Orbilio supposed that having expressed this opinion so often and so vehemently to the Emperor when he made his weekly report, Callisunus was hardly likely to retract without cast-iron proof. Which could only come in the form of a confession. Well, he was buggered if he was going to be sidelined on to some damned fraud case for the sake of one lousy interview, and if this quick-tempered, foul-mouthed, narrow-minded weasel thought he could brush Marcus Cornelius Orbilio aside just like that he had another think coming. The Senate beckoned…and competition was stiff. Unless he solved this bloody case, he might as well forget it.
At the obelisk at the end of the track, Callisunus stopped abruptly. ‘I don’t need a bodyguard, Orbilio. Even this lunatic wouldn’t pick on the Head of the Security Police.’
‘He’s not a lunatic, sir. Leastways, not in the sense you mean. Another day and-’
‘Orbilio, watch my lips. You are off the case. Finished. End of story. You’ve even put in your report.’
‘Only verbally.’
‘Yes, and I warned you about that, too. I don’t want to see these scurrilous lies on paper do you understand? For your sake, as much as mine. I told Seferius what you said-’
‘You what?’
Anger boiled through Orbilio in a way he’d never imagined possible. The bloody imbecile! ‘This was supposed to be a covert operation, sir.’ How many more had he blabbed to, for heaven’s sake?
‘Oh, come on, man, what did you expect? You’ve been masquerading as his wife’s cousin, how much longer do you think before he found out? What is it with you and her, anyway? Got your leg over?’
Orbilio’s fist thudded into the palm of his hand. ‘No, sir,’ he said quietly, ‘I have not. I told you before, I had a hunch about the house and forgive me for saying so, but that hunch proved correct.’
The sun was sinking fast now.
‘The little slut Melissa, you mean?’ Callisunus gave a snort of derision. ‘So she’d been giving Crassus a bit of hanky-spanky, nothing wrong with that. Partial to a spot of it myself sometimes. You just remember, Orbilio, her involvement was only discovered because the greedy bitch tried to sell that poor bugger’s clip, not through any cleverness on your part.’
‘I understand that, sir. But-’ Should he or shouldn’t he? Hell, at this stage he had nothing to lose. ‘There’s something else.’
Callisunus chewed his thumbnail. ‘Oh?’
‘I believe there’s a series of murders going on in the Seferius household.’
‘Don’t fuck with me, Orbilio!’
Damn! It sounded so utterly inane when you said it like that.
‘Please, sir, hear me out. First it was his eldest daughter, then his two sons. Now his new granddaughter is dead.’
‘Seferius is full of this shit at the moment, you shouldn’t listen to him, it’s pitiful coming from a man like him.’
Callisunus swatted away a troublesome wasp.
‘The babe was an abomination. They put it out of its misery-’
‘Who, sir? Who put it out of its misery?’
‘Oh, get real, Orbilio, the child was malformed, they killed it. Happens all the time. Now will you clear the hell out of my face!’
‘No, sir!’
‘I’m warning you, Orbilio. One more word and I’ll have your balls for subordination.’
Have them, they’re no bloody good to me.
‘If you would listen to the full story, sir-’
‘If, if, if! The world’s full of if’s, haven’t you noticed? Well if you have reasonable grounds for opening a case, and by Jupiter I do mean reasonable, then put them in writing, to me, and I will consider them.’
Callisunus skirted the obelisk and set off towards the gate.
‘Does that mean I can work on the case, sir?’
‘What case, Orbilio? There isn’t a fucking case, I haven’t had your fucking notes yet. And even if there fucking was, you won’t be fucking working on it. Do I make myself plain?’
There was a shout from behind, different from the cries of the charioteers and the slaves working in the Circus, which made both men turn. Orbilio recognized the man running towards them as Timarchides.
‘Sorry to interrupt, sir but you ought to know. Paternus the lawyer’s been found dead in his home.’
‘Shit!’ Callisunus glanced towards the underground shrine. ‘Timarchides, organize a slave gang to dig out the altar. About ten men should do it. Oh, before you do that I want you to brief Metellus about the lawyer.’
‘Metellus?’
Timarchides was looking from Callisunus up to Orbilio and back again.
‘Deaf, are you? Yes, Metellus. He’s working this case from now on.’
Callisunus turned to Orbilio. ‘And you. Get some sleep, get laid, get whatever you want, but get the fuck out of my sight. Tomorrow’s the Consualia and I’ll be holding my idiot brother’s hand, but the very next day I want your views on the Verianus business. Tuesday morning, is that clear? And in writing.’
He stumped back up the track, muttering to himself. Timarchides twisted his face. ‘Off the job then, sir?’
‘Looks like it,’ Orbilio said, narrowing his eyes. ‘Unless I can work two cases at once.’
Timarchides smiled. He’d worked with this investigating officer for the past four days and his opinion of him had softened considerably since he’d brought the news about the slave girl to the Seferius house. He’d watched the professional at work, seen more dedication from one man in those few days than in as many years from some of the men he’d served.
‘I’d give it my best shot, if I were you, sir. Two murders in six days, looks like the killer’s getting daring.’
A warm glow began to spread through Orbilio’s veins. ‘And daring, Timarchides, means careless.’
‘Precisely, sir. And I’ll tell you something I didn’t have a chance to tell the gaffer: Paternus was still alive when his eyes were gouged out. There was blood everywhere, it must have been one hell of a struggle.’
He saluted and ran back up the track in the direction Callisunus had taken, his figure quickly swallowed by the deepening twilight. Orbilio ran his hand over his chin and headed for the nearest exit. He didn’t need sleep, he was too worked up. He couldn’t get laid, the very thought of touching any other woman was becoming more abhorrent by the minute. But, by Jupiter he could get drunk. Oh yes, mind-bending, brain-numbing, sick-making drunk. He turned out of the Circus and towards the river. There was a good tavern down on the waterfront. The men were rough, the whores were raddled, the food was rubbish. But the wine was strong. Minerva, yes, that wine was strong.
‘Marcus!’
Head down, thinking about the evening ahead, he hadn’t been looking where he was going and of all the people he’d rather not have bumped into, Gaius Seferius headed the list. Dammit, he liked Gaius. He wished he didn’t, but he just couldn’t help it.
‘What brings you to the Aventine?’
‘I’m going to get pissed,’ he said simply. ‘Rip-roaring pissed.’
Seferius smiled wanly and clapped him on the back. Even after Callisunus had blabbed that Orbilio wasn’t his wife’s cousin, it didn’t seem to bother him. In his book, a friend was a friend and Orbilio felt disgusted at his own treachery. How would Claudia explain it, he wondered, cursing himself for forcing her into such an invidious position. But then she’d think of something outrageous to pass it off, she always did. It was one of the reasons he loved her.
‘You know, Marcus, I think that’s the best suggestion I’ve heard all week. Mind if I join you?’
He looked at Seferius. Poor sod looked seventy, not fifty, and it was all very well for Callisunus to shrug off his theories, but Orbilio believed it when Gaius said his babies, as he called them, were being picked off, one by one, like ripe fruit from a tree. He didn’t believe in coincidence at the best of times. Certainly not when three of a man’s four children meet untimely deaths and his baby granddaughter-healthy, kicking and thumping to get out by all accounts-is suddenly pronounced malformed and hideous and gets put to the sword. Not when there’s a fortune at stake. Gaius was right, Orbilio was convinced of it. Someone was murdering his family.