Rosemary Rowe - The Ghosts of Glevum

‘Money first,’ he grunted. ‘Five facts. That’s five sestertii. That’s what we said.’

In fact it was nothing of the kind, but as usual with Sosso it was hard to disagree, especially when he took that rough knife out again, and began to clean his fingernails with the point of it. I understood. It was not a threat, exactly, simply a reminder that the knife was there.

I thought quickly. ‘I’ll pay you one fact at a time — that way I can decide if it is worth the fee,’ I said. I slipped my fingers into my makeshift purse and held out one sestertius.

He stretched out one misshapen arm and seized the coin. Then he threw back his head and produced that strange low owl-cry which I’d heard before, and a moment later Lercius came stooping through the entranceway, followed by Parva and Cornovacus.

I started. I had not seen anyone as I approached. No wonder these people of the shadows had earned the nickname ‘ghosts’. Sosso gave his blackened grin at my discomfiture.

‘Parva,’ he commanded, and the girl edged closer to the flames so that the flickering fire lit her face, while the others took up station by the door. ‘Speak!’

The pock-faced girl seemed to hesitate, but Sosso shook her roughly and she launched into her tale. ‘Your pardon, citizen, it is only what I heard from the soldier who’d been on guard at the gate.’

‘The villa?’ I said eagerly.

She shook her head. ‘The south gate of the town. Of course he was off duty by the time he talked to me. I’d arranged to meet him after it got dark under one of the arches near the market place — a sort of business arrangement, you understand.’

I nodded. I understood too well. Of course the girl had no licence from the town authorities, and was therefore acting outside the law. Her client should probably have been in barracks at that hour, too, but doubtless his colleagues on the watch could be persuaded to turn the other way. All the same, it was a risk. If Parva had anything to tell, she would have earned her money — more than once.

‘He was the kind that likes to stand there gossiping,’ Parva went on. ‘They’re not all like that — most of them want to do what they do, give you the money and get away, but one or two of them are different. They’ve left some girl behind, perhaps, or simply miss their homes and families and welcome an opportunity to talk. Others, like this one, simply want to boast and tell you what important men they are. Sosso always likes it if I make them talk — in case there are snippets we can pass on to Grossus, for a price.’

I glanced towards the ugly little dwarf, who was nodding judiciously.

Parva went on with her tale. ‘Anyway, I’d had dealings with this one before. He’s not too bad — a bit rough and inclined to bruise me, but he pays. And talks. He seemed a likely source of information on the garrison, so when I saw him on the gate I sidled up and let him make an assignation there and then.’

‘Never mind all that. Get on with it!’ Sosso was impatient.

Parva glanced at me with anxious eyes. Poor girl, I thought. She had been pretty once, and the thin body underneath the skimpy tunic showed only the first signs of womanhood. She would be lucky if disease and want allowed her to attain her twentieth year. ‘Go on,’ I said gently.

‘I listened to him bragging about this and that, and then I asked him outright what he knew about your patron in the jail. Of course it is the gossip of the town, so he was not surprised at that. I flattered him, and said I bet he knew a thing or two. So he told me. Most of it was only what we already knew: Marcus was first arrested on a murder charge and has appealed to the Emperor, but after that his villa was searched and a treasonable document has come to light — under a seal which he owns is his. So the charge was altered to conspiracy and all his property is under guard.’

‘And will doubtless be impounded by the Emperor once the trial has taken place in Rome,’ I said bitterly. ‘Unless we can avoid that in some way.’

She made a sympathetic face. ‘It may be sooner than you think, too, citizen. The magistrates have sent a messenger to the Emperor, and Marcus will be following in a day or two. There’s a suitable ship in Glevum dock. It came with olive oil and is almost ready to set sail again. When it does the prisoner and his guard will be aboard.’

I gulped. This was new information, and made things desperate. Once Marcus had embarked for Rome, there was precious little anyone could do.

‘Is he well treated?’ I could not help but ask.

She shrugged. ‘I presume so. He comes from a wealthy family, after all, and of course he is a Roman citizen. It would be more than the commander’s life was worth to let him come to any kind of harm, and no doubt he still has the wherewithal to pay for privilege. He was permitted to send a letter home, I hear — no doubt that was to ask for food and clothes.’

Of course, the letter that Julia received would have been longer than the extract which she’d quoted to me. Doubtless Marcus had requested some little luxuries as well as informing her about the second charge. But surely. .? I frowned. ‘Once that telltale document was found, I thought that communication was prohibited? Why did they allow a private letter to be sent?’

She shrugged. ‘Presumably the commander read it first. That’s usually the custom, so I’m told. I’ve heard of it before. A wealthy prisoner writes a letter and has it authorised — and the guards often sneak a look at it as well, since most of them can read. They laugh about the kind of abject things that people write.’

‘But what if it was sealed? He had his seal-ring with him.’ It distressed me to think of Marcus’s message being sniggered over by licentious soldiery.

‘It wouldn’t be — not unless some special arrangement had been made. Anyway, my informant tells me that his ring has been taken from him — it is to be used as evidence, it seems, to prove that it matches the seal on the document they found. Your patron might possibly have managed to send sealed letters home, being as wealthy as he is, if this was a simple murder case — but now that there’s conspiracy alleged. .’ She tailed off.

I knew what she meant. As I said before, the Emperor sees plots everywhere. ‘So his seal-ring was taken and his letter would be read?’

She smiled assent. ‘According to my customer, it was. He didn’t know exactly what was in it, though — he wasn’t there in person when it went. I don’t know who did see it, but I could possibly find out. Do you want me to go back and try again?’

I shook my head. I had simply wanted to find out if Marcus had used his seal-ring on that note. It seemed that he had not. I knew what the letter said. At least I thought I did. Come to think of it, I had only Julia’s word for that. Could she be trusted, in the light of what I knew? Perhaps, after all, it would be wise to check. ‘What about the messenger who delivered it?’ I said.

Parva was looking dubious. ‘I don’t know if he read it, citizen, or indeed if he could read at all. It wasn’t a proper military messenger. It was a slave — and not one I’ve had any dealings with.’ She smiled apologetically. ‘I do have the occasional client who’s a slave, of course, but mostly they haven’t got the cash. Sometimes, if they get an as or two in tips, they come to me — they can’t afford the licensed prostitutes — but even then they’re always from the town. They don’t come in from villas miles away.’

I stared at her. ‘You are telling me that the slave who delivered the letter came from the villa ?’ In fact, I remembered vaguely, someone had spoken of a ‘slave-messenger’, but I’d not seen the significance of the word. ‘One of Marcus’s own slaves? You’re sure of that? How did your customer know that, if he wasn’t present at the time?’