Dark Omens

TWENTY-TWO

I thoroughly enjoyed the journey back to town. It is many years since I had ridden such a horse and the next few minutes were a pure delight. Bernadus seemed surprised that I could ride at all.

‘It is good of you to take such trouble and to have joined the search,’ he called, cantering up beside me as we rode the snowy lanes. ‘You hardly knew the dead man, as I understand?’

‘I had a contract with him, that is all,’ I replied, reining in my horse to talk to him. ‘But my patron is acting as Silvia’s guardian and he asked me to come. You, on the other hand, must have been his closest friend. I know he called on you to witness what we had agreed and you were very generous with your hospitality.’

The stout face flushed a little. ‘Hardly a friend, citizen, as one understands the word. I don’t think Genialis ever had a friend.’

I stared at him. That was the second time that someone had said that to me. ‘But you were good to him. You agreed to act as surety for him, with Alfredus Allius, I heard. And I heard you invite him to your country house — “treat my house as your own” you said to him. Which it seems he did. No casual matter either — you entertained him from the Kalends till the day he disappeared. And his ward and slave as well, I understand. You even left Glevum and went out there yourself to host them properly.’

I said this in the hope of provoking some response. It had occurred to me that of all the people Genialis knew, Bernadus had the greatest opportunity for killing him, since the party bound for Dorn had been staying at his house. As for disposing of the body, there was chance of that as well, as he had certainly been travelling up and down that major road, several times after his guest had disappeared. I had seen him at the Janus festival myself.

Moreover, it was his horse that Genialis was riding the last time he was seen — it would be easy for the owner to have it tampered with. It was quite the best theory that I had managed up to now. But what would be the motive, if the men were friends?

As if he had been reading my mind, Bernadus answered that question for himself. ‘Citizen, since it is quite safe to tell you now, as he will never hear of it, I will confess the truth. I could not stand the man. Of course I would have done a great deal for the lady Silvia — as would any man who ever met her, I suspect. If I did not have a wife I would sue for her myself, now that her guardian is safely dead.’ He seemed to realize that this wasn’t very wise and he went on, leaning over to caress his horse’s neck. ‘As to the services that you remind me of, I had no choice but to oblige him in any way he chose. He knew something that could have cost me everything — even my life — and he’d threatened more than once that he would use it if I did not do exactly as he asked.’ He glanced around as if his mounted escort might be overhearing this, but of course there was nobody in sight. Arlina could not move at such a pace.

‘Blackmail?’ I whispered.

‘You could call it that. There was a letter — written on a wax-pad, that is all — one scrape with a warm strigil would have rubbed it out — but he got hold of it. It was very foolish to have written it — it was only intended for my brother’s eyes — several stupid jokes about the Emperor.’ He paused and looked at me. ‘I don’t mean Pertinax, may the gods increase his rule; I mean the last Imperial idiot. Mad as a burnt bear and thought he was a god. Well, everybody said so — I’m not the only one. The trouble was that Genialis found the jokes somehow. I think he intercepted my private messenger. In any case he threatened to betray me — and pass the tablet to the Imperial spies. He said that he knew several of them, and I expect that’s true. He’s the sort of man who would. And you know what would have happened to me then?’

I nodded, though in fact I didn’t know at all. One of the famous things about the Emperor Commodus was that he found inventive methods of executing ‘foes’ — which meant anyone who dared to say a word against his so-called deity. But one thing was quite certain: Bernadus certainly had cause to wish Genialis dead.

‘Of course,’ he went on innocently, ‘it doesn’t matter now. Commodus is dead. But I didn’t know that when Genialis disappeared, and when he left us I had an awful fright — especially when he insisted on going out without a page. I thought he’d gone to have some secret meeting with an Imperial spy. I would have promised anything to have avoided that.’

‘Or done anything?’ I prompted. ‘Such as killing him?’

Bernadus looked startled, then gave a little laugh. ‘I suppose I might have done that — if it came to it. But it seems that someone else had equal cause. And in case you are thinking that I did it anyway, I’ll just point out to you that it isn’t possible. The day that Genialis left us, I was in the house with my wife, my staff and also Silvia and that Syrian slave. They can all vouch for that.’

‘But you have travelled that way several times since then.’ There was no point in not telling him my thoughts.

‘I never leave the house without an escort,’ he exclaimed, as though I were mad to have suggested it. ‘Especially when the weather is so bad. Come to that, I don’t know any citizen who would. Genialis was the one who acted in a peculiar way, insisting that he didn’t want his servant to accompany him. But he did say that. I heard him, and so did half the house. There can be no doubt of it.’ He grinned. ‘Anyway, I’m not the only one who’s glad to see him dead. I imagine that Alfredus Allius will be pleased as well. I hear that Genialis made a fool of him — made him a debtor in the sight of all the town, which threatens his re-election as a councillor. But now, at least, that problem will be solved — he’ll get the money out of the estate.’

I looked at him severely. ‘But weren’t you the surety?’

He looked a bit unhappy, but he simply shrugged. ‘I’m not sure where the law is going to stand on that. If a man can’t meet his debts on time for reasons out of his control — and I imagine being dead is going to qualify — then the contract hasn’t failed, and the surety will not be called upon. There will simply be a claim against the legatees.’ He urged his horse a little faster.

I kept up with him. ‘But Genialis had the money with him, didn’t he?’ I remembered hearing the story of the gold.

Bernadus did that dismissive shrug again. ‘We didn’t find it, citizen, if he did. After Silvia sent and told us that her guardian had not arrived in town, Alfredus Allius came to me and together we searched all his possessions carefully. We found an empty casket and some silver coins. But there was nothing in the way of gold — I have a household full of witnesses to that.’ He dug his knees into his horse and pulled ahead.

But I was no mean horseman in my youth. I whispered to my mount and we caught up again. ‘Why did you search his luggage, councillor? Surely you should simply have sent it back to town?’

‘Because Alfredus Allius came and asked me to. I think that we had cause. We both have a lively interest in that gold.’ He looked away but could not hide a flush. ‘Besides, he brought a letter from the lady Silvia, requesting the same thing. I would do a great deal to oblige her, I have told you that. But enough of questioning. I did not kill her guardian — and there’s an end to it. Look ahead. We’re nearly at the town.’

Indeed I could already see the first memorials, and soon we were trotting past the humbler graves beside the road. I glanced towards the muddy suburb, just outside the gate, where I had my workshop and where Minimus no doubt awaited me. But for the moment, I had other things to do. I followed Bernadus through the city gate, and very shortly he led me down an alleyway and into the stable yard of his town residence.

It was not as grand as Marcus’s apartment, but it was quite impressive all the same. It was crammed in with several other houses in the street, but it was a proper building, owned from cellar to the sky, with a stable for two horses, and even a tiny courtyard garden at the rear with a painted shrine in it, a kitchen to one side and a few struggling clumps of lovage and sweet herbs around the walls.

Bernadus led me through this with a proprietorial air. ‘Not a very big place, but it qualifies,’ he said — meaning that it met the property requirements for election to public office in the town. ‘Come into the atrium — that’s where we’ll bring him to.’

He ushered me into the reception area. It wasn’t very large, and fairly sparsely furnished, but the table and two carved benches were of splendid quality, the wall-friezes were lively, and the mosaic floor — three half-dressed naiads wrestling with a snake — was competently done (even I had to acknowledge that). Bernadus waved a hand towards a bench.

‘Wait there for a moment, while I find a slave and you can direct him to the undertaker’s shop. I’ll have to go and find a servant, I’m afraid. There should have been someone on duty at the door, but they’re not expecting me and obviously they didn’t hear us come. I only keep a small staff here in any case, when we’re living at the villa.’ He marched through an inner door and disappeared from sight.

I looked at my surroundings but my thoughts were somewhere else. I was still mulling over that business in the woods. What kind of killer left half a corpse? What was the point of it? A dreadful warning to the rest of us? Surely the other bits could be no use to anyone? There must be a reason, if I could think of it. But try as I might, I could not fathom it.

And who could possibly have done it anyway? Not Lucius: he wasn’t present when Bernadus invited the party to his house, and so — without a messenger — he had no way of knowing where they were. Besides, ever since Genialis had failed to arrive in town, Lucius’s whereabouts could be accounted for — and by the most reliable of witnesses: myself and Marcus Septimus. And, presumably, Alfredus Allius today.

The same thing went for Silvia, of course, I realized with delight. I was reluctant to regard her as a suspect, anyway, but of course she had the most pressing motive of them all — she didn’t want to marry her unpleasant guardian. She had been at the villa, certainly — but if she was an alibi for Bernadus at that time, then he was equally an alibi for her. Besides, this did not seem to be a woman’s crime. Would she have the strength to carve a corpse in half? And when would she have the opportunity? A lady never left the house without a slave.

Alfredus Allius, then? That was possible. I had no very clear idea of where he’d been that day — and certainly he knew where Genialis was. That was something I should investigate.

I went on staring at the naiads stupidly. A niggling conviction was growing in my brain that there was something important that I’d missed. Surely there was some point that Adonisius had made, some detail that I hadn’t paid enough attention to? I shook my head. It was eluding me.

My thoughts were interrupted by the return of Bernadus, now in the company of an attractive maidservant. She dropped me a small curtsey.

‘Master says you’re going to show me where to go to fetch the people to arrange the funeral.’ She flashed me a shy smile. ‘And the kitchen’s sending up some fruit and wine for you. In the meantime, would you care to have us wash your hands? And your feet as well perhaps? There is water warming and I know you’ve been out in the snow.’

I found that I was blushing with embarrassment. I had entirely forgotten my peculiar boots — though I still had my mittens tucked inside my belt. I was trying to decide on the courteous response when Bernadus solved the problem by saying heartily, ‘He is very welcome to the wash of course, and no doubt he would be glad of some refreshment too, but he may prefer to keep his footwear on. His mule will be arriving very soon, and then he will be wanting to go out again.’

As he spoke a pair of pageboys came into the room, one bearing the promised water and a towel, the other carrying a little tray of treats. My hands were rinsed and patted gently dry (the pleasure of warmed water had never seemed so sweet) and the slave girl fussed around us, with dried plums and wine.

Bernadus waved her impatiently away. ‘Fetch your cloak. The citizen has other things to do. You are content to show her where to go, and call on Lucius?’

I had almost forgotten that I’d undertaken that, but I nodded. ‘I’ll do so very soon — though first I have a little business of my own.’

I had decided that I’d go back to the shop and talk to Minimus. He would be wondering where I was again. Besides, I had an errand that I wanted him to run. I had promised to report our grisly find to the town authorities, and my slave would be the perfect courier. I myself would go to Lucius — and very gladly too. It occurred to me that, like an idiot, I’d forgotten to ask him for those record scrolls. This would give me the opportunity to request them now — and when I saw Marcus, I’d have something to report even if I hadn’t solved the mystery.

So when the escort at last came lumbering along with a reluctant Arlina, I was glad enough to leave. I took the slave girl with me, pointed out the undertaker’s premises and — urging my ungainly mount along the slushy streets — made my way back to Minimus and the shop.