Qadir coughed gently, and the two men turned back to him.
‘In either case my men will, it is to be hoped, provide us with definitive evidence of his movements. After meeting with the children, Excingus then went back into the city, and made his way to a rather unexpected location. One of the men set to tail him ran back to our usual meeting place and briefed me, and I had time to make my way to the spot in time to see him leave.’
He stood, pointing to an area on the map of the city that Scaurus had commissioned in order to be able to plan his next steps with better understanding of the distances involved.
‘He went to this place, and was inside for over an hour.’
Scaurus stared at him in silence.
‘The Gardens of Sallust? You’re sure about this? I wouldn’t have had Excingus in mind when I thought about a keen botanist.’
Qadir nodded.
‘And now you understand why I went to see for myself. When Excingus left the gardens, he looked more than usually pleased with himself, and I would judge from his expression that whatever business he had been transacting inside had gone very well.’
The tribune nodded.
‘And the Gardens of Sallust are less than half a mile from Senator Albinus’s villa. It’s as we suspected, I suppose, Excingus has been making friends in high places. And after that?’
The Hamian turned to face Julius.
‘After that, First Spear, he walked across the valley to a small house on the Viminal Hill. He was most cautious as he approached the location, changing direction three times and doubling back twice to expose any potential followers, but by the grace of the goddess Deasura we managed to keep sight of him. His destination appears to have been his home, as he had not come out by the time that night fell.’
Scaurus sat back with a look of satisfaction.
‘Excellent. One day of your men’s work has shown us who’s behind him in this interesting little matter and where our supposedly tame informant lives. That’s good work by any measure.’
Qadir inclined his head gravely in acceptance of the praise.
‘And if I might make a suggestion, Tribune?’
‘Please do.’
The Hamian assumed a thoughtful look.
‘I am comfortable that we have the skills necessary to continue tracking him around the city, but I feel that we were a little lucky to have followed him back to his home without alerting him, given how thoroughly he tried to expose anyone that might be following him. I suggest that now we know where he lives we keep well clear once we know he’s heading in that direction?’
Scaurus nodded.
‘You’re right, there’s no point tipping him off that we know where he sleeps. We’ll stay clear of him once he’s heading for home, but perhaps we ought to watch him once he’s there?’
Qadir smiled slightly.
‘I have predicted this suggestion, Tribune. Rome’s gutters have a new pair of beggars this evening.’
The next morning, with the new cellar excavated, a narrow, open side set of stairs dug into the rock to allow easy access, and with rather better-quality floorboards installed in the shop above, Morban’s men set about renovating their establishment in preparation for its opening. Working at their various tasks under the standard bearer’s guidance, jibes and cajoling, they made swift progress in re-plastering and painting the walls and ceiling.
‘Get your backs into it boys, I’m working to a schedule here!’
One of the older men shot him a jaundiced look as he trowelled plaster onto his section of the wall, his raised eyebrows revealing just how aware he was of the veteran’s ability to turn a profit from almost any situation.
‘Got a bet on it, have you, Morban?’
His sally was met with a knowing look from the standard bearer.
‘No, but I know something you don’t. If we have this place working by first thing tomorrow then there’s a share of the profit available to us.’
He smiled smugly as the soldiers turned to look at him with new interest.
‘What sort of share?’
‘Thirty per cent, and the rest to the burial club.’ The men nodded to each other at the mention of the fund that would ensure that each of them would receive the proper rites and commemoration at the end of his life. ‘Which means that given there’s eight of you, you lot get three per cent apiece of everything we earn.’
One of the swifter brains among them worked the numbers.
‘Which means you’re taking six per cent?’
Morban raised an eyebrow at him.
‘And …?’
The man in question, a standard bearer from another century, shook his head in mock confusion.
‘So we does all the work for three coins on the hundred apiece, and you does sod all for six? Doesn’t seem straight to me.’
The standard bearer shook his head pityingly.
‘All you’ve got to do is clean this place up, slap on some plaster and paint a flying prick on the wall for luck, carry in a few chairs and then laze about until we actually have hair to cut. I, on the other hand, have to keep you idle bastards working, make sure you do it right, go and find customers, take the money, count the money … Do I need to go on?’
Another man spoke up sardonically.
‘They’re letting you count the money as well?’
Morban smiled happily back at him.
‘Oh yes. My counting skills will be well employed here and that’s a fact.’
The soldier turned back to work.
‘Better resign yourselves to two per cent lads, old sticky fingers is back in the saddle.’
‘The fat one went off round the neighbourhood asking questions, and he bought a pot of quicklime as well. And later on, when it was quieter, they carried something out to the cart, wrapped in a sheet, and it looked wet, or at least the sheet did. Smelled rotten too.’
Excingus stroked his chin, taking a sip of his drink before responding to the child’s story.
‘So they were digging, and in the course of that excavation they found a body of some nature. I find the corpse of little interest, but the digging by which they discovered it is a good deal more fascinating. Why would they be digging a basement for a barber’s shop, I wonder?’ He pondered for a moment. ‘Find out what they’re up to down there, will you, Gaius?’
The child looked back at him with something close to incredulity.
‘How am I supposed to do that? Just wander up and ask for a look in the new cellar?’
The informant waved a hand, dismissing the question.
‘As you get older — if you live long enough to get older, given your constant urge to question the instructions of your betters — you will learn that the most important question a man can ask is not “how”. If I have to tell you how you are to achieve this simple task then I might as well do it myself. I don’t care how you do it, only that you do it. You don’t imagine that these soldiers have rented a shop, and have redecorated it at their own cost, for the simple fun of commerce do you? They have a reason for setting up this establishment, whatever it is that they plan to sell as a cover for their real activities, and I want to know what it is, because not knowing is making me a good deal more nervous than you can imagine.’
He stood, tossing a coin onto the table.
‘Off with you, and don’t come back without a detailed picture of what it is that they have down there or I may be forced to find someone else to do the job. You have a meeting with my good friend Julius today?’ Gaius nodded. ‘And you remember the story I gave you for him?’
‘You met with Senator Albinus yesterday, and agreed to sell him information about where and when he can set a trap for the soldiers.’ The child frowned. ‘But I still don’t see why-’
‘Why I would allow them to learn such a thing?’ He reached forward, putting a hand over the child’s eyes. ‘Tell me, what can you see?’