Steven Saylor - The Venus Throw

" — Cicero will probably make it go up in a puff of smoke while he takes the judges down some completely irrelevant path to Caelius's ac-quittal. Yes, I was thinking the same thing myself. Having worked for Cicero, we know just how thoroughly unscrupulous and damnably persuasive he can be. It's not much fun, being on the opposing side."

Eco closed his eyes and leaned back against a pillar, letting the sun warm his face. "But the really bad news is about the slaves in Lucceius's kitchen being sent off to work the mines in Picenum. If Lucceius's wife is right, those two are at the very heart of the matter. If they were bribed to administer poison, they must have some idea of who paid them, or should at least be able to yield up a clue. They're the link in the chain, the ones you need to go to next. But there they are, away up in Picenum, and no matter what they know, it doesn't sound like Lucceius would ever let them testify."

"Yes, it's frustrating. But I suppose someone could trek up to Picenum and try to get at them. Even if they can't testify, they might lead us to someone who could."

Eco half opened one eye and peered at me sidelong. "I have no pressing business for the next few days, and it's always nice to get out of Rome. Just say the word, Papa."

I smiled and nodded. "Perhaps. I suppose it is the next logical step. Still, I keep thinking about the girl… "

"The girl?"

"The slave girl, Zotica. I should have a talk with her. She might know something."

"I'm sure she knows a great deal, Papa. But do you really want to hear it?"

"What do you mean?"

Eco peered at me shrewdly, narrowing his eyes in the bright sunshine. "Tell me, Papa, do you want to talk to this Zotica to find what she knows about the murder, which is probably nothing-or do you wish to talk to her to satisfy your own prurient curiosity about the things that Dio did to her?"

"Eco!"

"If she told you that her treatment from Dio was not nearly as cruel as you've been led to think, you'd be relieved, wouldn't you?" I sighed. "Yes."

"And what if the opposite happened? What if the things that Dio did to her were quite as appalling as you fear, and even worse? I know how you felt about Dio, Papa-the way he died, the fact that he came to you for help. But I also know how strongly you feel about those who abuse slaves in such a fashion."

"Coponius may have been slandering Dio," I said.

"It hardly sounds like it. From the way you tell it, Coponius talked about Dio's bedroom habits only reluctantly, and he was more embarrassed than judgmental, as if he was telling you that Dio was flatulent or snored. And what about the slave, Philo? He told the same story."

"Slaves like to gossip as much as their masters." I shook my head. "I don't like having my memories of Dio tainted by hearsay."

"Ah, but from the girl's lips it wouldn't be hearsay."

"So you think I want to find this girl for no other reason than to put my mind at rest about Dio?"

"Isn't that it, Papa?" His sympathetic gaze made me feel suddenly unsure of myself.

"Partly, yes. But that's not the only reason," I insisted. "There's something else, something I can't quite put my finger on."

"Another intuition from the goddess Cybele, guiding you on?"

"I'm serious. I can't help but feel that this Zotica knows something, or did something… "

"Or had something done to her," said Eco under his breath.

"Eco, you said I could call on you if I needed help. This is what I want you to do: find this slave dealer on the Street of the Scythemakers. Find out what became of Zotica."

"Are you sure, Papa? It seems to me that my time would be better spent trying to contact Lucceius's kitchen slaves. And if I'm to do that, I should get started. It will take me a day to get to Picenum, another day to get back, plus the time spent there. Since the trial is only four days away-"

"No, find out about the girl first. You can get started this afternoon. It's too late to leave for Picenum today, anyway."

Eco shook his head at my stubbornness. "Very well, Papa. I'll go and see if I can track down this Zotica for you. If her story is awful enough, I suppose it may save me the bother of needing to go up to Picenum."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well," Eco began, but he was interrupted.

"If Dio was such a bad man, why are you bothering to find the person who killed him, anyway?"

"Diana!" I turned and saw my daughter standing in the doorway.

"Can't I come and be with you, Papa?" She walked to me and took my hand. Her long straight hair glittered blue-black in the sunlight. "The only thing Mother and Menenia talk about is the twins, and all the twins want to do is pull my hair and scream in my ears. They're such little monsters! I'd much rather be with you and Eco."

"Diana, why did you say that?"

"Because the twins are monsters — Titania is a harpy and Titus is a cyclops!"

"No, why did you say what you said about Dio? No one said he was a bad man."

Diana looked at me blankly.

"I think," said Eco, "that someone has been eavesdropping, and for quite a while."

"No I haven't!"

"It's a very bad habit, Diana, especially when your brother and I are discussing business."

"But I told you, I wasn't eavesdropping." She stepped back and crossed her arms, and gave me her version of the Medusa look.

"Diana… "

"Besides, Papa, isn't eavesdropping what you and Eco do for a living? I don't see why you should pick on me for doing it, even if I was, which I wasn't."

"It's a matter of showing respect to Papa," said Eco.

"No one in this house seems to have any respect for me," said Diana. "Whenever the monsters come over I might as well be made of stone." She turned and left the room.

"My, my," said Eco. "Is that what it's like to have a thirteen-year-old daughter in the house?"

"Just wait," I sighed.

"Perhaps you've been ignoring Diana."

"I probably have. She's becoming difficult."

"It was the same with Meto, remember?"

"It started later with Meto, and that was different. That I understood, whether I liked it or not. But with Diana, I don't understand. Not at all. She's the only one of you who's actually of my own flesh and blood, but sometimes I think Bethesda created her all by herself."

"She's more like you than you realize, Papa."

"Yes, I'm sure you're right." I tried to remember what we had been talking about, but found myself musing instead on the scent of jasmine that lingered in the warm air. Diana had recently begun to use the same fragrant oil that Bethesda used to scent her hair, just as she had begun to occasionally use her mother's jewelry and scarves. I closed my eyes. I breathed in the fragrance; it might have come from either of them. Diana was becoming so much like her mother…

I was interrupted by the sound of a cleared throat. I opened my eyes, blinking at the bright sunshine. "What is it, Belbo?"

"A caller, Master. The little gallus again. He says that you must come with him at once."

"Come with him?" I turned my face back to the sun and closed my eyes again. My legs ached from too much walking. The sunshine was making me sleepy.

"Yes, you must!" piped a familiar voice. I opened my eyes to see Trygonion slipping past Belbo into the atrium. His silver bracelets jangled and glittered in the sunlight, and his red and yellow robes were dazzling. Eco raised his eyebrows. Belbo stamped his foot in frustration.

"Clodia needs you," said Trygonion. "At once! It's a matter of life and death!"

"Life and death?" I said skeptically.

"And poison!" said Trygonion, exasperated. "The monster is planning to poison her!" "Who?"

"Caelius! Clodia!"

"Trygonion, what are you talking about?"

"You must come at once. There's a litter waiting outside."