David Wishart - Illegally Dead

Acceius shrugged. ‘Agreed. Absolutely, no argument. But then, with all respect, Corvinus, you’re not a farmer and you’re not a local. Most important, you are not Fimus Maecilius. Fimus won’t have the deal at any price: he wants Six Cedars to stay intact even though the terms of the will don’t leave him the money to develop it any further. Besides…well, Lucius and I have kept our charges down, under the circumstances, but we can’t — couldn’t — provide them gratis. Fighting a legal battle isn’t cheap, and fifteen thousand sesterces is certainly no fortune. Especially when Fimus can’t expect to recoup his outlay even if he wins.’

‘You’ve advised him to come to terms?’

‘Of course we bloody have! Right from the start. The whole business is a nonsense and everyone is losing out. Except us, naturally, but we — I, now — would gladly see an end to it tomorrow. The firm’s well enough off financially without the necessity of bleeding a client to death, and I take my professional responsibilities very seriously indeed. If the bugger wasn’t so completely pig-headed — ’

‘I understand he — Fimus — and your partner had a…well, a run-in the day before Hostilius’s death. Also that you both had a meeting with Bucca a few days before that.’

Pause. ‘Yes. Yes, that’s right.’

‘Care to tell me about them? Presumably they both had to do with the suit.’

Acceius took a deep breath. ‘The first…well, I know the circumstances, of course: Lucius encountered Fimus in the street and slapped his face. Beyond that I’m afraid I can’t go, although naturally Fimus would be able to tell you more. I wasn’t there personally, I didn’t see Lucius again subsequently and even if I had done there was no guarantee that he would’ve been forthcoming about his reasons, or even mentioned the matter to me at all. We didn’t talk much, latterly, as I’m sure you’re aware.’

‘He called Fimus a thief and a liar.’

‘Yes. So I was told.’ Acceius looked uncomfortable. ‘Corvinus, I wouldn’t put too much store by that in itself, if I were you. My partner often made accusations that were completely unfounded. It was part and parcel of his illness.’

‘You can’t guess what reason he had?’

‘I…wouldn’t go that far, no. But a guess is what it would be.’ He hesitated. ‘Corvinus, I said that the circumstances surrounding the Maecilius case were common knowledge, and so not confidential as such. This is. I’m afraid that if I go on then I will have to insist on confidentiality because it affects the good name of the firm as a whole. Understood?’

‘Yeah. No problem, pal.’

‘Very well.’ Another deep breath. ‘The…interview with Bucca that you mentioned, seven days previous. Bucca accused us — Lucius and myself, as his father’s lawyers — of suppressing a second will that, he said, old Maecilius had made very shortly before he died; a much more equable one which divided property and liquid assets fifty-fifty between the brothers. We’d done nothing of the kind, of course — I hope that goes without saying; professional ethics aside, we’d have no reason whatsoever to do so, quite the reverse, as I told you — but he was insistent. Abusively so. The…meeting ended acrimoniously on both sides.’

Shit. ‘So what you’re saying — guessing — is that Fimus suppressed the will himself and that Hostilius somehow found out and tackled him over it?’

Acceius was looking really unhappy now. ‘There’s a…strong likelihood, yes. Or at least, rather, a strong likelihood that Lucius believed he’d done so. Certainly it would be possible in practical terms. Old Maecilius and his son lived in the same house, and the fact that we knew of no second will doesn’t preclude its existence, especially if he’d made it only days before he died. I wouldn’t put suppression past Fimus, either, given his character and the circumstances. On the other hand, and I must stress this, Lucius being as he was — ’ He made a throwaway gesture. ‘Oh, hell, you know what I’m saying. You can go round and round in circles forever and still not have an answer. The long and the short of it is that I don’t know, one way or the other. Certainly not enough to venture a worthwhile opinion. The best I can do is to assure you, in the strongest possible terms, that if a second will existed then we knew absolutely nothing of it, and would certainly have welcomed its appearance if it had because it would’ve solved the whole ridiculous problem. Fair enough?’

‘Fair enough.’ Gods! Food for thought there, and no mistake. Also, it gave Fimus a potential motive in spades for wanting the guy dead. Definitely an angle to chase. ‘Uh…you mind if we move on?’

‘Not at all.’

‘The attack in the street, six days before your partner died. What can you tell me about that?’

Acceius frowned. ‘Very little, I’m afraid, barring an account of the event itself, which you’ve no doubt already heard.’

‘You didn’t recognise the man? Neither you nor Hostilius?’

‘No. At least I didn’t, and Lucius gave no indication then or later of having done so. It was…most odd. However — ’ He stopped.

‘“However”?’

‘I’ll leave that for the moment, Corvinus, if you don’t mind. Don’t worry, I’m not prevaricating, and I won’t forget. No, as far as I’m aware the man was a complete stranger. Mind you, to be honest I can’t swear even to that categorically: he was in a filthy condition, beard and long matted hair, ragged clothes, and he wasn’t young or well-preserved, either. A complete tramp. I have wondered if he couldn’t’ve been a…well, someone who had a past grudge against one or both of us, real or imagined. Someone either Lucius himself before we became partners or we together, subsequently, had prosecuted.’ Another shrug. ‘As I say, it would’ve had to’ve been a long time ago, because if not then one of us would have been sure to recognise him, but it’s not outwith the bounds of possibility by any means. Memory does fade. And the fact that, whoever he was, he wasn’t a local man makes it even more likely any connection can’t’ve been at all recent.’

Yeah, well: I’m not stupid, and I’d been thinking along those lines myself. ‘Did he say anything? When he attacked you?’

‘He shouted “Wait!”, I remember. Then when he was going for Lucius he said…well, I think the words were “Take that, you bastard.” Certainly something like that, nothing very significant or original. But then again it happened so quickly that I can’t be sure.’

‘“Bastard” singular? And a singular verb?’

Acceius smiled. ‘Really, Corvinus,’ he said. ‘I hardly think — ’ He stopped. ‘No. Oh, no, my apologies. I see, and you’re quite right, it does matter a great deal. You’d make a fair lawyer yourself. Still, my answer is yes, definitely singular: he was speaking only to Lucius.’

‘Did you have to kill him?’

‘No, that was a complete accident. The knife caught in Lucius’s mantle and I grabbed the man’s wrist and forced it back. At least, that was all I meant to do, but as I said he was old and in poor condition. The result was that I overestimated his strength in comparison with my own, his hand went further than I intended, and the knife took him full in the side. I won’t lose any sleep over his death, I admit, but the killing was not a deliberate act.’ He hesitated. ‘In fact — and this brings us back to the however I mentioned earlier, I wish now that I had disarmed him.’

‘Yeah? Why’s that, pal?’

‘This is…I’m sorry, but this will sound…the only word is “silly”.’ Another hesitation. ‘You know…have you ever felt, Corvinus, that you’re being watched? Followed, even? I mean, had the feeling completely irrationally, with no objective proof whatsoever?’