Steven Saylor - Catilina's riddle

I looked at Eco. 'The well?' I said.

He shook his head. 'I looked there, and in every other place I could think of where she might have fallen or hurt herself. The slaves have combed the property from end to end, more than once. There's no sign of her.'

'Meto!' cried Bethesda suddenly, seeing his bandage for the first time. She stepped away from me and put her arms around him. 'And the neighbours?' I said to Eco..

'I've gone to see all four of them. They all claim complete ignorance, but who knows? If I had cause to blame one of them, I'd gladly burn down his house to make him tell the truth.'

'Who saw Diana last?'

'She wasn't satisfied with her midday porridge and wanted more. Bethesda was asleep, so Diana took it on herself to go into the kitchen for another helping. Congrio says he teased her about being such a glutton, but gave her another bowl. She ate it there in the kitchen, and then she ran outside to play. But no one seems to have seen her—'

'Meto!' cried Bethesda as he tore himself from her arms and ran towards the house.

'Come, Eco, hurry, before he kills him?’ I cried, running after Meto.

By the time I reached the kitchen, Congrio had already been knocked to the floor. He was on his back, a look of surprised panic in his eyes, with his hands raised to shield his face. Meto wielded a heavy iron poker from the furnace and was swinging it without restraint. The metal made a curiously pleasant sound as it connected with the soft flesh that padded Congrio's body. ‘Where is she? Where is she?' Meto kept growling through clenched teeth, while Congrio wailed and screamed.

'Meto, I've already questioned him!' protested Eco, who made a move to stop the beating, then jumped back as Meto swung the poker wildly. With Eco out of the way, Meto resumed the bearing, striking the plump cook again and again. I didn't have to see his face to know the satisfaction he felt by giving in to such unchecked violence, for I felt it, too. All his despair and bitterness was being vented against the helpless body that kicked and screamed on the floor.

'Papa, stop him! He'll kill the poor slave!' cried Eco.

'As well he might, but not before we find out what he knows,' I said. 'All right, Meto, enough. Enough.!' Holding my hands before my face, I managed to intervene and grab Meto's arm as he raised it to deliver another blow. He fought against me for a moment, then clumsily transferred the poker to his other hand, as if he meant to go on beating Congrio, but Eco was able to wrest the weapon from him, and I was able to hold his arms at his sides long enough for him to gain control of himself. Congrio, meanwhile, lay blubbering and gasping on the floor.

'Torture him, Papa! Make him talk!' snarled Meto.

'Yes, I will if I have to.' I turned towards Congrio, intending to deliver the hardest kick I could manage, but the sight he presented was so pathetic I refrained.

'Please, Master, don't hurt me!' he wept, and when Meto moved menacingly towards him he shrieked. 'I know nothing!'

'Liar!' I couldn't resist kicking him then. His squealing reaction gave me a taste of Meto's joy. 'liar! I know about you already. You'll be lucky if I let you live after what you've done. Now tell me what's become of Diana, or by Jupiter I'll torture you until you do!'

Congrio was very forthcoming after that

'We mustn't give ourselves away too soon,' I cautioned Meto and Eco as we guided our horses off the Cassian Way. Belbo was also with us, along with ten other slaves, most of them burly strong-armers whom Eco had brought when he came up from Rome, and all of them armed with daggers. Ahead of us, mosdy hidden beyond a copse, was the little farmhouse. A plume of smoke rose from the house, which meant that our quarry was probably still about and had not fled to Rome or elsewhere. Diana, I prayed, was also within the house, but the thought of how we might find her caused my chest to tighten and made my stomach twist into knots.

'Since you were already here yesterday asking questions, Eco, perhaps they won't be too surprised to see you again. The important thing is to get inside, and then to move very quickly.'

'Don't worry, Papa, we talked about all this before we left the house,' said Meto. 'We know what to do.'

In the copse, hidden by the dense, naked branches, the slaves dismounted and tied their horses. Meto, Eco, and I rode on alone. It was the quiet hour after midday, and no one was stirring outside. When we reached the house we dismounted and Eco rapped on the door. An old slave woman with silver hair opened it, 'Ah, you,' she said, recognizing Eco, then squinting past him to scrutinize Meto and me.

'My father and brother, just returned from a long journey,' Eco said. "They've come to ask about my sister, as I did. For their own satisfaction, you understand.'

The slave woman nodded uncertainly. 'Ah, yes. Well, let me go and tell—'

'Eco, is that you again?' crooned a familiar voice from within. A dim figure appeared inside the dark house and approached us. 'Oh, my dear boy, I wish I had news for you, but I fear that nothing — oh, and your father as well. And Meto, wearing an awful bandage!' she said, stepping into the light of the doorway, pushing a handful of frazzled red hair from her face.

‘Yes, Claudia, we've come to ask for your help,' I said.

"Then poor Diana is still missing?'

'Yes.'

'Oh, dear, and I had so hoped that she would turn up at your house before darkness fell last night. You must be so terribly worried.' 'We are.'

'Especially Bethesda. I've never known a mother's joys myself, nor a mother's sorrows, but she must be utterly distraught! But I'm afraid I have nothing new to tell you. I had my slaves scour the property, just as you asked, Eco, but they found no trace. If you wish, you could send over some of your own slaves to search — just to satisfy yourselves. I can understand that,'

'You would allow that, Claudia?'

'Of course.'

'Would you let us search inside your stable and your outbuildings?'

'If you wish. I don't see how she could have got inside any of those places without my slaves knowing, or how she could stay unseen, unless she's intentionally hiding for some reason — but search if you wish.'

'And would you let us search even inside your house, Claudia?' Her mask slipped a bit. 'Well…'

'In your private rooms, in your bedroom, for instance? In places no outsider would ordinarily see?'

'I'm not sure what you mean, Gordianus. The child could hardly be in my house without my knowing it, could she?'

'No, I don't imagine she could.'

For an instant her eyes grew hard and glittering, then Claudia drew her brows together and pressed her mouth into a sweetly indulgent pout. 'Oh, Gordianus, how distraught you must be to be talking like this. Certainly, search wherever you wish! Do it right now, to set your mind at ease, so that you can get on with your searching elsewhere.'

'We shall,' I said, and as swiftly and smoothly as I could, as if I were taking her in my arms to kiss her neck, I spun her around and put my dagger to her throat. She opened her mouth and distended her throat to make a noise, but cringed at the touch of the sharp blade and choked instead. I pulled her out of the house into the cold sunlight, while Meto ran inside and Eco called for the slaves.

We met no resistance. The elderly door slave screamed in alarm, and Claudia's slaves came running, some with daggers or clubs, but when they saw their mistress's predicament they drew back and watched dumbly as my men ransacked the stable and the wine press, the tool sheds and the slave quarters, and then searched the house.

'You're making a horrible mistake,' said Claudia.

"The horrible mistake will be yours if you've done anything to harm her,' snapped Eco, running into the house to join the others in the search.