Murder in Megara

Chapter Thirty-eight

The City Defender waved a fly away from his face with his stylus and consulted the tablet in front of him before addressing John. “The last time you sat here, you were suspected in one murder on your estate. This morning you are a suspect in two.”

“The last time I sat here was because a fish merchant and his friends tried to burn down my house.”

“Nevertheless you were a murder suspect, and will remain so as long as you are in Megara.”

“How would you benefit from my leaving, Georgios?”

“For a start I’d have fewer criminal matters to worry about.”

Today the patch of sunlight John had noticed on his earlier visit reached farther into the room. It felt warm on his back, casting his shadow across the mosaic floor. The head of his silhouette lay across documents near the edge of Georgios’ table, a sight that reminded John of a head waiting to be removed with a swift slice from the sword of an imperial executioner.

There was no crowd present, thanks in part to the armed guard at the door. The only others in the room, aside from John and the City Defender, were Hypatia, seated in a chair against the wall and the two guards flanking her, unnecessarily, in John’s opinion, considering her ankles were shackled.

Georgios glanced at his tablet again and then briefly pointed his stylus in Hypatia’s direction. “This servant of yours-an Egyptian, I understand-was apprehended at the forge of your tenant, the blacksmith Petrus, in the middle of the night. She was standing over the body of the former overseer of your estate, Diocles, who had been stabbed in the back. Your servant’s hands and clothing were bloody and she was holding a kitchen knife in her hand. No doubt you have an explanation. I am willing to hear it.”

“Perhaps she was possessed by demons, like the fish merchant?”

“More likely consorting with them!”

“It isn’t for me to explain, Georgios. She has already told you what happened. She was not involved in Diocles’ death. She merely stumbled on the body.”

“The people on your estate seem to have a penchant for stumbling on corpses and wandering around after dark. Are these habits you’ve brought with you from Constantinople? It was my impression those who live there stay inside and lock their doors at night so they won’t stumble over corpses piling up in the lawless streets.”

“Why isn’t this hearing being written down for the administrative records?”

“It is not a formal hearing”

“It is completely irregular.”

“In the capital, perhaps. This is the way we work in Megara.”

“And it is the way you work?”

Georgios smiled. “Yes. The way the duly empowered City Defender works, along with his armed guards and the support of every citizen.” He turned his attention to Hypatia. “You, woman. Do you want to change this fabricated tale you told me?”

Hypatia’s eyes smoldered with dark fire. “I told the truth, sir. When I spotted the body I didn’t know whose it was or why it was there. There was only the glow from the forge. He might have fallen and hit his head or been intoxicated.”

“Surely you noticed the wound in his back?” Georgios interrupted.

“No. There were shadows. I was startled. I rolled him over and saw he was dead. I was afraid whoever killed him might still be nearby so I took out the knife I carry for protection. Since being attacked in the marketplace I felt I needed it. You and your guards don’t offer any protection!”

“A perfectly lucid and understandable story,” John put in.

“A simpler explanation is that your servant crept up behind Diocles and put the knife in his back, just before Petrus appeared.”

“Petrus could have killed the man. It was his forge. Or it might have been my tenant farmer Lucian, who as we have just heard arrived not long after Petrus appeared.”

“Neither of them was holding a knife in a bloody hand,” the City Defender pointed out.

“Where are Petrus and Lucian?” John demanded. “They should be here to give evidence.”

“Don’t be so anxious about that. You’ll be appearing before a court soon enough. To proceed. Petrus stated to me he heard a sound and went out to the forge and saw the body and your servant there. Then Lucian came to see Petrus on some business.”

“What kind of business would they be meeting about at that time of night?”

“Petrus had promised to make a new bucket and repair a few tools. He often does small jobs late at night. Lucian waited until he had seen to his swine and finished the day’s farm chores. When he got to the forge he saw the blacksmith, Diocles, and the servant woman. Lucian does not know what Diocles was doing there. He hadn’t seen the unfortunate man since you relieved him of his duties.”

“So he claims. It’s more likely Diocles was staying with Petrus. He hid with Lucian first. Did Petrus also claim he hadn’t seen Diocles since I ordered the man off the estate?”

“No. He admitted Diocles stayed with him, just as you say, a few days earlier. It was a simple act of kindness on Lucian’s part. After all, they had developed a friendship. Diocles had been a trustworthy overseer for years.”

“Not according to the estate records.”

The City Defender tapped his teeth with the end of his stylus. “You see, this is what bothers me. You have a grievance against Diocles and he is found stabbed in the back on your estate. You have a grievance with your stepfather and he also is found stabbed in the back on your estate.”

“And I, of course, having served for many years at Justinian’s court must be an expert at stabbing my enemies in the back?”

“Ah, so you see the logic of it.”

“The master would not do such a thing,” Hypatia declared in a loud voice.

Georgios looked thoughtful. “Perhaps not. Perhaps he would have a trusted servant do it for him.”

“Are you accusing Hypatia, or me, or both of us?” John snapped.

“I would watch my tone, former Lord Chamberlain. The whole situation is quite perplexing, even you would have to admit as much.”

“Yes, anyone on the estate or someone from outside could have killed Diocles for a reason we do not know since he unfortunately omitted to leave a confession. It is very perplexing.”

“It is possible. Many things are possible. But there is also the matter of the woman with the knife.”

“Who had no reason to kill Diocles,” John pointed out.

“Unless she was ordered to or ordered to pretend to have done so. She appears to be quite loyal to you, and why not, considering she is several times removed from her native land and has no friends in Megara?”

There was a rattle of chains as Hypatia jumped up. “Sir, I protest! I-”

The guards slammed her back down hard enough for her head to hit the wall with a thump.

“You need to train your servants better,” Georgios remarked. “Another possibility is she might have thought she was killing someone other than Diocles. I note she is fiery as well as beautiful. A romantic intrigue gone wrong?”

John gave Hypatia a look of warning. She remained quiet but tried to burn Georgios to a cinder with her stare.

“My servant would not engage in an intrigue for any purpose,” John said calmly. “And considering Megara’s port, not so far away from my estate, swarms day and night with foreigners, how do we know the person who attacked Diocles did not come from anywhere ships could bring him?”

“So now I should enlarge my circle of suspects to include most of the population of the empire? I am afraid I do not have the resources for that sort of investigation. In fact, I suspect it would be beyond the capacity of Justinian’s entire army of spies.” He tapped his teeth again. “By the way, I have learned that you were away from your estate recently.”

“I visited Lechaion on business. Is that also considered a crime in Megara?”

“It depends on the business, doesn’t it?”

“It appears the most dangerous event happening to a person in this city is to have the misfortune to discover a murder victim. I may be an exile, Georgios, and I may be disliked here but I am a Roman citizen and as such I possess certain rights. And so, I might add, does my servant.”

“Of course.” Georgios tossed his stylus down and stood up. “And my highest duty is to uphold the law of the empire. Guards, unlock the prisoner’s shackles.”

He came around the table. “I am releasing your servant to your care until I decide what is to be done.”

He touched John on the elbow, urging him toward the open door. John jerked his arm away, but complied.

Georgios bent nearer and spoke in a confidential whisper. “May I be honest? You understand diplomacy, do you not? It is sometimes necessary to negotiate. I could have both you and your servant woman imprisoned immediately and executed within the month. Entirely legally, at that. However, I am aware of your former high standing at court. Like everyone else in the empire I know how Justinian’s whims can change. Although I would wager that the longer the time that passes the less likely he is to decide to embrace you again.”

“In other words, leave Megara while I have the chance?”

“Not in other words at all. That is exactly what I mean.”

***

Standing in the sunlight John wondered if the City Defender was telling the truth. He wanted John and his family gone, but he was prudent enough to prefer that John leave of his own free will.

He asked himself the question he had asked Georgios. How would Georgios benefit by John’s flight? Would he be gaining something directly, or did he count on being rewarded by whoever would benefit from John’s absence? Was he so ready to believe Hypatia would carry out any order John gave her, even murder, because Georgios was prepared to do the bidding of whoever was giving him orders?

Hypatia joined John, limping slightly, bloody abrasions on her ankles.

“Should I hire a cart to take us back?” John asked.

She shook her head, still furious. “No, master. I can walk back. I could run back if need be. I could kick that…that…well…I could kick him into the sea if I got the opportunity! Oh, master, I am sorry to have caused you problems.”

“No more than I already had.”

They put a short distance between themselves and the City Defender’s office, then John directed her to sit on a bench under a colonnade until she felt steadier on her feet.

As she massaged her ankles, John asked what she had been doing at the blacksmith’s forge. She explained, hesitating over her words, she had been seeking Philip, about a personal matter, a misunderstanding.

John guessed it must have been connected to Philip’s thwarted plans but he thought it better not to the mention the young man had asked permission to marry her.

“I understand why you were outside then, but what made you go to Petrus’ house?”

Hypatia paused. “I thought I saw Philip going there. But I must have been mistaken. It was foggy as well as dark.” She looked distressed, no doubt realizing the obvious conclusion that might be drawn from her words. “Philip had no reason to kill Diocles.”

“I agree. Did you tell the City Defender about seeing Philip? Or, rather, thinking you had seen him?”

“No, master. I…well, it was a personal matter. I didn’t want the City Defender questioning me about it.”

“Certainly not. You must tell me, though, why you think it was Philip, given the conditions? It could have been Petrus or Lucian, who were both nearby, or someone else entirely.”

“It was by the stave Philip was carrying. I thought I saw a stave. It could have been one of the other watchmen.”

Or, John thought, anyone who had made a sharpened stave for himself, or most likely, in the dark and fog, she hadn’t seen a stave at all but had convinced herself she had, being eager to find Philip, who would naturally have carried one. John had no reason to disbelieve anything Hypatia had told him, and she had no motive for killing Diocles. “Are you sure you’re telling me everything? I know Diocles was given to threats. You might have been protecting yourself, or Peter.”

“How could you think that?”

He continued his questioning, drawing out every detail of what she had seen as she approached the forge and after she had found the body. “You say just as you arrived the flames in the forge sprang up?”

A familiar voice interrupted. “John, there you are!”

Leonidas hurried to the bench, looking winded. “I heard you were taken to the City Defender,” he said. “Thank the Lord you’ve been released!”

“Temporarily at any rate.”

“Word was all over the tax offices and probably the rest of the city by now, so I made haste to catch you. You were leaving the administrative complex when I arrived and the guards delayed me so I lost sight of you.”

“I appreciate your concern, my friend. But is it wise, with your home situation…?”

“My apologies for that, John. I don’t intend to abandon you. I wanted to know if there is any way I can help. If you need legal assistance, for instance, I can put you in touch with someone, or you might prefer me to contact whoever arranged the purchase of your estate. If it becomes necessary, I mean. If you are prevented. Heaven grant that it won’t be necessary.”

“Thank you, Leonidas. It’s good to have someone I can count on in this city.” John reached into his tunic. “I don’t want to put you to any trouble, but there’s something else you could look into for me. If you find out anything useful I will be in the marketplace tomorrow morning.”