Germanicus

36

It wasn't worth going home. I went down to the Market Square to tell my banker I was back in town and pick up some of the latest gossip, then killed another hour or two in Gorgio's wineshop off the Sacred Way. The sun was already setting by the time I got to Carillus's. There was no sign of Agron.

Carillus was there, though, putting up the shutters: he must've been working late. He saw me at the same time as I saw him. If I'd expected the guy to look or act guilty I was disappointed.

'Hey, Corvinus!' he said. 'How's the Roman beer-drinker?'

'Okay.' I went over and waited while he fixed on the padlock.

'Good.' He slipped the key into the pouch at his belt. 'You have time for a quick jar?'

Shit. That I didn't need. 'I was hoping for a quiet word, friend. Somewhere private.'

'Yeah?' He shot me a look. 'Well, then, you're out of luck. I usually spend an hour at Hilde's after we close up. You want to tag along, that's fine with me.'

'Hilde's is the beer shop we were in last time?'

'That's right.' He was grinning.

'She sell wine as well as horse piss?'

The grin broadened. 'Don't call good beer that in Hilde's hearing if you value your skull. Yeah, she's got a flask or two put by for delicate stomachs.'

'Right. Let's go, then,' I said. I didn't like it more than half, but I didn't have much choice. And if the talk wasn't to be particularly private at least there'd be a crowd, which was the next best thing.

The beer shop, if I remembered right, was further down on the other side of the street. Sure enough Carillus moved off in that direction. 'You been out of Rome?' he said.

'Yeah. In Antioch.'

'Uh-huh.' I couldn't see his eyes, but his voice didn't alter. 'Business?'

'You could call it that.'

'Never been east myself. They say it's something else.'

'It's okay.' I was beginning to have my doubts about Carillus. The guy seemed straight. Maybe he hadn't murdered Regulus, the letter was a red herring after all, and his slaughterhouse deed was all there'd ever been. Cotta wasn't the most reliable informant of all time, and a butcher's hook could've come from anywhere.

We reached the beer shop. The place wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be: there were only four guys there, all Germans from the look of them, and as we went in two of these got up and left. Carillus sat down at the empty table and gave our order to the old woman. I was no linguist but it sounded okay, and sure enough Hilde went off grumbling while the two Germans sniggered into their pots and swapped guttural comments.

Maybe they knew something I didn't because the wine when it came was as bad as the beer, third-rate Massic just a step this side of vinegar. Still at least it was made from grapes not horse fodder, and with that in front of me I wouldn't be faced with a drinking bout like last time.

'So.' Carillus set down his half empty beaker and wiped the suds off his face. 'What can I do for you now,?'

'You know a guy called Regulus?'

I was watching his eyes. I caught the tell-tale flicker and I knew beyond all doubt that I hadn't made any mistake. Carillus was a good actor, sure, and he was expecting the question, but it still hit him where it hurt. Straight, hell, the guy had beans to spill. It was just a question of getting him to spill them.

'Piso's lawyer, right? Or one of them.'

'Yeah. He was found at the bottom of the Gemonian Stairs just before I left Rome.' I took a second sip of wine and decided that a third would be one too many. 'Just before you left Rome too. Someone had knifed him and put a hook through his throat. A butcher's hook.'

'A butcher's hook. Is that right, now?' Very deliberately Carillus lifted his beaker, drained it and set it down. Unasked, the old woman came across and refilled it. 'And just because of that you think I killed him.'

'I know you did, sunshine,' I said quietly. 'What I don't know is who for and why. But then that's what you're going to tell me.'

This time he didn't blink. 'You're crazy,' he said.

'Because I think you killed Regulus? Or because I think you'll tell me why? I'm right on both counts.'

'I never even met the guy.' He wasn't angry and he didn't raise his voice. The bastard even had the beginnings of a smile. 'I'm a butcher. I don't move in these circles. So why should I want to murder him?'

'That was my question.'

He made to stand up, not quickly but like he'd finished his beer and was going home. I grabbed his wrist. The two Germans at the other table looked over with bleary-eyed interest but he growled something and they snickered and went back to humming lieder. I'd expected him to break free — with his size and weight he could've done it easy — but he didn't. He only glanced down at my hand, grinned and lowered himself back on to the bench.

'Okay. I'll say it again again, because maybe you didn't hear me the first time,' he said. 'I may know who Regulus was but I never met him, I had nothing against him, and you are crazy. That answer your question?'

'Okay.' I let go of his wrist. 'Now I'll tell you something. You're in this up to your eyeballs, pal. You know that, I know that, so let's cut the crap. Now you may be working for the Emperor, and if so then I'm making a bad mistake. But if you aren't, and I'm willing to bet you aren't' — did his eyelids flicker? I couldn't be sure — 'then you're up shit creek without a paddle. Because unless your patron has a hell of a lot of clout and he's willing to use it to keep you safe I'll make it my business to nail your hide to a cask of beer and roll it down the Gemonian Stairs myself. You understand?'

He was watching me carefully, like he was trying to make up his mind. He still looked cocky but the grin had slipped a bit. Maybe I was getting through to him after all.

Was I hell. Or at least not the way I wanted to. With his eyes still on me he said something to Hilde that made the two crooners at the other table sit up sharp. The old girl shuffled over to the door, slipped the bolts top and bottom and then went back behind the counter.

We were all on our feet now, crooners included. One was hefting a solid-looking blackjack like he knew how to use it. The other absently broke his pottery beaker against the table and inspected the jagged edge. I pulled my knife and slowly backed up until I felt the wall of the beer shop grate against my spine.

Carillus hadn't moved, and his arms hung loose. 'Okay, Corvinus,' he said. 'You've convinced me. Maybe you're safer dead after all.' He added something in German.

The guy with the blackjack moved round to my right while Beaker crossed behind Carillus and came up on the other side. They were weaving a bit and belching but they weren't as drunk as I'd hoped they'd be. Or as neutral. Teutonic solidarity, let's all get the Roman. Shit. I cursed myself for nine kinds of smartass fool and wished I'd stayed home with Perilla pressing flowers.

Beaker moved first, then Blackjack a split second later. After twenty days on a ship and no exercise for the best part of two months I was way out of shape. My kick missed Beaker's groin, but got him in the thigh. The knife was years too late and my head exploded as the blackjack hit my ear like a sackful of rocks. Carillus leapt forwards, and I could just see the glint of metal in his hand. I yelled and twisted, but not far or fast enough, and the pain lanced through my ribs…

I don't know what happened then. It seemed like the far wall burst apart and the roof fell on me at the same time. Then things got confused. Someone — I think it must've been Hilde — was screaming, and there were a lot of bodies thrashing about. Then everything went quiet and dark and all I could hear for a while was the drip…drip…drip of liquid on the floor.

'You okay, Corvinus?' It was Agron. His face bending over me in the darkness looked twice its usual size and he sounded worried as hell.

'Probably not,' I said. 'You tell me.' It was like trying to speak through a woollen blanket. I felt hands against my ribs, and a dull ache.

'Hey! Get a light over here!' Agron again. He repeated it in German and I tried to grin, but it was too painful. Saved by a polyglot. A lamp appeared somewhere above me and I heard and felt cloth ripping. Then silence and more fingers, probing.

Finally Agron let out his breath. 'You're bleeding like a stuck pig and you've a lump like an egg over your ear,' he said, 'but you'll live. Maybe. Now what the fuck do you think you're doing alone in a German beer dive, you stupid bastard?'

'Being a smartass,' I whispered. It must've got through because I heard him chuckle. 'Where's Carillus?'

'That the big lunk who knifed you? He's gone. Minus a tooth or two, but he got away.' He heaved me to my feet and I almost doubled over with the pain. 'Can you walk?'

'Walking I can manage. Maybe. Running a marathon might be tricky.'

He chuckled again and handed me a piece of rag. 'Okay, Corvinus. Keep that pressed against your ribs, lean on me and take it easy, right?'

My tunic was sodden with blood, and through the rip that Agron had made I could see the damage: a long, deep cut right across the side of the ribs about half way up my chest ending in a ragged hole. Bad enough, but like Agron had said I'd live. I wouldn't be wrestling pythons for a while, though, that was sure. I'd thought the dripping liquid might be me, but the flask of Massic was on its side on the table and the wine was running over the edge. Well, that was one good thing anyway. At least I hadn't had to drink the stuff, and now no one ever would. I grinned and tried to tell Agron, but the words wouldn't come. Instead I found myself blacking out.

I woke up in bed at home with a splitting headache and a feeling in my chest like an elephant was standing on it with spiked sandals.

'Marcus?' Perilla, of course. She was sitting by the bedside looking like she'd just come back from a wake.

'Yeah. I think so. Where's Agron?' My tongue felt thick, and somebody had filled my mouth with glue.

'He left an hour ago. He said he'd be back later. Marcus, what the hell did you think you were doing?'

'Being a smartass. I told him that already.' I tried to sit up and then decided I wouldn't after all. My head was pounding like the worst hangover I'd ever been through, I was bandaged up like an Egyptian mummy, and someone was playing funny buggers with the balance of the room. 'And don't swear, Perilla, it doesn't suit you.'

'If I want to swear I'll swear,' she snapped. 'And smartass describes you perfectly.' Shit. Tied up like this and feeling weak as a kitten I couldn't even run for cover. 'Don't you ever do anything like that again, Corvinus, do you hear me?'

'You want to put that in writing, lady?'

She got up quickly and walked over to the door. I thought she was leaving but she just stood there with her forehead pressed to the panelling.

'You could have been killed,' she said quietly. 'You almost were. The doctor said another inch to the left and the knife would have punctured a lung. So stop joking about it, please.'

I didn't say anything for a long time. Finally she came over and kissed me. Her cheeks were wet.

'Besides,' she added. 'I'd make a terrible widow.'

I pulled her down onto the bed and put my arm round her waist. It hurt, but it was worth it. 'Agron say how he managed it?' I said.

'Saving your life or getting you home?'

'Whatever. Both.'

'He was passing the beer shop on his way to Carillus's when he heard you yell. He kicked the door down.' I winced, remembering the bolts. Maybe the wood had been rotten, but I wouldn't like to lay any bets. That guy was big. 'Then he carried you round to his workshop and woke up a couple of littermen neighbours.'

'He do anything about Carillus?'

'Marcus, forget about Carillus! He doesn't matter!'

'Sure he does.' I closed my eyes. I suddenly felt sleepy again, and unreal. 'Perilla, will you do something for me? If I'm not awake when Agron gets back ask him to check the bastard's flat. He won't be there, but it's got to be done. Then send round to Scylax's and get him to put the word out.'

'Corvinus…'

'Just do it, okay? Please. Tell Scylax.' Maybe the doctor had given me something. My mouth and tongue weren't working properly again and I doubt if she heard me. I felt her hand on my cheek before everything slipped away again into nothing.