The Fateful Day (20 page)

I made a little bow ‘You are generous, again.’

‘Ah, with him it is a business arrangement, citizen,’ he said, meaning that Scipio had promised a fee for finding a suitable priest to undertake the task. No doubt there’d been another one for recommending me.

But it raised another question. If it wasn’t Scipio Drusus who called here earlier – and according to Alfredus it could not have been – who was it? Someone else anxious to earn a fee for recommending me, perhaps? That would make a kind of sense, and might be a reason for the man not offering his name, since he was only hoping to act as agent for this Scipio. Had our visitor this morning actually claimed that he had bought the Egidius house himself, or only that it had found a purchaser, and that new pavements were required? Probably the latter, from what Junio had said.

So who else could have known that the villa had finally been sold? Any patrician who knew Scipio, it seemed – since he’d been to look at it and had made no secret of his interest in the place. Anyone but Commemoratus, who had not been here at all, and had witnesses to prove it, including Junio.

I frowned. These thoughts were leading nowhere. Even if I found this morning’s visitor, that might have no connection with the murder of my slave. My only link was Cacus, the slave of a man that I’d been talking to when Maximus was killed. Was it possible that Commemoratus had a twin, perhaps, and therefore seemed to be in two places at once?

But of course that was no answer. Quite the opposite. The person I was looking for – according to two different witnesses – did not resemble Commemoratus much, apart from the colour of his toga-stripe. Perhaps Cacus had simply followed him around to try to register the objection to the will? He’d said that he was looking for a magistrate. But what was the purple-striper doing in this neighbourhood? Supposing that it was really Cacus that the tanner’s slave had seen!

I shook my head impatiently. None of this was making any sense.

Alfredus saw my impatience, and misinterpreted it. ‘Of course you will be anxious to begin the rites if you wish to leave the workshop before the gates are shut. I wonder what’s delayed the wise-woman and priest? They should be here by now. I sent my personal page to fetch them urgently.’

I almost smiled at his patrician certainty. It did not appear to have occurred to him, even for an instant, that they’d refuse to come, or that they might have other duties to perform before they did. He simply assumed that they’d obey his summons instantly. Such, I suppose, is the privilege of rank.

‘Perhaps, councillor, they would not hurry – for a slave?’ I ventured.

Alfredus looked at me disdainfully. ‘They would hurry at my orders, or so I should expect!’ He gestured to his steward. ‘Vesperion, go out onto the street and see if you can see them anywhere.’

The old steward hurried out to do as he was told, but he’d not been gone an instant before he shuffled back, closed the door carefully and made an awkward bow. ‘There’s no sign of those two, but someone else has just arrived. He was going to come straight in, but I made him wait outside. A slave-boy, by the look of it. Not your attendant, Master Alfredus.’ He turned to me. ‘Little red-headed lad. I think it’s one of yours.’

‘M
inimus!’ I murmured. It could be no one else. I began to scramble painfully from my precarious seat, but Junio had shot me an agonised glance and was already on his feet. By the time that I’d regained my own, he was re-opening the door.

‘Minimus! It’s you!’ I heard him cry. ‘I thought you were assisting in the house today. What brings you here instead?’

‘The mistress sent me. There’s been important news!’ My little servant sounded out of breath. ‘I’m glad to find you here – I’ve run most of the way, but when I got here I saw the shutters up and thought you must be gone. And then that old slave I didn’t know came out, and wouldn’t let me in. What’s happened? Are the master and Maximus inside?’

Poor creature. He had no idea what dreadful news awaited him.

Junio was obviously thinking the same thing. I heard him say softly, ‘Your master is. He’ll tell you everything. You’d better come inside.’ He opened the door wider and gently propelled Minimus towards me as he spoke.

My young slave blinked a moment against the sudden gloom, then peered around. ‘Your pardon, citizen,’ he murmured, seeing Alfredus, and bending one knee in an awkward bow, continued, ‘I did not realise that my master was receiving visitors. And in mourning robes, I see.’ He turned to me. ‘Has someone of importance died today? There’s obviously something happening in town. Lots of people wearing dark togas
like this citizen, and groups of armed soldiers on guard in every street. I had quite a problem getting through the gates. Had to tell them who my owner was, where I was going and what my errand was, and even then he was not keen to let me pass.’ He turned to me. ‘It was only the mention of His Excellence that changed his mind, I think.’

‘Your message concerns Marcus? There hasn’t been more trouble at the villa since I left?’ The words were almost startled out of me.

Minimus shook his tousled auburn curls, a familiar gesture that made me swallow hard. Maximus had done the selfsame thing a thousand times. ‘Well, it’s good and bad news, master. Mostly good – I think. A letter came by courier from Corinium. We think it said the lady Julia has safely had her child, and both of them are well.’

‘You came all this way to tell me that?’

A breathless nod. ‘I’ve brought you the tablet it was written on so you can check if we are right. The courier took it to the villa first, of course, but there was no one there except Georgicus and he cannot read, so they brought it to the roundhouse and my mistress and the courier did the best they could. The rider claims that the baby is a girl, but I’m not sure if the message mentions that.’ He handed me the tablet from inside his tunic-top. ‘My mistress isn’t quite sure that she deciphered it aright, but she thinks the last line is something you should see.’

I undid the ties that secured the writing block and read the message scratched into the wax. It was written in Julia’s eccentric female hand – no wonder my poor wife had found it hard to read. Much of the spelling was erratic and individual as well, but it did confirm that the newborn was a healthy female child, born on the Kalends of Aprilis, several days ago, and that the mother had survived the birth. But Gwellia was right. The last line was the most important one. There was a spotted fever in Corinium, and Julia was fearful for the baby’s health, so as soon as she and the child were strong enough, she planned to journey back. The message was to alert the household to the plan and ask them to be ready for her imminent return.

‘Dear gods!’ I murmured. Obviously Julia had sent this courier long before my message had arrived. I knew that spotted fever was a dreadful thing – those that it did not kill, it often scarred and blinded dreadfully – and could spread as quickly as a fire. Julia would want to get her children safe as soon as possible, not only her new baby but her little son as well. Yet the villa here could not receive them as it was, bereft of slaves and proper furniture. I could only hope that my message had arrived in time and she was not already on her way. Fortunately my patron had a town apartment too, so she would not find herself without a place to stay – though the slaves there wouldn’t be expecting anyone. I would have to send them word.

However there was a much more pressing problem to be dealt with here. I passed the writing block to Junio, and turned to Minimus. ‘Come here,’ I urged him gently. ‘There’s something I must tell you. You must be very brave. You know what we discovered at the villa earlier?’

He looked at me with frightened eyes and gave a doubtful nod. ‘You mean in the orchard? Before you left me at the vineyard?’ His voice was quivering.

‘I promised then that I would find the men that killed Pauvrissimus,’ I took his hands gently in my own. ‘I’ve got an even stronger reason to try and find them now. You asked if somebody important had died. Well, I’m afraid that’s true. Two important people have been killed. One of them is the Emperor Pertinax himself …’ I squeezed his fingers as I heard him gasp, but he did not interrupt, ‘… which probably explains the soldiers in the streets just now. And the other is someone that the town won’t care about, but is very important indeed to you and me …’

I felt the shuddering breath that shook the little frame. ‘Not … Maximus …?’ he whispered, and I had to signal that it was.

‘This patrician citizen has been very good,’ I said, nodding at our dark-clad visitor and wondering again about his motives for all this. ‘He’s brought the finest funeral herbs that can be had, and arranged for a priest to come and purify the shop – and even a wise woman to bring talismans and cleanse the corpse.’

At the word ‘corpse’ the sobs and tears began. I forgot convention and simply held him close and let him cry.

It was a most unRoman thing for me to do, of course, and I was aware of an awkward little pause. Then Vesperion gave a cough and murmured, ‘Citizen?’ as if to signal that it was time to show a little more propriety.

I glanced around the room, fearing that my behaviour might have caused my visitor offence, but Alfredus Allius seemed a little misty-eyed himself, while Junio had turned away and was deliberately busying himself with setting a new candle on the spike.

‘This old one was guttering,’ he said, defensively, disproving this by using it to light the other wick. ‘And we’ll be needing better light. I think the priest and wise woman are here – did you not hear the knock?’

I hadn’t. I had been too concerned with Minimus, I suppose.

‘I tried to draw your attention to it, citizen,’ Vesperion supplied, and I realised that had been the reason for the cough. ‘And there it is again. Would you like me to go and answer it?’

‘Thank you, steward, I would be glad of that,’ I said. It should have been Minimus’s job to go, of course, now that he was here. But he was clearly in no condition to deal with visitors.

Nonetheless I let go of the boy, who gave his wet cheeks a surreptitious wipe and made a visible effort to control his tears. He came and stood behind me deferentially just as Vesperion ushered in not the little party we were expecting but a woman on her own.

That would have been astonishing enough – respectable women do not generally roam the streets alone – but even more astounding was the way she looked. She was huge, quite the most enormous female I had ever seen. She was not only fairly tall, she was immensely wide, dressed in a long grey Grecian robe that bulged at every seam. Added to that, her feet were sandal-less and her straggling grey hair hung loose down to her waist (or what would have been her waist if she had been less vast). The effect was quite shocking, even when one remembered who she was – only a lunatic or a soothsayer would appear in public dressed like that. She carried a large pail of something in one pudgy hand and smelt strongly – though not unpleasantly – of aniseed and bay.

Her presence seemed to fill my little outer room, which was small and narrow at the best of times. ‘Councillor Alfredus!’ Her voice was as big as she was. And she had not waited to be addressed by him, as any normal matron would have done with someone of his rank. ‘I hear you summoned me.’

‘Ah,’ Alfredus Allius said, in his flat, nasal voice. ‘I see you found the place. Did my servant not come with you? Or has he gone to fetch the priest? I asked him to accompany you to show you where to come. I rather supposed that he would bring you both at once.’ It was a veiled apology, I thought, for having allowed her to walk here on her own.

But the woman simply snorted. ‘A wise woman has no need of slaves to guide her, citizen. I know the citizen Libertus by repute. It would not be difficult to ask my way. Besides, there are piles of cut stone outside the shop – it isn’t hard to work out where the pavement-maker works.’ She turned and looked full into my eyes – something else no other unfamiliar female would do. Her own were disconcerting: they were bluer than the summer sky, but shrewd and sharp with the suggestion of a knowing twinkle in their depths. ‘I imagine you’re the client I’m supposed to help?’ She did not wait for me to answer, but went on, in ringing tones, ‘I’ll give you some rue to chew for protection later on, and find you an amulet to wear to ward off more bad luck. In the meantime there is work to do. Where’s this corpse of yours?’

At the mention of a corpse I sensed Minimus stiffen at my back, and realised that he was close to tears again, but all the same there was something in her brisk enquiry which made me feel that we were now in skilled and able hands. ‘Through here,’ I told her, and went to lead the way into the inner room.

She shook her head. ‘Not you. I’ll take the younger citizen and the old slave with me. You’ll have another visitor – and very soon – and it’s bad luck for us to be disturbed before the corpse is fully cleansed. Besides, it is forbidden for a priest to see the body of the dead.’

‘Maximus has been washed and wrapped already,’ Junio ventured, in a tone that was unusually meek. The woman’s forcefulness was clearly starting to affect him too.

‘Only with water from the well, though, I presume?’ she said, dismissively. ‘That’s a useful start, but I’ve brought running water from the spring.’ She reached into her pail and produced a little stoppered jug. ‘Much more efficacious in a case like this. I’ve picked fresh herbs as well, as you can see, to ward off any curse. And here’s a little bag of earth to sprinkle on him afterwards to give him the ritual symbol of a burial. It’s a lot of ceremony for a simple slave, I know, but that’s what is required to give a murder victim rest.’

I boggled at her. ‘How did you know that this was murder?’

She withered me with those deep blue eyes of hers. ‘Citizen, I am a wise woman and noted for my skills – did you not expect that I would know? Now, you and you …’ She gestured at Vesperion and my son. ‘Come rub these bay leaves on your hands …’ She shook the pail at them, and they sheepishly obeyed. ‘That will keep the victim’s spirit from pursuing you and demanding that you avenge this death. So follow me and you can help me with the ritual. And you …’ she turned to Minimus ‘… can guard the door. Don’t let anybody come in while we’re at work – just wait out here for us. It won’t take very long, and when we’ve finished and the body’s wrapped again the priest can come and purify the room.’

And without a further glance at Alfredus or myself, she led the way into the inner room and shut the door.

Alfredus gazed after her with admiring eyes. ‘Isn’t she a wonder? She thinks of everything. You notice that she even goes barefoot, so that there is no knot around her person where evil ghosts might lurk? You’re in safe hands with her. She’ll purify the corpse and make sure the spirit of your slave can rest.’

I nodded. It was a good deal more than Marcus’s household slaves were going to get, even with the services of the Funeral Guild.

‘And she has psychic powers,’ the councillor went on. ‘See how she found her way here without assistance from my slave – and knew that this was murder without a word from you.’

‘I expect she met the woman from the tannery next door, who told her so,’ I said, remembering that I’d seen my neighbour hovering in the street. ‘She knew the truth and she would love to spread a little gossip of that kind.’

But Alfredus was not to be convinced. ‘I tell you, the wise woman is a wonder, citizen,’ he said, in that peculiar monotone of his. ‘She cleansed my warehouse perfectly. I’d had the priest, of course – the same one who is coming here today – but nothing went right until she took a hand. I’ve started consulting her every day or so. I’m sure that’s why the business is now prospering. And everything she’d told me has turned out to be true. She even predicted there’d be a death today.’

I looked at him with dawning realisation. ‘She told you to come here?’

‘Not directly, citizen, of course. She simply told me that if I heard about a death today – of any person and of any rank – I must avert ill fortune by engaging her at once. That could not apply to Publius or the Emperor, of course, so I knew it had to be your slave.’

So that explained his presence at my shop and the unnatural generosity towards my slave! I smiled, amused by the shrewd simplicity of the woman’s stratagem and offered a mental apology to my visitor for having doubted his sincerity.

Alfredus saw the smile. ‘I wonder you don’t ask her who it was that killed your slave. It may be she could cast the stones for you, as well, if you have an aureus or two to spare.’

An aureus is a lot of money, even for a wealthy citizen like the councillor. For somebody like me, it is an awesome sum – and not one I am likely to expend on doubtful sorcery. ‘You think the stones will tell her, too, who robbed my patron and murdered all his slaves?’ I said, trying to keep derision from my tone. ‘I hardly think so, councillor. Anyone who could genuinely offer knowledge of that kind would be regularly called upon to testify in court, and would be very lucky to survive once guilty people got to hear about her skills.’

Alfredus looked at me indulgently. ‘You don’t believe her powers? Wait until you get your talisman and see.’

I did not press the point. I was glad to have the woman’s services in laying out poor little Maximus. It’s acknowledged that the process is best done by female hands, and I did not doubt the woman’s skill with herbs and cleansing rituals. And her presence was welcome for another reason, too. If the tanner’s wife had seen her coming here, as I surmised, the news would swiftly spread – so much the better for the reputation of the shop. Potential customers would have no fear of coming here again once it was generally known that a proper herb woman had attended to the corpse and there was no risk of meeting any vengeful ghosts.