‘But Virilis had set off to meet Marcus by that time!’ Junio protested.
‘You think so? We saw him leave, of course — he made quite sure that we did — but it would have been quite easy for him to double back and wait in the rear lane for Glypto to appear, then stab him and hide his body in the pile. It was raining by then and few people were about, so even if he had to leave his horse tied up somewhere again, there was nobody lingering around to notice it.’
‘But how did he lure Glypto to the far side of the midden-heap? Or did he simply toss the corpse across the pile?’
‘I’ve thought of that,’ I said. ‘But Glypto would naturally go that side of the heap — it was nearest to the back door of the tannery — but though (as Glypto said) the midden-pile was big enough to hide a child from view, it’s not so high that you can’t see over it. So when he came out with his bucket, for the umpteenth time today, and saw me talking to someone on the street, he came around this way to try to speak to me. But when he got here, Virilis was there, and Glypto recognized him somehow as the man he’d seen before. It may have been the military cloak or perhaps the voice, but he knew who it was and tried to send me warning as soon as possible. But it was too late by then. Virilis had noticed him, and I had sealed his fate.’
Junio whistled. ‘So when he said the green man was here again, he didn’t mean he’d heard him here the night before? Or is it possible he heard him then as well? I suppose we’ll never know.’
Radixrapum’s family had been listening to all this, but, in accordance with my earlier request, they had put on their cloaks and hurried to secure the corpse a little more firmly to the makeshift bier. Now, as they moved into position to lift each end of it, the younger man said thoughtfully, ‘So you think the cursor was the strangler, but he stabbed the slave?’
‘Indeed I do,’ I said. ‘Using that dagger he carried at his chest, though normally, I think, he preferred to use his sash — thin plaited silk would make an excellent strangulation cord.’
Junio was reluctant to accept all this. ‘But you can’t still think his real intention was to strangle you. What motive would he have? He hadn’t even met you until the naming day.’
‘That’s quite true, of course. And that’s how he came to murder the wrong man, twice before. Not because he attacked them from behind, as we supposed (although in fact he did), but because he didn’t know what I looked like anyway — only what my work was and where I was most likely to be found.’ They were looking doubtful and I spelled it out for them. ‘Lucius was in my workshop: Virilis thought that it was me. Hardly surprising when you think of it. And the same with our poor turnip-seller here. He was wheeling a mosaic pavement round the streets, to a place where I was known to work. The cursor had no way of knowing who I was — not till he met me at the bulla feast today.’
‘But you think he was trying to kill you all the same?’ Radixrapum’s brother was incredulous. He looked at his nephew. ‘I can’t believe that’s true. What kind of person murders a complete stranger in cold blood, just because some other person asks them to?’
‘Apart from an executioner, you mean?’ I said.
I heard Junio’s sharp intake of breath. ‘You think that’s how he saw it?’
It was a relief to say it openly. ‘I am quite sure he did. He was acting on instructions. Someone told him where I lived and what I did, and where I was likely to be that afternoon. Someone of importance, that he was working for. I don’t imagine that his services are free.’
‘But Marcus sent him here,’ Junio observed. ‘You can’t think it was your patron who ordered him to strangle you?’ He shook his head decisively. ‘I don’t believe it.’
‘Nor do I,’ I answered. ‘But I think I know who did.’
Radixrapum’s son had left the bier by now and had come round to confront me, arms folded on his chest. ‘Tell me his name and I will strangle him with these bare hands’ — he made them into fists — ‘and that Virilis too.’ He shook his head. ‘What did he hope to gain? How does he profit by my father’s death? Or yours?’ he added, as an afterthought.
‘Preferment in his chosen occupation, I should think,’ I said. ‘I knew he was ambitious — even my wife Gwellia saw as much and commented that he probably had powerful friends somewhere. Indeed, he was already very highly placed — already an official cursor, at his age, and he told me that he’d worked for the governor before, and even been to Glevum with a message once or twice. What kind of promotion could such a youth expect? Not to be commander of a troop of horse — that would require too much experience. But to join the speculatores — that is different.’
The mention of speculatores brought a sudden hush. The very name was feared throughout the Empire. The speculatores had begun as simply mounted scouts, but under successive emperors their powers had evolved, and now they were known not merely as paid spies, but as ruthless killers of imperial enemies. And, as Virilis himself had warned us earlier, Commodus saw plots and treason everywhere.
‘Dear Mars!’ said Junio, turning almost white. ‘You think he might have been? One of the emperor’s infamous elite — the mounted spies and assassination squad?’
‘Not a speculator yet, I think,’ I said at last, ‘but aiming to prove that he is equal to the task. And doubtless Quintus promised him support.’
‘Quintus Severus? The chief decurion?’ Radixrapum’s brother said in a voice that was suddenly squeaky with anxiety. ‘You don’t think he’s involved?’
‘Who else was giving Virilis orders in the town? Of course, it did not seem remarkable — as you say, he is decurion. He must have known Quintus from visits earlier — we know he’s carried previous messages.’
‘But how could Quintus have organized the killings?’ Junio said. ‘Besides, he turned up at your workshop the day that Lucius died — he wouldn’t have done that if he’d tried to have you murdered not very long before.’
‘On the contrary,’ I said, ‘that is exactly why he came, and how he knew that the first attempt had failed. He had intended to come across my corpse, in front of witnesses — it was designed to look like random violent robbery, of course — and no doubt he would have set up a hue and cry and offered a reward for anyone who could find my murderer. I might even have been given a splendid funeral. No wonder he was startled to find me at my door. I thought he looked astonished at the time.’
‘And what about the pavement for the basilica?’ Junio said.
‘He never intended to commission that at all. It was merely an excuse for him to come to me — I should have been suspicious that he agreed to it. You were, I remember.’
Junio looked pleased. ‘When he found you were alive, he had to cancel it, I suppose. And hurry back to Virilis to point out the mistake. He must have been beside himself with curiosity when you told him there was a corpse inside the shop — and he knew it wasn’t you! And what about the-’
I raised my hand to silence him. ‘Not now, Junio. We’ve talked for long enough. These gentlemen are ready to get the body home, and we must start the chase for Virilis. Of course, he will not know that we are on his tail, but all the same we must catch up with him tonight, or Marcus is in danger.’
‘Marcus?’ the three men said in unison. Radixrapum’s relatives had picked up the bier, but they put it down again, exchanging startled looks.
Junio was horrified, and said, rather tactlessly, ‘But I thought you said the danger was to you! Marcus is a wealthy, powerful man, supposed to be related to the Emperor himself. Surely no one is going to try to murder him?’
‘But that must be exactly what this is all about,’ I said patiently. ‘Quintus wouldn’t bother to have someone strangle me for my own sake alone — I am not important. It is Marcus, and my contact with him, that is seen as dangerous. And I’m beginning to see why. As soon as my patron is safely home again, he’ll make it clear which candidate it was that he endorsed — and it won’t be Gaius Greybeard, I’m quite convinced of that. But I can’t stay any longer. We are wasting time, and Virilis is getting further from us every minute that we lose. Come with me to the garrison to find the commandant, and I’ll answer any other questions on the way.’