David Wishart - In at the Death

‘It isn’t. Still, he was, all the same. Not that I’m suggesting that’s relevant here, of course, but it’s another reason why Rome’s better off without him.’ There was a knock on the door. ‘Yes. Come in.’

It was the orderly. He was holding a wax tablet.

‘Well?’ Macro said.

‘I’ve checked with the adjutant, sir,’ he said. ‘Aponius and Pettius were assigned to garrison duty on Capri, starting on the kalends.’

Macro held out a hand. ‘Let me see.’ The orderly passed him the tablet, stepped back and saluted. ‘All right, Titus, thank you. You can go.’

I waited until the guy had left. Macro was reading the tablet.

‘They’re in Rome,’ I said. ‘I’ve seen them myself.’

He shook his head. ‘Not according to this. Here. You read it.’

I took the tablet. Sure enough, there was the entry: ‘Kal Oct. Cs Sex Aponius coh 1 amp; Q Pettius coh 5 Capri garrison.’ Bugger. ‘Who authorised this?’ I said.

‘My camp commandant Aquillius. He handles all that sort of thing. Although naturally I would’ve countersigned the order.’

‘And yet you didn’t remember the names when I mentioned them?’

‘Corvinus.’ For the first time Macro’s voice sounded a little tetchy. ‘Do you know how many of these things appear on my desk for initialling every morning? Temporary transfers, notification of leave, defaulter punishments and so on? And do you know how much real work I have to get through? I said the names rang a bell. Obviously this was why.’ He spread his hands. ‘Now I’m very, very sorry but under the circumstances there isn’t much I can do for you. Perhaps you made a mistake, perhaps the men gave false names.’ I kept my lips tightly shut. ‘Of course I can and will double-check with Aquillius, in your presence if you like. I’ll also send to Capri to make sure the men are there, although that may take time. Apart from that I’m afraid I can’t help you further.’

Well, all that was fair enough, reasonable and better than reasonable. I knew what I knew, sure, but I couldn’t blame Macro for not believing me. Or rather, not not believing so much as wanting external confirmation. And, after all, what more could he do, in practical terms? If the guys were on Capri they weren’t, ipso facto, Soranus’s killers; while if they weren’t there, he couldn’t put his hands on them anyway…

Or maybe he could; but then that was an angle that I didn’t want to dwell on. Certainly not here in the middle of the Praetorian barracks.

‘Yeah. Yeah, right,’ I said. ‘Still, wherever they are officially I’ve seen that pair twice in the last five days. And I’m pretty sure they murdered Soranus.’

‘In that case they’re deserters and will be dealt with accordingly when we find them. Not if, when.’ Macro stood up. ‘Now I’m not rushing you along, but I do have a staff officers’ meeting in half an hour and I have things to prepare. Titus will take you to Fregellanus.’ He held out a hand. ‘It really has been a pleasure to see you again. Any time I can help, please feel free to ask.’

I shook. ‘Uh…thanks. That’s…very kind.’

‘My regards to Perilla. And I won’t forget the matter of the dinner invitation.’ He walked me to the door, his hand on my shoulder, and opened it. ‘Titus, take Valerius Corvinus to Pontius Fregellanus’s office, please. And you’re to make sure that he’s escorted formally to the front gate when he chooses to leave.’

‘Yes, sir.’ The orderly gave another snappy salute; then, as Macro’s door closed, he turned to me.

‘This way, sir.’

I followed.

Fregellanus’s office was practically next door. My tame Praetorian knocked and entered without waiting for an invitation.

Fregellanus — presumably the guy behind the desk was Fregellanus — looked up in alarm and half-rose. A pile of wax tablets slid sideways and he grabbed them before they fell.

‘Pontius Fregellanus?’ I said.

‘Yes.’

Small, nondescript, balding with the hair combed over the bald patch. Also, nervous as hell.

‘Valerius Corvinus. I wonder if we could have a word.’

‘Ah…certainly. Certainly. Of course.’ I’d been watching his expression carefully when I gave him my name, and it had definitely registered, which was interesting in itself. No ‘What about?’ either. He turned to the orderly. ‘Thank you, Titus. You can go.’

‘Commander says the gentleman’s to be escorted to the main gate when he’s finished, sir.’ The guy had come to rigid attention as soon as he was over the threshold, and his eyes were fixed on the plasterwork behind Fregellanus’s left ear.

‘Oh, very well! But wait outside.’

‘Sir.’ The Praetorian threw a sketchy salute, right-about-turned and exited, closing the door behind him.

‘They’re so literal-minded, the military.’ Fregellanus gave me a jerky smile: it was obvious that the guy was more on edge than a cat in a glove factory. ‘I’m sorry, you must forgive the mess, ah,…Corvinus, did you say your name was?’

‘Yeah.’ The subterfuge wouldn’t’ve passed with an intellectually-challenged monkey; but then I suspected Fregellanus didn’t do subterfuge all that well. ‘Valerius Corvinus.’

‘I’m especially busy at the moment, what with one thing and another, so I can’t give you very long. Still,’ — jerky smile again — ‘have a seat.’ There was a stool in the corner. I pulled it out and sat. ‘Now what can I do for you?’

‘First off, I was wondering whether you knew a couple of centurions by the names of Sextus Aponius and Quintus Pettius.’

The hesitation was just a smidgeon too long; like he was gauging the implications of the question and deciding which way to jump.

‘No,’ he said. ‘No, I’m afraid I don’t. But then I don’t have many dealings — direct dealings — with the purely military side of things. If you’re looking for the men then you’d do far better asking Aquillius, the camp commandant.’

‘No, that’s okay, I’ve already asked Macro.’ Now that was a distinct flash of…something-or-

other. Interesting. ‘According to him they’re both on Capri. Only they aren’t because I’ve seen them here in Rome, and I’m pretty certain they murdered a guy called Mucius Soranus. You know him at all?’

No doubt about that one, either: when I’d said the name Fregellanus’s eyes had gone glassy, and I thought he was going to keel over, but he righted himself. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I do. That is…Excuse me a moment, it’s just…’ He filled a cup from the jug of water on his desk and drank. The cup rattled against his teeth, and some of the water spilled onto the desktop. He set it down. ‘I…Soranus is an acquaintance of mine, yes. A casual acquaintance. We…you say he’s dead? Murdered?’

‘Yeah.’ Again, I’d been watching closely. He hadn’t known, or if he had he was a bloody good actor. And the news had rocked him seriously. ‘It happened early yesterday morning. Or maybe the day before.’

‘Indeed?’ He refilled the cup and took another gulp; I had the impression he’d’ve rather the stuff was neat wine. ‘Corvinus, I’ve…I’m sorry, but I’ve changed my mind. I really do have a lot of work to get through this morning, and I honestly can’t help you. Would you think me very rude if I asked you to leave?’

‘No, I wouldn’t think you were being rude at all.’

‘That’s…very understanding of you.’ He reached for the top wax tablet and gave me a ghastly smile. ‘Well, it’s certainly been a pleasure — ’

‘I’d think you were mixed up in something nasty involving your girlfriend Acutia, Lucia Albucilla and Domitius Ahenobarbus and were shit-scared I might find out what it was.’