Pliny looked at him sharply. “Who said anything about the woods?”
“Well—I mean, that’s what they said, isn’t it? Riding accident in the woods.”
“We said it was a riding accident, we didn’t say where.”
“You did—I mean, well it’s obvious, isn’t it?—” Panic flickered in his eyes. His head swiveled from Pliny to Suetonius and back. “What are you going to do to me? Don’t torture me, I couldn’t stand it, I’m not strong. Please. I’ll—I’ll swear an oath on the altar of Zeus—anything!”
“What’s an oath to you?” Suetonius sneered.
Argyrus puddled the floor around his feet.
“No,” Pliny held up a hand, “no. I’m not going to torture you. Or keep you here.” Indeed, he couldn’t imagine this pathetic figure overpowering Balbus. “But I warn you not to leave the city and not to talk to anyone about this interview. You understand me? You can go.”
“And stay away from Sophronia,” Suetonius growled.
***
“All right but he could have hired assassins,” Suetonius argued. “I wouldn’t have let him go so easily.”
“And you, my friend,” Pliny replied, “are letting your emotions rule your head. Argyrus is a miserable character, but a murderer? Now that I’ve seen the man, I don’t know.”
They sat once again in Pliny’s office together with Nymphidius, Marinus, Aquila, and Zosimus. Servants had brought in their lunch on trays.
“You say he knew about the woods,” said Marinus.
“Yes, but it is a reasonable guess, isn’t it? Look, as far as motive goes, he’s the likeliest suspect we have, but as for means and opportunity?” Pliny shook his head.
“But then that applies to any suspect,” said Nymphidius. “We’ve been through this before. Who might have known where Balbus was and who was the other horseman?”
“The likeliest person to know where he was is someone who followed him from his home that morning,” Pliny replied. “And that brings us back to Fabia.”
“But only if she knew about his affair,” Suetonius reminded him. “Sophronia was pretty sure she didn’t.”
“And, of course, she’ll deny it if I ask her,” said Pliny wearily. “I’ve been remarkably unsuccessful in getting that woman to admit anything. I honestly don’t think I have the stomach to go back there again.”
“Well, where do we go from here then?” said Aquila.
Pliny looked around the table, hoping to see inspiration in some face. And found none. “There is still too much we don’t know. Why was he where he was? Where was he going? Someone, somewhere knows the answer. We need to dig deeper. Zosimus, my boy—” he smiled at the young man whose forehead still bore the mark of his recent wound, “our clew of thread has so far led us up against a blank wall. We need another clew.”
They talked a while longer to no purpose. Then, as the others got up to leave, Zosimus begged a moment to speak to Pliny privately.
“Patrone, I’m sorry to bother you with a personal matter when you have so much else on your mind, but it’s Ione.”
Pliny looked a question.
“I mean, well, she’s not herself these days. Irritable, cross with me and little Rufus, like something’s preying on her mind, and when I ask her she just turns away and won’t say anything. So I was thinking perhaps if you spoke to her?”
Pliny squeezed his shoulder affectionately. He was still feeling guilty about what had happened to his favorite freedman, though the wound luckily wasn’t as serious as it had looked when the soldiers carried him home that day covered in blood.
“I’m sorry to hear it,” he said. “She’s always been such a cheerful soul. But really wouldn’t it be better if Calpurnia spoke to her? Women tell each other things, you know, they don’t share with us men.”
“But they talk all the time, Patrone. Once even in the middle of the night, the mistress woke us up to talk to her. I don’t know what they said but when Ione came back to bed she was in a terrible state.”
“Really? In the middle of the night, you say? Well, I don’t know what I can do but I’ll have a word with ’Purnia about it.”
“Thank you, Patrone.”
***
That night
Pliny thrashes and struggles. His toga, wet and clinging, envelops him like a burial shroud, pinning his arms to his sides. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t break free. He is suffocating. He cries for help but they ignore him—Calpurnia and Ione, talking in low tones. What are they saying? He can’t make it out. Why don’t they hear him? Won’t someone help him? His heart is near bursting—
“Gaius, Gaius, wake up!”
With a wrenching effort he tore himself free of the dream. He was tangled in the damp sheet. It was moments before he could catch his breath and still his heart.
“Are you all right? I couldn’t wake you.” Calpurnia bent over him. “You’re soaking wet, shall I call Marinus?”
“No, no, I’m all right now. I was dreaming. What hour is it?”
“I don’t know—not yet dawn. There’s someone at the door with a message for you. He says it’s urgent.”
Chapter Twenty-one
The Kalends of November
An elderly man was waiting for him in the antechamber, flanked by two sleepy-eyed door-slaves, who eyed him with resentment. He was one of the Night Watch, he said, whose job was to patrol the streets on the lookout for fires. He ducked his head to Pliny. “They’re dead, sir, all of ’em. The whole family, slaughtered like. The husband, the wife, the little—”
“Whose family, man?” Pliny peered into the Night Watchman’s frightened face.
“Glaucon, your honor. One of his servants come running out of the house as I was passing by. I went into the house with him and looked. Then I come here, not knowing where else—”
“Take me there.” Pliny called for his cloak and shoes and sent someone to rouse his chair bearers and Galeo, his senior lictor.
Glaucon’s was a large, handsome town house near the temple of Artemis, a short walk from the palace. The servants who met them at the door were gibbering with fear. They had been wakened in the middle of the night, they said, by groans and the sound of retching coming from the master’s bedroom. When they burst in, they found him dying; he took his last rattling breath as they watched. His wife was already beyond help. They ran to the children’s rooms—Glaucon had two young sons and a daughter—and found them dead as well; and Glaucon’s old mother, not dead, but unconscious and barely breathing.
Pliny sent Galeo back for Marinus and when the physician arrived they inspected the bodies together. The stink of vomit was everywhere. In the master bedroom, Glaucon lay on the floor in a puddle of it. He had kicked over a bedside table in his death struggle and the pieces of a smashed water jug lay beside it. His wife was half on, half off the bed, her mouth open as though in mid-scream, her lips blue, her shift rucked up around her waist, exposing her nakedness. They went to the children’s rooms. In one, two boys of about eight or nine—they looked like twins—lay clutching each other. In the adjoining chamber, a pretty girl of about thirteen had gotten as far as the doorway before she collapsed. Glaucon’s old mother lay in her bed, eyes closed and soaked with sweat. A servant girl sat beside her, bathing her face with a cloth.
Pliny realized his legs were trembling. His stomach rebelled and acid rose in his throat. Marinus, who was inured to death, saw how pale he looked and put out a hand to steady him.
“Who could have done this, Marinus?”
“Mustn’t leap to conclusions. Could be nothing more than a case of bad shellfish. What did they dine on?”
“I’ve already asked,” replied Pliny. “Roast lamb and vegetables. No oysters, nothing like that. Have we got a murder on our hands?”
Marinus looked thoughtful. “Poison? Not something I know much about. I’ve heard that sandraca, some call it arsenikon, can be ingested in food or drink and kill you a few hours later, depending on the dose. Makes sens
e that the man died last. He’s a big fellow, isn’t he? You saw the shoulders on him. Took longer for the poison to work its way through him.”
“But the old woman?”
“Old women don’t eat much. I’ll stay with her, if you like. If she pulls through, we may have an answer.”
“Please.” Pliny shook his head wearily. “The city’s on the verge of panic already, and now this. We must do whatever we can. I’ll leave you in charge, then. Send for me at once if she revives.” He paused in the doorway. “Is this arsenikon hard to get hold of?”
“I wouldn’t think so. It has various uses. I believe painters use it for a red pigment.”
As he left the house, the sun was just rising over the housetops and already a curious crowd of early-risers had gathered outside in the street. In another hour the whole city would be abuzz with news of the atrocity.
***
Pliny returned to the palace to find Pancrates waiting for him outside his office.
“I told you never to come here unasked,” Pliny glowered at him. “I warn you I’m in no mood—”
“Please, Governor,” the prophet looked pained. “I only want to prove my usefulness. I came as soon as I heard.”
“About?”
“Why, Glaucon, of course. What else?”
Pliny took him inside and shut the door. “What do you know about this?”
“About his death, nothing. The family is well-to-do. They have crop land and orchards and do a bit of trading on the side—Glaucon’s brother, that is—he’s the brains of the family. Glaucon, himself, I fear, was a bit slow-witted. But what a wrestler in his day! Oh, he was famous. In the all-out he would break arms and legs. Nobody could stand up to him.”
“Is that all you have to say? I could have learned this from anyone.”
“Tch, tch, such a temper, Governor. Well, you’re under a lot of strain, aren’t you? As a matter of fact, that isn’t all. What I was about to say, is that poor Glaucon consulted us not too long ago. Whenever the prophet said ‘us’, he meant himself and the god. ‘Will I be punished for slaying the lion?’ was his question. Well, we couldn’t imagine what he meant, there haven’t been lions in these parts for a hundred years.”
“‘Slaying the lion.’ And when did he consult you?”
“A few days after the procurator’s disappearance.”
“And what answer did you give him?”
“We told him ‘yes’ to see what would happen.”
“And what happened is that he was murdered.”
“So it would seem.”
Calpurnia had seen him enter. She was waiting for him out of sight. As Pancrates trotted down the palace steps, she rushed at him and seized his hand. “Please! I wrote Agathon a letter. He hasn’t answered! What shall I do?”
He pushed her away roughly. “I thought I was the filthy, Greek spy,” he snarled. “I’ve been warned away from you, madam. Your husband and I have an understanding. I can do nothing for you.”
***
Late the next day, word came from Marinus that Glaucon’s mother was conscious and able to speak. Pliny went there at once. He was met at the door by none other than Diocles.
“A terrible business,” murmured the orator. “I’m a friend of the family, you know. They appreciate your concern, don’t you, Theron?”—he nodded toward a man whom Pliny assumed was the brother—“but this is a matter for the civic authorities, not your office.”
Did anything happen in this city, Pliny wondered, that Diocles did not instantly involve himself in?
“If it’s a question of adulterated food,” Diocles hurried on, “the magistrates will see to it that the merchant is found and punished.”
“And if it’s poison?” said Pliny.
“Great gods! Why would you suspect such a thing?” The orator adopted an expression of horror.
“If it’s poison,” Pliny continued, “that affects the public order. My business. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to question the mother.”
“Only family members are permitted in the gynekeion—”
But Pliny had already pushed past him. Marinus met him at her bedroom door. “They ordered me to leave,” the physician said. “I politely refused.”
“Probably not so politely,” Pliny smiled ruefully. Postumius Marinus did not suffer fools lightly.
“She is very weak, though. Don’t tire her. Her name’s Berenice, by the way. And she doesn’t know yet that the others are dead.”
Berenice lay in bed, a veined and fragile dry leaf of a woman, her white hair spread out on the pillow, a coverlet pulled up to her chin.
“Berenice,” Pliny leaned over her and spoke softly in her ear, “I am the governor. Can you tell me what happened to you?”
“She looked up with watery, unfocused eyes. “Who are you?”
“The governor. I’m here to help. Tell me about dinner last night. Did you eat anything out of the ordinary? Anything not made in your own kitchen?”
She was quiet for so long he was afraid she was past understanding. Then she whispered, “Yes.” Her story came out in wheezing phrases, broken by pauses when her eyes fluttered and her mind seemed to wander. Pliny put his ear to her lips to catch her words. They had just finished dinner when someone came to the door carrying a covered tray of dates stuffed with pine nuts. The man handed the tray to her son and she heard what he said: A gift from the Persian to the bridegroom. Pliny made her repeat this. She was certain those were the words: Perses and nymphios. She asked her son what the man had meant, but he wouldn’t answer her and he seemed suddenly in a bad mood. Nevertheless, they passed the dates around, they were very large and sweet, and everyone had some. Glaucon ate the most. She only had one, though, not being very hungry.
“Did you recognize the man who brought the dates?”
“No.”
“A Persian, he said? Did—does your son know any Persians?”
“I don’t know, I don’t think so.”
“And he isn’t a bridegroom is he? He’s been married for years.”
“No. No. He’ll tell you himself.” Suddenly her eyes widened and she tried to raise her head. “Where is he? Where is my son, my daughter-in-law? Why aren’t they here? Who are you?”
Pliny told her as gently as he could. She turned her face to the wall and began to weep soundlessly.
“I’d give her a sleeping draught,” said Marinus, “but in her condition it could kill her.”
“That might be a mercy,” Pliny answered.
The two men stole quietly out of the room and returned to the megaron where Diocles and Theron were waiting.
“Well—?” Diocles began.
Pliny ignored him and turned to the brother. The man appeared to be deep in shock, sitting speechless with his head in his hands. “Theron, your brother and his family were murdered. I’m sorry, I know it’s a heavy blow, I don’t say it lightly. I will do everything in my power to find out who did this—”
“We will find out who did it!” Diocles was on his feet, the blood rising in his face. “I insist you accept our help, Governor.”
Finally, Pliny had had enough of this pompous nuisance. “Sit down!”
The two men glared at each other until Diocles snorted and turned away.
Then Theron spoke, mumbling to himself. “We were invited for dinner, my wife and I. Had another party to go to first—never got here.”
“Theron.” Pliny put a hand on his shoulder. “Kindly show me to your brother’s office or wherever he kept his papers. There may be something there.”
Diocles opened his mouth.
“Don’t!” said Pliny
The office was a small room at the back of the house. There wasn’t much in it. Glaucon, it seemed, had not been much of a reader or a writer. A few scrolls, a few wax tablets. Pliny scooped them up and handed them to Galeo. Then one item on the desk caught his eye. A handbook of astrology.
He had seen its twin before.
***
The
Sun-Runner to the Father, greetings:
You have heard by now that the Bridegroom is dead—surely murdered. The conclusion is inescapable that one of our number is the killer. I say this although I know it pains you to hear it. I am doing everything I can to learn more. I pray we find him before the Romans do. This governor is no fool. Guard yourself well, Father. Nama Mithras.
***
“’Purnia, we’ve been here too long, give it up for today. People will start to wonder. We’ll try again tomorrow.”
Calpurnia did not answer but gripped Ione’s hand tighter and pulled her along. They had already visited the temples of Artemis and Asclepius that morning and now were circling the exhibition space in the temple of Zeus, where she and Agathon had first met. For five days now, since she had sent Agathon the letter, she had stolen every moment she could to slip away from the palace and visit all the temples where art works were displayed—not with her easel and paints; she didn’t even pretend to be studying the masterpieces—but only with the desperate hope of seeing him again.
She didn’t know what else to do. The fever in her blood gave her no rest.
And what would she say if she saw him? She couldn’t think that far ahead. Every day, in the privacy of her studio, she sketched his face over and over, trying to capture his glancing eye, the half-smile on his lips, every curl of his hair. And feeling the image dissolve as she tried to grasp it. And throwing her charcoal down in despair. Why hadn’t he answered her letter? Why was he so cruel? And surely Gaius guessed something. How could he not? But she was past caring about that.
She circled the gallery again, looking with unseeing eyes at the paintings and statues that had once given her such pleasure. Never taking one eye from the pillared entryway. The gallery wasn’t crowded; no more than a dozen or so visitors. The minutes crept by—half an hour, an hour.
“’Purnia, my feet hurt,” Ione complained. “There must be a better way than this to meet him. Where else does he like to go?”
“Yes, all right,” Calpurnia sighed. “You’re right. I’m not thinking. Let’s…”
The Bull Slayer: A Plinius Secundus Mystery Page 12
