Marilyn Todd - Sour Grapes

Claudia spun round so fast that she lost her footing on the slippery stone, but an inch before her shins cracked against the jagged limestone, a pair of strong hands had her clasped round the waist. Even over the sulphurous waters, she swore she could smell sandalwood, and were his eyes always that dark, she wondered?

'I have no idea what you're waffling on about, Orbilio. And thank you, you may let go of me any time that you like.'

'Claudia, it's me. You don't have to pretend you're consigning Orson to compulsory pampering on Flavia's account for my benefit.'

'Don't flatter yourself that I do anything for your benefit, Marcus, and while we're about it, you might want to remember that you're still holding me round the waist.'

'You said I could let go any time I liked.'

'Change of rules. It's any time that I like.' She wriggled free and felt unaccountably exposed.

'Drat.' He grinned. 'But I'm not letting you off the hook that easily, Mistress Seferius. You want Orson around so you can watch over him, except you're too damned proud to show your feelings.'

'(A) I don't have any feelings, and (B) why on earth would I want to watch over that big ugly lug?'

'Because one seventeen-year-old youth is dead, another's still missing and you feel responsible for bringing a third into the equation.' He spiked his wet hair out of his eyes with his hands. 'If it helps, I don't believe for a moment that there's a monster abroad feeding off the flesh of seventeen-year-old boys. I think whoever killed Lichas had a strong personal motive-'

'What about the shepherd boy?'

'Are you asking, did Tages kill Lichas?' He rubbed his chin with the back of his hand. 'It seems an obvious conclusion, given his timely disappearance, except for the fact there's no motive.'

Upstream, reeds offered a safe haven to buntings raising their young and sunlight danced on the gently swirling waters.

'Perhaps you're not looking in the right place,' she suggested.

Downstream, hypochondriacs knotted together on the river-bank like migrating geese, swilling down the health-giving waters as though alkaloids were about to be rationed.

'Bearing in mind Mercurium's hard-line reputation, if a young shepherd boy was struggling with his sexuality, Hadrian might not be the only person who wanted to keep his secret a secret.'

'There's no suggestion Tages was anything other than heterosexual.'

'I think that's why they call it a secret, Orbilio. And remember that if Hadrian and Lichas had to trek right the way out here to meet like-minded souls, Tages might have as well.'

'What? Tages came to this town because he's metrosexual?'

Claudia waded back to the shore for her sandals. The more urbane, the more dangerous, she reminded herself. Never forget that.

Orbilio picked his way carefully over the shingle behind her. 'We seem to have drifted away from the point,' he said. 'We were talking about Orson, and I want you to know that it's… well, it's… perfectly natural to worry about people and…'

Strange, she thought. Not like him to struggle for words, and suddenly his eyes were everywhere except meeting hers.

'And… it's perfectly normal to let them know,' he finished awkwardly. 'Look, Claudia, what I'm trying to say-'

'Orbilio, you're in no position to lecture people on what's natural and normal. Not when you creep up on them beneath waterfalls.'

His smile was weak. 'If a national hero refuses to allow the Security Police to interview his son through the customary procedures, subterfuge becomes the Security Police's weapon of choice, and should this entail mingling among women clad in clinging wet robes, then, as a dedicated professional, I will not shirk my duty.'

She towelled her hair dry. 'Haven't you noticed? The rule here is the greater the obesity, the flimsier the garments.'

'Happily for your trusty investigator, there are at least a dozen oculists on hand to prevent him from going blind,' he quipped with an airy wave of the hand. 'Anyway, now that you've met Hadrian, have you any idea why Lichas would have fallen for someone so totally devoid of personality and looks?'

'None whatsoever, unless you count sensitivity, compassion, love of nature, the arts

'I'm waiting to hear the word money.'

Claudia stopped rubbing. 'Why?'

'Because Rex is a wealthy man and Hadrian is his sole heir. Because Rex doesn't want anyone sniffing around, even to the extent of confining his son to his room whenever I'm on the premises. And because Rex is so desperate for me to leave this case alone that he's given me an ultimatum. Drop the investigation or he'll have my balls.'

She chewed her lip. 'What did you say?'

'Told him straight, I don't have any.'

She laughed with him, though her mind was on a timid, motherless child overwhelmed by emotions beyond his control. Those clothes, she reflected. Those immaculate clothes… So white, so spotless, so fearfully well pressed. That didn't smack of a man who was happy inside his own skin, and she saw years of fragile self-esteem being systematically eroded to the point where he'd been left powerless to the point of incapable. Hadrian's clothes, she suspected, were the only aspect of his life over which he had any control.

'So you've come round to the idea that Hadrian killed Lichas, after all?'

Orbilio leaned down to tie his boots. 'Those haunted eyes had me fooled, I don't mind admitting, but Rosenna's adamant that Hadrian intended to break off their relationship because he feared public exposure.'

Public exposure? Claudia wondered. Or Rex's wrath? 'You're suggesting that Lichas, an impoverished toy-maker with his sights on the high life, threatened to blackmail his patrician lover and the situation backfired? Marcus, I haven't heard a single person suggest that boy had a mercenary bone in his body, and the purple hollows beneath Hadrian's eyes suggest he's hurting from grief, not a conscience.'

'Really? Well, if love's young dream was so bloody good, why's he avoiding me?'

'You said it yourself. He's never been able to stand up to his father.'

'No, but I'll bet it's not beyond him to go running to Daddy, still splattered with his lover's blood, and blurting out what he'd done. That's why Rex wants to keep the investigation local, Claudia. That way, he can slap a seal on this scandal that's so watertight, it'll probably mummify.' Orbilio pulled on a clean tunic and belted it at the waist. 'The very fact that Rex is threatening me suggests he's far more rattled than he lets on, and frankly there's only one reason I can think of why a wealthy, influential, retired war hero would be worried.'

Claudia pinned up her curls, fluffed her pleats into place and decided there was only one reason she could think of, too. 'A witness.'

'And guess who's been missing since the night Lichas died?'

Marcus tossed three copper quadrants to a hovering attendant in exchange for two spiced apple buns. The buns were warm in the middle, and the taste of cinnamon and cloves exploded on Claudia's tongue.

'I've walked those water meadows between the yew tree and the river twice now,' Orbilio said, 'and Tages' pastures overlook them in several places, plus there was a storm that night, remember? What if Tages was rounding up his sheep to prevent them from bolting when he heard Hadrian and Lichas shouting? His curiosity's aroused. He watches. Sees Hadrian stab him.'

'Pull the knife out, drag his lover still kicking and screaming into the river.' She licked a dribble of soft apple from her finger. 'Oh yes, I can just picture it.'

Hadrian might be capable of killing. We all are. He might well have tried to cover it up. We all would. But the boy was too weak to carry off something like murder. He'd have cracked at the very first grilling.

'Let me tell you what I think happened that night.' There was a distant look in Orbilio's eyes as he polished off the last of his bun. 'It's dark. It's raining. It's thunder, it's lightning, there's a gale flattening trees to the ground. The sort of night when passions run wild. Hadrian meets with Lichas. He tells him he can't go on with this terrible subterfuge, his father's bound to find out if he keeps sneaking out and he won't bring dishonour to Rome's distinguished military champion. It's over, he says. Now who knows, maybe Lichas is a lover scorned, maybe he simply sees the good life slipping away, but either way he vows to carry out this threat and go public with Hadrian's sexuality. Hadrian panics. He probably doesn't mean to stab Lichas. He just wants to scare him enough to back off. But somehow his blade ends up in his lover's belly, so he runs back to Daddy and confesses the terrible thing he has done.'