David Wishart - Foreign Bodies

‘Of course I have. I said at the time: the kid’s an obsessive geek. Half the town could’ve been in and out of that summer house and he still might not have noticed. Even so.’ I downed the last of the water-wine mix. ‘Ah, hell. Leave it. It’ll work itself out sooner or later.’

Bathyllus buttled in.

‘Dinner, sir. Madam. If you’d care to come through.’

We did. Tomorrow could wait, and I still had to break the glad news to Nerva. Which wasn’t, I had to admit, something I was particularly looking forward to.

I was round at the provincial governor’s offices first thing the next morning.

‘You want to go to Augusta ?’ Nerva said when I told him. ‘Why on earth would you want to do that?’

‘Just covering the angles,’ I said. ‘Is it possible?’

‘Of course it’s possible.’ He frowned; however much he was trying to hide it, the guy was well and truly pissed off, which in the circumstances was understandable. ‘Anything is possible .’

‘Yeah, well, I’m sorry, pal, but I need to talk to someone else in Cabirus’s family. His sister-in-law, to be exact. A woman called Quadrunia.’

‘Oh, I’m sure where that part of it’s concerned Governor Hister will give you every facility. Or rather his aide will. I’ve met him a couple of times, a man by the name of Saenius Balbinus. He’s a nice enough chap, and very efficient. Caninia will be disappointed, though; she’s really enjoyed showing your wife around, and a little excitement goes a long way here. How long were you planning to stay?’

‘Not long, provided everything goes according to plan. Possibly only a day or so.’

He just looked at me. ‘You’re joking,’ he said.

‘No. A day or so should just about cover it.’

I could see him mentally counting to ten, gritting his teeth while he did it.

‘Corvinus, you do realize just how far away from here Augusta is, don’t you?’ he said at last.

‘Uh … yeah. Or rather, Perilla does. About four hundred miles, right?’

‘More or less, yes.’

‘There you go, then.’

He sighed. ‘Very well. You have the emperor’s personal authorization, so if you really want to go there and then come right back then that’s your privilege, and I’m duty bound to facilitate things. Leave it with me. I’ll send a rider straight away to make sure you’re expected, in Augusta itself and at the points en route.’

‘Hey, that’s no problem,’ I said. ‘We can take pot luck. I’m sure everything’ll be fine.’

He closed his eyes, briefly. ‘Read my lips, Corvinus,’ he said. ‘You are a ranking imperial procurator, appointed directly by the emperor. If my governor discovered that I’d simply waved you off on a four-hundred-mile trip without making thorough arrangements beforehand he would quite rightly have my guts for garters. And when you arrived at the other end – if you arrived at the other end – unlooked for and unannounced, Balbinus – let alone Governor Hister – would have an apoplexy. I’d be very lucky if my next posting, effective immediately, wasn’t to Mauretania. There’s such a thing as protocol, and it’s not a discardable option. You understand?’

‘Ah … yeah. Look, I’m sorry, Nerva.’

‘Not as sorry as I am, considering what’s involved.’

‘That tricky, eh?’

‘More than you can possibly know. Still, Procurator Laco is going up there himself in a few days’ time. Maybe I can patch you in with him. For the outward journey, at least. Fortunately, getting you back isn’t my concern.’

Oh, hell; spending half of a month travelling in the company of that dried fish wasn’t exactly a pleasant prospect. Even so, I wasn’t about to raise any objections at this point.

‘Fine by me,’ I said. ‘Whatever.’

‘It’d certainly simplify things a lot.’ Actually, he was looking a bit brighter: problem, evidently, if not solved then at least mitigated. ‘And you’d have company on the road. Besides Laco’s, I mean.’

‘Yeah? How’s that?’

‘It’s clear you’re no traveller, Corvinus. Gaul’s pretty safe where bandits are concerned, on the main roads, anyway, but it’s still best to travel in a group when you can. Laco has his guard – that’s what they’re there for – so there’ll be one or two other people, individuals who happen to be going the same way. In any case’ – he stood up – ‘leave things with me. I’ll let you know for definite tomorrow at the latest, but plan for four days’ time. Fair enough?’

‘Absolutely,’ I said.

Yeah, well, it would have to be, wouldn’t it? Still, I only had myself to blame this time round.

Nerva was as good as his word, and got back to us early the next morning: with Laco’s party, leaving in another three days’ time, it was. Which meant I had a chance to follow up the Julius Vindus side of things. If my squaddie pal on the gate had had it right, he should be back from his assignment by now.

After Nerva had been and gone, I went down to the procurator’s offices. There were a couple of new lads on duty this time, and they didn’t know anything about Vindus’s whereabouts, but I went inside and found the clerk who’d helped me out with the duty roster the day before.

‘Uh … Largus, wasn’t it?’ I said.

‘Yes indeed, sir.’ He beamed. ‘How can I help you?’

‘I was looking for a Julius Vindus. You happen to know where I can find him?’

‘Of course, sir. He’s the duty officer this morning. You wanted to talk to him?’

‘Yeah, if that’s possible.’

‘No problem. I’ll have him temporarily relieved and send him to you. If you’d care to use the procurator’s private office? Procurator Laco is out at the moment, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.’

‘That’d be great. Thanks.’

‘You’re very welcome. Follow me, please.’

We went upstairs and he showed me into a very plush office with cedar-panelled walls, a desk you could’ve sat a dozen people round, easy, and a bust of Claudius staring at me disapprovingly from a pedestal. Luckily, there was also a small table to one side with a set of Gallic wickerwork chairs. I pulled up one of these and sat down to wait.

The guy arrived ten minutes later. Mid- to late-twenties, good-looking in an all-teeth-and-hair-oil way, impeccably uniformed and cocky as hell. There are some people you just know are going to get up your nose before they’ve even opened their mouths. For me, Julius Vindus was there with the best of them.

‘Valerius Corvinus?’ he said. ‘You wanted to see me?’

‘Yeah.’ I indicated one of the other chairs. ‘Take a seat, pal.’

He did. ‘What’s this about? Oh, I know who you are, of course, but I can’t see how I can be any help to you.’

‘Tell me about Claudilla.’

He blinked. ‘What?’

‘Claudius Cabirus’s daughter. You got her pregnant, didn’t you?’

He half-rose. ‘Now look here …’

‘Just sit down and answer the question. Mind you, to be fair, it was rhetorical because I know damn well that you did.’

He sat again, slowly. ‘And just how the hell do you know?’ he said.

‘Never mind that. Just give me the story.’

‘You want the sordid details?’ He grinned. ‘Come on, Corvinus! You’re a married man, so surely you can work the mechanics of it out for yourself. Or is it prurient interest?’

‘She’s what, fourteen? She can’t be any older. Half your age, or thereabouts.’

‘Old enough to marry, legally. Both here and in Rome. Or am I wrong?’

‘Yeah, well, that’s the point, isn’t it?’ I crossed my legs and folded my arms to stop myself reaching over and flattening the bastard. ‘I don’t think you have marriage in mind. Do you?’