One for Sorrow

Chapter Twelve

The next morning John approached the Baths of Zeuxippos with trepidation. Would Anatolius be absent again? And if so, what might that mean?

Scaffolding obscured the double tiers of enormous arched windows at the semicircular front of the building. The marble cave of the vestibule, empty of ornamentation, rang with the sounds of hammers and chisels wielded by laborers who outnumbered bathers. The baths had been burnt down by the mobs during the riots three years earlier, but several wings had reopened.

By the time John reached the private bath reserved for palace officials he had acquired a fine coating of plaster dust. He undressed in the outer room, shook off his clothes, and stepped into a cloud of steam billowing from an archway.

He was relieved to see Anatolius lounging against the wall of the oval basin, staring dreamily up into the foggy dome overhead.

“I was surprised you weren’t here yesterday.” John eased himself into the hot water. It took an effort of will. During his time in Bretania he had seen a comrade drown in a swollen stream. Bodies of water still terrified him.

“I was out with Bacchus all night after the official celebrations. I think in the end he beat me around the head with his staff and threw me down a flight of stairs. That’s what it felt like when I woke up yesterday afternoon. I didn’t emerge from the house all day.”

“Then you haven’t heard?”

“Heard what, John?”

“Leukos was murdered. Felix and I found him in the alley beside Isis’ place. He was stabbed.”

Wherever Anatolius had been dreaming when he gazed into the dome, it took him some time to travel from there to the alley where an acquaintance had died. Finally he muttered, “I…I don’t know what to say. It’s too horrible to be believed. I barely knew Leukos myself, but still…I’m sorry….”

John realized his friend’s lack of words evinced his shock better than any flowery phrases could have conveyed. He recounted quickly what he knew about Leukos’ death and his investigations of the previous day.

“No,” Anatolius replied in answer to John’s questions. “I didn’t run into him at the Inn of the Centaurs, or on the way there either. Is there any reason to think it was anything other than a robbery?”

“Nothing was taken from him so far as I could tell.”

“That is suspicious. And he appeared to be out of sorts at the Hippodrome.”

“So you noticed that as well? He seemed to have something on his mind. I thought it might have to do with his visit to the soothsayer.”

“And the question is whether the visit to the soothsayer had anything to do with his death?”

“One of the questions.”

Gritting his teeth slightly, John slid down until water lapped his chin. Most found the hot baths soporific and pleasant. John wished he could say the same.

“The prefect is sending me Leukos’ pouch after he’s examined its contents. He didn’t want to part with any evidence.”

Anatolius raised his eyebrows. “You persuaded him? He usually answers to no one but the emperor.”

“I told him that Leukos’ family would want its contents, whatever they might be, and that it would be unwise to anger the bereaved family of a high official.”

“I don’t know anything about Leukos’ family.”

“Neither do I. The pouch might offer some clues to what was on his mind, where he was going, apart from the Inn of the Centaurs.”

Anatolius pushed his dark, dripping hair away from his face. “Perhaps someone saw the attack.”

“It’s possible, but that person might be anywhere in the city. No one at Isis’ house saw anything.”

“Unless one of the urban watch happens by at the right time or a mob catches the fellow immediately and tears him to pieces, street crimes are never solved. And it could have been one of us killed in that alley. I passed by there myself.”

“Did you happen to spend any time at Isis’ last night?”

“No. I was preoccupied. Do you suspect Isis of being involved?”

John shook his head.

“But what if her livelihood were threatened?”

“I trust Isis. We’ve both known her for years. I am more suspicious of the soothsayer.”

“You said you spoke with him. What did he say when you told him Leukos had died so soon after his consultation with him?”

“I didn’t mention it.”

Anatolius looked surprised. “Didn’t you ask the soothsayer where he was when Leukos was killed?”

“That would be the prefect’s way. I wouldn’t expect a murderer to tell me the truth and I don’t have a small army to go about the city knocking on doors and verifying stories.”

“But you could have observed his reaction when you broke the news.”

“A man who can convince most of the imperial court he can divine their futures is too good an actor to be caught out that way. Yet the soothsayer troubles me. Only the gods know our futures.”

“That may be,” said Anatolius. “On the other hand the gods may communicate with us in whatever way they choose. Even through garrulous old wanderers.”

“It sounds as if you are more impressed with him than I am. Did you keep your appointment with him?”

Anatolius’ face brightened. “Yes, and I found him to be impressive.”

“What did he have to tell you?”

“He immediately augured I was in love.”

“A safe wager!”

“Perhaps, but he was quite accurate. He poured some colored pebbles out of a leather pouch and when he read them, he proclaimed I would be lucky in love.”

John laughed. “You aren’t still thinking of the bull-leaper? She’s much too old for you.”

“I’m sorry, John. It’s clear that even a man as wise as you can be misled by the memories of a pretty face. Last night, after my head stopped throbbing, I started a poem for her. I will be Pindar to her Aristomenes.”

“Aristomenes? The wrestler? The bull-leaper didn’t strike me as such. And as for Pindar, didn’t he remind us that man is merely the creature of a day, the dream of a shadow?”

“Well, if life is only a dream it is very pleasant one right now. According to the soothsayer.”

“And how do you know his happy prediction for you will turn out to be true?”

“When we were talking he told me some of the men from the bull-leaping troupe are staying at the Inn of the Centaurs. The rest of the performers are quartered on an Egyptian ship at the docks.”