David Wishart - Solid Citizens

‘Yes, sir. Lupercus and I seem to have reached an acceptable modus vivendi , as I outlined to you.’

‘That’s great. Keep up the good work.’ He poured and buttled out. ‘I’ve solved the business of the fire in the wool store, anyway, lady. It was deliberate theft and arson right enough, and Manlius and Canidius were behind it.’ I gave her the details.

‘But, Marcus, that’s dreadful!’ she said when I’d finished. ‘You can’t be letting them get away with it, surely?’

I shrugged. ‘That side of things has nothing to do with me. As far as their getting away with it is concerned the cover-up is going to cost them an arm and a leg, and with guys like those two that’ll really hurt. Mind you, they’ll get their names on the plaque above the door of the new public hall they’re going to build and be well ahead on brownie points for elections in future, so they can’t complain they’ve been too hard done by.’

‘So you don’t think they were responsible, then? For the murder?’

I shook my head. ‘Uh-uh, lady, that’s a separate issue. What it does confirm is that they had a genuine motive. They needed to stop the enquiry, the only way that was going to happen was if Caesius wasn’t around in a month’s time to push it through the senate, and now both of them are firmly on the hook where opportunity’s concerned, too. At any rate, neither has a valid alibi for the time Caesius was killed. Canidius claimed that they were together at Manlius’s place for a business dinner until midnight, but according to the major-domo he left the house well before sunset. Which means he, at least, could’ve been anywhere at all that evening. Manlius too, because instead of providing a genuine alibi for himself, if he had one, he backed up his pal’s story.’

‘Why should he do that if he knew it wasn’t true?’

‘Maybe just out of solidarity, because from what I can see Canidius is the brains of the pair, the cool head, and Manlius just follows his lead. On the other hand, maybe it suited him.’

‘You mean he was elsewhere himself?’

‘Yeah.’ I sipped my wine. ‘It’s a possibility, anyway. I didn’t want to push things with the major-domo by asking if he’d gone out after Canidius had left, because he’d probably just have got suspicious and clammed up, or worse blown the whistle on me to his master. As it is, chances are that they don’t know they’ve been sussed. Definitely sussed, that is. So like I say the upshot is that at the time of the murder both Manlius and Canidius, together or separately, were running loose.’

‘You think they are likely prospects? Really?’

‘Really, lady, I don’t know. They’re a proper pair of chancers, no arguments there, crooks to the core, and for guys from their background like you said yourself the threat of exposure and the social disgrace involved might swing things, sure. For Canidius, certainly; that is one cool, calculating bastard. Given the opportunity, and if he thought there was no way he’d be found out, I reckon Canidius could and would’ve done it. Manlius, now, I doubt if he’d have either the brains or the guts. Not on his own, and not with premeditation. Still, they’re both in there with a shout, particularly after the fake alibi business.’

‘All right.’ She moved the cushion on her couch and settled herself more comfortably. ‘So what else did you get? Did you speak to the rival collector, what was his name, Baebius?’

‘Yeah.’ I took another swallow of the Alban and topped up the cup from the jug. ‘Turns out he’d had a clandestine meeting arranged with Caesius for that evening at sunset, at the old wool store, practically right next door to the brothel. Only Caesius never showed.’

‘From what Baebius told you, you mean.’

I grinned. ‘Come on, Perilla! I’m not stupid! He could’ve been lying about that, sure, but the details checked out with what his door slave said, and him I believed. Plus, whatever the truth of the meeting story was, Baebius couldn’t have done the killing because at the time Caesius left the brothel he was safely back home up by the Alban Lake Gate.’

‘Again, according to his slave.’

‘The boy had no cause to lie, under the circumstances. And like I say, I believed him. If he was acting and telling porkies then he was damn good at it.’

‘So what was the meeting about?’

‘That’s the odd thing. You know that figurine they quarrelled over, that all the fuss was about originally? The little bronze of the Runner? Seemingly Caesius offered to do an exchange, a partial exchange, for a similar piece they’d wrangled over in the past, and he was going to bring the figurine along with him. Which, presumably, he did, because it’s gone missing.’

‘What?’ Perilla said sharply.

‘Yeah. His major-domo Anthus hasn’t seen it since the day his master died. And Baebius denies all knowledge.’

‘Again, he could be lying.’

‘Why would he bother? He’s off the hook for the murder, and although the whole business of the clandestine meeting was a bit silly the deal itself was perfectly legal, none of anyone’s business but his and Caesius’s. If Caesius turned up and it went ahead, why complicate the issue? Besides, I’m pretty sure he was telling the truth there, at least. And the bronze was worth at least twenty thousand. If Caesius had it on him when he was killed — and I’d bet that he did, because where else could it have gone — then the simplest explanation is that the murderer took it himself.’

‘Or herself. What about the brothel owner?’

‘ Andromeda? Perilla, that is crazy! Why should Opilia Andromeda murder Caesius?’

‘For the figurine, of course. Just for that. If it was worth twenty thousand sesterces it would be a motive in itself.’

‘Jupiter, lady! How would she know he had it? And it might be worth twenty thousand to a collector, but she’d still have to find one prepared to buy it. That wouldn’t be too easy out here in the sticks. Besides, there’d be the question of provenance. Any reputable collector she approached would want to know how she’d got her hands on it in the first place. He might even recognize it for what it was, in which case she’d be properly up the creek.’

‘I can’t see any reason why either of these objections should be valid, dear. She did let Caesius in herself that evening, didn’t she? Why shouldn’t she have seen the statuette in the process, if he had it with him? Then, of course, it would have been easy to hit him from behind as he went out, steal it, close the door and leave the body to be found in the morning.’

‘She’s a woman, for the gods’ sakes!’

‘Petite? On the small, fragile side?’

‘No, not at all, in fact, but-’

‘Then it’s a tenable theory. And you can always ask Clarus if it would be physically possible when he comes in. As far as selling the thing is concerned, well, Rome’s not all that far away; there are plenty of art dealers in the city, not all of whom are scrupulous, and I’m sure the lady would be quite capable of mounting any deception she felt was necessary. Or don’t you agree?’

I was staring at her. Shit! It was possible, at that. It was even plausible: Andromeda was no fluff-ball; she was smart and ambitious, and if she was building up a business and looking to go upmarket then twenty thousand sesterces would buy a hell of a lot of prime interior decorating. And certainly where opportunity was concerned she’d’ve had that far more than most. Maybe I should have another word, see which way she jumped. If she jumped.

‘OK,’ I said cautiously. ‘Andromeda is a possibility, I’ll give you that. Albeit an outside one. Proving it would be another matter, though.’