David Wishart - The Lydian Baker

'Eutyches'. Shit. Of course he was. How could I have been so stupid?

'Felix,' I said.

'How marvellous to see you again, sir.' He was beaming as we shook hands. 'You're looking terribly well. And Lamprus sends his best regards.'

I turned to my two bodyguards. 'Okay, boys, holiday's over, I won't be needing you now. You can go back to the carriage and twiddle your thumbs.' They gave me a reproachful look and trooped back inside. 'Felix, you bastard, I've made a total mess of this business. Do you want to kick me round the garden, or should I do it myself?'

'Oh, not a total mess, sir,' Felix said brightly. 'We can't function with one hundred per cent efficiency all the time. And you're here now. That's what matters.'

'Yeah.' I had the feeling that that added up to something less than a compliment, but I didn't have the energy to work out the whys and wherefores. Also I deserved all the insults the guy could throw at me.

We'd been followed out by a wine slave holding an ornate silver jug. Wordlessly, he poured out a cup and set it and the jug on the table beside me. At a nod from Felix he bowed and left.

I pulled up a chair. 'How's your boss? Still waiting for the call and buffing up his winged sandals?'

Felix's smile faded. 'Prince Gaius is very well. But as I think I told you last time we met certain jokes are in poor and very dangerous taste. Very dangerous taste indeed.'

Yeah. I did remember that, now he came to mention it; but that was long ago, in another country, and besides the guy wasn't there to hear me bad- mouth him. Or at least I hoped he wasn't. I picked up the wine cup and took a swig…

The wine slipped past my tonsils like velvet, giving them a warm hug and a kiss in passing.

'You like it?' Felix was smiling again, at my expression this time. 'Imperial Caecuban, from the master's own store. He gave me a jar before I left Rome and told me that if our paths did happen to cross I was to welcome you properly.'

'Uh-huh.' Well, maybe Gaius wasn't all that bad after all. He might be a dangerous, loopy, overbred bastard who suffered from delusions of grandeur, but he had style. I sat back and sipped contentedly. 'So. What have you been doing with yourself since we put the skids under Sejanus?'

'Consolidating, sir. The emperor is failing fast. It can't be long before the master succeeds him.' That was all he knew: I reckoned it at about a month short of five years, give or take a few days, but I'd given the Wart my promise and I kept my mouth firmly shut. Where imperial secrets were concerned you didn't mess around, especially with this one. 'However, Prince Gaius sent me over here on a purely private matter.'

'To bid against me for Priscus's statue.'

'Quite, sir.'

'I should've guessed it was you from the name you chose. Eutyches is just the Greek version of Felix. Both names mean "Lucky". That was intentional, wasn't it?'

'Of course. If I may say so, sir, you really should have spotted that long ago. Mind you, it's not an uncommon name.'

'Nevertheless. Did I mention the kicking?'

'You did, sir.'

'Fine.' I took another sip of the Caecuban. 'The name aside. Those snazzy tunics your Ethiopian pal wears. I was supposed to pick up on them as well, right?'

'Memnon does tend to favour a more conservative style. He was quite difficult to persuade.'

'Yeah. I see.' Jupiter, I'd been thick! Still, it was no use crying now. I'd had my chance, and I'd muffed it. 'You mind telling me why you bothered in the first place?'

He smiled. 'A little game, sir. Rather a childish one, I admit, although I did hope you'd catch on to it. For obvious reasons when he sent me out on this business the master insisted on anonymity, but I thought since you were to be our competitor I'd give you a fighting chance all the same. And, naturally, myself an opportunity to renew an acquaintance which I found most stimulating.'

'Yeah. Sure.' I wasn't impressed: where Felix is concerned I'm immune to flattery. 'So when Argaius was murdered and your line to the Baker went cold you put a tail on me in the hope that I'd find it for you.'

'I have always had the utmost confidence in your detective ability, Valerius Corvinus,' Felix said primly. 'You know that. It was simply a matter of time. But you're wrong in one respect. Argaius's murder didn't affect me at all, not in the business sense. I had no dealings with Argaius whatsoever. In fact I never even met him.'

I'd been picking up the wine jug to refill my cup. Now I put it down like it was made of glass. Everything went very still.

'Run that one past me again, would you?' I said carefully.'

'Of course. As far as Prince Gaius and I were concerned the seller was Smaragdus. He wrote directly to the master in his own name and without mentioning a partner. I'd assumed you knew that.'

'Felix.' The back of my neck was prickling like hell. 'Let's get this clear. Smaragdus told me that Argaius handled the business side of things; that he — Smaragdus — wasn't involved; and that he — still Smaragdus — had never met you.'

Another smile; broader this time. 'Then I'm afraid, sir, that he was lying.'

I rubbed my forehead: my brain was starting to hurt. Sure, it was possible, if you looked at it from the other side: I'd never met Argaius myself, and the only evidence of the arrangement between the partners had come from Smaragdus. If what Felix said was true — and I didn't see why it shouldn't be — he had been planning his swindle from the beginning. But that meant…

'Corvinus? Sir?' Felix was peering at me with a worried expression on his face. 'Are you all right?'

'No,' I said. 'All right, pal, is the last thing I am. Look, I need to talk this through. Stop me if I go off beam, okay?'

'Very well.'

I took another swallow of the Caecuban first: I'd need all the help I could get here.

'First off, Smaragdus writes to your boss claiming to own the Baker and offering to sell it, yes?'

Felix nodded. 'Correct.'

'At the same time he already knows — because Argaius is acting up front — that his partner has another deal cooking with me. However, he doesn't let on to him that he has a second customer in line. Gaius is private and personal, and he keeps him strictly under wraps.'

'That I wouldn't know. But certainly Smaragdus represented himself as the statue's sole owner. Its sole owner. It wasn't until — '

I held up my hand. 'Wait. Let's take things bit by bit, because I haven't got them straight myself yet and they're complicated, okay?'

'Very well.' Felix was leaning back in his chair, his fingers steepled. 'Go on, sir. Oh, you can't believe how much I'm enjoying this!'

'Bully for you. Okay. Smaragdus has plans, private plans: he'll sell the Baker to Gaius behind Argaius's back with the intention of slipping off with the cash as soon as the deal goes through. Only then he thinks of a refinement. He'll move the Baker to another hiding place and pretend…' I stopped. 'No. That doesn't make sense.'

'What doesn't make sense?'

'I was going to say he'd pretend to Argaius that the statue had been stolen and so buy himself some extra time. But that wouldn't work now.' I scowled. 'Shit!'

'Why not, sir? Surely as you say it would give him some leeway with his partner; and as far as bringing me to the statue was concerned one cave was as good as another.'

One cave was as good as another . That was the second time that point had come up. There was something…

'Corvinus?' Felix was looking faintly puzzled. 'Didn't you hear what I said? The fact that Smaragdus had moved the statue to a different hiding place wouldn't register with anyone but Argaius. However, if Smaragdus wanted to pretend it had been stolen then naturally moving it was essential.'