‘But what about your slaves?’ I asked, aware of her page gazing up at her in disbelief. ‘Surely they must have been aware of it?’
She smiled grimly. ‘Lucianus always went directly to the temple, sometimes with offerings in his hands. Often he didn’t even speak to me. I told the slaves it was a sort of ritual – making secret offerings for me before the shrine – in case I should become the flamen’s wife. They are accustomed to strange doings in this house. It’s no odder than insisting a plate of new-baked cakes be left untouched on a table by your bed each night – just so that you have an instant sacrifice to hand, in case you’re called on to officiate!’
Marcus got up from his chair to come and clap me on the back. ‘Well done, Libertus. You have solved the mystery, as usual. That wretched steward came in here, and crept into the temple secretly. Presumably to meet his friend . . .’ He emphasised the word derisively and glanced at Hirsus who was cowering by the door. ‘I still think he was stealing from his master, too – those gifts we saw were too rich for a slave. Someone must have known of that, and threatened to expose him as a thief, so Lucianus murdered him and then exchanged the body for the bones.’ He looked at Hirsus again, and this time his glance was much less friendly. ‘No doubt with help, as Libertus suggested earlier.’
Servir Meritus nodded. He seemed deep in thought. ‘That would make sense, Excellence. Perhaps Trinunculus disturbed him in the act and had to be silenced too, before he talked. Trinunculus was a pleasant fellow but he always had a tendency to say too much. And – I regret to say this – but Hirsus could have been in the grove at the important time. I sent him there myself.’
Hirsus had turned the colour of curdled milk. ‘Excellences, by all the gods I swear – I was not part of this. I did not touch Trinunculus – or the bones. And if Lucianus came to the temple court by night, it wasn’t to see me. That would have been a sacrilege, and besides there are always temple slaves about. I wouldn’t dare!’
But Marcus wasn’t listening. He wore a look of great complacency. ‘Seize him, Libertus!’ he said, and there was little I could do except obey.
Chapter Twenty-five
I seized Hirsus firmly from behind and pinioned him. ‘Well reasoned, Excellence! Of course it had to be a priest!’ I said, struggling to hold my prisoner as he tried to wriggle free. ‘You might send for the centurion and guard, perhaps?’
Marcus nodded and gestured to Aurelia’s page, who was by now the only servant in the room.
‘Where shall I find them, Excellence? In the temple court?’ He sounded frightened, and I could hardly blame him. I remembered how eerie I’d found it myself, crossing the courtyard earlier, and I’d had a companion and a torch. This lad would have neither of those things. But I needed him to go. Hirsus was still protesting violently.
‘Look in the robing room,’ I said. ‘And when you’ve done that – with your permission, lady? – go to the slaves’ waiting room and send my slave to me.’
Aurelia gestured her assent and the boy disappeared. We saw him open the door and disappear into the night, the rain still dancing in the peristyle.
‘By all the gods . . .’ Hirsus was struggling in my grasp.
‘Secure him, Meritus,’ I panted. ‘I am an old man and I can’t hold him long.’
The sevir whipped off his embroidered scarf, and made to tie my prisoner up, but Aurelia prevented him.
‘Don’t bind him! Not in my husband’s house!’ she cried.
I nodded. ‘You are quite right, lady. I had forgotten that. Stop struggling, Hirsus.’ I jammed my right arm firmly round his throat. ‘It will do you no good, in any case. There are three of us – four if you count the lady here – and only one of you. The front door is guarded, and there are soldiers in the court. You would not get far, if you escaped.’
He quieted at this, and I relaxed my grip a little, but he had closed his eyes in terror and I could feel him trembling – so much so that I thought he might collapse.
‘It’s time to tell His Excellence the truth,’ I said. ‘There is more behind this than your amorous affairs. The things that Lucianus brought to the shrine – you knew that they were stolen, didn’t you?’
He gulped and nodded. ‘It was not really theft. More like immortal providence. The very day that Optimus had raised the purchase price.’
‘I wondered about that,’ I said, not releasing his arms. ‘You wanted Lucianus. You are a wealthy man. Why didn’t you simply purchase him?’
He twisted round to look at me. ‘I tried. As soon as I’d been elected sub-sevir and found Lucianus again, I went to Optimus and offered for his slave. That was the start of all our troubles. Lucianus had been saving for his price, and had saved up more than half the sum agreed, though Optimus had set it absurdly high.’
‘Face this way, prisoner! You are answering to me!’ Marcus rapped out sharply.
Hirsus did as he was bid, and said no more. He looked thoroughly defeated now.
‘But Optimus saw a chance of making money?’ I suggested.
Hirsus looked at me gratefully. ‘The price went up like a ballista ball, and when I protested he made it clear that if I did not accept his price, he would change his mind and refuse to sell Lucianus at all. I had to agree to his terms eventually, but the cost of being sevir is so high, I knew I couldn’t do it till my term came to an end. I was already facing ruin, with the cost of nomination, and if I didn’t make sufficient contributions to the shrine, I wouldn’t even receive the usual honours when I left.’
Marcus was unsympathetic. ‘That is your own fault entirely. A man should not accept nomination to a post he can’t afford. If you hope to enjoy the homage of the town, the gift of lucrative contracts and the friendship of the great, you must expect to pay for it. Some seviri have even found sponsors and become equites, in time. Naturally the authorities want something in return. That’s why the wealth of offerings in a sevir’s year of tenure directly affects his standing afterwards. What else do you expect? But you seem to show a lack of business sense. If you – a wealthy man – showed interest in buying Optimus’s slave, naturally Optimus increased the price. I would have done the same myself.’
‘So,’ I persisted, ‘the fates took a hand. What was it, Hirsus? An unlooked-for chance that came his way and tempted Lucianus into theft? It must have been something of the kind, to demand such costly acts of penitence. A man in need of money does not repeatedly make gifts unless there is some pressing reason for it – a threat of crucifixion as a highway thief, or worse.’
‘He found a bag, citizen, inside these very temple grounds,’ Hirsus confessed. Meritus gave a derisive snort, but Hirsus protested. ‘He told me so himself, and I believe him. All sorts of goods and jewellery – silver plates, bells, drinking vessels, even coins! Just lying in the grove, he said – as if it had been waiting to be found.’ He gulped. ‘It would have paid the purchase price twice over. We thought it was the hand of fate. If only we had known!’
Marcus was looking thunderous. ‘You knew that was theft, dishonest wretch, even if he found them as he said he did. If a slave discovers something in the street, it becomes his master’s property, not his.’
‘But this was not found on the street. It was found within the temple grounds,’ Meritus put in. ‘Clearly it was intended for the shrine. Those things were costly, highest quality. They would have meant a great deal to my sevirship. That’s why I set him penance as I did.’
Marcus looked at him in astonishment. ‘You knew?’
‘Of course he knew, Excellence,’ I said. ‘Lucianus was his suppliant all along.’
The sevir threw me a furious glance, but his voice was calm. ‘I have been selfish, Excellence, I confess. He came here offering a cup, and I saw at once that he could not have acquired it honestly. I should have denounced him to the authorities then. It was a weakness, but I reasoned that if he gave the items to the temple – where they should have been – that was sufficient punishment. I knew that he was saving for h
is price.’
‘So you permitted him to pay his debt before the gods by offering these stolen goods before the shrine?’ Marcus sounded reluctantly impressed. ‘Weren’t you afraid the owners would appear and lay claim to their former property? It is customary, after all, for people to nail up curse plates and petitions to the gods, especially when they have mislaid their possessions. And do you believe this story of the bag? More likely he was robbing Optimus.’
I shook my head. ‘He was not robbing his master. Optimus would be the first to miss an as – if anything of value had disappeared he would have had the torturers in and the whole household flogged until the missing items were accounted for.’
‘Exactly, citizen.’ Meritus was looking pale and grim. ‘The steward must have got them from elsewhere. In fact, I was convinced – the auguries convinced me – that he had not just stolen them, but killed the owner too. Though of course I could not go to the authorities with that. I had no proof of it.’
Hirsus let out a despondent wail. ‘Lucianus swears he didn’t, Excellence. I told him to say I’d given him the jewels, but Meritus knew straight away that they were stolen. And when he spoke of murder – I don’t know! I want to believe Lucianus, but – now that he’s been found with blood all over him – perhaps the sevir was right after all.’
‘Oh, I’m sure he is,’ I said. ‘I’m fairly sure the man who brought them here is dead. Remember, we found a body yesterday. The slaves assumed he was a beggar who had crawled in here to die, because they found him hidden in a ditch with no purse or possessions. Suppose he was not a beggar but a thief? Suppose the goods were his? The temple grove would be a splendid place to hide – no dogs or watch to worry you, and close to the wall it is particularly dark and unfrequented, as I suspect that he discovered to his cost! He tried to scale the wall, perhaps, and fell? He was peculiarly unlucky to land down in the ditch, where no one who was not searching would ever look for him. I think, if we examine those bones more carefully, we shall find that he has a broken back or neck. I noticed there was a strange angle to his spine.’
‘So it was an accident?’ the sevir said softly. ‘Then I was wrong. And the bag? Why was it not found beside the corpse?’
‘No doubt he threw it over as he came, well out of the way so that he didn’t land on it. And it was Lucianus’s good – or bad – fortune to discover it, while he was taking a short cut to the shrine.’
Aurelia had been listening to all this with a frown. She shuddered. ‘What a fearful death. Pray Jupiter the end was quick. Imagine, lying helpless in a ditch, dying by inches . . .’
‘He would not have fared much better if he had been found.’ Marcus was matter-of-fact. ‘If he was a thief, and on that scale, that would have meant a penalty of death. At least it proves that I was right to send the body to the pit – that is for paupers and for criminals.’ He frowned. ‘I wonder how Lucianus contrived to bring back the corpse? Do you know, Hirsus?’
‘Excellence, on the Emperor’s life, I swear—’
That was a mistake. Marcus was not an admirer of Commodus, but he had a position to maintain. He stepped forward and struck Hirsus with his baton, across the face, savagely enough to leave a red weal on the cheek. I felt Hirsus convulse with silent sobs.
‘I have been thinking about that, Excellence,’ I said quickly, before Marcus had time to strike him again. ‘The bones may not have reached the pit at all. You told me that you’d given orders yesterday, and earlier the sevir said the same. You are people in authority, and you assume that when you give commands, they are as good as carried out. But did anyone actually see the body go? You, patron, you instructed Meritus . . .’ my patron confirmed this with a nod, ‘and you, sevir, passed on the command? To whom?’
He frowned. ‘To Hirsus or Scribonius, I suppose. Or possibly directly to the slaves. I don’t recall.’ He shook his head. ‘You mean, perhaps the body never left the premises? It went on lying out there in the ditch? I suppose it would make sense,’ he went on slowly. ‘If someone wanted to put it at the shrine, it would be much simpler to move it in from there. But who would dare . . .?’
‘Scribonius!’ Hirsus twisted unexpectedly and wrenched himself free. (My fault, entirely; I had relaxed my grasp.) ‘Scribonius! It must have been Scribonius. It wasn’t me.’ He was standing by the inner door by now, almost shouting at us in his desperation. ‘Ask Lucianus when he comes round. Ask any of the temple slaves. Ask anyone.’
He made as if to flee, but in two paces Meritus was beside him, holding him helpless in one gigantic arm. ‘What shall I do with him, Excellence? Take him to the guard?’
‘One moment! Hirsus has a point,’ I said. ‘Scribonius was an Icenian after all. And he identified the legate’s ring.’
‘The one you discovered in the sanctuary?’ Meritus did not relax his hold, though Hirsus was wriggling like a fish. ‘I thought you had decided that was not a legate’s ring but a messenger’s?’
‘Scribonius had seen it on the former legate’s hand. He told me so. He was quite positive. Something distinctive in the angle of the seal.’
‘The legate who was murdered, years ago?’ Marcus looked horrified. ‘How could Scribonius have noticed that? The legate never got to Glevum then. He was attacked and killed a long way south.’
‘Scribonius served a provisions officer.’ Hirsus clawed at the arm around his neck and freed himself enough to speak. ‘In Aquae Sulis, Excellence, among other towns. That would be directly on the route!’
Meritus nodded. ‘I’ve heard him speak of it. We were discussing Aquae Sulis once.’
Marcus interrupted. ‘Perhaps we should have Scribonius detained as well? What do you think, Libertus?’
‘I think we should have him brought to us,’ I said and then at last the tramp of military feet was heard, and barked orders rang out in the peristyle.
Marcus smiled. ‘Ah! here’s the guard! You’d better give the orders here, Libertus. Remember, I put them under your command.’
Thank all the gods for that, I thought. I did not know how much longer I could have kept it up. Even then there was a moment’s horrible confusion before I could persuade the soldiers to let Hirsus go, and take charge of Meritus instead.
Chapter Twenty-six
It was no easy matter. Once Meritus understood what was afoot, he did everything he could to save himself. He knocked down Hirsus, kicked a guard away, and picked up the pontifex’s chair, laying about him like a club-man in the ring. Perhaps it was just as well he did. I believe Marcus might yet have countermanded me if the sevir had not aimed a blow at him!
It took four soldiers to overpower him, and by the time they had dragged him out into the peristyle to tie him up – they still could not bind a prisoner in the house – one man was lying gasping on the ground and the centurion himself was nursing a black eye, his transverse crest distinctly battered and askew.
When they were gone I glanced around the room. Aurelia was sitting on the bench, both hands pressed in horror to her mouth; Hirsus was still cowering on the floor, but the soldier had clambered to his feet and taken up a post beside the door. He was white-faced and shaken, and there was a darkening bruise beneath his eye, but his presence was reassuring all the same. Marcus gave a deep, heartfelt sight and began dusting down his toga folds.
‘So Meritus was guilty all along?’ He came back, breathing heavily, and sat down on his chair. ‘You might have given us some warning, my old friend.’
I shook my head. ‘How could I, Excellence? I only worked it out tonight myself. Besides, he is a big man. If I had alarmed him – with respect – I don’t think you and Hirsus could have captured him. And he was getting desperate – the murder of Trinunculus shows us that. I frightened him earlier when I let him see that I doubted his account of events, and he discreetly pointed out that he’d declared me cursed, and if I was killed it would be seen as divine vengeance! I had to work hard to make him feel secure again. Our best hope was that, in accusing Hirsus, he would say
something to confirm my guess and give himself away. Which, fortunately, I think he did. Enough, at any rate, to teach the interrogators what lines to follow when they question him.’
Marcus was still looking shaken. ‘And you are quite sure . . .?’
‘Completely, Excellence. If I had any doubts, his performance here a minute ago dispelled them. It had to be Meritus. I should have seen that from the start, when he told us he’d seen a body at the shrine but when we got there it had disappeared.’
‘What happened to that body?’ Marcus said. ‘You think it was the robber with the bag, again, and afterwards Meritus put it back into the ditch?’
‘There never was a body,’ I explained. ‘Who saw it? Only Meritus. None of the others did. He told us he locked the door on it before he called the priests, and had them light the purifying fires outside – which proved that no one could have come or gone. I made it clear I suspected human agencies, so the next day he went back to spread the ‘reappearing blood’ – and put back the ring which he’d taken from the water butt. But he used the inner door that time – presumably so that he would not be seen – and could not fasten up the bolt again. It was a very clever move, as it turned out. I must confess it misled me for a time.’
‘And tonight?’ Hirsus had managed to sit up, although his voice was still no more than a croak. ‘There was a body then. I saw it myself.’
‘But not a dead one. That was Lucianus, I believe,’ I said. I added, as Hirsus gasped in disbelief, ‘Probably Meritus demanded it. A last penance, no doubt he would say. Poor Lucianus. I wonder how he felt, lying there in darkness in the shrine, too afraid to move, with that blood-soaked cloak draped over him. He must have been in terror for his life ever to have agreed to such a thing.’
Hirsus shuddered. ‘He didn’t tell me. He told me less and less. Only that Meritus had read the auguries and knew that he had stolen everything, and was compelling him to pay it back. And when I saw him earlier tonight . . .’
The Legatus Mystery Page 22
