‘Because his fortune teller warned him to beware of a guy called Cassius?’
That got me a sharp look. ‘Who told you that?’
I shrugged; I wasn’t going to finger Gaius Secundus, no way; I’d caused him enough trouble already. ‘Someone. That doesn’t matter. Is it true?’
‘As a matter of fact, it is.’ Felix hesitated. ‘Corvinus. A small warning of my own, and to you. The emperor is … not quite his normal rational self these days.’ I kept my mouth firmly shut. ‘You’d do well to remember that when you talk to him.’
‘So how does Surdinus fit in?’
Felix’s brow furrowed. ‘Surdinus?’
‘Naevius Surdinus. My victim. The guy whose death I’m looking into.’
‘Oh, yes. Of course. That, I’m afraid I don’t know. He wasn’t on our list, certainly.’
‘That’s odd. Me, I’d bet it was mentioning that I was investigating Surdinus’s murder — not his accidental death, that was the point — that had me targeted. And he knew about the conspiracy, that’s for absolute certain.’ I told him about the Hipparchus business.
‘Ingenious,’ Felix said. Yeah, well, I’d thought the little guy would like that bit; it’d appeal to his warped, labyrinthine brain. ‘All I can say is he comes as news to me. Which isn’t surprising, really: you and I approached things from different directions, and as I said we still don’t know the names of everyone who was involved, just as there are several guilty parties you never found out about and whose names would mean nothing to you. Still, if the man’s already dead then the whole thing’s academic.’
‘Well, maybe so, but-’
‘I’ll tell you what.’ He was beaming. ‘If it’s still important, then why not sit in on the interrogations? I’m sure Caesar won’t mind, although naturally I’d have to clear it with him first.’
‘Ah …’
‘In fact, I insist. I know how you feel about leaving loose ends, and I really do want you to be satisfied. You can ask the question at first hand. I’d suggest Julius Graecinus, since he was one of your four original suspects. I’m certain he’ll come up with something useful.’
Gods! ‘Listen, Felix …’ I said.
‘That’s settled, then.’ He stood up. ‘Shall we say tomorrow, at the palace? Not too early; no doubt you have private business to attend to, and you deserve a little time to yourself. The seventh hour will be fine. Just give your name to the officer on duty at the gate and he’ll bring you down. And now I won’t keep you any longer. Can I get you a litter? We are, incidentally, just on the edge of the Subura, near the Temple of Tellus.’
‘No, that’s OK. I’ll walk. I need the fresh air and exercise.’
‘Very well, sir, as you like. You may get a little wet, though, because it was raining when I came in. My best regards to Rufia Perilla, and, of course, my apologies, both to her and to you. Until tomorrow, then.’
Jupiter!
TWENTY-TWO
Bathyllus’s eyes widened when he opened the door for me, and for once there was no cup of wine waiting on the lobby table.
‘Sir, are you …?’ he began.
‘Yeah, Bathyllus, I’m fine. Still a bit of a headache, but no bones broken. Perilla at home?’
But she was already there, practically flying through the atrium entrance. I might’ve been wrong about the no bones broken, because she was hugging me so hard I felt my ribs creak.
‘Hey, lady,’ I said. ‘Pull back a bit. I’m pretty bristly.’
‘Marcus,’ she said, the words muffled against my shoulder, ‘I will kill you!’
Ouch. Nothing like a touching reunion when you’ve been away on business for a couple of days.
‘Felix told me he’d sent a message,’ I said.
‘Of course he did.’ She hadn’t let go. ‘Three days ago, to say you were at the palace and being taken care of. Just that. There hasn’t been anything since. What was I to think?’
The bastard. Oh, sure, he’d done as he’d said, all right, but although it was accurate enough as far as it went, the wording left a lot to be desired: taken care of would’ve worked pretty well as a euphemism. If the words were Felix’s, that was.
‘Uh … who was the messenger, lady?’ I said. ‘You see him?’
‘Yes. He insisted on telling me personally. A big, rough-looking man. Could have been an out-of-uniform soldier.’
Trupho. Right. And he’d done it deliberately. I promised myself that if I ever met that particular bastard again I’d do a little negative dental work on my own account.
‘It wasn’t the palace exactly,’ I said; she’d stopped hugging me now, and I massaged my ribs. ‘But the other bit was true enough. Felix just wanted me kept out of the way.’
‘Out of the way of what?’
I explained.
‘So the case is over?’ she said.
‘Not … exactly,’ I said cautiously. ‘Look, can we go somewhere a bit more comfortable?’ I turned to Bathyllus. ‘Let’s have that wine, little guy. Oh, and see that the furnace is properly fired up. I’ll want a bath.’ Too right I would; I wasn’t particularly aware of it myself, but after three days in the cellar I’d bet I stank. Still, expecting Felix to provide bathing facilities might’ve been pushing things a bit.
‘Yes, sir. Certainly. And let me say that I and the rest of the staff are delighted to have you back safely.’
He buttled off, although I had caught the slight, possibly this time involuntary, sniff before he did: accumulated body odour was right.
We went through to the atrium and settled down on the couches.
‘What do you mean, not exactly?’ Perilla said.
‘Yeah, well, we don’t know who killed Naevius Surdinus yet, do we? And there are some puzzling points that need clearing up. We’ve got some unfinished business here.’
She was glaring.
‘Marcus Valerius Corvinus!’ she snapped. ‘You listen to me! These last three days have been appalling. I never want to go through that again. Is that very clear?’
‘Ah … yeah. To be fair, mind, it wasn’t exactly my-’
‘We were going down to Castrimoenium in any case within the next few days-’
‘Come on, Perilla, hardly the next few days! Before the Winter Festival, we said, and that’s half a month off!’
‘But I’m sure Clarus and Marilla won’t mind if we make it earlier. Such as tonight, or first thing tomorrow morning at the latest. Marcus, please read my lips here: I am not going to have you faffing around in Rome in the aftermath of a conspiracy. It is just too — bloody — dangerous. Now, do you understand, or do I have to get Bathyllus to tie you hand and foot and throw you into the carriage?’
I grinned. ‘You think he’d be up to that?’
‘I’ll make sure that he gets all the help he needs. Look, I am serious! This time, no arguments. Do you understand?’
‘Fair enough,’ I said. ‘So will you tell the emperor or shall I?’
That stopped her. ‘What?’
‘Gaius — or at least Felix, but it comes to the same thing — wants me round at the palace tomorrow just after noon. He was pretty insistent.’
‘What for?’
‘Just a chat,’ I said easily. I wasn’t going to tell her about the interrogation-under-torture side of things, no way. I felt bad enough about it myself without inflicting it on her as well.
‘A chat?’
‘It shouldn’t take long.’ I had my fingers firmly crossed that it wouldn’t. ‘An hour or two, at most. And then I promise we’ll go straight to the Alban Hills and stay there as long as you like.’
She was looking at me suspiciously. ‘So I can tell Lysias to get the carriage ready for early tomorrow evening, yes?’
Lysias was the coachman. ‘Sure,’ I said. I couldn’t approve of Felix’s means, to put it mildly, and I certainly wasn’t looking forward to seeing them in operation, but the odds were we’d have the rest of the case stitched up by then. Besides, when Perilla was in this mood, rational argument went out of the window; she hadn’t been kidding about Bathyllus, for a start. And it’d only take a few hours to cover the distance between us and Clarus and Marilla’s place. ‘Go ahead, lady. Make what arrangements you like.’