John Roberts - Under Vesuvius

Shortly after this, Hermes came to inform us that the girls were able to talk. I told Antonia and Circe to rein in their unhealthy curiosity and stay where they were. They yielded with poor grace. Julia and I went to the room that had been prepared for our unexpected guests. Gaia lay on her stomach. The cushions beneath her were arranged for the greatest degree of comfort. Her stripes were cleaned and anointed with soothing oil, and she was covered with the lightest, gauziest sheet to be found in the villa. Leto sat beside her, holding her hand. She swayed in her chair, calm but almost numbed by the drug. Julia and I took other chairs, while Hermes and Marcus stood behind us.

"Girls," I said, "I need some information from you. I know you both need sleep but this will not wait. I am not going to threaten you with punishment, but I must have your fullest cooperation. You will be much safer that way. Do you understand?"

Leto nodded dumbly. Gaia managed to say "yes" in a weak voice.

"We won't turn you back over to Diocles," Julia told them firmly. "You have been seized as evidence. My husband will have you remanded to the state, and I can then buy you and give you easy work in our own household. My husband can do this. He is a Roman magistrate. But you must answer him honestly."

This seemed to reassure them. "What do you want to know?" Gaia asked, her voice a little stronger. She must have been captured young or else born in captivity. Her Latin was without discernible accent.

"First off," I said, "what was Charmian's offense?"

"She was helping Mistress Gorgo," Leto said, speaking for the first time, although somewhat listlessly. "When the mistress went out at night, Charmian spied the way for her. Sometimes, I would sleep in Gorgo's bed, so it would look like she was there."

"Charmian would hide the gifts the mistress returned with," Gaia said. "When Gorgo could not get away, Charmian would sneak out and tell the-the visitor."

"Gorgo was seeing a lover?" Julia asked. Both girls nodded. "How often?"

"Almost every night," said Gaia.

"Was there just one lover?" I asked. "Two? Many?"

"They never told us," Gaia said. "She confided fully only in Charmian. They were almost like sisters."

"I think there was more than one," Leto said in a tiny voice.

"Why do you say that?" I asked her.

Even in her benumbed state, the girl's face flushed. "Some nights, when I slept in Gorgo's bed, she would just climb in and tell me to go back to our chamber. On some nights she-she smelled different than others." Her head nodded and in seconds she was asleep, still sitting, holding Gaia's hand.

"She never told me that," Gaia said.

"A few words more and you can sleep, too," I told her. "How did you help Charmian escape?"

"I was caring for her. She begged me to help her. She said one more beating would kill her and I knew it was true. She hadn't told Diocles everything and she swore she would die first. He knew she was withholding something and was just waiting for her to recover enough for the torture to resume.

"The night before last, when she was recovered enough to walk, even run if she should have to, we left the temple, went out through the grove by the spring, and from there she ran."

"Where did she go?" I asked. "Did she tell you her destination, who would hide her?"

"She said she would be safe, that she had a friend in Baiae."

"So you returned to the temple and pretended that she was still in the lockup?"

"Yes. Diocles wasn't fooled for long, but I bought her time to escape."

"Gaia," Julia said, "why didn't Charmian accompany Gorgo on the night she was killed?"

"She went, but Gorgo told her to stay at the edge of the grove, not go with her to the spring."

"Had Gorgo done that before?" Julia asked.

"I don't know. I don't think so. ." The girl was asleep.

We rose and left them there, under the eye of a slave woman skilled in healing. Back in the colonnaded courtyard, we compared notes.

"She went to Baiae," I said. "Who would she have gone to? Who would hide her?"

"It must have been one of the lovers," Julia said. "What other free 'friend' would she have had?"

"We know it wasn't Gelon," Hermes said.

"It's a long walk to Baiae for a girl in her condition," Marcus noted.

"Desperation drives people to do surprising things," I said.

The next day was a day when official business was forbidden, for which I was grateful. It gave me a chance to wander about in Baiae, ostensibly just enjoying the sights but in reality snooping. Hermes and I made our way into the goldsmiths' and jewelers' quarter which, this being Baiae, was bigger than Rome's.

"Somewhere here," I said, "there has to be someone who knows who bought that necklace."

"Why?" Hermes asked. "It might have been bought in Alexandria or Athens. Somebody may have found it in a shipwreck and peddled it cheap. The man who gave it to her may have stolen it. Why are you so sure that the man who sold it is here? I looked all over this quarter last time."

"Because this morning I sacrificed a very fine ram to Jupiter and I specifically requested that we find that man today."

"Oh, well, then. Let's go find him."

Amazingly, we found the right man on the third try. The shop was one of the smallest, wedged between a huge cameo display and a place that seemed to specialize in rubies the size of minor Asiatic kingdoms.

"Must've missed this one," Hermes muttered.

We went inside and a man looked up from behind a display case. "Yes, sir? How may I-" he caught sight of my purple stripe and jumped from behind the case "-help you?" He was of that Greek-Asian breed so common in the gem trade, the sort who hails from Antioch or Palmyra or some other Eastern metropolis.

"Hermes," I said. He took the necklace from inside his tunic and held it up for the man to see. "Do you recognize this?"

The man took two or three of the massive links in his fingertips and studied the carved gems. "Why, yes. I sold this piece about a year ago. I am quite certain. This is a very remarkable necklace. It's Phrygian. Is there some problem?"

"I just need to know who you sold it to," I told him.

"Of course. Gaeto the Numidian bought it. I've heard he is dead. Is there a problem with the inheritance?"

"Exactly." I was astounded, but I had a politician's knack for covering such lapses. "Did he indicate when he bought it that he intended it as a gift?"

"No, but I presumed that he did intend it so. A man does not wear such jewelry, after all." He thought about this for a moment. "Well, admittedly there are certain men who-but not Gaeto, certainly. He must have intended it for a woman."

"For his wife?" I asked innocently.

"Well, sir"-he chuckled-"in the first place, I understand that he had more than one. In the second, well, in my experience, which is quite extensive, a man rarely buys such a piece for a woman to whom he is already married, if you take my meaning."

"I know what you mean," I told him. "I don't suppose he made any indication of just who the recipient might be?"

"I am afraid not. Gaeto was always the soul of discretion." He sighed. "I am sorry to hear that he is no more. I know he was a slave dealer but really quite a splendid man, extremely rich and a very good customer."

"He bought other items from you?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. He had a taste for these massive, Eastern pieces. They are my specialty, you see. Most of the items I sold him, he bought for himself. Men in Numidia wear heavy gold bracelets, for instance. And he bought heavy signet rings, gifts for Numidian colleagues, I believe. And he did not haggle. He knew what my merchandise is worth."

"I am sorry you have lost a valued customer. I rather liked the man myself, brief though our acquaintance was."