Lindsey Davis - The Jupiter Myth

'I warned you about the troops.'

'You did.' Frontinus was terse. In a frontier province, dereliction of duty was a decimation crime: one man in ten, chosen by lot, would be bludgeoned to death by his disgraced colleagues. That would not be the end of it. The effect on morale would be grim, both here and up at the frontiers when the rumours raced there.

An aide was hovering. Frontinus rapped out orders, hardly pausing for reflection. 'Get me the commander. Before he comes over, I want that detail stripped of their weapons and armour, then held in chains. They are to be guarded by men from one of the other detachments, not their own legion. Disarm their centurion and bring him here to me. I want every on-duty legionary to go out in a search party. I want the troops put on permanent standby. It goes without saying, I want the prisoner back.'

Some hopes, I thought.

'Today!' he added. Julius Frontinus now saw his provincial capital slipping into anarchy. Luckily he was a practical man, and action helped him cope. Even so, I had rarely seen him so tight-lipped.

I was even more depressed. But then I had worked against the Balbinus mob before.

On my way out I was stopped by a message from the torturer.

Amicus, the sardonically named Befriender, had made up for losing the chance to prick holes in Pyro and Splice. He had tackled the waiters with a heated manicure set, then turned the recalcitrant barber almost inside out with a contraption I tried not to look at.

'I am sorry not to have a crack at this Splice,' he grieved when I sought him out in the bowels of the residence. 'He sounds an interesting prospect. I hope they get him back for me. Do you know how he acquired the nickname, Falco?'

'I suspect you are about to tell me – and it will be unpleasant.'

He chortled. Maybe his happy manner helped unnerve his victims; the contrast with his pain-inflicting side certainly disturbed me. 'Splice wanted to punish two snackshop owners, cousins who shared a bar jointly, and who were refusing to pay up. He went in one night and hacked both men in two from top to bottom. Then he bound the left side of each body to the right-hand side of the other. He left the results propped up against the serving counter.'

'Jupiter!'

'That's apt. Jupiter is a favourite with this gang,' agreed Amicus warmly. 'Plenty of signboards with the same mythical theme. Apt, since the Best and Greatest is the patron god of grapes and wine. Also it lets everyone see just how many businesses have paid up.'

'Yes, I worked that out.'

'But you don't spot them all,' rebuked Amicus. 'I'll come to that… First I shall tell you what I have.' He was pedantic in giving reports. 'The organisation works thus: there are two equal leaders, both currently engaged in setting up a British crime community. One takes the sporty premises – brothels, betting, and fixing fights for gladiators. The other collects neighbourhood food and drink shops. They have come from Rome, but are planning to leave when their empire here is established. Pyro and Splice were intended to run this section for them.'

'Do the gang have a tame lawyer, one Popillius?'

'Not mentioned. They do have storage, ships, safe houses, a safe bath house even, and large group of heavy fighters. Some thugs they brought here, mainly seasoned criminals who found Rome too hot for comfort. Some are being recruited locally. Bad boys are rushing to join them. That is how they met the man who died.'

'Verovolcus, you mean? Yes, he was on the run… How do they attract these local boys? Don't tell me they advertise for hired labour on a pillar in the forum – free time, victuals and drink, plenty of beating up the populace?'

Amicus shrugged. 'Word of mouth, bound to be. I can ask.'

'It's not important. Assuming we catch Splice again, what can he be charged with?'

'He beat the baker to death. Pyro had picked the baker up, he was drinking at a wine bar called the Semele.'

'One of Jupiter's favoured ladies.'

'But did the baker know the gang ran it, or was he caught off guard?' wondered Amicus. Pyro torched the bakery, of course; that was his job. He was then present for the killing at the warehouse, although Splice carried it out.'

'That's definite. Where's your evidence? Witnesses?' Amicus shook his head. 'This is second hand, but I got it from the Ganymede waiters.'

'The waiters won't look good in court.'

'No, but now you can build on the information. If you ever apprehend them, some of the back-up bullyboys were in at the death. They also took the body on the boat and dumped it. The waiters heard all this when Splice reported to one of the two chiefs. The other didn't need telling; it was his boat. He was present at the warehouse where the killing happened. He came to take some money-chests away by river, then removed the dead baker at the same time. Good housekeeping. Better than a skip.' I shuddered; even the torturer pursed his lips disapprovingly. 'Now.' Amicus was coming to some special point. 'I was asked to obtain names.'

'Well let's compare,' I offered, knowing it would irritate him.

Amicus announced rather pompously, 'I was given Florius.'

My answer was calm. 'Gaius Florius Oppicus, to be precise.'

The torturer tutted, as though I was quite out of order in obtaining my own information – especially if mine was better than his. 'He is the vicious one, Falco. All agree he is vindictive, cruel and out to prevent any attempts by the authorities to interfere.'

'Sounds right. Florius gave the order for the Verovolcus killing.'

'No, hold it there, Falco!' Amicus held up a hand. 'My sources say different. They claim it was an accident.'

'Your sources sound insane!'

'According to them, Verovolcus was despised as a potential rival and not wanted as a colleague. He had tried to slither in on the market, and he thought he was tough – but the hard Roman gangsters simply regarded him as a clownish amateur. He was put down the well just to teach him a lesson.'

'Death's a hard lesson,' I commented.

'My sources dispute that,' Amicus insisted.

'Your sources are lying. I saw the corpse, remember.'

Amicus gave me a distasteful look; it was fine for him to haul men to the brink of death, screaming in agony, crippled for ever and mentally destroyed, but he disapproved of me for inspecting so many who had actually died.

He was starting to annoy me. 'Come on – "An accident"?' I scoffed. 'The lawyer must have tutored them! Verovolcus was shoved in and drowned.'

'The barber -'

I laughed harshly. 'Oh your strong-willed resistant razorman!'

The torturer grinned. He liked to think he was ascetic but he was showing intense enjoyment. 'The barber was a kitten once I found the right trick…

'Don't tell me.'

'Ah, Falco, you are too sensitive. He overheard Florius and the other top man discussing the incident afterwards. Apparently, Florius goes for the shaved-head look, to fool people he's a hard bastard.'

'Not when I knew him,' I growled.

'Florius maintained what had happened was horseplay; he said they all went away laughing, expecting that the Briton would just climb out, embarrassed and wet. He was astonished later, when he heard that Verovolcus had been found dead.'

'All a terrible mistake; my client is shocked… You sound like his lawyer again.'

'Oh don't be cruel, Falco.'

'Sorry! I don't like insulting experts – but I'm on the Verovolcus murder for the old King. I cannot tell Togidubnus his retainer died as a result of a light-hearted game going wrong.'

'Just tell him Florius did it then.' Morality came in subtle shades among torturers. 'He must be guilty of other crimes, Falco. And you have a witness who says he ordered this one.'

'What do you know about my witness?' I asked apprehensively.