Gitta stopped struggling suddenly, and whirled her head around to glower at her spouse. ‘What money-lender, husband? You didn’t mention that! Dear gods, don’t tell me that we are still in debt!’
He shook his head. ‘Gitta, be silent. It is not what it sounds. I will explain it later.’
I had a sudden surge of confidence. ‘You will explain it now! I don’t believe you got that money from a lender after all. I think you may have got it from the body of the priest. What did Gitta mean by what she said just now — that I couldn’t come here blaming you for the other death “as well”? You know more about that sacerdos than you are telling me. What happened? Did you go back to the temple after dusk? I hear they found a ladder by the sacred grove — was that because you’d used it to climb across the wall?’
Gitta had started struggling again. ‘You can’t prove anything!’ she spat through gritted teeth. ‘There was nobody about. They were all at the evening sacrifice by then — he told me that no one could possibly have seen him climbing in.’
‘Gitta!’ Cantalarius’s voice was hollow with despair. ‘When will you ever learn to hold your tongue? Don’t you realize what your foolish words have done? You might as well have told him outright that I went back to see the priest!’
I forced her hands a little further up her back and she let out a squeal. ‘To kill him?’ I enquired. ‘Tell me, or you can see what I will do!’ In fact I think he guessed that I would never injure her — and if anybody was in danger, it was very likely me. I said quickly, ‘And I shouldn’t plan to murder me as well, if I were you. My patron knows I came here, to return the mule, so if I go missing he’ll know who to blame — and you know what kind of penalty you’d be facing then. Bad enough that you have killed a priest. That is what you went back for, that evening, I presume?’
The farmer let out a helpless little moan. ‘Of course I didn’t, citizen. What help would that have been? I didn’t want a dead priest, but a living one. I went back to confront him for a final time, that’s all — one last attempt at persuading him to come.’
‘But I thought he had agreed …’ I began, then shook my head. ‘But of course he hadn’t really. Go on with your tale. Your wife — as you say — has implicated you, and you have acknowledged the truth of what she said. That is quite enough for me to call the guard and have you formally arraigned before the courts, but I’m prepared to hear your version of events.’ It was mere bravado. From where I was at present, I’d be lucky to escape if I made the least attempt to go and summon the authorities.
But Cantalarius seemed quite willing to go on. ‘When I went to talk to him that afternoon — took him that image of the god and everything — I thought that he was ready to agree to come. But at the last moment he seemed to change his mind. He said that I would need to bring him twice as much in gold, and then perhaps he would consider it. He was actually laughing when he said the words. I was so furious that I tried to take my offerings back — but he prevented me. Said they were donations to the gods and if I tried to take them, he would call the guard. I don’t know if you’ve seen the temple-slaves at all, but some of them are huge.’
I nodded. ‘And immensely strong, as I have cause to know.’
He shrugged. ‘In that case you can see how hopeless it would be for a hunchback like myself to try to tackle one, if they came to throw me out. I tried to reason with him, but he only laughed at me and in the end I had to give it up. I went back to the market where I had left the mules — and found there was a little hay and straw for sale, enough to save my livestock, if I only had the money with which to purchase it. But of course I hadn’t; I had given it away to that confounded priest. Well, I was determined that I would get it back. I told the vendor to await me at the southern gate and keep some hay for me. He promised that he would. That left me with the problem of getting to the priest. I knew that the temple would be closed by then — they would all be busy with the evening sacrifice, except the slaves on duty at the portico — so I tried to find some other way of getting in.’
‘The sacred grove, of course! Outside the temple proper, but still inside the grounds. And there was a building site not far away,’ I said. ‘With a convenient ladder as I said before? And you used that to go across the wall?’
‘Don’t tell him, husband!’ Gitta twisted round and tried to dig her teeth into my arm, and I had to restrain more vigorously again.
Cantalarius heaved a heavy sigh. ‘He seems to know about it anyway! And he is right, of course. One of those simple ladders — just a single piece of wood with steps lashed across it, but it was perfect for the task, because it had a weighted rope attached. I could throw it up and make it safe against the wall, then pull the ladder over after me and climb down safely on the other side. My first intention was to try and find his private room — where I had gone to see him earlier in the day — and wait for him to come back from the sacrifice. But then I saw him standing at the window of his cell, or at least I thought I did — praying to Fortuna and the moon.’
I nodded. ‘One of the temple-slaves observed him too.’
This caused a bitter laugh from Cantalarius. ‘Only, of course, it wasn’t him at all. That was the thing that made me angriest. I recognized the right room when I got inside, and managed to reach it without being seen. In fact, I was surprised that there was nobody about. No one expects intruders in a temple complex, I suppose — especially not in the dormitory area. In any case, I found the door with ease. I even tiptoed in — I did not want to disturb him at his prayers. And what did I discover? He was sitting on the bed, counting money into little piles. He had put that image in the window space, put his cloak and hood on it and stood it where only the outline would be seen — so that people would think that he was worshipping the moon. He was worshipping the money! That’s what angered me. He’d cheated me of everything, and he was a fraud!’
‘So that is why you killed him!’ I prompted, helpfully.
‘I tell you that I didn’t!’ He half-rose and bellowed, and for a frightened moment I thought he’d lunge for me, but he sat down again and added ruefully: ‘I admit that for a moment I was afraid I had. When he looked up and saw me, it gave him such a fright that he gave a gasp and clutched his chest, rolled his eyes back and tumbled off the bed. I was convinced that I had frightened him to death.’
‘And had you?’
‘Of course he hadn’t!’ Gitta’s voice was shrill. ‘He’d fainted, that was all. If my precious husband only had the wit to leave him there and run away, that would probably have been the end of it. But that was too simple! Once he found the man was breathing, he had a new idea. He would bring him to the farm and make him perform the atoning sacrifice before we let him go. After all, we’d more than paid for it, he said.’
I looked at her husband, who was sitting with his head between his hands. ‘Is that true?’ I asked him.
‘It’s not as idiotic as she makes it sound,’ he grumbled. ‘The priest knew who I was in any case — if I had run away and left him, you can imagine what he’d do. Claim that I’d come to rob him, at the very least — that would be a charge of sacrilege — and you know the dreadful punishments for that!’
‘And you didn’t rob him?’ I said sarcastically. ‘I thought that’s where you got that money which I saw in your purse.’
‘I only took exactly what I had given him. And I even left the jewels that had been the statue’s eyes — can you believe that he’d extracted them? From the image of a god! And he a priest as well! The man had no respect whatever for the deities. And I couldn’t bear to see it standing where he should have stood himself — I took it down and laid it on the floor beside the bed. I expect they’ll find it, if they look for it.’