Germanicus

23

Rufus didn't go for me after all. It was a close-run thing, though, and I suspect the only thing stopping him was the fact that there were only two inches of wood between us and the governor. The Roman imperial system doesn't encourage brawling on its home ground.

'Your name's Corvinus?' he said slowly. 'Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus?'

'Yeah. Yeah, that's me. All four of them.' I sat back against the desk, but I was still holding myself ready and my heart was thudding in my chest. 'You want an autograph?'

'Legate…' The secretary was on his feet now, and looking worried as hell: secretarial skills don't include dealing with homicidally-inclined gorillas who also happen to command a quarter of Rome's army between Egypt and the Black Sea.

Rufus ignored him. 'Is Perilla here with you?'

'I don't think that's any of your business, friend,' I said quietly.

'Legate, please…!'

'You're lucky, Corvinus. Very lucky.' The eyes were still boring into me like hot wires into cheese. 'We can't talk properly now. But I'm glad we've met, and it won't be the last time. Understand?'

'Sure.'

'Good. I look forward to it.' He turned his back on me, moved towards the governor's door and raised his hand to knock.

'Hey, Rufus!' I said.

He paused. I thought he'd answer or at least turn round but he did neither, just waited.

'You understand something too, pal,’ I said. ‘Perilla got the divorce because you're a bastard. A twenty-four carat, thoroughgoing bastard. As far as she's concerned — as far as both of us are concerned — you don't exist. You go anywhere near her and I'll kill you. Okay?'

The fist came down. Inside the office Lamia shouted: 'Come in!' Rufus opened the door and went through. He didn't look back.

When I got home the lady had found us a house to rent.

'It's lovely, Marcus.' Her face was one big smile. 'Very central, in Epiphania. And such marvellous grounds.'

'Yeah?' I sat down in the chair opposite — we were out in the garden under the trellised vine — and waved to the girl with the ankles. She grinned at me and hurried off for the Chian. 'Epiphania, eh? Nice neighbourhood.'

It was: Epiphania was in what the locals called the New Town on the hill slopes to the east of the city. Big villas, big gardens, big bank balances. We'd taken it in on the sedan-chair ride which was part of Zoilus's package tour.

'Beautiful.' Perilla was still beaming. 'And the rent is so cheap you wouldn't believe.'

Sure I would, especially with her doing the dickering. 'Don't tell me. Philotimus has another cousin in the real estate business.'

'No, the owner's one of Uncle Cotta's friends. He has to go to Corinth unexpectedly and he was simply going to leave it empty until he got back. We won't have to worry about staff, either. They're included.'

'Hey, great!' I leaned over and kissed her.'So when do we move in?'

'The day after tomorrow.'

'Fine.' My wine arrived. Lovely ankles. Beautiful. I poured a cup and drank it down. 'I could get a taste for this stuff, you know that?'

'Really?' Perilla watched the girl's retreating back and sipped at her own cup of fruit juice. 'So how was your day?'

'Not bad. The governor's a nice guy. We had quite a chat.' I didn't even think of telling Perilla I'd met her ex: it would only worry her. It worried the hell out of me. 'Which reminds me. Lamia offered to help with accommodation. I'll send one of the lads to say he needn't bother.'

'We'd better let Gratianus know as well.'

'Hell. I'd forgotten him!' Gratianus was the skivvy we'd left behind with the baggage at Seleucia. Mind you, he was probably having the time of his life: I'd been generous with expenses and some of the docklands girls looked like they'd rattle their bangles just for the promise of a free drink. Nice bangles, too. 'Hey, incidentally, I found out Marsus is deputy governor.'

'Marsus?'

'Vibius Marsus. You remember? Piso's sidekick?'

'Oh, yes. The poet.'

'What?'

'He writes poetry, dear. Only in an amateur sense, of course.' I detected the barest sniff. Perilla's a poet herself, and she's pretty hot by all accounts; but then with a stepfather like Ovidius Naso you couldn't expect anything else. 'He comes from a very literary family. He wrote an ode for Mother once. Mind you, he was very young at the time.'

I set down my wine cup slowly. 'Perilla, are you saying you know this guy personally?'

'No, not really. Certainly not well enough to trade on the acquaintance. He was a friend of Mother's. But that was years ago.'

I kept my voice calm. 'Why the hell didn't you mention this before?'

'Because he's sure to have forgotten all about me. I was only a child at the time.'

Jupiter give me patience or strike me dead! Didn't the woman have any idea how these things worked? I waved for the girl with the ankles. She came over.

'Your father about?' I said.

'He's inside, lord. You want to see him?'

'Yeah. Oh, and Theano…'

'Yes, lord?'

'Have another jug cooling, yeah?'

She smiled. 'Yes, lord.'

I turned back to Perilla. 'You may not know it, lady, but I've been cudgelling what few brains I've got all morning thinking about how I can corner Marsus in private, and you had the answer all the time.'

'But surely if he's the deputy governor all you have to do is make an appointment.'

'In private, Perilla! Lamia's suspicious enough already. I may've persuaded him that I'm just a spoilt young smartass with more money than sense…'

'You mean you aren't?'

'…but the guy's no fool. So I need to go carefully.'

'Which is where I come in, I suppose.'

'Of course it is.'

'But Marcus…'

'You wished to see me, lord?'

Philotimus had oiled his way up, and stood smiling. Not the whole twenty-four carat job: Perilla had told him we'd be gone in a couple of days, and apart from us this early in the season the guest house was empty.

'Yeah. Philotimus, you happen to know where Vibius Marsus lives? The deputy governor?'

'No, lord. But I can find out.'

'You do that,' I said. 'Let me know as soon as you can, okay?'

'Yes, lord.' He paused. 'Incidentally, I had a message from my cousin this morning. Zoilus. You wished a certain address?'

Hey! Things were moving! 'Sure! He's got it already?'

'The woman lives in the Old Town. She has a small perfume shop near the Taurian Gate.'

'Yeah, I know where you are.' The Taurian Gate was at the end of one of the bridges leading to the Island. 'What's her name?'

'Baucis, lord.'

'Fair enough. Thanks, pal.' I took a swallow of Chian. 'Don't forget Marsus's address, okay? Now whistle me up a carriage and tell Theano to keep the wine on ice.'

'You're going to see her now?' Perilla was frowning. 'But you've just got back.'

'I thought I might, yeah.'

'Very well.' She stood up. 'Then I'm coming too this time.’

We found the shop no bother. Small was right: it was no more than a shack against the inside of the city wall fifty yards from the gate itself; but whatever Baucis traded in it wasn't perfumes. Sure, the word was written up on the sign but all I could see were stacks of dried herbs and roots. The smell wasn't within a mile of rose water either, and the place looked a tip. Me, I'm used to tips, but not ones as weird as this. Cockroaches I can take, shops that deal in whacky roots and dried bats' giblets give me goose-bumps. I wasn't looking forward to the next bit.

'You want to wait here a minute while I check this out?' I said to Perilla.

I thought she might object, but she'd got a clean overtunic on, and if Perilla is one thing it's fastidious.

'All right, Marcus,' she said and turned to examine a bunch of herbs hanging from the outside eaves. Maybe they were for soup, but I wouldn't have placed any bets. I took a deep breath and ducked under the lintel.

There were two people inside: a wizened crone who looked old enough to be Aeacus's grandmother and another woman. The crone was waving a handful of dried dung and muttering what sounded like a terminal curse. I was going to speak to her but she turned and squeezed out past me into the sunlight. Which left the other woman.

She was tall, a half head taller than me, easy, and I'm no shrimp. Also from what I could see of her in the darkness she was a stunner.

'Your name Baucis?’ I said. ‘Martina's sister?'

She moved forward without any warning. Strong fingers closed round my upper arm and I found myself yanked outside to where Perilla was staring wide-eyed. Outside, she looked even more impressive. Stunner or not, this lady had enough muscle for a couple of Amazons.

She let go and stood glaring at me.

'What the fuck do you want, Roman?' she said.

Beside me I felt Perilla stiffen, but she didn't speak. Very wise.

'Just a little information, lady,' I said as mildly as I could. 'If you have the time.'

'First you tell me what's happened to my sister. Is she alive?'

Hell’s teeth. This was one angle I hadn't thought of. Martina had been sent to Rome in the winter and the sea-lanes hadn't been open for commercial traffic more than a couple of months. We were the first chance for news Baucis had had.

'No, I'm afraid not,' Perilla said very gently. 'I'm terribly sorry, but she's dead.'

The woman's face didn't change. She nodded. Then, suddenly, her eyes still open, she sagged against the side of the shack. I made a grab at her but she weighed a ton. It took both of us to hold her upright and prop her sitting with her back to the wall.

'Get some water,dear,' Perilla said.

'From in there? You want to poison her, lady?'

'Don't be silly!' Perilla snapped. She disappeared into the shop and reappeared a minute later with a full cup. Most of the water — at least I hoped that was what it was — went down Baucis's chin, but finally she gave a cough and swallowed. The eyes lost their empty stare.

'Hey, Baucis?' I said. 'You okay?'

'Go away, Marcus.' Perilla was still speaking very quietly. 'Come back in ten minutes.'

I didn't argue. Perilla's bedside manner has mine beat every time, and I know my limitations. Nursing witches isn't my bag. I went.

When I got back they were sitting side by side on the bench beside the shop. Baucis was staring straight ahead. Her face was set in the same stiff expression she'd had when Perilla gave her the news.

'How did Martina die?' she said to me.

I sat down on the other side of her. 'I don't know,’ I said. ‘Not for sure. They say she took poison before the trial. At Brindisi.'

'No.' The word came out flat.

'It's possible, though?' Perilla probed gently. 'In theory?'

Baucis nodded. 'Of course it's possible. Martina knew about poisons. If that's what you're asking.' Perilla said nothing. 'I don't deal in them myself. Not even for rats.' Oh, yeah, sure. And I was Hecate's grandmother. 'You know who killed her?'

'No,' I said. 'That's one of the things we're trying to find out.'

'When you do, give me the bastard's name and I'll kill him myself. Slowly. Hear me?'

'I hear you.' The hairs on the back of my neck crawled. 'But you have to tell us something first. Did she murder him? Germanicus?'

The barest shrug. Baucis's eyes hadn't wavered; they were still staring into nothing. 'Who cares?'

'We do,' I said. Perilla glared at me but I ignored her; this was too important for pussyfooting. 'And if we don't know that, lady, we'll never find out who killed your sister. So just tell us, okay? Did Martina poison Germanicus or not?'

Baucis was quiet for a long time. Then she said:

'Maybe.'

'For Piso and Plancina?'

'Maybe.'

'The story is that your sister was a friend of Plancina's.'

'So I've heard.'

I felt myself sweating. 'And was she?'

'Far as I know she never met the bitch. But then maybe she just never told me.'

This was like wading through glue. 'Did..?' I began.

'Marcus, let me handle this,' Perilla said suddenly. 'I'll meet you by Seleucus's statue when I'm finished. The one by the Gate.'

I looked at her, then at Baucis who was still staring into empty space. This I didn't like. I didn't like it at all. Still, she was probably right.

'You sure, lady?'

'I'm sure.'

'You'll be fine here on your own?'

'Of course I will! Corvinus, just go!'

So I went.