A dying light in Corduba

XLV

I was looking at him keenly now. Still an unimpressive experience. I would like to complain that he behaved officiously, but he was just perfectly straight. Nobody likes a government official they cannot moan about.

We walked nearer to the water, deliberately looking casual. As a procurator he would have an offrce, but it would be stuffed with staff from the cache of public slaves. They would probably look honest – until the day when it counted. What he and I had to discuss could be the big secret they were all waiting to sell.

'What's your history?' I asked. 'You're not from Baetica? You sound Roman to me; you have the Palatine twang.'

He was not offended at the question. He was proud of his life, with reason. 'I am an imperial freedman. From Nero's time,' he felt obliged to add. He knew I would have asked. Palace freedmen are always judged by the regime when their career took off. 'But that does not affect my loyalty.'

'Anyone who struggled to serve the state under Nero will welcome Vespasian with a huge sigh of relief. Vespasian knows that.'

'I do my job.' It was a statement I believed.

'So how did you reach this position?'

'I bought my freedom, worked in commerce, earned enough to be granted equestrian rank, and offered myself for useful posts. They sent me here.' He had the kind of record I ought to pursue myself; maybe if I had been born a slave I might have managed it. Instead pride and obstinacy got firmly in my way.

'And now you've stirred up quite a controversy. What's the smell that you don't like?'

He did not answer immediately. 'Hard to say. I nearly did not make a report at all.'

Did you discuss it with anyone?'

'The quaestor.'

'Cornelius?'

He looked shocked. 'Who else?' Clearly the new quaestor was not an alternative.

'Decent?'

'I liked him. No side. Did the job – you can't often say that!'

'How did Cornelius get along with the proconsul?'

'He was the chosen deputy, in the old-fashioned way. They had worked together before. He was the senior tribune when the old man had a legion. They came out as a pair. But now Cornelius needs a career move. He wants to show his face in the Senate. The old man agreed to release him.'

'After which he had to take whatever he was sent as a replacement! But I heard Cornelius hasn't gone back to Rome? He's travelling.'

An angry expression passed over Placidus' face. 'Cornelius going on his travels is all part of the nasty smell!' That was intriguing. 'Rome would have been too convenient, wouldn't it? He could have made the report on our problem himself.'

'What are you telling me, Placidus?'

'Cornelius was going back. He wanted to go back.' 'Keen?'

'Highly excited.' One of those. A careerist. I kept my face neutral. On the lower rung of the public service ladder, Placidus was a careerist himself. 'He was ready for politics. He wanted to get married too.'

'A fatalist! So where exactly is he?' I demanded, with a sinking feeling. For some reason I felt he was about to say the young man was dead.

'In Athens.'

Once I recovered from the unexpected answer I asked, 'What's the attraction in Athens?'

'You mean apart from art, history, language and philosophy?' asked Placidus rather drily. I had an idea he was the type of cultural dreamer who would adore a trip to Greece. 'Well, Cornelius didn't care much for those, in fact; he wasn't the type. Someone in Rome just happened to have an unused ticket on a ship from Gades to Piraeus; he spoke to Cornelius' father and offered free use of it.'

'Generous! Cornelius senior was delighted?'

'What father would turn down the chance of getting his son to the University like that?'

Well, mine, for one. But mine had long ago realised that the more I learned – about anything – the less control he had over me. He never lavished art, history, language or philosophy upon me. That way he never had to face me faking gratitude.

But I could sympathise with Cornelius; he would have been trapped. No senatorial career comes cheap. Nor does marriage. To preserve good relations at home he had to go along with whatever embarrassment his parent wellmeaningly bestowed on him – just because some acquaintance at the Curia had smiled and offered it. My own father was an auctioneer. He could recognise a bribe coming five miles away. Not all men are so adept.

'So poor Cornelius only wanted to rush home to govern people, but he's stuck with a present that he would far rather dump – and he has his papa happily telling him it's a chance in a lifetime and he should be a grateful boy? Placidus, can I guess the name of his benefactor? Someone Cornelius did not want to write a nice thank-you letter to? Can the name of Quinctius Attractus be dropped into this conversation without causing a misfit?'

'You've thrown a six, Falco.'

'I've thrown a double, I think.'

'You know how to play this game.'

'I've played before.'

We stared at the river gloomily. 'Cornelius is a very sharp young man,' said Placidus. 'He knows that a free trip always costs something.'

'And what do you think this one will cost?'

'A great deal to consumers of olive oil!'

'Through Cornelius not mentioning his disquiet about the upcoming situation in Baetica? I suppose he couldn't argue with his father who was far away in Rome. He couldn't risk writing a letter explaining, because the subject was too sensitive. So he's forced to take the ticket – and once he goes, he's obligated to the Quinctii.'

'I can see you have done your research,' said Placidus, thoroughly miserable.

'Can I get the timing straight? You and Cornelius became anxious about the influence of the Quinctii when?'

'Last year when his son came out to Baetica. We knew there must be a reason and Cornelius guessed Quadratus was aiming to replace him in the quaestorship. At the same time Attractus was first starting to invite groups to Rome.'

'So Quadratus may have warned his father that Cornelius might make adverse comments when he was debriefed by the Palace at the end of his tour? The Quinctii decided to delay him, while they consolidated their position. And when the unwanted cultural holiday arose, Cornelius gave in but you decided to take action?'

'I wrote a note.'

'Anonymously?'

'Official channels were too dangerous. Besides, I did not want to land Cornelius with an enemy in Rome. He had always supported me.'

Was this why you approached Anacrites and not Laeta?'

'It seemed appropriate to involve the intelligence group.'

Involving Anacrites was never appropriate, but one had to work with him to see it. 'What happened next? Anacrites wrote back formally and asked the proconsul to investigate – so he handed the job straight to Cornelius? Won't that turn out awkward for him anyway?'

'He could say he had no choice. Once there was an instruction from Rome, Cornelius was bound to follow up.

Still, we made sure his answering report was conveyed discreetly.'

I laughed briefly. know! Whoever decided to send that report with Camillus Aelianus?'

'He was friendly with Cornelius.'

I shook my head. 'And with another young man too! Aelianus read the report and I have a nasty feeling he passed on the contents to exactly the wrong person.'

Placidus paled. 'Quinctius Quadratus?'

I nodded. Placidus hit his palm against his head. 'I never thought!'

'It's not your fault. Young Quadratus is everywhere. Clearly it runs in the family.'

We considered the situation like men of affairs. We looked grave; our talk was measured; we stared hard at the water, pretending to count fish.

'Being involved in many spheres of provincial life is not a crime, of course,' placidus commented.

'No but at some point being over-busy speaks for itself. A good Roman only flaunts himself if he's trying to get the populace to support him in a ballot – and even then he tries to look as if he hates putting himself forward.'

'You picture a man I could vote for, Falco!' he cried admiringly. He was being ironic. So was I, come to that.

'And I'm not picturing Attractus. Everything he does has the smack of personal ambition and family gain.'

'But the situation is not being ignored,' Placidus tried to console himself.

'That's no guarantee of action. You learned your job on the Palatine. You know how things work. It's a difficult one.'

'You are asking me to provide evidence?'

'And you're going to tell me there is none?'

He shrugged wearily. 'How do you prove these things, Falco? Businessmen talk among themselves. If they are plotting to force up prices, only they know. They are hardly likely to tell me or you. Half of the smalltalk will be innuendo anyway. And if challenged, they will deny it all, and look outraged at the suggestion.'

'You sound as if you had done ten years as an informer,' I told him sadly.

His tone became more embittered. 'Obtaining information is easy, Falco! A bit of cheap charm and a few bribes will do the trick for you. You want to try a job where you're taking money from people. That's the hard life!'

I grinned. I was starting to like him. Well, I had the same rule for state officials as I had always had with women: once the situation started getting friendly it was time to leave.

'Just one more thing, Placidus – I had no luck when I tried to see the original correspondence. There seem to be two versions. Am I right that in his report Cornelius told Anacrites you suspected a cartel was being set up, but it was at an early stage and could be contained?'

Placidus frowned slightly. 'I didn't see the actual letter.' 'But?'

'But that's not quite what he and I agreed.'

'Which was?'

'Plans for price-rigging seemed to be at an early stage, certainly – but we were extremely concerned that because of the key personnel and their influence in Baetica, containment would be very difficult!'