A Whispering of Spies

by Rosemary Rowe

  It was obvious from the whispering that my words had touched a nerve. Even Florens looked discomfited. However, he was not nonplussed for long. After an instant he tapped the desk again and said in a peremptory, dismissive tone, ‘What message the garrison commander may have sent is none of our affair. Our concern is you and what your business was with Calvinus today. You say you called to offer him a floor. I presume that he did not engage your services?’

  I shook my head. ‘Indeed not, councillor. He was so disturbed about the theft of the dowry treasures from his master’s cart that I doubt he would have felt able to order pavements then, even if the household had needed such a thing . . .’

  Porteus was on his feet again, seizing on my words before I’d finished them. ‘So he did speak to you about what was on the cart? You admit as much? And yet you say you were a perfect stranger to the man?’ He gazed around the room triumphantly. ‘Florens, fellow councillors, I call on your good sense. Do you think it likely that Calvinus would confide his master’s business to a man he’d never met? Isn’t discretion the first duty of a steward anywhere?’

  This was going badly. There were murmurs of assent.

  ‘Well, citizen?’ Florens indicated that it was my turn to speak.

  I could hardly believe what was happening to me. Accused of arranging a violent robbery, and effectively found guilty before a trial was held! And all because of simple circumstance! I felt like shouting that they were a bunch of fools, but it was essential that I defend myself as much as possible and not inflame the councillors more than I could help.

  So I controlled myself and simply pointed out that it was natural – since he thought that I’d come in answer to his request for help – for the steward to suppose that I already knew about the theft. I was about to add that he had been a good deal more discreet in front of the other servants in the house, when some god of self-preservation whispered in my ear that this would only make things worse. I stopped, aware that there were already mutterings.

  Florens held up his hand for silence in the room and, gesturing to a reluctant Porteus to resume his seat, he said, ‘Which brings us to another matter, citizen. You were not engaged to lay this pavement, you have told us that. Thus, by your own admission, you should have had no further business with the lictor’s house. So why did Calvinus send his servant after you, as soon as he had the message that Voluus had reached Britannia and was already on his way? What possible concern can that have been of yours?’

  Clever trap on clever trap! I shook my head despairingly. ‘I’d promised him that I would get my patron to investigate the theft. Calvinus just sent to tell me that there was not much time to find the answer before the lictor came. Obviously he’ll be here in just a day or two.’ It did not sound persuasive, even to myself.

  Even tow-headed Titus Flavius was looking unconvinced. ‘Oh, come, Libertus,’ he said, with the heartiness of a nursemaid chivvying her charge. ‘You would do better to admit the truth. You told Calvinus he’d be lucky to escape detection as one of the plotters. Don’t bother to deny it – you were overheard.’

  For a moment I was genuinely mystified. Then I remembered that I had indeed said something about his being ‘one of them’ – deliberately loudly, too, on purpose so that the people on the stairs would hear – when I wanted to stop Calvinus from sending me away. Another of this day’s terrible mistakes! However, I knew it would be hopeless to explain.

  Titus Flavius was already speaking anyway. ‘I see that you do not deny it, citizen. So what was that about, if not the robbery? And if it was about the robbery, how did you know of it?’ He paused, but I was still silent – at a loss for words – and after a moment he added urgently, ‘Libertus, I am trying to do my best for you, but I cannot save you if you will not save yourself. This is no moment for keeping silent for your patron’s sake. I know you have a reputation for unmasking criminals. I am myself inclined to think that there was indeed a plot, and you and Marcus had discovered it and were trying to extort money from Calvinus because you knew he was involved. If so, you would do better to admit it to this company. Blackmail is a dishonourable thing, but at least it would absolve you from complicity in this crime.’

  Clearly Titus only meant to help, but his suggestion left me even more nonplussed. I bowed towards him, saying with respect, ‘Councillor Titus, I am flattered and grateful for your confidence in me. But I fear it is misplaced. I genuinely know nothing whatever of all this: until I spoke to Calvinus today I did not know the special treasure-cart was even on its way – far less when and how it was expected here. As for the murders and the theft, I had not heard so much as a whisper about either of those things until he mentioned them. I certainly have no theory as to who committed them.’

  Porteus was on his feet again, his face so pink the acne showed like little pits of white. ‘Don’t listen to the man. Of course he knew about the cart – though he tries to deflect suspicion from himself by feigning ignorance. Why else would he be pointedly asking questions in the town today, very specifically about Voluus’s wealth and what he was bringing with him out of Gaul? That did not happen by mere coincidence. If Libertus did not carry out this robbery himself – and I grant you that he probably did not – then I say he helped at least to organize the raid. It required armed men and horses and probably a vehicle to remove the treasure too, which means his patron, Marcus Septimus, was almost certainly involved as well. Marcus assuredly knew all about the lictor’s carts. Weren’t we, as councillors, all discussing them and the amount of treasure they contained – here on the steps of this very basilica, just the day before the Ides?’

  Titus Flavius gave a barking laugh. ‘I know that you were, Porteus, because you were boasting of the lucrative deal you made with the lictor while he was here before! How much was it that Voluus promised you for that piece of land of yours? Hundreds of denarii – twice what it is worth. It’s clear why you might have an interest in the safe arrival of the lictor’s wealth. But why should you suppose that Marcus Septimus is involved? He is immensely rich. What interest could he have in raiding Voluus’s cart?’ He shook his head. ‘Much more likely to be that steward, I should think, bribing accomplices and seeking to get rich at the expense of a master who was not kind to him. He would not be the first.’

  Porteus snorted. ‘And where would Calvinus hide the treasure? It isn’t in the apartment! I tell you, Marcus had a hand in this. You’ve just heard that he sent a letter to the steward there, and ordered this pavement-maker to deliver it. As for his being wealthy, that’s no argument! Who would not be interested in wagon-loads of gold, however rich they are? And who can hide treasure more easily than a man of wealth? In Marcus’s villa a few more gold coins and jewels would scarcely raise remark!’

  ‘But Calvinus . . . ?’ Florens interrupted, with a frown.

  Porteus held up a restraining hand. ‘I agree that Calvinus played a part in this: most likely he told the ambush where to strike and when. But he doesn’t have the money to buy arms to mount a raid, and he doesn’t have the goods that were taken from the cart. I’ve had the apartment searched most thoroughly and there is nothing there that wasn’t on the earlier manifests, beyond a few gold coins beneath the steward’s bed. I say that we should seize Libertus and search his patron’s homes – both the town apartment and the country house. And the pavement-maker’s own roundhouse, too. That is near the villa, so I understand, and would make a splendid temporary hiding place.’

  SEVEN

  I was struck with horror at this new development. The idea of them rummaging through my roundhouse was ominous enough – likely to cause damage and terrify my wife – though I was merely a private citizen. But offering to search Marcus’s property as well? That was an indication of how serious things were. This affair was escalating like a dreadful dream.

  I was so shocked and startled that I could hardly speak, but at last I managed to collect myself. I said with such calm dignity as I could conjure up, ‘Gentleman, you are completely
wrong. I’m certain that my patron had no part in this. He’s famously honest: look at his record as a magistrate – he has never taken bribes or altered the course of justice to protect the powerful. He will be as shocked as I am when he learns about this crime. He always says that robbery on the highway is bad for all of us – it gives the colonia a bad name for trade. As for his personally conniving at the theft, I am amazed that you could imagine such a thing. Certainly, I swear that he never plotted anything with me.’

  This time it was Gaius who shuffled to his feet. I could see he was embarrassed because he would not meet my glance. He was as old as he was skinny and his voice was tremulous. ‘Citizen, your loyalty to your patron is commendable. But – and it pains me to say this, as I have always held Marcus Septimus in very high regard – I fear that I must contradict your evidence.’ At last he raised his rheumy eyes to look at me. ‘You say that he didn’t plot anything with you. Do you deny that you were with him yesterday, in private conference, a little before noon?’

  I could hardly argue, since it was the truth and others knew it – Maximus, for one. I didn’t want him questioned by the local torturers. ‘That is no secret. Marcus summoned me to attend him at his country house,’ I said.

  ‘Exactly, citizen. And what did he want to talk to you about?’ Gaius waited a moment while I debated what to say, then pressed the point again. ‘Wasn’t it precisely about Voluus and his wealth?’

  ‘Don’t try to deny it!’ Porteus said, with an unpleasant smile. ‘You are too careless, citizen. You were overheard on this occasion too! Tell him, Gaius.’

  Gaius looked even more uncomfortable but he said, ‘I lament this, Libertus, but what Porteus says is true. I sent my page-boy on an errand to the villa yesterday, consulting Marcus on a point of etiquette, but when he arrived it was to be told that His Excellence was already occupied with a visitor – yourself – on a matter of importance and could not be disturbed.’

  ‘I have agreed that I was there,’ I protested. ‘That does not prove that we were plotting robberies.’

  ‘You were talking about Voluus and his treasure – and how you could inveigle yourself into the lictor’s house and talk to the steward about what he’d done with it.’ Porteus was bobbing in his seat impatiently.

  ‘We were talking about nothing of the kind. I was merely . . .’

  Porteus leapt up to interrupt and point an accusing forefinger at me. ‘The page-boy – who is a professional courier, trained to learn a message off by heart at a single hearing – heard everything you said and reported it to Gaius, verbatim, afterwards. So don’t try to tell us otherwise.’

  ‘He was deliberately listening in to us?’ I was indignant, but my mind was racing, too, trying to recall exactly what we might have said.

  ‘He didn’t come and spy deliberately, of course,’ Gaius said apologetically. ‘It was an accident.’

  Privately, despite the old man’s mildness, I rather doubted this. Spying on other men of power is what everybody does: Marcus has a dozen people in his pay – other people’s servants who report to him about their master’s households and who came and went, and why. Very likely Gaius had private spies as well and this eavesdropping was perfectly intentional – what else would explain the careful reporting afterwards? However, I could hardly voice that thought aloud.

  Gaius spread his bony hands, appealing to his fellow councillors. ‘My page had already loitered in the servant’s waiting room, hoping to speak to Marcus when he was available, but in the end it was taking far too long. He tried to find a slave and explain that he was now obliged to leave, but he couldn’t find one in the public rooms, so he went out to the courtyard garden at the back.’ He turned to Florens. ‘In case you are not familiar with the house, that leads out through a gateway to the outer court, where the stores and servants’ living-quarters are, and thence to the rear entrance on the farm-lane at the back, where he thought at least he’d find a gatekeeper.’

  It was a common pattern for a country house, of course, and Florens nodded. ‘I understand. Go on.’

  ‘Well,’ Gaius resumed, a little plaintively, ‘on his way across the courtyard garden towards the inner gate, he heard people talking in an arbour to one side . . .’

  ‘And sneaked up behind them to listen to their words?’ I said angrily. Yet another piece of foolishness, I realized instantly. By saying that I’d half-admitted guilt.

  Gauis turned reproachful eyes on me. ‘Of course he had no inkling that it was His Excellence. He imagined that the master would be inside the house – in conference in his study, as you would expect – so, supposing that the speakers must be merely slaves, he skirted round and went to talk to them. But as he drew nearer he realized it was indeed the voice of Marcus talking to his guest. Once he’d discovered that, he backed away, of course, but not before he’d had time to overhear.’

  ‘Then he must know that we were not talking about robbing anyone,’ I said.

  ‘On the contrary. As Porteus has said, my slave is skilled at learning messages by rote. And since these words were rather startling, even an amateur could have remembered them. I made a careful note.’ Slowly, Gaius took a writing-tablet from his belt, undid the binding and held it up for me to see. ‘My fellow councillors have already heard this, citizen, but I will repeat it for your benefit. These are the very words of Marcus Septimus. “If you have my letter they will have to let you in and that will give you the opportunity to talk to the steward. He’s the one responsible for seeing that the lictor’s treasure – when it comes – is taken off the cart, so he knows exactly what it is and what it’s worth. He may even have witnessed how it was acquired and what favours it is – or was – intended to repay. In any case I’m sure you’ll manage to get it out of him. I know you, Libertus, you are skilled at things like that. I am quite certain I can rely on you.” There you are, citizen, you may read it for yourself.’

  I shook my head. There was no point in reading it. I recognized the words. Of course I could try denying everything – it would be my word against the messenger’s – but I dismissed the thought. Marcus might thoughtlessly confirm what he had said – in which case my denial would make bad matters worse: lying to the authorities is a significant offence. At the very least, I’d have lost my reputation as an honest man – which, admittedly, did not appear to count for much among these councillors.

  Gaius was shaking his thinning locks at me. ‘What can that conversation mean, citizen pavement-maker, except that you and Marcus already knew about the theft?’

  ‘But how could we possibly have known about it in advance? We had that conversation shortly before noon, and the robbery did not take place till after dark!’

  ‘Did it, citizen?’ Porteus was standing up again, his pockmarked face wreathed in an ugly smile. ‘Thank you for that information. I am sure that the garrison will be pleased to know. That, as these other councillors are aware, was the commander’s guess, but since all the occupants of the cart were dead and the road was unfrequented, there was no proof what time the raid took place. And thank you also for the confirmation that Gaius’s courier was correct in his account.’

  Too late, I realized what I’d admitted to. ‘I did have that conversation with my patron,’ I said desperately, ‘but it did not mean what you have twisted it to mean. It is true that he was interested in where Voluus got his wealth, but that was simply in order to decide whether or not it would be wise to accept the invitation to his feast. His Excellence thought the steward would have information on the point. That is all I was attempting to find out. Ask my patron. Ask Calvinus himself.’

  ‘Oh, we intend to ask your patron, believe me, citizen.’ Porteus’s manner was nastier than before. ‘And we are already asking Calvinus. He is a prisoner at the jail, being questioned as we speak. Of course they cannot interrogate him to the full – not until his master gets here anyway – but I have no doubt that in the end he’ll tell us everything.’ He sat down noisily.

  I blanched. I c
ould guess the methods Porteus had in mind – and no doubt Calvinus, as the steward of a professional torturer, had an even clearer picture of what might lie in store. Poor Calvinus! I did not especially like the man, but he had done nothing that I knew of to deserve a fate like that.

  ‘But there isn’t anything to tell,’ I murmured hopelessly, though that would not help the steward, when it came to it. Like the page-boy that Voluus once accused of theft, he might well end up confessing falsehoods just to make the beatings stop. And one thing was becoming very clear to me: if I was not careful, I would be the next. Highway robbery is a capital offence and, though as a citizen I’d be protected from the worst and (unlike Calvinus) was in little danger of being crucified, all the same this preposterous affair might prove to be extremely serious.

  I had been worried about getting home betimes, but if this went badly I might never see my home again. Nor indeed my wife! I could find myself in exile for the remainder of my days, deprived of ‘water and fire’ throughout the Empire – and that was if the magistrates were fairly lenient. I did not care to dwell on what might happen otherwise.

  Florens was speaking. ‘We have already questioned Calvinus about you. It was the first thing we asked him. He says you threatened him.’

  ‘Threatened him?’ I was incredulous.

  He made a tutting nose. ‘Citizen,’ he said impatiently. ‘We’ve been through this before. You told him privately that he’d be held to blame, and publicly that he’d be lucky to escape. People on the stairwell will testify to that. And they will also swear that you had some kind of fight – though Calvinus is still persisting in denying it. What were you doing, citizen? Arguing over how to divide up the spoils?’