Food for the Fishes

20

We scared up Lysias, the carriage and four torchmen and headed off for Philippus’s. On the way, I conquered my sulk and told Perilla about recent developments.

‘You think Nerva could have killed him?’ she said when I’d finished. ‘His own brother?’

‘It’s possible. After all, he’s a fair bet for pushing his father into the fish tank. From parricide to fratricide isn’t a big step. And like Mother said they’re an appalling family.’

‘But why? Why should he kill Chlorus?’

‘That I’m not sure of. My guess — and it’s only a guess — is that if he did then his reasons boil down to money and control of the family business. Me, I’d really like to know the details of this grain barge scheme.’ I looked out of the window. Philippus’s wasn’t far — I could’ve walked it, easy, in under half an hour if I hadn’t had Perilla — and we were almost there. ‘There again, he may be the front runner, but he’s not the only one in the family. There’s Penelope, for a start. If the Fadia trial’s relevant to all this — and I’ll bet that it is — then it gives her motive in spades for the Murena side of things, certainly, even after all this time. She might not look much, but that lady hates, and she’s got good reason to. I didn’t know just how much.’

‘Penelope may have killed her father, but why Chlorus? I get the impression she despised him rather than hated him. Contempt doesn’t lead to murder, Marcus.’

‘Could be from the motive Nerva gave me for Gellia: that he found out something and was blackmailing her. Certainly she’d know her brother’s handwriting, well enough to forge the note, but then so would anyone else connected with the case. Then there’s Gellia herself. If Nerva didn’t kill Chlorus she’s a reasonable bet, because she had both the motive and the opportunity to kill her husband. That’s if the two deaths are connected, of course.’

‘They must be, surely.’

‘Yeah. I agree. I just haven’t got the link yet, that’s all, or at least if I have then I don’t know it. On the other hand, I’ve got a better possibility than Gellia lined up, for Chlorus’s murder at least.’

‘Oh? And who’s that?’

‘Ligurius.’

‘Ligurius? Marcus, why on earth would Ligurius want to murder Chlorus?’

‘To hide the fact that he hasn’t got an alibi for the time of Murena’s murder.’

‘But — ’ she began. Then she paused and frowned. ‘Oh. Oh, I see. You mean that if Chlorus was lying about spending the evening with him — ’

‘It’d be in his interests to shut the guy’s mouth, permanently. Right.’

She was still frowning. ‘But he’d only do that if he’d killed Murena. And why should Ligurius want to kill Murena?’

‘Gods, Perilla, I don’t know! I’ve got a few theories, but that’s all they are. All the same, he’s on the list again with a vengeance, at least for the time being. The alibi question’s something else to check, and settling it one way or the other’s not outwith the bounds of possibility.’ I glanced out of the window again. We were just turning into the street with the gambling hall. ‘Forget the case for now. Here we are, lady; up and at ‘em. Blow on your dice-hand for luck.’

‘Superstition doesn’t come into it, dear,’ she said primly. ‘Winning at Twelve Lines is a science.’

‘Just do it, Aristotle.’

The big fat German bouncer was standing outside. He opened the carriage door for us and pulled down the steps. Then he saw Perilla, and his eyebrows rose the half-inch that separated them from his hairline.

‘No women,’ he growled. ‘Is not allowed.’

I’d been ready for this. ‘That’s okay, pal,’ I said easily in my best purple-striper drawl while I helped Perilla out. ‘It’s all arranged. The boss knows we’re coming.’

Perilla gave the guy one of her best smiles — I could almost see his moustaches crinkle — and slipped past him before he could answer. I followed, a hand on her arm. So far, so good.

The place was a lot busier than last time, and lit up like an oil-shipper’s wedding: yeah, well, in a gambling hall that’d be important, because if you can’t see the spots on the dice everyone’s in shtook. Upmarket clientele, too, but I’d been expecting that as well: most of the mantles in evidence had purple stripes to them, and the conversations round about us were thick with patrician vowel-sounds. A few straight-bridged noses turned in our direction and there was an almost audible clunk as the corresponding weak chins hit the tables. The noise in the immediate vicinity shifted down an appreciable notch. Maybe this was going to be fun after all.

One of the girls — not the African, this time, but she was pretty well-endowed all the same — was heading towards us at speed, bowsprit well to the fore.

‘Just smile, lady,’ I whispered to Perilla out of the corner of my mouth, ‘and keep it buttoned, right? I’ll do the talking.’

‘Good evening, sir,’ the girl said. ‘I’m afraid — ’

‘Are either Licinius Nerva or Aquillius Florus here tonight?’ I said.

‘No, sir. I’m sorry, but — ’

‘Will they be in later, do you know? Either of them?’

‘It’s possible, but — ’

‘That’s okay. We’re in no hurry, we can wait a bit.’ I went to move past her, but she didn’t shift.

‘I’m afraid ladies aren’t allowed in here, sir,’ she said firmly. ‘I’m sorry, but it’s the house rules.’

‘Oh, come on, sister! Surely — ?’

‘I’m sorry, sir.’

Impasse. Bugger. This was going to be even more difficult than I’d thought. Well, I’d tried. Maybe there’d be another opportunity to -

‘Corvinus! I want a word with you!’

I turned round. Philippus was making his way between the tables, and he didn’t look too happy, either. Double bugger.

‘Ah…right. Right,’ I said.

We were practically nose to chest now, and he was glaring up at me. He’d changed his tunic, sure, but it hadn’t improved his general appearance any: he still looked like he’d been dragged over a hurdle backwards. He jerked his chin to one side without taking his eyes off mine. ‘It’s okay, Calliope,’ he said. ‘I’ll handle this.’ The girl disappeared like magic. ‘Now. What the hell are you doing here?’

I stepped back a pace. ‘Uh…I sort of thought from what you said last time I had an open invitation, pal,’ I said easily. ‘I just thought I’d take you up on it.’

‘You want to play?’

‘Not me. My wife. She’s…ah…pretty good.’

‘A pleasure to meet you, Licinius Philippus.’ Perilla gave the guy another of her best smiles. ‘Marcus has told me such a lot about you.’

He was still frowning and his eyebrows had shot up like the German’s outside. ‘How did you get past Siegfried?’ he said.

‘We lied.’

He stared at her for a good ten seconds. Then, suddenly his face split into a grin, and he laughed and turned back to me. ‘You’ve got nerve, I’ll say that for you,’ he said. ‘And in the lady’s case that goes double. How are the ribs?’

‘Still tender.’

‘Good. I’m glad.’ He sucked on a tooth and leaned back, considering. ‘Well, now, Valerius bloody Corvinus. Calliope’s right; we don’t let women in here, normally. But under the circumstances we’ll make an exception. I told you: we need to talk. And throwing you out won’t help either of us, will it?’

‘Suits me, pal.’ I’d things to say to Philippus myself, and now was as good a time as any.

‘Fine. Upstairs, same as before.’ He looked at Perilla. ‘Your wife’ll be okay. I’ll have one of the girls look after her while we have our chat. Give her a game, too, if that’s what she wants.’

‘Actually, uh, we were hoping to run across Aquillius Florus or Aulus Nerva.’

That got me a long, considering stare. ‘Is that so, now?’ he murmured. ‘Makes two of us. Well, I doubt if Nerva’ll be in tonight. He’s had some family trouble. No doubt you’ve heard.’ I didn’t say anything. ‘It’s early still for Florus, but he may be along later. Hey, Calliope!’ He raised his voice. The girl with the bowsprit came back over. ‘See to the Lady…what was her name, Corvinus?’

‘Perilla,’ Perilla said.

‘See to the Lady Perilla. Anything she wants, anything at all. She’s my honoured guest. Okay, Corvinus. You come along with me.’

We set off between the hushed tables and goggling punters towards the staircase, Philippus moving at his fast limp. Yeah, that’d be the legacy from the city judge’s strong-arm department twenty-eight years back that Saenius had mentioned. Jupiter, the guy must be tough! Me, I doubt if I could’ve stuck to a lie with those bastards working on me for five minutes. Philippus had done it right through to the end, no sweat, and whatever his reasons that’d taken real guts. Bastard or not, I admired him.

The mezzanine was heaving, but this time no one so much as looked up. Philippus took the key from his belt and unlocked the office.

‘In you go,’ he grunted.

I sat down in the chair I’d had the last time. Philippus closed the door and limped to the one behind the desk.

‘You’re a proper nosey bugger and no mistake, aren’t you?’ he said. ‘Persistent too.’

I grinned. ‘Yeah. You could say that.’

‘I’m persistent myself. Not enough of us around. So tell me what you’ve found out and we’ll take it from there.’

‘You were Murena’s door-slave, thirty years back. You saw — or at least you claimed you saw — his first wife Fadia fall downstairs. You gave evidence for Murena at the trial, under torture.’

‘“Claimed”?’

‘My bet is you did a deal with Murena’s lawyer Tattius. You help him get his client off the hook and he’d see you got your freedom and enough cash to start you up in business.’

Silence. Long silence. There wasn’t any friendliness in the guy’s face now. Finally, he said softly: ‘You’re a clever bugger, Corvinus. But Murena didn’t free me. I bought myself out. I told you that last time we spoke.’

‘Yeah, sure. But that was a technicality, wasn’t it? Tattius screwed the purchase price out of Murena after the trial and got him to agree to the sale. Murena may not have given you your freedom but he paid the money for it to himself.’

Philippus scowled. ‘It was no technicality. I earned that money fair and square. Wherever it came from, it was mine at the time, and I paid it over in hard coin. You just remember that.’

Jupiter! Back off, Corvinus!

‘Yeah. Yeah, okay,’ I said.

‘The bastard murdered my father. Had him flogged to death for dropping a fucking vase. You knew that as well?’

‘Not the details, no, but — ’

‘Then he had the corpse fed to the fish. What I got through Tattius was blood money, owed twice over. Murena wasn’t doing me no favours, and I wasn’t doing him any, either. It was pure quid pro quo. I’m a businessman, Corvinus, and I’ve always played fair. I do it now and I did it then.’

‘Tell me something,’ I said. ‘Did Murena push his wife or not?’

That got me a long, considering look. Finally Philippus said: ‘Sure he did. I was there all right, down below in my cubby. I saw it all. He pushed her, no question.’

‘If you hated him bad enough you could’ve told the jury that.’

Philippus laughed. ‘I could’ve done,’ he said. ‘I thought of it at the time. Holy Mercury, didn’t I just! Only what would happen then? I’d have to give my evidence under torture, and at the end of it I’d still be a slave. If I lived. Worse, I’d still be Murena’s slave because the bastard was a purple-striper and all he’d get was exile for a few years. Even if the dead woman’s brother had pushed for the death penalty and got it, I’d be his son’s slave, and Titus Chlorus was as bad as his father. How long do you think I’d live then, Corvinus? And if I did, where would it leave me?’

Yeah; right. Still, it showed a train of logic you didn’t expect from your average skivvie. Certainly not from one the age Philippus was at the time. He’d been special, even then. ‘So when Tattius approached you you agreed to the deal,’ I said.

Philippus laughed again. ‘Fuck that! Decimus Tattius couldn’t find his way out of a sack open at both ends. I went to him. I told him that I’d seen, what I’d seen, and if he wanted to save his pal I could do it for him. At a price. No haggling, take it or leave it. And if he didn’t agree, or welshed on me later, I’d take the real story to the mistress’s brother, whether it killed me or not. I meant every word, too, and he knew it. I owed my father that, at least.’

Well, that made sense — more sense, I had to admit, knowing both Philippus and Tattius, than the other way round — and it came to the same thing in the end in any case. ‘You knew Tattius had been blackmailing Murena ever since? Or at least bleeding him for all he could get?’

Philippus grinned. ‘Sure I did. Good luck to him. It was no skin off my nose, and the more the bastard bled the better I liked it. I hated Murena, Corvinus, and don’t you forget it. I was finished with him — I wouldn’t’ve touched that piece of shit with gloves on — but if he was still paying then that was fine by me. The two of them deserved each other. And the day I heard he was dead, and how, I sacrificed to my father’s ghost. You can’t tell me the eels were coincidence, and you needn’t try. You don’t buck the gods, boy.’

‘So who killed him? Do you know?’

‘No. It wasn’t me did it, anyway; I wouldn’t dirty my hands, and like I say he was still paying. I don’t know who killed his son, either, and I care less, because apart from the girl they’re all filth in that family, the new wife included.’ He scowled. ‘That’s the only thing I regret. The girl had spunk; she’d seen what happened, too, and she spoke up against her father. For what good it did her. I’m sorry about young Licinia, I always have been.’ He stood up. ‘Well, you’ve got the whole thing, whether I like it or not, and I can’t say I do. It’s water under the bridge. What happens now?’

He was watching me carefully, and I knew despite the easy manner that the answer I gave him would be important. Maybe terminally so. I shrugged.

‘Nothing. Not as far as the Fadia case is concerned, anyway. If the guy did murder her then he’s dead and burned himself. That’s the end of it.’

‘So long as you don’t spread the story around.’

‘Why would I want to do that?’

‘You wouldn’t, boy. Believe me. You really wouldn’t.’

Our eyes locked.

Uh-huh.

‘Message understood,’ I said.

‘Fine.’ He held out his hand. ‘Deal?’

‘Deal,’ I said, and shook.

Philippus grunted. ‘I’ve got business up here for a while,’ he said. ‘Go back downstairs, see if that young bastard Florus is in yet. I’m not asking the whys and wherefores, but if your wife can take him for everything that’s in his purse you’ve got my blessing. That lady has spunk, too. I saw it straight off.’

‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Yeah, she has.’

‘And when you’re finished with him you hand him over to me. Me and Florus — and that shyster Nerva, when he’s got over crying for his brother — we’ve got a little chat coming to do with that scheme of theirs you mentioned involving the converted grain barge.’

‘Apropos of that,’ I said, ‘I thought maybe you and Aulus Nerva might have a deal going already.’

I was watching him carefully. He didn’t even blink.

‘Did you, indeed?’ he said. ‘Such as?’

‘A three-way arrangement, with Florus. Co-financing.’

He laughed. ‘I don’t need to co-finance with nobody! I told you: I’ve got all the money I need already for any investment I want to make. And even if I hadn’t I wouldn’t deal with Aulus Nerva. He’s his father’s son, and that’s enough for me. I said: I wouldn’t touch any of that family with gloves on, not for any reason. They’re all shit, and I wouldn’t trust any of them the length of my arm. No, believe me, this is one conversation Florus is not going to enjoy, but if he’s got any sense he’ll listen. Him and Nerva both.’

I grinned. Well, maybe that particular theory had been misplaced after all. Still, I didn’t feel all that cut up. I was beginning to like Philippus, and if you can spread a little sunshine then life ain’t too bad. ‘One last thing,’ I said. ‘If I wanted to hire a slinger in Baiae how would I go about it?’

The dagger-point eyes fixed me. ‘A slinger? What kind of slinger?’

‘Just the usual. Good, not top-notch military standard, but one who knows the pouch from the strings. And who doesn’t have any qualms about his target wearing a mantle.’

‘Hold on, now, Corvinus!’ He was frowning. ‘You buying or complaining here?’

‘Complaining. One of the buggers nearly took my head off on the way home yesterday.’

His eyes widened. ‘Is that so, now?’ he said. ‘Not doing too well, are you?’ I didn’t answer. ‘Okay. Leave it with me. You may not believe me, but I’m straight. I’ll put the word around, sure, but at present I haven’t got any more idea than you have. Now push off; I’m busy.’

I went downstairs.