Rosemary Rowe - Death at Pompeia

Helena Domna had started to her feet.

‘We can ask the doorkeeper if he took that necklace there or not,’ I said.

She looked at me bitterly, and sat down again. All the fury had ebbed out of her, and she almost seemed physically smaller all at once. ‘Antoninus didn’t keep his word,’ she muttered. ‘I wanted to protect our reputation, that is all — and now, I suppose, the whole colonia will know. You were quite right, citizen. I knew when that note arrived for you — in that writing case that looked so much like Livia’s — that it was intended as a veiled hint to me. He’d already told me he would be in touch.’

‘So you made a point of reading what he wrote?’

She nodded. ‘I knew that he would tell you everything, if I did not find some way of paying him. And — as you say — he set a later time, so I could find the money and get it to him first. I do have a little, but it was not to hand and all I could think of was to send him gold. That necklace is a fine one, the jet is good as well — Zythos imported it from somewhere in the East. And even when I sent him that, the wretch betrayed me and told you anyway.’

‘Antoninus would never have done that,’ I said. ‘If he once told the secret, he had lost his power. He would have gone on making his demands for years — if he thought you could be made to pay. He didn’t tell me anything. He didn’t have the chance — by the time I got there he was already dead.’

She stared at me. ‘So how did you learn about the stolen statue then?’

Redux answered for me. ‘I told him, lady — and, I think that you should know that I told the commander of the garrison as well.’ She half-rose as if to hit him, and he raised his hand. ‘I was being suspected of murder at the time, and I might have been tortured if I did not tell the truth. I did not steal the statue, and I do not know who did — but Antoninus knew that I had been involved in shipping it, and he was extorting money out of me as well. I don’t know exactly what evidence he had — I looked through the papers, but I couldn’t find a thing. No mention of Honorius or Zythos anywhere. That should be some comfort to you, madam, anyway. I rather think that somebody had burned the documents.’

Helena Domna brightened. ‘So there will be no proof?’ She shook her head. ‘Burned them, do you say? Let’s ask the doorkeeper. .’

‘So, it was the doorkeeper you sent?’ Junio’s satisfaction was on my account I knew, because my deduction had been proved correct.

She didn’t answer.

‘Rather a bad choice, Helena Domna,’ I remarked. ‘I think that he was passing information on. You used him as a messenger, as your son had done. Perhaps you even heard him mentioned when you were listening in. It was clear to me already that he knew the place, and had carried things to Antoninus several times before — that’s how the blackmailer knew so much about this house.’

‘So that’s what you meant about the statue, citizen?’ Helena Domna had turned very pale. ‘He told Antoninus? And I sent him there. .’ She paused to take in the enormity of this. ‘I’ll have him flogged for this. Flogged to within inches of his wretched life. Pulchra, send the slave to fetch him. I shall have him flayed!’ She sat down heavily on the couch again. ‘How could he betray me? The doorman is our slave. He owes us loyalty. We own him, after all.’

‘So you got the doorkeeper to murder Antoninus?’ Redux said, as Pulchra came back into the room again. He was addressing Helena Domna with a smile, which almost suggested that he felt some sympathy. ‘How did you do it? Put poison in the wine? Or even in that pot of garum that you sent back to him? But I suppose the doorkeeper was anxious to make sure, and thrust a knife into his back as well.’

Gracchus was listening avidly to this, though he had made no contribution up till now. ‘All the same — as a patrician lady — you deserve respect for making the attempt to save the family’s name. Though it seems you may have killed your son for nothing, after all. You tried to save his honour, but the truth has all come out. Nonetheless, I’m sure the court will understand, and not exact the highest punishment.’

Nobody answered, and he turned to me. ‘Well, it seems you have succeeded in your efforts, citizen. I salute you and agree to pay you what I owe. Pompeia is not guilty, and she can be my bride. An honour killing is not the kind of thing that would prevent one seeking alliance with a family. Honorius had already done the same thing with his eldest daughter, after all.’ He looked around the table, as if seeing confirmation of his words.

But Helena Domna was on her feet again. She was very nearly trembling with rage. ‘I did not instruct the doorkeeper to murder anyone. I did not touch the garum. It was returned intact — Livia herself is witness to the fact. She was the one who sent it back to him. And as for colluding in the murder of my son, of course I did nothing of the kind.’

‘But you admit the other allegations?’ Redux said.

She threw a furious look in my direction, then: ‘Oh, very well. The pavement-maker’s right. I did send a necklace to pay Antoninus off, because I’d overheard the conversation in this house that night, about the statue and its illicit past. I never had the chance to tell Honorius what I knew — I was going to wait until the wedding guests were gone and try to persuade him that he should send it back, and maybe even apply to Commodus for reward — but he died before I had the chance. All I could think of was the honour of his name — and the fear that Antoninus would publicize the crime and maybe seize the statue on his own account. I knew he’d want the money that he was asking for.’ She banged the table with her stick and glared around the room. ‘But I have never stooped to murder, and I’ve never planned to kill. The doorkeeper will tell you, when we bring him in. When he left, Antoninus was very much alive — tucking into a meal of bread and cheese and sending demands for further jewellery.’

A little hush greeted this impassioned outpouring. Gracchus turned to me. ‘So what do you think, pavement-maker? Have you earned your fee? You have managed to get Helena Domna to confess to paying bribes and being in possession of illegal goods — in front of four Roman citizens, too, which is sufficient evidence for a court of law — so there’s no escaping blame. So why is she denying the remainder of her crimes? Any magistrate would honour her for her protection of her son, and sentence her to exile at the very most. I would be prepared to pay the cost of a good advocate myself — Pompeia’s dowry would allow for that.’

‘I’m not interested in an advocate!’ Helena Domna sat down heavily. ‘I tell you, I am not guilty of the deaths. In fact, I would pay almost any sum myself, to see the person brought to justice who poisoned my poor son. But we seem no nearer to knowing who that was — though I have been humiliated for my lesser sins.’

‘On the contrary, madam!’ Junio jumped up. ‘I know that expression on my father’s face — I think he knows who did it, or he thinks he does.’

He broke off as the steward came in with the tray. ‘I’m sorry, citizens. I know you were asking for the doorkeeper, but he cannot be found. I’ve got every slave that can be spared searching the house for him.’ He set down a plate of nuts and dates, and put a drinking cup in front of each of us. ‘I will bring him, with the wine, as soon as possible.’

I waited until the steward had disappeared before I spoke again. ‘I believe the doorkeeper will tell us the same thing, when he comes. Helena Domna behaved unwisely, but she did not conspire to kill. I think we must look elsewhere for our murderer.’