Poseidon_s Gold

XLI

It was late morning when I lurched from the apartment. I wore my favourite worn indigo tunic, since my idea of dressing up has always been to put comfort first; my heaviest boots, since the weather looked foul; a cloak, for the same reason; and a hat, to shade my eyes from painful light. My head hurt and my internal organs felt delicate. My joints ached. An upright posture seemed unnatural.

I went first to see Petronius. He was kicking his heels at the guardhouse, pretending to write reports while he sheltered from the weather. This made him glad of any excuse to wake up and hurl insults at a friend.

'Watch out, boys. A hangover on legs just found its way in. Falco, you look like a fool who has been up all night consuming cheap drink in rough company.' He had seen me do it before; I had done it with him.

'Don't start!'

'Let's have some gravity then. I assume you've come to present me with a nicely bound set of tablets detailing who killed Censorinus Macer, what their dirty motive was, and where I can find them tied to a pergola, awaiting arrest?'

'No.'

'Stupid to hope!'

'I've got a couple of leads.'

'Better than nothing,' he answered grumpily.

'What about you?

'Oh I'll stick with nothing. I like to feel safe. Why start dicing with evidence and proof?' Luckily he settled down after this frivolity and talked plainer sense. He listed the usual enquiries. He had spoken to all the people who were in Flora's the night the soldier died, but had learned nothing useful. 'Nobody saw anyone with Censorinus, or noticed anyone go up the backstairs to his room.'

'So that's a dead end.'

'Right. I grilled Epimandos a few times. I don't like the shifty look in his eye. He's a strange one, though I can't prove anything against him.'

'I think he's a runaway. He looks worried because of that.'

'He's been there a few years.'

'He has.' I stretched my stiff limbs. 'He always gives the impression of looking over his shoulder.' That applied to most of Rome, so Petro received the news calmly. 'Festus knew something about his past, I think.'

'Festus would!'

'Is it worth arresting Epimandos on suspicion?'

Petronius looked prim. 'Arresting people on suspicion would mean arresting you!'

'You did!'

'Who's starting now, Falco? In the damned waiter's case, I decided against it, though I still have a man watching Flora's dump. I don't think Epimandos would conceal anything if he could clear you,' Petronius told me. 'He seems too loyal to you.'

'I don't know why that should be,' I admitted honestly.

'Neither do I,' said Petro, with his usual friendly attitude. 'Have you paid him to corroborate your story?' I scowled; he relented. 'Maybe Festus had something to do with it, if they were on good terms. Whatever it is, Epimandos is really panicking that he might have caused your brush with Marponius. I told him you were perfectly capable of getting yourself hauled up on a false charge without help from a dumb stew-doler.'

'Well that should clinch a free drink for me next time I toddle into Flora's! And how is our beloved Marponius?'

Petronius Longus growled contemptuously. 'What are these leads you promised me?'

'Not much, but I've two new names to follow up. One is a sculptor called Orontes Mediolanus who knew Festus. He disappeared several years ago.'

'That sounds a dud line.'

'Yes, leave that to me, if you like. I specialise in hopeless clues… Apart from him, there was a centurion called Laurentius recently in Rome, asking the same questions as Censorinus.'

Petro nodded. 'I'll take that on. It fits the form. I managed to prod your ma into remembering that Censorinus did go out a couple of evenings, saying he was seeing a friend.'

'Ma never told me!'

'You have to ask the right questions,' Petro replied smugly. 'Leave this to the professionals, eh Falco?'

'Professional bollockers! Who was the friend?'

'Your ma didn't know. He was only mentioned casually. This Laurentius is a good candidate, though. They could have deliberately planted Censorinus with your mother to harass the family, while the other man stayed elsewhere and pursued other issues.' Petro leaned back on his stool, flexing his shoulders as if he too was feeling the effects of the damp morning. He was a big, muscular character who hated drizzly weather. Except when he went home to play with his children, he needed to be out of doors; it was one reason he liked his job. 'Did you spot that Campania mansio bill?'

His eyes were half veiled, hiding any impression of collusion over me inspecting the dead man's kit at the caupona.

'I saw it,' I confirmed, also keeping my expression bland.

'Looked to me as if it was a reckoning for two.'

'I didn't notice that.'

'It was not specific, but at country prices I'd say it covered hay for two horses or mules, and more than one bed.' His voice dropped. 'Wasn't it for some place near your grandfather's farm?'

'Near enough. I would go out there, but it would be breaking my bail.'

'Why not?' Petro grinned at me suddenly. 'After all, you went to Ostia!'

How in Hades did he know? 'Are you following me, you bastard?'

He refused to say. 'Thanks for the name of Laurentius. I'll make enquiries among the military authorities, though if he was just in Rome on leave his presence may not have been registered officially.'

'If he was here with Censorinus, pretending to be innocents on holiday,' I pointed out, 'he ought to have come forward the minute he heard about the murder.'

'True,' Petro agreed. 'Suspicious, otherwise. If I have to, I'll write and query him with the Fifteenth, but that will take weeks.'

'Months, more likely. If his nose is clean with them, they won't necessarily answer a civil enquiry at all.'

'And if his nose is not clean with them,' Petro answered with gentle cynicism, 'they will disown him quietly, and still not answer me.' Soldiers only had to answer to military law. Petronius could certainly ask a centurion questions, and if Laurentius was shown to have killed Censorinus, Petro could report it formally-but if the murder had been committed by a fellow legionary, then the legions would deal with the culprit. (That meant the legions would hush it up.) For Marponius and Petro this new angle could be frustrating. 'There are better ways to proceed. My men can start checking the lodging-houses here; that's more likely to produce results. If Laurentius is implicated, it may be too late to stop him leaving Italy, but I'll have somebody watching at Ostia. If he's spotted, I can ask him politely to return to Rome and talk to me-'

'He won't come.'

'Does it matter? If he refuses, he looks guilty and you're cleared. By virtue of his non-co-operation, I can oppose any charges against you. Marponius would have to go along with it. So what are your plans, reprieved suspect?'

'I'm going out with my damned father for an educational talk on art.'

'Enjoy yourself,' smiled Petronius.

Relations between us had improved drastically. If I had known it would be so easy to retrieve our long-standing friendship. I would have invented a name for a suspect days ago and given him someone else to chase around after.

'To save you having to tail me,' I replied with my customary courtesy, 'I'm picking up Pa from the Saepta now, then spending the rest of the morning at some big house in the Seventh Sector, after which-if my parent sticks to his usual rigid habits-we'll be returning to the Saepta prompt at noon so he can devour whatever the redhead has stuffed into his lunch-satchel.'

'This is all very filial! When did you ever spend so much time in the company of Geminus?'

I grinned reluctantly. 'Since he decided he needed protection-and stupidly hired me.'

'Such a pleasure,' chuckled Petronius, 'to see the Didius family sticking together at last!'

I told him what I thought of him, without rancour, then I left.