David Wishart - The Lydian Baker

Yeah. It would be! 'Sweetheart, this is business, right? And it's important. There'll be no hassle, I promise you. Cross my heart.'

She hesitated; another glance at the door. 'Three nights ago, you said?'

I nodded.

'All right. He's one of Anthe's. Or mostly Anthe. Usually when he arrives late he stays the night. Only Anthe said the last time he was here he didn't.'

'Is that so?' Maybe it hadn't been a wasted trip after all. 'He give her a reason?'

'No. And Anthe wouldn't ask, of course, because that's — '

'Another house rule.' Bugger!

She nodded. 'She was upset because he's one of her nicest. And he seemed worried about something.' A frown. 'No, not worried. What's the word? Preoccupied?'

'It'll do, sister. It'll do very well. Can I talk to this Anthe by any chance?'

'She left for Corinth yesterday. With another of her regulars. They won't be back for a month. But I don't think she could've told you any more anyway.'

'How long did he stay? You know that?'

'Not long. Only enough to — ' She made a gesture with her fingers that no kid sister I'd ever met would use. 'You know.'

'Yeah. And then he left the building?'

'Anthe wouldn't know that. Unless of course — '

Behind us, the door opened, and Cotile clammed up tighter than an oyster. There went the interview, right at the interesting stage. Shit. We both turned round.

It was my pal the friendly giant, and he didn't look pleased.

'The Lady Hermippe will see you now, sir, if you'd care to follow me.'

'Yeah. Sure.' I drained my cup and got to my feet. 'Thanks for the company, Cotile. See you again some time maybe.'

'I look forward to it.' The primness was back, and she looked sexy as hell. Jupiter, I was tempted! But like I say Perilla would kill me.

'This way, sir.'

We went upstairs. The staircase was polished cedarwood, and there were pricey busts in alcoves all the way up. On the landing above a corridor with doors all along it led off to the right. On the left was a single door. The big guy tapped and opened it.

I could've been in any top-notch executive's office in the city, only there was a woman sitting behind the desk. I thought for a moment it was the old empress back from the dead, and the hairs stirred on my neck, but the Lady Hermippe was about forty years younger. She was a looker, too, and that was something even her best friends — if she had any — couldn't've said about Livia.

'Valerius Corvinus.' Hermippe indicated the chair in front of the desk. 'Pleased to meet you. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Do have a seat. That will be all, Antaeus.'

The big guy nodded and left, closing the door behind him.

At least the chair was solid, unlike Livia's bit of ancient Egyptian ivory. No smell of camphor, either. No smell at all. Hermippe obviously didn't have the traditional madam's love of either strong perfume or strong drink. We were still up at the top end of the profession here.

I sat. Not a creak.

'Now.' She rested her elbows on the polished desk top and steepled her fingers: executive was right, there was no nonsense about this lady. 'I understand from Antaeus you wish to contact a client of ours.'

'Yeah.' I crossed my legs and tried to look nonchalant. 'That's right. A business associate by the name of Melanthus of Abdera.'

'The Academician.' She nodded. 'We don't encourage names here, of course, but I do know the gentleman you mean. However, I'm afraid I can't help you.'

'Can't or won't, lady?' I was perfectly polite, but I had to get this clear.

She smiled. 'Under different circumstances it would be won't, because as I'm sure you realise a house like ours is committed to discretion absolutely. However in this instance I can say with perfect sincerity that I genuinely cannot help you, even if I wanted to.'

'He was here three nights ago.'

'Yes, he was. But he left shortly after he arrived. Where he went then I really do not know. Nor is it any of my business.'

Yeah. Well, that squared with what Cotile had told me. And from her tone of voice there wasn't any point in prolonging the conversation. I stood up. 'Okay. It was just a thought. Thanks for giving me your time.'

She stood up too. Definitely no Livia: she was almost as tall as I was, and stacked. 'Not at all. I do hope you manage to find him, and that this all ends…happily. You know what I mean. Melanthus would be a great loss to Athens. To the whole civilised world.'

'Uh-huh.' That was a matter of opinion. 'Well, thanks again.'

'Don't mention it.' She walked me to the door and opened it. Good posture, good figure. I'd imagine she'd been one of the girls herself in her younger days, and popular as hell. 'Antaeus will show you out. Unless of course…' She gestured delicately down the corridor.

'No. No, that's okay.' Bacchus in rompers! More temptation I didn't need! 'I'm sorry to have troubled you.'

Antaeus was waiting in the hall, but there was no sign of Cotile. I was glad of that: seeing her again might've proved one temptation too many.

'Good night, sir.' The giant held the front door open. 'And good luck with your search.

'Yeah. Yeah, thanks.'

The door closed behind me. Well, that was that. Something was itching, though, and it had nothing to do with dark eyes and Alexandrian perfume.

That unless . Not Hermippe's. Cotile's…

Whatever Hermippe had told me there might be more unpleasant digs for a guy who wanted to disappear to hole up in than Aphrodite's Scallop. And it was a big place…

Ah, leave it. Back home for a bath, a chaste dinner and a not- necessarily-chaste early night. Dida would be waiting in the alley round the corner with the carriage.

Only he wasn't. And a split second after I realised that he wasn't someone smacked me from behind with the Parthenon and the lights went out all over Athens.

I woke in the dark with a head that felt like all the Cyclopes under Etna were working overtime between my ears. Shit. I hadn't had a hangover like this since I was seventeen and learned not to mix my drinks.

Only it was no hangover. I discovered that when I tried to stretch. My hands and ankles were tied and I was lying on stone. Smooth stone. A floor. I bumped backwards. Mistake. The wall was barely two feet behind me, and I found it the hard way with the back of my head. The guys with the sledgehammers went into overdrive.

Well, at least I could sit up now. Although maybe on reflection that wasn't such a good idea…

Luckily my stomach was empty and I only retched: nasty personal smells at this point I could do without. Gods, that had been a belt! I leaned back cautiously and my scalp touched cold stone a good three inches before it should've done. The feeling wasn't pleasant.

I sat just breathing for five minutes until the dizziness passed and I could think straight again.

Okay. So. Status report.

The first part was obvious: whoever had slugged me had been outside the Scallop waiting. Or even inside the Scallop waiting. And they wanted me alive: a knife between the ribs would've been just as easy as a blackjack, and the fact that I was lying here — wherever the hell 'here' was — trussed like a chicken instead of stiff and cold on the floor of the alley suggested that Corvinus was still a valuable property.

So the next question was why? Killing me I could understand. As far as Eutyches was concerned — and this had to be Eutyches's work — I was a serious inconvenience that wouldn't go away, and a knife in the ribs made every kind of sense. If Eutyches was Melanthus then the guy might just conceivably have had scruples, but leaving me tied up only postponed the problem. Unless the idea was that I just starved to death, of course. Apropos of which, maybe postponing dinner hadn't been such a hot idea after all.