Rosemary Rowe - The Fateful Day

I waited dutifully until they shuffled into line and marched with ringing hobnails through the gate and disappeared into the garrison. When they had gone, Villosus turned to me.

‘Did I hear you say your slave was dead?’ He was staring at Minimus as though the boy might somehow be a ghost. Indeed, I realised with a smile, that’s what he was half ready to believe.

‘Not that slave. There’s a dead one, on the mule,’ I said. ‘I’m not sure how and why he died, but I suspect it is connected to these other deaths and he thought he was protecting me. So my first duty has to be to him. Much as I would like to go into the town and try and find the truth about these murderers, I must see he’s taken home with dignity. If I had a faster carriage …’

‘Do you wish me to hire a cart for you and speed the trip?’ Alfredus was still standing at my side. ‘Or Vesperion could take the mule for you, perhaps.’

I shook my head. ‘It’s getting far too late. By the time he reached the roundhouse it would be getting dark, and he’s far too old to be benighted in the wood. And there’s nowhere we could offer him hospitality. Maximus will lie in the slave hut overnight, and the other slaves will have to sleep in the main roundhouse with us, as it is. Besides, I wouldn’t like a stranger to turn up at my door and have to tell my poor wife what had happened to the slave. I couldn’t ask Minimus, he is far too young — I’ll simply have to take the body back myself.’

‘You could leave it in my warehouse,’ the councillor suggested.

It was a kind offer — and I did not turn it down at once. It would call for additional and expensive cleansing rituals, no doubt, given his current superstitious attitudes. Maximus would lie alone in a strange warehouse overnight, and the whole transport problem would arise again next day, but it would allow me to travel on the mule and have time for enquiries in town. So it offered a solution, of a kind.

I was still debating what to do when I heard a distant tuba sound. ‘Great Mars,’ I said. ‘They’ll be reading the proclamation in the forum very soon. I’ll have to do some-’

‘Father?’ I was interrupted by a cheerful cry and looked up to see my son hurrying towards me down the main street of the town. ‘What are you doing here?’ he said, as he came up to us. He sounded out of breath. ‘I thought you’d be halfway to the roundhouse by this time. I know the cleansing rituals did not take very long — especially after you two citizens had left — but I didn’t expect to catch you up so easily.’

‘I had a brush with that centurion again,’ I said. ‘He wouldn’t let me through. But there have been developments. The army’s found a dozen severed heads. They supposed it was rebels, but I’m certain that it’s not.’

Junio thought about it. ‘Marcus’s slaves? Of course!’ He frowned. ‘But why on earth …?’

‘It took me a moment to work that out myself,’ I said. ‘Tomorrow we’ll get Georgicus to collect the heads, and see. But I’m certain that we’ll find that one of them’s the missing gatekeeper.’

He stared at me. ‘I’d forgotten about him. But …?’

‘He was among the bodies all the time — though I didn’t realise it,’ I said. ‘Funnily enough, it was the wise woman who gave me the idea. “It is whatever you expect to see” — that was the talisman.’

‘I didn’t see either gatekeeper.’ Minimus had been listening to all this with interest.

Junio exchanged a glance with me. ‘That’s because we didn’t let you look,’ he said, and then to me, ‘the front gatekeeper was hanging in his cell. Why was he killed by such a different method, do you think?’

‘I have a theory about that,’ I said. ‘But there are other things I need to check on first. And fairly urgently — supposing that it’s not too late by now. Would you be willing to take Arlina home, and tell your mother about Maximus for me? I would be happy leaving that with you and I’ll try to be home myself as soon as possible, though if it gets too dark, I’ll have to stay in Glevum.’

Junio pressed my arm. ‘Of course I will — if you’re sure there’s nothing else that I can do in town.’

‘Did you manage to get round to the gates and ask if they’d seen Cacus and his master leaving?’ I enquired.

He shook his head. ‘I didn’t need to ask. I saw him for myself when I was on my way to ask them at the Isca gate. It was difficult to hurry — everyone was pushing to the forum by that time — so I tried to take the shortcut by the docks. And there was Cacus, with his back to me, going into that taverna — you know the one I mean? One of the girls who works there sidled up to me, wanting to know if I was thirsty — though that wasn’t what she meant. I said I wouldn’t enter the premises tonight for all the world, because I’d just seen a giant walking in and she laughed and said, “His master’s in there, too,” so I gave her a quadrans and came to tell you. So there’s your answer, Father. Commemoratus hasn’t gone to Isca after all.’

‘The docks, you say? So they intend to leave by water after all — in that empty little boat, no doubt. The captain said he’d lost a fare that he expected yesterday. I’m sure that was Commemoratus and his party only — because I happened to pass him on the road and thereby forced him to produce his alibi — they didn’t leave as quickly as they’d intended to. Did Cacus see you?’

Junio shook his head. ‘I don’t think so, Father — and certainly Commemoratus can’t have done.’

Alfredus Allius touched my tunic sleeve. ‘Who’s this Commemoratus, citizen? I’ve not heard of him. And what is this about? Is this connected with those murders we’ve been hearing of? If something’s happening at the docks, perhaps I ought to know.’

‘But surely you know Commemoratus, councillor?’ Junio was surprised. ‘He was at your warehouse just this afternoon, arranging to buy wine from you, I understand. Or perhaps you didn’t meet him — Vesperion spoke to him.’ He looked at the steward, who was standing at a respectful distance by the arch, still helping Minimus to hold the mule. ‘Or so my father says.’

Vesperion saw that he was needed and shuffled up to us.

‘I hear we had an enquiry for wine this afternoon,’ his master said, severely. ‘You didn’t mention it.’

The steward looked contrite. ‘I didn’t want to bother you with time-wasters, master, when you were so concerned about this citizen’s dead slave,’ he said. ‘But it’s true there was a visitor — though nothing came of it. Wealthy fellow with a fancy cloak. I thought we’d get a handsome contract out of him, but he wasn’t really interested in buying wine at all. He was very rude, saying one minute that he wouldn’t do business with an underling, and then complaining when I wasn’t at his beck and call. Then his servant came to get him and he went away without a word except to say he didn’t like our wine, though we’d given him some of the best Rhenish we had in. I don’t imagine he will call again — though I suppose he may come back and talk to you.’

‘Then that must be the man you’re looking for,’ Alfredus said to me. ‘And he’s called Commemoratus, did you say? Funny sort of cognomen — I wonder where he’s from.’

Vesperion frowned. ‘That’s not the name he gave me!’ he exclaimed. ‘I can’t recall exactly. I didn’t really bother in the end, when he obviously wasn’t a proper customer, but I’m sure it wasn’t that. It’s some name I think I’ve vaguely heard before … Honorius Flavius … something?’

‘Egidius?’ I prompted.

The steward stared at me — and so did Junio. Then Vesperion spoke. ‘Of course it was,’ he murmured, sheepishly. ‘Same name as the villa that Scipio man has bought — perhaps this chap’s distantly related to the family. I should have noticed that. He rattled off his full three names, of course, and a couple of nicknames for good measure, too — though Commemoratus wasn’t one of them. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t make the connection at the time. I’m sorry, master, if I should have taken better note.’