David Wishart - Sejanus

'Hey, pal,' I said quietly.

Marcina picked up his hand and laid it against her cheek.

'Try calling him, madam,' Sarpedon said. 'A familiar voice sometimes brings them back.'

'Decimus?' Marcina whispered. Then louder: 'Decimus!'

The breathing didn't alter. Marcina tried again; and again. Finally Sarpedon shrugged.

'Never mind,' he said. 'It's early days yet. Keep trying. And don't be afraid to touch him. Gently, and not his head, of course.' He reached out for the mantle which Mnester put into his hand. 'I'll call back tomorrow to see if there's any change.'

I saw him out and followed him to his litter. The vultures had gone elsewhere now. I hoped it was a good sign.

'You think he'll pull through?' I said.

Sarpedon paused; even in the light of the torches that the litter slaves held I could see how tired he looked. I wasn't feeling too bright myself, but the numbness had worn off.

'Perhaps,' he said at last. 'If he wakes quickly. Otherwise no. We can only hope.'

'Yeah.' I swallowed. 'Yeah. Thanks anyway. Whatever happens.'

'Oh, I'll send you my bill, sir.' He gave me a fleeting smile and signalled to Mnester who'd followed us downstairs with the bag. 'It won't be a small one, either. And you owe something to my lord Asclepius too. If I were you I'd keep him sweet, because your friend is going to need all the help he can get.'

I waved them off and turned back to the tenement entrance. No, I wouldn't forget Asclepius. I wouldn't forget the bastard with the iron bar, either. Whether he had Sejanus's protection or not, if I found him — and I'd find him, sure I would — he was dead meat. That was one debt I intended to pay in full, personally.

There was still no news from Marcina next morning. I gave breakfast a miss and went over to Watch headquarters first thing in the hope of catching Lippillus's deputy Valens. I was lucky: he was just going through the previous night's reports at his boss's desk.

'Corvinus.' We shook hands. 'Pleased to meet you. Have a seat.'

'Thanks.' I pulled up a bench and looked around. Lippillus's office was pretty stark. Its only decoration — if you could call it that — was a plan of the First and Second Regions stuck up on the wall.

'How's Lippillus?' Valens said.

'No change. The doctor says if he comes round he has a chance, but he's still unconscious.'

'Mm.' Valens grunted. 'We'll get the man who did it. Don't you worry.'

'What exactly happened?' I said. 'Do you know?'

The deputy stood up. He'd've towered head and shoulders over Lippillus, and he looked like he had German blood somewhere. 'No more than you do yourself by now, I suppose. Did Marcina tell you about the carters?' I nodded. 'They found him here' — he pointed to the city plan — 'tucked behind the Liber shrine just this side of the Latin Gate, an hour before sunset. It was lucky they recognised him and gave themselves the trouble to bring him back. Carters aren't usually so co-operative.'

'So they didn't see the attack?'

'No.' Valens smiled sourly. 'Or if they did they're not saying. Their story is they went for a quiet piss, which is likely because the shrine's hidden from the main road and there're bushes behind it. The boss was lucky they came along.'

I looked at the plan. The Latin Gate was at the very edge of the First Region, where Latin Road leaves the city boundaries. Pretty far out, in other words, right on the border of Lippillus's patch and well away from the more thickly-populated urban area that was the Watch's usual stamping ground. Yeah. Lucky was right. Off the main drag, he could've lain unnoticed for days.

'Any idea what he could've been doing over there?' I said.

'None. We'd no reports of any trouble around that area. He may've been following up something that happened elsewhere, connected to another case.'

Yeah. Or maybe it had been unofficial; and if so I'd be prepared to lay bets on the subject matter.

'You get the names of the two who found him?'

'Naturally.' Valens consulted one of the wax tablets on his desk. 'A pair of brothers, Hasta and Pertinax. Local lads. Not that they'll be any more help. Like I say, carters tend to avoid official questions, and I've sweated them already. Personally and very thoroughly. They don't know anything more than they've already told us.'

'You're sure about that?'

'As sure as I can be.'

Uh huh. Well, maybe, but it was still worth checking, and a few silver pieces might jog a memory or loosen a tongue where an official sweating gets you nowhere. I shelved that idea until later: carters work nights, because wheeled traffic is banned within the boundaries any other time. My best chance of catching Hasta and Pertinax would be at the cart station outside the gate just before sunset.

'Lippillus didn't say anything to you about his plans?' I said. 'Nothing at all?'

Valens shook his head. 'No. Mind you, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. We work overlapping shifts, and if a problem or a lead had just come up he'd've told me about it at the changeover or left a message, and he was hit before he could do either. He didn't say anything to any of the lads on his own shift, either, not the ones I've talked to, anyway, which is most of them by now. And the rest've just come on.' He paused. 'Corvinus, what is this? I know you're a close friend of his, but this is Watch business.'

'Meaning the Watch can handle it on their own and nosey half-arsed purple-stripers can butt out?'

I was grinning while I said it, and he grinned back and ducked his head.

'Something along these lines,' he said. 'I wouldn't put it so politely myself.'

'Fair enough. Let's just say I have a vested interest. And like you said Lippillus is a friend. You object all that much?'

'No.' Valens's grin faded. 'No, Valerius Corvinus, I don't object at all. Lippillus is well-liked in the Watch, and if you can nail the bastard who hit him for us you can drink free for a month, no questions asked. And any squaddie on the station will say the same.'

Well, you couldn't say fairer than that. Information goes both ways, though. Without mentioning the Celsus tie-in I gave him the description of Ganymede that I'd given to Lippillus and Clemens. The hell with caution now; I wanted the guy cold. I wanted it so much I could taste it.

When I'd finished, Valens nodded. If he thought I was holding something back — and he probably did, because he was no fool — then he was polite enough not to say so.

'Thanks,' he said. 'That helps a lot. I'll spread the word to the other regions, too. Someone must know the man, and if Lippillus was looking for him then what happened to him makes sense.'

'Maybe you should concentrate on the area round the Latin Gate,' I said.

'Good idea.' Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs, his tone said; but he was too polite to say so out loud. 'I'll spread the word, Corvinus, don't you worry. Like I said, we'll get him. Even if it takes a year.'

'Yeah, sure.' I stood up. 'Just give me first refusal when you do, okay?'

'Stand in line, boy.' Valens didn't smile. 'Stand in line.'

I called in at Lippillus's flat on my way back home. There was still no change. His face was a better colour, but his eyes were still closed and the lids didn't even flicker.

'Has Sarpedon been?' I asked Marcina.

'Yes.' At least she was talking to me now. 'He came first thing.'

'He say anything?'

'No. Except to tell me to keep trying to rouse him. I said I'd understood his instructions perfectly well the first time round.'

Ouch. I'd bet she hadn't stopped trying, either, since we'd left the night before. 'You had any sleep yourself, Marcina?'

'I'm not tired.' A lie: she was dead on her feet, and there were heavy bags under her eyes. 'Thank you for sending your slaves, by the way, but they're not necessary. Latinius next door is quite willing to run any errands that are needed.'