David Wishart - No Cause for Concern

I grinned. ‘Okay, Aristotle. As a theory, it has definite possibilities. I’ll grant you that. File for reference. Next.’

‘You’re assuming that Astrapton did the arranging.’

‘So?’

‘What if he didn’t? What if the meeting was Luscius’s idea? Or at least that he wanted it to happen?’

‘Gods, Perilla! Why should Titus Luscius want to talk to Astrapton? I said: he wouldn’t even give the guy the time of day.’

‘As far as you know.’

‘Yeah, well, that’s sort of axiomatic, isn’t it? Everyone says he’d have nothing to do with his stepfather’s business associates, even his mother and his girlfriend. That’s enough proof for me.’

‘Yes, but what if Luscius had found out somehow that Astrapton was fiddling the books, and wanted to face him with it? Perhaps attempt a little blackmail?’

‘We don’t know yet that Astrapton was on the fiddle.’

‘No. But it’s a strong possibility, isn’t it?’

‘You’re fantasising, lady. One, unless I’ve got him completely wrong, Luscius was no blackmailer. He wasn’t the type. And two, if his motive wasn’t personal profit then why should he care if Astrapton was ripping Eutacticus off? From his point of view it’d simply be one crook stealing from another.’

‘All right. I admit that that scenario is the most unlikely. Leave it. Third theory, also involving the blackmail theme. What if it was the other way round, and Astrapton was blackmailing Luscius?’

‘Over what? Titus Luscius wasn’t -’ I stopped. Shit. I’d been going to say that Luscius wasn’t the blackmailer’s-victim type, that he wasn’t the sort to have a guilty secret. But he did have one, didn’t he? If Astrapton knew about the grotto then he must’ve known about his relationship with Sempronia, and as a top-notch accountant he could calculate how many beans made five. Yeah; that would work, and Occusia had said money wasn’t a problem for her son, that Eutacticus gave him as much as he liked.

‘It still wouldn’t make sense, though,’ I said. ‘A blackmailer doesn’t kill his victim. If anything, it happens the other way round.’

‘Perhaps he didn’t originally intend to. Perhaps Luscius was planning to kill him and Astrapton turned the tables.’

Gods! It was usually me who went out on a limb with theorising! ‘Perilla, Luscius wasn’t the type to commit a murder any more than he was capable of blackmail. Trust me; he wouldn’t’ve set up a meeting intending to kill Astrapton in cold blood, no way. And if he had then that’s the way things would have gone. Luscius was a big lad, he could handle himself in a fight, we know that from his pal Bellarius. Besides, there was the slave Lynchus as well. If it had come to an actual fight, particularly if he’d been taken by surprise, a weed like Astrapton wouldn’t’ve stood a chance.’

‘But he evidently did. If it was him. More than a chance. The murder victims were Luscius and his slave, not Astrapton.’

I frowned. ‘Yeah. That’s been puzzling me. Oh, one person could’ve done both murders, no argument, but to keep the element of surprise he’d have to have been sure of taking the pair down one at a time. Plus he’d have to be up to the job, because if he fumbled either killing, particularly the first one, the chances are he’d be up shit creek. Certainly scratch the surprise element.’

‘So?’

‘So I think Astrapton – if it was Astrapton – had an accomplice. Things’d be a lot easier with two people.’

‘You mean someone from inside the house?’

‘No. Not necessarily, in fact not at all. The boundary wall backs directly onto the hill. There’s plenty of rough cover the other side, so any third party’d have all the time he needed to get over with zero risk of being spotted. He could even’ve used a ladder. And an accomplice would fit the mechanics of the thing. Astrapton takes Luscius inside leaving the slave to keep watch so they can discuss their business in private. Meanwhile his pal hidden in the shrubbery slits Lynchus’s throat – that was done just outside the entrance to the grotto, I saw the bloodstains – and then comes in to help Astrapton kill Luscius. That make sense?’

Perilla was twisting a lock of hair. ‘Yes, Marcus, it does. And it would fit in just as well with the first theory of the bogus note. So if we shelve the question of motive for the present then who would the accomplice have been?’

‘Easy. Young Paetinius. Oh, it’s just a guess, but we don’t have any other front runners and he’s a fair bet. It’d solve the problem of motive, too, because Paetinius had it in spades, and from what Luscius’s pal Bellarius told me he has the form as well.’ I took a swallow of the wine. ‘It all fits beautifully. Paetinius makes the running and sets up the plan, Astrapton facilitates things from the inside.’

‘Just a moment. You’re assuming some prior connection between the two.’

‘Yeah.’ I rubbed my chin. ‘True.’

‘Besides, despite what you say, I’m not at all sure that even outright hatred would constitute enough of a motive to commit murder. There would have to be something more concrete, surely. And there’s still the very moot question of whether Paetinius would have the intellectual capacity to plan one.’

‘True again. All the same -’ I stopped. Oh, gods! I’d cracked it! Or part of it, anyway… ‘No there isn’t. Because he didn’t need to have.’

‘Pardon?’

‘And there was something more concrete.’

‘Namely?’

‘Something that Eutacticus said when I talked to him this morning. That if it’d been him – Eutacticus himself – who’d been murdered I’d have a suspect list of enemies as long as my arm. And his ex-partner would be right at the top. Paetinius senior.’

‘Marcus, we’re talking about the son, not the father!’

‘Just hear me out. It comes to the same thing in the end, more or less. And it makes much more sense if father and son were in it together.’

‘Explain.’

‘If Eutacticus was planning to adopt young Luscius – whatever the kid’s own plans in that direction were – then getting rid of the son and heir might strike the elder Paetinius as a pretty good idea. Particularly if with Luscius gone his own son might be in the running again to inherit Eutacticus’s business operations.’

‘Now that is far-fetched!’

‘Not as far fetched as it sounds. Whatever Eutacticus’s feelings are on the matter, young Paetinius and his mother both claim – and maybe genuinely believe – that they’ve been screwed out of their rights. Their legal rights. According to Bellarius, Titus Luscius’d told Paetinius until he was blue in the face that he had no interest in taking over from his stepfather, and Paetinius still didn’t believe him. Now Luscius is actually dead, whether he was only acting disinterested or not is irrelevant. And what happens if Eutacticus dies without a replacement heir?’

‘If he can get himself recognised as Eutacticus’s son under law, then Paetinius would inherit. Could he?’

‘I don’t know. I’m no lawyer. But he was born only four months after his parents’ divorce, and the whole business of Paetinius Senior being his natural father could just be malicious gossip and suspicion on Eutacticus’s part. Certainly it can’t be proved for definite, as it’d have to be for the thing to stand up in court. So, yeah, I’d reckon he’s at least in with a shout. A better shout than if Luscius was still around, anyway. Particularly with the elder Paetinius’s money to buy the best rep in the city and grease the legal wheels.’

‘Mmm.’ Perilla was still twisting her hair. ‘You know, it might even provide the missing motive for Astrapton. And the prior connection.’