‘Not the villa,’ he said quickly. ‘My poor wife is out there now and she’ll be distressed. I’ll have them take the body to my Glevum residence. I have a townhouse just inside the walls, and that would be a great deal more convenient. Do you know where it is?’
I shook my head.
‘Well, if you’d like to follow me, I’ll take you there,’ he said. ‘I understand you have an animal?’
‘I have a mule,’ I told him, pointing down the lane, where Arlina was munching morosely at wet leaves.
Bernadus threw his head back and gave a nervous laugh. ‘Well, I can’t accompany you to town on that. Give it to my slave, and you can ride my horse.’
Adonisius had sidled up to us. ‘I could take it, masters. He could have my mount.’
Bernadus grinned. He was enjoying this. ‘Better that you ride back home yourself as fast as possible and let your master know what has been found. Libertus will be calling on him later on.’
The Syrian nodded, though he was clearly not happy at being thus dismissed. He climbed on to his horse and urged it down the track, while Bernadus’s escort clambered scowling to the ground, abandoning his lovely animal to me.
‘Ride that thing to my townhouse!’ his master called to him. ‘The Citizen Libertus will collect it there! Come pavement-maker!’ He wheeled his horse and led the way along the lane.
TWENTY-TWO
I thoroughly enjoyed the journey back to town. It is many years since I had ridden such a horse and the next few minutes were a pure delight. Bernadus seemed surprised that I could ride at all.
‘It is good of you to take such trouble and to have joined the search,’ he called, cantering up beside me as we rode the snowy lanes. ‘You hardly knew the dead man, as I understand?’
‘I had a contract with him, that is all,’ I replied, reining in my horse to talk to him. ‘But my patron is acting as Silvia’s guardian and he asked me to come. You, on the other hand, must have been his closest friend. I know he called on you to witness what we had agreed and you were very generous with your hospitality.’
The stout face flushed a little. ‘Hardly a friend, citizen, as one understands the word. I don’t think Genialis ever had a friend.’
I stared at him. That was the second time that someone had said that to me. ‘But you were good to him. You agreed to act as surety for him, with Alfredus Allius, I heard. And I heard you invite him to your country house — “treat my house as your own” you said to him. Which it seems he did. No casual matter either — you entertained him from the Kalends till the day he disappeared. And his ward and slave as well, I understand. You even left Glevum and went out there yourself to host them properly.’
I said this in the hope of provoking some response. It had occurred to me that of all the people Genialis knew, Bernadus had the greatest opportunity for killing him, since the party bound for Dorn had been staying at his house. As for disposing of the body, there was chance of that as well, as he had certainly been travelling up and down that major road, several times after his guest had disappeared. I had seen him at the Janus festival myself.
Moreover, it was his horse that Genialis was riding the last time he was seen — it would be easy for the owner to have it tampered with. It was quite the best theory that I had managed up to now. But what would be the motive, if the men were friends?
As if he had been reading my mind, Bernadus answered that question for himself. ‘Citizen, since it is quite safe to tell you now, as he will never hear of it, I will confess the truth. I could not stand the man. Of course I would have done a great deal for the lady Silvia — as would any man who ever met her, I suspect. If I did not have a wife I would sue for her myself, now that her guardian is safely dead.’ He seemed to realize that this wasn’t very wise and he went on, leaning over to caress his horse’s neck. ‘As to the services that you remind me of, I had no choice but to oblige him in any way he chose. He knew something that could have cost me everything — even my life — and he’d threatened more than once that he would use it if I did not do exactly as he asked.’ He glanced around as if his mounted escort might be overhearing this, but of course there was nobody in sight. Arlina could not move at such a pace.
‘Blackmail?’ I whispered.
‘You could call it that. There was a letter — written on a wax-pad, that is all — one scrape with a warm strigil would have rubbed it out — but he got hold of it. It was very foolish to have written it — it was only intended for my brother’s eyes — several stupid jokes about the Emperor.’ He paused and looked at me. ‘I don’t mean Pertinax, may the gods increase his rule; I mean the last Imperial idiot. Mad as a burnt bear and thought he was a god. Well, everybody said so — I’m not the only one. The trouble was that Genialis found the jokes somehow. I think he intercepted my private messenger. In any case he threatened to betray me — and pass the tablet to the Imperial spies. He said that he knew several of them, and I expect that’s true. He’s the sort of man who would. And you know what would have happened to me then?’
I nodded, though in fact I didn’t know at all. One of the famous things about the Emperor Commodus was that he found inventive methods of executing ‘foes’ — which meant anyone who dared to say a word against his so-called deity. But one thing was quite certain: Bernadus certainly had cause to wish Genialis dead.
‘Of course,’ he went on innocently, ‘it doesn’t matter now. Commodus is dead. But I didn’t know that when Genialis disappeared, and when he left us I had an awful fright — especially when he insisted on going out without a page. I thought he’d gone to have some secret meeting with an Imperial spy. I would have promised anything to have avoided that.’
‘Or done anything?’ I prompted. ‘Such as killing him?’
Bernadus looked startled, then gave a little laugh. ‘I suppose I might have done that — if it came to it. But it seems that someone else had equal cause. And in case you are thinking that I did it anyway, I’ll just point out to you that it isn’t possible. The day that Genialis left us, I was in the house with my wife, my staff and also Silvia and that Syrian slave. They can all vouch for that.’
‘But you have travelled that way several times since then.’ There was no point in not telling him my thoughts.
‘I never leave the house without an escort,’ he exclaimed, as though I were mad to have suggested it. ‘Especially when the weather is so bad. Come to that, I don’t know any citizen who would. Genialis was the one who acted in a peculiar way, insisting that he didn’t want his servant to accompany him. But he did say that. I heard him, and so did half the house. There can be no doubt of it.’ He grinned. ‘Anyway, I’m not the only one who’s glad to see him dead. I imagine that Alfredus Allius will be pleased as well. I hear that Genialis made a fool of him — made him a debtor in the sight of all the town, which threatens his re-election as a councillor. But now, at least, that problem will be solved — he’ll get the money out of the estate.’
I looked at him severely. ‘But weren’t you the surety?’
He looked a bit unhappy, but he simply shrugged. ‘I’m not sure where the law is going to stand on that. If a man can’t meet his debts on time for reasons out of his control — and I imagine being dead is going to qualify — then the contract hasn’t failed, and the surety will not be called upon. There will simply be a claim against the legatees.’ He urged his horse a little faster.
I kept up with him. ‘But Genialis had the money with him, didn’t he?’ I remembered hearing the story of the gold.
Bernadus did that dismissive shrug again. ‘We didn’t find it, citizen, if he did. After Silvia sent and told us that her guardian had not arrived in town, Alfredus Allius came to me and together we searched all his possessions carefully. We found an empty casket and some silver coins. But there was nothing in the way of gold — I have a household full of witnesses to that.’ He dug his knees into his horse and pulled ahead.