts would only recognise evidence from slaves if it was obtained by torturing them, he was both cruel and ineffective. Quintus felt the same. “Then I’ll promise you that if you help me, you won’t be tortured to provide evidence. I can speak for Antonius on that.”

She smiled. “Can you now?”

“Yes. You have my word.”

“All right, I’ll give you all the information I can. Where shall I begin? This morning, I suppose. I went to Magnus in the bath-house, and I was late.”

“That’s as good a starting-point as any. Why were you late joining him? I mean any special reason, or did you usually make him wait for you?”

“I actually woke up early, so I should have been ready when he was. But I couldn’t find my rose-scented oil. It was his favourite, he liked to rub it on my body after we’d bathed, and I didn’t want to go without it. I wasted time hunting around for the flask in here and in my bedroom. I found it eventually in quite the wrong place. My maid must have moved it when she cleaned the rooms yesterday. Anyhow when I got to the bath-house…”

“Was this before or after the sunrise bugle-call?”

She frowned. “A little before, I think. Yes, I’m sure. I went into the changing-area and realised that Magnus had somebody with him.”

“You heard voices?”

“I knew even before that. There were two cloaks hanging up there. They were similar, both scruffy leather things. I expect you’ve noticed, or you soon will, how most of the men here seem to like wearing their old army clothes, and they seem to think the sagum is the height of fashion for the outdoor man.” She gave a scornful sniff. “I recognised which was Magnus’ because his night-tunic was beside it. The other cloak was on its own.”

“Someone had gone into the bathing area with a tunic on? Wasn’t that unusual?”

“It happened sometimes, if one of the boys wanted a quick word with Magnus first thing in the morning. I knew if he had someone else with him he might want me to wait till they went. Frankly I was relieved. I thought, if he’s got company, he may not realise I was late arriving. He hated to be kept waiting. I went through the cold and warm rooms, and by then I could hear voices coming from the caldarium. Magnus was shouting at someone, it sounded like an argument.”

“Could you hear what they were arguing about?”

“Not really. Magnus was yelling, ‘By the gods, I’ve had enough of this, do you hear? It’s time I taught you a lesson.’ I was on the point of turning back to wait outside, but something made me sneeze, so they heard me. Magnus shouted, ‘Niobe! Are you there, girl?’ And I called, ‘Yes, it’s me, my lord.’ ‘Well go away and come back later. I’m busy. Gods, can’t a man have a private conversation in peace even in his bath?’ Then there was more yelling, something about not being pushed around, and I didn’t stay any longer. I went back to my room.”

Without thinking I poured myself more wine. “Sorry, Niobe. Once an innkeeper, always an innkeeper. Do you want a refill?”

“Yes please.” She held out her glass.

“Did you recognise the voice of whoever was arguing with Magnus?”

“No. They all of them sound alike, Magnus, Vividus, and Ferox. And I didn’t wait around trying to listen.”

I smiled and raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t?”

“No fear! I expected someone else would be coming out when the argument ended, and I didn’t want to be seen. But thankfully, no one did come…” She stopped, realising what she’d said. “I mean…”

“It’s all right, I know. You were relieved he hadn’t caught sight of you.”

“I was. I knew that if one of the boys had got a tongue-lashing from Magnus, he wouldn’t want to think anyone else had heard it, especially not me.”

I thought how difficult life must be for someone on intimate terms with more than one man from the same family. Niobe was right, she and I had a good deal in common, but that was a situation I could never have endured. “And then you went back for your bath later as if nothing had happened?”

She nodded. “There were only Magnus’ things in the changing-room, so I knew he was on his own. I hung up my cloak and tunic, and went through to the hot room. I saw him lying on the bench, blood everywhere. I think I screamed. I ran to him, and I thought he was dead at first, but when I knelt down beside him and called his name, he opened his eyes. I got a towel and tried to staunch the bleeding, and I said, ‘Who’s done this dreadful thing, my lord?’ And he answered, ‘He’s finished me, Niobe. After all I’ve done for those boys, they betray me. Even Aquilo…too late now.’ I said, ‘I’ll fetch help, my lord.”’ But he said, ‘Don’t leave me, Niobe.’ His eyes closed again. I sat down on the bench and took his head on my lap, and just held him still until he died.” There was a catch in her voice, and I realised Magnus’ death had affected her more than she was prepared to admit.