Time To Depart

LII

T'S OLD HISTORY,' Lalage confessed. `What's the difference now Nonnius is dead? Who cares?'

'Balbinus cares!' I rapped back tersely. `And so should you.' `I don't see it.'

`You will when a gang of killers bursts in one night, and drags you off by the hair.'

`I'll wear a wig for a few days…' Flippancy was not her style. She knew her limits and it did not last. `This is a brothel. I thought you would have noticed that! We have a system to keep out hooligans.'

`Jupiter, I've seen your security! Macra busy counting the money, and a half-asleep hangdog who dies if you raise your voice to him? Nonnius had an armoured door. They broke in with artillery; it was a military raid.'

`Well thanks. Now I know what we have to be ready for.' She was unimpressed. She stretched her leg, dangling her sandal from a lithe instep. The footgear had a light sole but a substantial upper, the kind that is completely cut out in one piece of leather, then its myriad thongs tied up on top. Not a walking shoe, but that would not have troubled her. What troubled me was that it was being dangled from a very pretty foot.

Her blase attitude heated me more, but in a different way. `What's the matter with you, Lalage? Balbinus has perpetrated revenge killings on at least two people who brought him to trial. I was abroad at the time, but I understood Nonnius was not his only old associate to help the prosecution. You also gave evidence.'

`I was pressurised.'

`By Petronius Longus.'

`That's the bastard's name.'

`Call me simple, but it seems to me that helping to convict him puts you next on Balbinus' shopping list of corpses, Lalage.' `You're simple.' She knew exactly what she was saying when she

returned slyly, `I can think of one person who may be ahead of me.'

She meant Petronius. I hoped she could not see me going cold. `He's a big lad, and avoiding villains is his job. He can take his chance. There is still a serious risk to you.'

`I can deal with it.'

`The oldest lie in the world, Lalage! History is littered with the corpses of fools who gurgled, "I'm different. I can keep out of the way!" Or have you bought him off?' I was angry as the thought struck me. `One of the vigiles has been murdered too. Are you responsible for that? Did you betray Linus?'

`I've never even heard of him.' She spoke calmly. I wanted to believe her.

`Have you seen Balbinus recently?' `No.'

`He must need a bolt hole. Has he asked to hide up here?' `That again! Don't make me laugh, Falco.'

`What about his men? Little Icarus and the Miller? Do you let them come here?'

`I told you, they're barred, the lot of them.'

`And none of the old gang have been in touch with you? What about Balbinus himself?'

`No.' It sounded like a lie. I watched her notice me thinking that.

`Balbinus is a shark.' Her voice was hard. `Believe me, Falco, he knows that he's met his match in me. I'm stronger than him, and if he wants to survive in Rome he'd better leave me alone. What – an exile who has returned in secret? He's a fool. He doesn't stand a chance.' She was talking too much now. This was not like Lalage.

She still had the wide-open gaze of a whore who was lying. The trouble with whores is they look like that all the time, even when spouting truths like vestal virgins.

`And what about Nonnius? How in Hades did you know he saw through Alexander's tale?'

`Alexander is the doctor?' `Was.'

`Oh, was! Failed to diagnose his own condition, didn't he? Well I know, Falco, because the whole thing was arranged by Nonnius and me. Don't worry your little head with the details, – but when Petronius sent his man with the fake story, Nonnius didn't believe him. He wasn't stupid. He could tell he wasn't ill.'

`So he made enquiries and found out that the doctor who was saying he was dying had a brother in the watch?'

`He was a rent-collector, Falco. He could easily add up! He told me about it. He was just laughing at first because the whole idea seemed ridiculous, but I saw how we could use it. We wanted to be rid of Balbinus. I was after sole charge of the brothel, and Nonnius intended to run all the rest. We planned it together.'

`Nonnius called Alexander back?'

`He had a lot of fun pretending to be terrified, and then convinced your friend the way was clear to clean up Rome.' `What about the dead Lycian?'

`He was killed here at Plato's.'

`I know that.' I was thinking fast. She had to be telling me that the Lycian's murder was deliberate. `It was a fix? The weasel who did the stabbing was sent in purposely?'

`No, Castus didn't need encouraging. He was a Balbinus plant. He used to hang around here and report back how things were. I didn't tell him anything; I knew how he would react if we could get a fight going. The girl was in on it, though. I didn't want her telling Castus to calm down when the row flared up.'

`They still work here?'

`Only the girl.'

She was horribly calm. She and Nonnius actually had the Lycian traveller killed so the watch could discover it `by accident', and so that they could provide evidence which Lalage could be `coerced' into giving in court.

I realised Lalage would never admit this formally, and hearing it today could prove fatal for me. The mood had become dangerous. I was deep within this place. No one knew I was here. If she decided to have me killed like the Lycian, I would be seriously stuck. I tried changing the subject. `Once Balbinus was supposed to have sailed away, was it Nonnius who organised the Emporium raid?'

`I've no idea. Once the court case was over, I didn't want to know anything about the street-gang side.'

`Really? I wondered whether you and Nonnius had been scheming together because you were having an. affair?'

Genuine amusement rocked her. `Only a man would imagine women conduct their businesses on the basis of love.'

`You were no admirer of Nonnius?'

`No.' She did not bother to insult him.

`You told me once you hated him and yet now you say you conspired together over the court case.'

`So? I loathed him, but I could still use him.'

`You've told a lot of lies. Why suddenly start telling the truth about Nonnius?'

`Because he's dead. As soon as I heard that, I guessed Balbinus had returned. You should have known too,' she taunted.

`We thought Flaccida murdered Nonnius.'

`Oh I bet she had a hand in it. The word on the streets is that it happened in her house. They say she was there gloating. They say she herself rammed that pot on his head.'

`A spirited witch!' My lip curled. `Is Balbinus at the house?'

`I doubt it. He's not stupid. That's the first place the vigiles will look.' She clearly meant they were stupid, or at least predictable.

`Well, thanks for all this. It's good of you to co-operate.'

`If you hadn't realised Balbinus was here in Rome, I was going to tell you myself.'

She had not done so, though.

I stood up. For a moment I half expected her to prevent me leaving. I was guarding against an attack, and this time not the erotic sort.

`You frightened of something, Falco?' She understood men. It was her trade.

`No, but you should be. Balbinus is back. You helped get him condemned. He'll be looking for you.'

`Oh, I don't think I need to worry!' She definitely meant it. I was wondering why. She rose, graciously acknowledging my departure as she supplied one possible reason in a scornful tone: `Balbinus won't be in Rome for long.' The smile she gave me was the sweetest available in her wide repertoire – as dangerous as a draught of aconite. `Balbinus won't even be alive, will he? Not now you're looking for the man!'

I told- her there was no need to be sarcastic, then I saluted the lady respectfully and took my leave.

Nonnius had hoped to take over the crime empire, but Nonnius was dead. I wondered who Lalage imagined would step in once Balbinus was settled for good. I wondered who she hoped to see running things then.

She was competent and ambitious. And Lalage, as I knew from many years ago, had always been a very clever girl.