David Wishart: White Murder

They don’t even have to put into shore any more.

It fitted. It all fitted sweet as a nut, everything bar none. Around and around and around. I might not have all the answers yet, not by a long chalk – there was the question of the vet, for a start, and the markings, and above all Typhon – but it was only a matter of time because I knew now which thimble the pea was under.

I had to have another word with Florus. And after that catch the first ship back to Rome.

It took us twelve days in total to find a suitable merchantman and make the trip to Ostia, and even so the captain had already let the deckhouse to a rich Sicilian and we had to bed down al fresco, so I arrived like a half-wrung-out dishrag. Still, I was happy enough: I’d got what I wanted, and the information from Florus checked out all the way down the line. We spent the first day back recuperating, and I sent Alexis round to the three sets of stables – Greens, Blues and Whites – to arrange a meeting. Sure, I could’ve talked to the principal protagonists individually but if I was right, and I’d bet a month’s income to a button that I was, the solution to the case was so tangled that I’d need them all together.

They agreed to meet at the Greens’ stables the next day, with Cario representing the Whites: Cammius, it seemed, was out of it completely now and had been since Polydoxus’s death. When the gate troll steered me into Natalis’s office they were already there. Not that the atmosphere was exactly convivial. The faces that turned towards me could’ve been carved from marble.

‘Hi,’ I said.

‘Sit down, Corvinus,’ Natalis snapped. He didn’t look much more prepossessing than the last time I’d seen him. ‘Socrates, wait outside.’

The gate troll gave me a parting scowl and left, closing the door behind him with exaggerated care. There was an empty chair to the right of the desk opposite Acceptus and Cario. I pulled it up and sat.

It wasn’t just me. Put three faction bosses – and it seemed I’d have to include Cario in that category now – in the same room together and it’s like hosting a wolverine’s convention. They’ll get on well enough in public, sure, but egos that size need space, and if you listened hard enough you could hear the elbows flexing. Acceptus, especially, was looking like a mule had shat in his porridge.

Natalis leaned back. If the charioteer statuette on his desk had still been there he’d’ve disappeared behind it altogether, but it’d been taken away. Probably to leave a clear line of fire. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘What’s this all about?’

Well, I appreciated the guy’s directness, anyway. ‘I know who murdered Pegasus and why,’ I said. ‘Also who poisoned Polydoxus.’

I had a good view of Acceptus and Cario. The youngster was looking pale but his jaw was set. Acceptus crossed his legs. Neither of them said anything.

‘Is that right, now?’ Natalis said. You could’ve used the glare I got to lance boils.

I turned to him. ‘You lost a colt about a year back. From a Sicilian breeder called Florus.’

He shifted. ‘Right. So?’

‘You care to recount the details?’

‘That’s private faction business, Corvinus.’

Bugger that; we had to get this out of the way now, or we’d never get anywhere. ‘Look, pal,’ I said evenly. ‘One of the main problems in this whole boiling has been that where racing and horses are concerned everyone has closed up like a fucking clam. Now we can play this from two sides. One, you can all take your communal fingers out for the duration or two I leave right now and have a long talk with the city judge. Your choice. Me, I don’t particularly care any more.’

There was a long silence. Acceptus cleared his throat, uncrossed his legs and then crossed them again. Cario scowled. Natalis glanced at both of them and turned back to me.

‘Okay,’ he said. ‘The colt’s name was Aster. I bought him from Florus last March. He died on the way to Rome. These things happen; not often, but they happen. The horse was insured so I didn’t lose out. End of story.’

‘The transporter was a guy named Maximus?’

‘Yeah. That’s right. Maximus transports all of Florus’s horses.’

‘You happen to know how the colt died?’

‘No. I don’t know the medical details, but my vet on board signed the certificate.’

‘This vet. He still on your staff?’

Natalis shrugged. ‘Sure. In fact, he should be on the compound now.’

‘You mind if I talk to him?’

That got me a long look. Finally Natalis stood up, crossed to the door and opened it. The eyes of both Acceptus and Cario followed him. ‘Socrates?’

The troll appeared. ‘Yeah, boss?’

‘Fetch Harmodius. He’ll be down at the sick bay.’ He closed the door. ‘Now. This had better be relevant, Corvinus, because if it isn’t then you’re in deep trouble.’

‘It’s relevant,’ I said.

Natalis grunted and sat back down behind the desk. ‘Florus tell you about Aster?’

‘Yeah. He said Maximus had only ever lost one of his animals in the fifteen years he’d been shipping. Aster was the one. He was a good horse, right?’

‘The best. Young for racing – he was only a five-year-old at the time – but I’ve come to rely on Florus’s judgment. He’s a top-notch breeder. If he said the colt was a champion in the making that was enough for me.’

‘ “Aster” ,’ I said. ‘That means “Star” in Greek. There any particular reason for the name?’

‘Sure. He had a white patch on his forehead.’ Natalis’s finger sketched the place. ‘Five points, perfect. So?’

‘What happened to the body?’

‘It was buried at the next landfall, just south of Messana.’

‘That’s usual?’

Natalis shrugged. ‘Corpses make horses nervous, and horses on a boat are twitchy enough already, especially thoroughbreds. We’ve got a good relationship with our insurers’ – he glanced at Acceptus – ‘unlike some of the other factions. The vet’s certificate was good enough for them. Besides, it’s standard procedure. Animals’re inspected for health and fitness before they’re loaded, sure, but if one dies en route we don’t keep it. Even vets make mistakes, and if the real cause of death happens to have been something catching then we want the body off the ship as soon as it can be managed.’

‘Uh-huh.’ I paused. ‘This vet, by the way. Harmodius. He reliable?’

That netted me the long stare again. ‘All my staff are reliable. I told you that before. If I find they aren’t for any reason then they’re out.’

‘Okay.’ I shifted ground. ‘He been with you long?’

‘Not all that long. He’s a good man, though, one of the best in the business.’ His mouth set. ‘I’m no fool, Corvinus. Are you saying that the death was a fake and Harmodius was in on the scam? Because if so -’

‘No. The horse died, all right. That’s the whole point.’

‘Then why the hell is it relevant?’

‘Maybe we’d better talk to Harmodius first.’ I glanced over at Acceptus and Cario. They hadn’t said a word so far, which was fine with me, but I was getting looks from them that should’ve made my hair curl. ‘While we’re waiting you can tell me about Pegasus.’

‘What about him?’

‘You knew he was Florus’s brother, right?’

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Cario shift in his seat. Interesting.

‘Sure I did.’

‘You didn’t think to tell me?’

‘Why should I? That was private faction -’

‘- business. Yeah. It would’ve cleared up a lot of things before they got sticky, though. Did you know the two didn’t get on?’

Silence. Natalis frowned; I had him at a disadvantage, and he didn’t like it. ‘No,’ he said at last. ‘No, I didn’t know that. Neither of them told me.’