Nemesis

'The Praetorians,' said Silvius, with sly satisfaction, 'have to remain with the Emperor. The Urban Cohorts are free to roam. Our remit covers major crime – not only in the city, but anywhere within a hundred miles. Because, you see, any horrible criminal activity in that area might affect the sacred capital.'

'Now it makes sense,' said Aelianus. Even in the shaky hands of Minas of Karystos he had absorbed enough legal training to care about jurisdictions. 'For instance, the Modestus case would fall to you?'

'Yes, but Anacrites wants it.'

'So?'

'There is a magistrate at Antium -'

Justinus laughed. 'The invisible man!'

It was Silvius' turn to raise an eyebrow.

'When Modestus and Primilla disappeared, a posse from Antium was sent to investigate. Before Anacrites waded in and stopped our activity, Falco, Petronius and I tried to liaise with the magistrate but he declined to meet us.'

'You assumed Antium dropped all interest?' suggested Silvius. 'No, there is more to the man than that, boys. When he found nothing in the soggy marshes, it's true he went home and seemed to keep his head down. You may suppose he just spends his life enjoying the sea breezes at Antium, but this togate beach bum has a sense of duty – for civic rectitude, he could be one of our clean-living, right-thinking, porridge-slurping ancestors. Nor does bureaucracy scare him. Amazingly, he went on digging. He looked through records. Then one fine day, he was entertaining the Urban Prefect – our beloved commander, who, it has to be admitted, had gone out to Antium using official expenses in order to scout for a cut-price villa, to keep his bitching wife quiet. Over the men's sophisticated luncheon, words were exchanged of a diligent nature. Feel free to marvel.'

Aulus leaned in, scooping seafood from a dish. 'What have they found?' He had no truck with fancy narratives. Minas probably thought Aulus was not a natural lawyer, but his plain gruffiiess satisfied me.

'The magistrate has been following up reports of missing people, people who had disappeared while travelling mainly, so unlikely to have caused real local outcry. A list was prepared. Footmen were sent out into the countryside, some carrying long probes. And they found,' said Silvius, enjoying the chill he laid on us, 'two double sets of bodies.'

Aulus dumped a chewed prawn head in an empty saucer. 'So far.'

Silvius looked at me with only a trace of sarcasm. 'He catches on!'

'Thanks. I saved him from ruination: army and the diplomatic – he was a slow slug until I took on his training…' While Aulus seethed mildly, I pressed Silvius, 'You work outside Rome – - so when the Antium big bug talked to the Urban commander, you were assigned to the case?'

'That's right. "Liaison officer". Keeping the locals on track – while letting them believe they have control.'

'Did you see the bodies yourself?'

He moved a little on his bench, disturbed by memories. 'Yes – one lot while still in situ. They were old bones. Nothing to identify. One pair much more recent than the other. Shallow graves, one trench to each body, each two of a pair lying close to each other – - no more than ten feet separate – - but the two pairs were half a mile apart. To find more, there will be a lot of ground to cover. The locals are still looking. And we've kept it secret.'

'People will soon know.'

'Sadly they will, Falco. So we need movement. I was sent to Rome to chivvy it up – only to learn the Modestus case has been passed over to the spy. I'm disgusted. This is no job for Anacrites. We Urbans won't cave in to him and the Praetorians. So our Prefect talked to the Vigiles Prefect. I've now been sent to communicate with you boys – very, very quietly. It's imperative the Praetorians don't know until they have to -and, until we can make arrests, nor must the Claudii.'

We all breathed in, or whistled through our teeth.

Petronius pushed aside his beaker. 'I'd like to hear more about the circumstances of these other deaths. How, when, where, who?'

'The graves are a few miles out of Antium. The oldest, just skeletons, may date back decades. The others are maybe five years old. How can anyone tell? A gravedigger from a necropolis was brought in to confer, but he couldn't say anything more specific. Because of their condition, impossible to say what had been done to them, though there could be cut marks on bones. We can't attach names – - no clues to identity, though using the missing list, we may make guesses.'

'How were they laid out in the graves?' I asked.

'Arms at full stretch – like Modestus and that courier.'

'Any hands removed?' That was Petro.

'No. One corpse had an arm missing, but the grave had been disturbed, probably by animals. One had a foot off- maybe he kicked out and was given special punishment.'

'Any clothing or other items?'

'Nothing useful. Rags mostly. No money or valuables. It all looked careful, by the way. Marcus Rubella told me the courier's burial seemed rushed?'

'We're keeping an open mind on the courier,' I told Silvius. 'Even Anacrites thinks it could be a distraction, according to what he told me… Maybe it's him all along, trying to divert attention from the Pontine connection, to protect the Claudii.'

'Why would he want to look after those bastards?'

'Who knows? Have you met him? Do you know what he's like?'

Silvius spat contemptuously.

After a small pause Petro kept niggling. 'Did your four bodies give up any hints about the killer? Was there more than one, for instance? Did they stay on the scene afterwards, to commit further defilement?'

Silvius was pecking at snacks now, undeterred by the subject under discussion. 'The sites were too old. I wouldn't even say for sure that the deaths occurred where we found the graves. Two were in a lonely spot. It's a deep ravine, a place with a real sense of evil. We hated being there.'

'A ravine?'

'Water channel scoured out by a river at flood time. Dry in summer.'

Petro pushed back from the table, arms braced. 'So – this is the question: what makes you decide your very old corpses, discovered close to Antium, are linked to the Claudius family who live – insofar as we can call what they do living – away across the marshes.'

Silvius paused. He liked to milk a situation. We all waited.

'Petronius Longus, this is what I need your help for. There is a witness.'

'What?'

'Somewhere in Rome, we hope. Ten years ago, a young man fell into a street bar near Antium. He was hysterical and claimed he had been led off the road and nearly murdered by two villains. One man who seemed friendly and helpful had lured him, then suddenly jumped him and took him to an accomplice, an extremely sinister presence. He was obviously planning to commit terrible acts. The intended victim somehow escaped their clutches.'

Silvius himself shuddered, while the rest of us moved in our seats and variously reacted.

'Nobody took much notice at the time. If there was any kind of enquiry, it dwindled away fast. All the locals now think it was a couple of Claudii – Nobilis and one of his brothers. They were never interviewed, nor put in front of the victim for identification. They must reckon they got away with it. But we know the young man came from Rome – which of course wouldn't have helped him get attention in Latium. He is believed to have returned home after his ordeal. So, highly recommended Watch Captain with the interesting friends -' Silvius raised his beaker to the Camilli and me. 'You are requested to help me find him.'

XLVII

All they knew was that the young man with the narrow escape was called Volusius. He was thought to be a teacher. Silvius had no details of his address in Rome. Petro had already tried the teachers' guild. A pompous official, possibly detecting that Lucius Petronius despised formal education, said he would ask his members but it would probably take time.