He gazed at me as though Diana had touched my wits. ‘But of course I shall require your services. If there is any truth in your suspicions, naturally I wish to find the culprit. If you can prove to me who did it, of course we will bring a case against him. It is merely that, without clear proof of someone else’s guilt, suspicion will assuredly fall on me. Much better if people do not guess that there might ever have been a case at all. I want you to come here and consult about the pavement, and while you are about it you can ask a few questions in the household, find out who put that dog in the cupboard, and what happened to Egobarbus. And Zetso too. They cannot have got far tonight; the city gates will be closed. You can report to me here first thing in the morning.’
‘Excellence,’ I pleaded wearily, ‘it is already first thing in the morning. By the time I have walked home from here the bakers will be abroad in the streets.’
I must have sounded as weary as I felt. Marcus took pity on me, and sent me home in a litter.
Chapter Eight
In the morning I awoke to find the sun well risen in the sky, and the sounds of the day’s business issuing noisily from the shops and streets nearby. Junio (who had waited up anxiously for my return) had already risen and gone downstairs from where the delicious smell of hot oatcakes fresh from the street vendor, the intermittent sound of stone on chisel, and a murmur of urgent voices wafted up to me.
It seemed I had a customer.
I struggled up from my comfortable bed of rags and reeds, splashed a little water on my face and hands from the bowl which Junio had set for me, straightened my tunic, donned my belt and sandals and made my way down the rickety ladder to the back kitchen-cum-workroom of my humble shop.
The oatcakes were there, visibly cooling on a wooden platter beside the hearth, where a cheerful fire was already burning. I looked at them longingly, but Junio’s voice from the front shop beyond the flimsy partition drove any immediate thoughts of breakfast from my head.
‘I tell you he is sleeping, and must not be disturbed.’
Not a customer, then. Junio knew better than to turn away business. Nor a message from Marcus either — that would have brought Junio pounding up the stairs to fetch me, whatever the hour. I was puzzled. A man in my situation rarely receives social calls.
‘And I tell you I must speak with Libertus. There is some chance that he might vouch for me.’
I frowned. I recognised the voice. Those clipped Italian accents were unmistakable — my visitor was the sallow youth I had met the night before. And he wished me to ‘vouch’ for him. That sounded ominous.
I stepped around the partition, the sudden daylight almost dazzling my eyes. ‘Greetings, Octavius. You have found me, as you see. In what way did you hope that I could help you?’
The thin face looked hollower than ever, but the youth smiled and the work-roughened hands reached out to grasp mine urgently. ‘Libertus. Have you heard the news? Of course you have. You were there, you must have seen it. Perennis Felix is dead. Poisoned. The whole city is talking of it. I did not know what to do, and then I thought of you. I found out where you lived, and came to find you at once, before they came to arrest me. You can at least bear witness that when I left the banquet he was still alive.’
I disentangled myself from his grasp. So, attempts at hiding the possible poisoning had failed. Poor Marcus, he would be first in line for questioning. Some of the magistrates would enjoy that. A great man gains many enemies in the course of his duties. And of course, if my patron were questioned, I would certainly be next. He had spent the day with me. I closed my eyes momentarily.
When I opened them, Octavius was staring at me anxiously. ‘You had not heard?’
‘I had not heard that he was poisoned,’ I said, choosing my words carefully. ‘Who told you as much?’
‘A servant at the hiring stables this morning,’ the young man said hotly. ‘I called to see if. . I called there early on private business, and was told that Perennis Felix was already dead. Something he ate at the feast. I knew what conclusions everyone would draw. And, of course, I had made myself conspicuous by talking that stupid old dodderer with the dogs into letting me attend the banquet.’
So he was there as Gaius’s guest. That explained one mystery at least. But at the moment I had other concerns. ‘And the stable-hand said poisoned? You are sure? It appeared to most of us that Felix had simply choked on a nut.’
‘Clutching his throat and vomiting, he said. He gave a lively description.’ His face cleared. ‘Although, when I come to consider it, he did not actually mention poison. I simply supposed. .’ Octavius gave an embarrassed shrug. ‘He even called after me, but I did not stop to listen. I thought the authorities would already be looking for me. Zetso saw me at the banquet last night, and he knew-’ He stopped. ‘But of course, if Felix merely choked. . Libertus, I am sorry to have troubled you. I have been foolish, I think.’
I glanced at Junio, who had given up all pretence of cutting the piece of marble he was holding, and was listening with interest. I caught his eye and he raised an eyebrow questioningly. I nodded, and he disappeared inside to clear a place in the workroom and set out a pair of folding stools. I smiled approvingly. Like me, Junio had found the young man’s words singularly intriguing.
I took my visitor gently by the elbow. ‘From what you say about your early start, Octavius, I imagine you have not breakfasted? I do not suppose you returned to your lodgings?’
‘It is of no consequence. I rarely eat in the morning. A beaker of water and a piece of fruit perhaps.’
‘Then you will stay and breakfast with me? I have more robust Celtic appetites, and there are some fresh oatcakes which are not yet entirely cold.’
He shook his head with a kind of frantic haste. ‘No, thank you, no. You are very kind, but there are things that I must do urgently.’
My grip on his elbow tightened. ‘Octavius,’ I said, ‘I am sure you want to speak to your accomplice, whoever it is,’ I had the satisfaction of seeing his face pale, but I went on inexorably, ‘but first you will talk to me. It seems to me you have something to explain. First you appear at a banquet where it seems you have little business to be, and you disappear again with scarcely a word. Next you go skulking around the hiring stables at daybreak and rush away in a panic when you hear that Felix is dead. If I were a magistrate I would find this very suspicious. And then you lay a trail to my door by asking half of Glevum where I live. You owe me an explanation, at least.’
Octavius looked at his sandal-straps and shook his head.
‘Then,’ I said brightly, giving his elbow a warning squeeze, ‘perhaps I should send Junio for the aediles? No doubt they will be interested in your doings. Your early morning visit to the stables, for instance.’
Octavius pulled his arm away. ‘But there is nothing to explain. It seems that Felix was not poisoned after all. Besides, who would pay any attention to me? I am a humble tile-maker — not a powerful tyrant protected by imperial favour like Felix.’
I glanced at him sharply. An interesting choice of words, I thought. I said, slowly and firmly, ‘Octavius, I understand that you come from Rome. That it is a big city, and no doubt they do things differently there. But this is Glevum. Here, everyone of importance knows everybody else, and everything unusual is a wonder. Your arrival — as a visitor from Rome — will have been noted, and commented upon, by every pie-seller, amulet-maker and horse-dealer in the city. Just take a look around you.’
Octavius glanced nervously up and down the street, where at this very moment a dozen urchins were ogling us, while a fat peasant woman with a basket of turnips on her back was whispering to a man with a loaded donkey, openly nudging him and nodding in our direction.