Requiem for a Slave (29 page)

‘Dear Mars!’ said Junio, turning almost white. ‘You think he might have been? One of the emperor’s infamous elite – the mounted spies and assassination squad?’

‘Not a
speculator
yet, I think,’ I said at last, ‘but aiming to prove that he is equal to the task. And doubtless Quintus promised him support.’

‘Quintus Severus? The chief decurion?’ Radixrapum’s brother said in a voice that was suddenly squeaky with anxiety. ‘You don’t think he’s involved?’

‘Who else was giving Virilis orders in the town? Of course, it did not seem remarkable – as you say, he is decurion. He must have known Quintus from visits earlier – we know he’s carried previous messages.’

‘But how could Quintus have organized the killings?’ Junio said. ‘Besides, he turned up at your workshop the day that Lucius died – he wouldn’t have done that if he’d tried to have you murdered not very long before.’

‘On the contrary,’ I said, ‘that is exactly why he came, and how he knew that the first attempt had failed. He had intended to come across my corpse, in front of witnesses – it was designed to look like random violent robbery, of course – and no doubt he would have set up a hue and cry and offered a reward for anyone who could find my murderer. I might even have been given a splendid funeral. No wonder he was startled to find me at my door. I thought he looked astonished at the time.’

‘And what about the pavement for the basilica?’ Junio said.

‘He never intended to commission that at all. It was merely an excuse for him to come to me – I should have been suspicious that he agreed to it.
You
were, I remember.’

Junio looked pleased. ‘When he found you were alive, he had to cancel it, I suppose. And hurry back to Virilis to point out the mistake. He must have been beside himself with curiosity when you told him there was a corpse inside the shop – and he knew it wasn’t you! And what about the—’

I raised my hand to silence him. ‘Not now, Junio. We’ve talked for long enough. These gentlemen are ready to get the body home, and we must start the chase for Virilis. Of course, he will not know that we are on his tail, but all the same we must catch up with him tonight, or Marcus is in danger.’

‘Marcus?’ the three men said in unison. Radixrapum’s relatives had picked up the bier, but they put it down again, exchanging startled looks.

Junio was horrified, and said, rather tactlessly, ‘But I thought you said the danger was to you! Marcus is a wealthy, powerful man, supposed to be related to the Emperor himself. Surely no one is going to try to murder him?’

‘But that must be exactly what this is all about,’ I said patiently. ‘Quintus wouldn’t bother to have someone strangle me for my own sake alone – I am not important. It is Marcus, and my contact with him, that is seen as dangerous. And I’m beginning to see why. As soon as my patron is safely home again, he’ll make it clear which candidate it was that he endorsed – and it won’t be Gaius Greybeard, I’m quite convinced of that. But I can’t stay any longer. We are wasting time, and Virilis is getting further from us every minute that we lose. Come with me to the garrison to find the commandant, and I’ll answer any other questions on the way.’

Twenty-Five

Junio and I allowed the turnip-seller’s family to remove the bier – it would have been unthinkable to push in front of it – and immediately afterwards we set off ourselves, leaving the workshop in the care of Maximus.

The slave-boy had been waiting outside the workshop door and was desolated now at being left behind, but there was no time to explain. I would simply have to tell him later what this was all about. I said as much to him.

He nodded glumly. ‘Master, I am at your command.’ And then, as if he could not help the words, ‘But if there’s any news of Minimus, you will send word to me?’

‘I will,’ I promised with a heavy heart, though I’d begun to fear that Minimus might, after all, be dead. Virilis was too cool a murderer to hold his hand, if my slave had proved to be a threat to him.

Junio must have read my feelings in my face, because as soon as we rounded the corner and were out of sight, he turned to me. ‘What is it, father? Something is amiss. Are you still worried about Minimus? I thought that we were fairly certain he was safe, even if he is a prisoner somewhere. And if you can prove what you’ve been saying, it should not be hard to get him freed. He was only arrested at Quintus’s behest.’ He paused, partly to cross the wider road, which after the recent rain was very sticky here, so that we had to pick our way across it on the granite stepping blocks, carefully positioned an axle-width apart.

When we reached the further pavement and were side by side again, he went on. ‘But, I suppose, they claim to have that purse and you don’t have any actual evidence of who the killer was. And Glypto, who might have been a witness, has been silenced now. And you can’t prove who killed him either.’

‘If they catch up with Virilis tonight, I think there will be circumstantial evidence at least,’ I told him grimly. ‘He won’t have had the opportunity to change his clothes, and I’m certain that there will be spots of Glypto’s blood on him – and on the dagger-hilt, though he will have wiped the blade. No doubt he’ll tell some story at the military inn – fighting off a bear or something – to account for it. That’s where strangling is so much easier.’

I was hurrying onwards as I said this, and Junio had to scurry to keep up with me. ‘But, Father, surely, if you’re right, the cursor won’t have left the town? He’s made two attempts to kill you and not succeeded yet. You would expect him to try again.’

‘He has done, Junio. Don’t you realize that? Twice today he has come to look for me – once when we were walking into town and later at the workshop. Looking back, we should have seen that it was strange. It is rare to see horsemen on that stretch of lane – I thought so at the time. Even a skilled rider like Virilis would avoid it if he could.’ A sudden thought struck me, and I almost laughed. ‘I suppose that’s why Hyperius was suddenly so keen that I should ride back to Glevum in his company. I imagine that Virilis put him up to it – it would have been much easier to attack me then.’

Junio nodded. ‘But he did not attack you when he passed you in the woods.’

‘There were three of us,’ I reminded him. ‘That’s what saved my life. And the same thing at the shop, though Virilis probably thought that he would find me on my own. Doubtless he discovered that we’d parted company when we first arrived in Glevum. Quintus saw me in the street with no attendant at my side – I met him when he was on his way to oversee the vote, and we know that he’d been talking to Virilis since then. The cursor had just come from the curia when he called on me, and the decurion had given him a letter under seal. He told me so himself. And that’s another thing which I should have questioned at the time! Why should Quintus suddenly send him to enquire whether I had a message for Marcus Septimus? Of course, he did not do anything of the kind – it was just a ruse of Virilis’s, made up on the spot.’

Junio nodded his agreement. ‘Considering the outcome of the ordo vote, you’d think, if anything, Quintus would try to prevent you from sending word. Though, of course, you hadn’t heard the news about Gaius Greybeard then. I do see what you mean. It does seem Virilis expected to find you on your own, but it’s hard to believe that he meant to strangle you. He was so charming. He gave no hint of it.’

We had almost reached the centre of the town by now, but I changed my route to avoid the enclosure where the forum was, and where, of course, the basilica and curia building lay. I did not want to meet Quintus anywhere.

‘Charm was the weapon he most relied upon,’ I said. ‘He certainly charmed Gwellia – and my patron too. You heard the glowing testimonial that Marcus gave to him. And as for hinting, I think perhaps he did. He told me that he had something for me when we could be alone. Something that I did not expect and was connected with my patron – all of which was true – except that the ‘something’ was a piece of twisted silk around my neck. I suppose it amused him to play games with his prey.’

I had to check my stride and step into the road. The pavements here were cluttered with stalls of every kind.

Junio, too, was dodging the displays. ‘Then we’ll make sure you always have someone at your side. But if you manage to have Virilis caught, there won’t be such a threat.’

I frowned at him. ‘Be careful what you say.’ Since we’d turned into this crowded area, I’d been avoiding names. Virilis was right. The town was full of spies, including, as he’d warned me, the ones I’d least expect. I wondered if he’d really, in the end, had some respect for me. It was a peculiar compliment, if that were true. I turned to Junio. ‘The man you speak of was an expert at his trade, if you can call it that. The deaths he meted out were swift and merciless. Let us hope that a different danger doesn’t face us now: a meeting with some other person’s gang of brutal thugs.’

‘You mean Qui—’ Junio left the decurion’s name unsaid. ‘Oh, dear gods, I hadn’t thought of that. You still think he’s behind this? And that Marcus is in danger too? I hope you can convince the garrison commander of all this.’

‘So do I,’ I told him. ‘We will soon find out. We are very nearly at the garrison.’ I brushed aside a trader who was offering me belts – ‘Finest leather, citizen. A special price for you!’ – and turned down a narrow lane, where we rejoined the main street that led towards the gate. I could already see the tower of the guardhouse block where the commander had his headquarters.

I was just hastening towards it, quickening my step, when I was halted by an imperious voice. ‘Citizen Libertus! Imagine seeing you. I had supposed that you would be busy with your pavement work today.’

I whirled round to see a curtained litter which had drawn up close to me, and the face of Quintus Severus peering out of it. ‘I am on my way to Pedronius’s house right now to admire your handiwork,’ he went on, with a smile that did not reach his eyes. ‘I hear it’s very fine. Perhaps if you are going there, I could save you the walk, though there is only room for one of you in the litter, I’m afraid. Or, if you are returning home, my slaves could take you there? They have nothing particular to do when they’ve delivered me.’

Junio, beside me, had stiffened visibly, but I tried to match the decurion’s mirthless smile with my own. ‘Thank you, councillor, but there is no need of that. I am only walking to the garrison. I have a message for the commander there.’

I saw momentary anxious puzzlement in his eyes, and an idea came to me.

‘Thank you, by the way, for sending Virilis to me. I have sent a message by him to my patron, as you suggested I might do, though doubtless it largely duplicates your own,’ I said, pausing to let my next words take effect. ‘But I’m sure that he’ll be anxious to learn the latest news – the result of the election was such an unexpected one.’

There was no mistaking now the look of doubt that crossed his face. I could see my ruse had worked. He must be wondering if his plans had gone awry, and Virilis was in the pay of Marcus rather than his own. After all, it rather looked like it. I was still alive and Virilis was gone, and Quintus could not know how I had learned about the vote.

‘Slaves, put the litter down!’ The smile had vanished now, along with all pretence that this meeting was polite. ‘And you, Hyperius, get that man into it.’

The stolid slave, who had been lingering on the other side, came round the litter and seized me by the arm. It happened so quickly that I did not resist and he might have managed to force me to get in, but Junio was a younger man and far too strong for him. He grasped the startled servant by the throat and pushed him violently. Hyperius fell backwards, spluttering on to the paving-stones.

‘Here! You two! What’s the meaning of this?’ There was a sound of ringing hobnails, and there was Scowler running up. His swagger stick was stuck into his belt, and he had drawn his sword instead. One of his companions was panting after him, carrying Scowler’s helmet and a dagger of his own.

By the time that Hyperius was on his feet again, Scowler had reached me. ‘Oh, it’s you again!’ he said.

Quintus leaned back in his litter, his face a mask of cool disdain. ‘I see that you’re acquainted with this citizen.’

Scowler gave a self-important nod. ‘I met him yesterday. You had us go and move a murdered pauper from his workshop floor.’

‘Exactly!’ Quintus gave me a triumphant, poisonous smile. ‘And there has been another murder at his shop today. So it will not surprise you that I am arresting him.’

Scowler looked doubtfully at me. ‘Is this true, citizen?’

‘That there was a body at my workshop, certainly. But I had no part in either of the deaths. On the contrary, I believe that the decurion ordered them. I had some information from the slave next door.’

The decurion turned purple. ‘But you can’t have had. This is preposterous. Why should I want to murder a pie-seller and a turnip-man? And who would trust the testimony of a simple slave?’

I gave him the best smile that I could conjure up. ‘Very likely nobody, decurion, it’s true. But how did you know it was a turnip-man? Or did you work that out from the description that your hired assassin gave? And, come to that, how did Virilis know that the first corpse had one eye?’

Scowler, who had placed himself between the two of us, bent towards the litter as if to wait for a reply.

‘I don’t know how he knew that,’ Quintus snapped impatiently. ‘He didn’t hear from me. I wasn’t at the workshop, as you may recall, until the pie-seller was dead, and even then I didn’t go inside. And he didn’t describe the turnip-man to me. You can’t implicate me in what Virilis may have said.’

‘But you do agree that it was Virilis who strangled them?’ I said. ‘Especially since he doesn’t deny that fact himself?’

It was a gamble. Of course Virilis had not denied that he was the murderer – nobody had taxed him with it up to now. But Quintus didn’t know that and I hoped that I could lead him to conclude something which I had already hinted at: that Virilis was secretly acting for Marcus all the time, and that he – the decurion – had been betrayed and duped.