The province of Britannia, I thought to myself as I followed the attendant back to my bedchamber, would do well to find another governor as good as this austere and kindly man.
When I got to my room I found Junio waiting for me, with the promised supper on a tray already set waiting on the table. I was surprised, and a little irritated. I had expected Superbus to attend me, and I wanted to hear more about Eppaticus.
‘Master?’ Junio said in an introductory tone as he stripped off my toga and helped me make a swift libation to the gods.
I frowned. I knew that gambit; it meant that he was dying to tell me something.
‘Well then,’ I said, settling myself on a stool and preparing to make short work of the trout. ‘What is it? Come on, I know you have heard something in the servants’ hall.’ I put down my spoon suddenly. ‘Don’t tell me that the Trinovantine came here after all, and tried to hold Superbus to his bargain?’
‘Not quite that, master,’ Junio said. ‘Someone did come here this morning. A well-dressed slave, according to the doorkeepers, with a message, apparently for you. Superbus took it.’
‘A message!’ I frowned. ‘Who would be sending me a message? My patron Marcus, perhaps?’
‘I don’t know, master.’ Junio paused. ‘But that is not really the problem. Apparently a little later Superbus went out. .’ Another pause.
‘And?’
‘And he hasn’t come back,’ Junio finished dismally.
I gaped like the trout. ‘Then where is he? Where did he go?’
‘I don’t know, master. That is what all the other servants have been asking me. He claimed that he was going out to do something for you. Something very confidential.’
I almost groaned aloud. ‘For me?’
‘Yes. That is why no one in the household questioned it. Everyone knew that His Excellence had put him at your service. Only, of course, they were expecting Superbus back — especially now that we have come ourselves. The chief slave sent for me on purpose to ask about it.’
This time I did groan. ‘And does Pertinax know that one of his valuable slaves is missing?’
‘Not yet, master — though he will have to be told. Of course, if Superbus does not come back there’ll be a slave-hunt for him.’
I buried my head in my hands. In a household this size, a single slave might be gone for hours before he was missed, and even then it would not be by his master. But once a slave-hunt was in progress, every soldier in the town would be alerted, and there would be a price on Superbus’ head, dead or alive. If it was supposed that I had helped him to escape, I could be under arrest myself.
Though I doubted that he had run away. More likely he was the victim of attack. Eppaticus, for instance. If so, I was legally responsible. I had borrowed Superbus, and if anything had happened to him in my service, which I might have prevented, the law would require me to replace him — just as I would have to replace a horse or any other possession that I could not return in good working order. And after the earlier attack, I should have prevented this. I found myself trying to calculate what Superbus’ market price might be.
‘Of course, he may turn up safely yet,’ I said, as though by voicing the idea I could persuade myself.
‘Yes, master.’
‘Pertinax is a fair man. If Superbus was attacked, he would never hold me responsible. In any case, it may have nothing to do with Eppaticus at all. Or with Superbus breaking his bargain.’
‘No, master.’
I pushed away the platter. Junio knew as well as I did that, if I could not afford to pay for Superbus, my own servant might be taken in ‘noxal recompense’. Suddenly I was no longer hungry. I would simply have to throw myself on Pertinax’s mercy, I thought. I was not looking forward to it. Losing an expensive slave is a poor way to repay hospitality.
‘Where in the world do you think he went?’ I demanded, as much of myself as of Junio. ‘What was he up to, for Mars’ sake? Putting himself in a position where Eppaticus could find him? Surely he didn’t go down to the market enquiring at the jeweller’s himself? I distinctly told him not to. In fact, I told him very particularly to stay in the palace.’
‘I know you did, master.’ Junio was doing his best to be comforting. ‘Perhaps Superbus decided to buy himself a slave from Eppaticus after all. Unless,’ he added with a sudden flash of insight, ‘he went off to try to redeem himself a bit? Ask the questions that he didn’t ask the first time, and find out if Eppaticus ever dealt in grain?’
Once he had suggested it, I had to admit that it seemed extremely likely. It would be just like Superbus, from what I’d seen of him, to try to rectify what he saw as an error of judgement. It was hardly comforting, however.
‘Great Mars! In that case, anything might have happened to him.’
Junio had turned pale — he didn’t need me to spell out the possibilities.
‘Especially if there is a lot of money at stake. And I think there is. Five thousand denarii, at least.’
Junio said nothing for a moment. Then, ‘So, what are you going to do tomorrow, master? Go to the granaries, look for Fortunatus, or try to find Superbus before someone else does?’
I had been asking myself the same question. Previously I had planned to send Superbus to Monnius’ house, overtly to ask more questions of the slaves, but in fact to keep discreet guard over the coins that I had found. But now that was obviously impossible. I said, after a little thought, ‘Perhaps the granaries. The governor says that the Blues live near one, and talking to the traders may lead us to Eppaticus too. Oh, Mercury! I hardly know what to do first.’
Junio went over to the brazier, where something was bubbling gently in a metal pot. ‘I suggest,’ he said with the shadow of a grin, ‘that what you do first is drink this spiced mead I’ve prepared for you, and then take some rest. Then, perhaps, if you have finished with those plums. .? We shan’t make matters any better by wasting good food tonight, and it will be impossible to do anything in a strange city in the dark. We should merely end up being missing ourselves.’
Trust a slave to take a practical view. I reclined on my pillows and did my best to think aloud as I applied myself to the mead and Junio made a hearty meal of the scraps. ‘What happened at the chariot race?’ I said. ‘Was Fortunatus really injured as he said, or did he take the opportunity to come back here, scale the garden wall and throttle his rival? But if so, how did he know where to find the necklace? It only came back to the house that night.’
Junio looked up, his mouth full of vegetables. ‘And how did he let Fulvia know in time to drug the wine?’
I shook my head. ‘And even if he did, why hide the money under the floorboards? Even if Annia is right, and he was trying to make us think that Monnius was killed for money, surely he would take away the cash? And why steal the scroll? This case is full of mysteries. And another thing — what was the message Superbus took for me? Where did he go? And most of all, where has he got to now?’
Whether it was the mead, the comfortable bed, or just the exertions of the last few days, I don’t know, but somehow I felt that I would think more clearly if I closed my eyes a moment.
When I opened them again, it was morning, and Junio was bending over me again. ‘Wake up, master. The governor has arranged for you to visit the grain warehouses this morning. I have breakfast for you here.’
I struggled upright on my pillows. ‘Superbus?’
‘Still missing, I’m afraid, although his master knows it now. The town guards have been alerted, and soldiers are searching the city for him. His Excellence is not blaming you — he seems to feel that this is somehow related to the death of Monnius, and that it is lucky you and I escaped.’
I wasn’t sure I shared that interpretation, but I was duly grateful for it. I eyed the bread and fruit with more enthusiasm. ‘And he has arranged for us to go to the granaries?’