“What’s he doing?”
“Ordering something. Looks like soup.”
“Is he watching us?”
“I think so.”
I straightened up, rolled a die, and said loudly: “A six. That means I get first toss.”
Draco looked at me, nodded, and dug out some coins from his pocket. I threw the four dice, and one of them came up six. I plucked out a sestertius and threw it in the middle of the table. “All right. Your turn.”
Draco glanced around nervously, and the four dice slipped through his fingers. Two sixes tumbled out. I laughed obnoxiously and slapped the table. “That’s two more you owe the pot. Pay up.”
I wasn’t watching Leather Man, but his eyes were cold. He’d wait some more. I sped things up a little.
“Mine again. How about we play for real money? A denarius for your sixes, my friend. Now that’s a gentleman’s wager.”
Draco’s eyes flitted nervously back and forth, but he remembered his part. “All right. I-I just got paid, anyway.”
I showed everybody my teeth and tossed the dice. Four ones-the Dog. “Shit. You got the luck. Four denarii to the pot for throwing the goddamn canis. Go on. See if you can win it.”
Draco took the dice in his large hands and cupped and shook them so they’d rattle around. Some of the drunks raised bleary eyes, awakened by the sound of chance. He threw. Two sixes.
“Well, that’s half my own back, anyway.” This was getting expensive. I’d better set a limit. With a sideways glance toward Leather Man, who was leaning against the counter and watching us in the open, I said: “I’ve only got three more denarii. What’ve you got?”
His mouth opened slightly while he thought about it, and I stared into his eyes, willing him to keep the number low. “I-I’ve got five more. That’s all.”
Eight denarii, plus the six already in was fourteen. I wouldn’t go higher until I knew what it was I was buying.
“Not any longer, friend. Kiss ’em good-bye-you just lost your chance to kiss anything else!” I jerked my head toward the headquarters of the three-minute special with a knowing leer and tossed the dice. Two more sixes. Almost there.
“Goddamn it! Where the hell’s Fortuna? Banging some son of a bitch in the shed?” I shoved the dice toward Draco and put two more denarii on the table.
“Go on. See if you can roll it.” I was using loaded dice, of course, but I’d also told Draco about how to roll them so the number would come up. He tucked his thumb into the cup he’d made of his hands. Three sixes leered at us. I leaned forward. Time to get on with it.
“You’re down to two. I’m down to one. Whaddya say we put it all in and throw one more time?”
A calloused and filthy hand plonked down on the table. Rheumy brown eyes stared hungrily at the pile of coins. The man stank of shit, piss, and salt, and it wasn’t because he was at the Nymph. It oozed from his pores like sweat. Probably a tanner.
The voice was raspy. “I want in on that game.”
I eyed him, keeping up appearances. “You didn’t build it. You don’t build, you don’t play for the win.”
He untied a thick leather bag from his belt and tossed it on the table. “This’ll cover the bet.”
I said softly: “How do I know you’re good for it?”
He looked over at Draco. “You got a big friend. And you’re not so small yourself. How do I know you won’t jump me to get it back?”
Now for the real gamble. He wasn’t stupid. Either the information would be good or I’d need Draco for more than a game of iactus.
“All right.” I said it grudgingly. “But let’s do it right. Let’s use a cup. You got one?”
“Flaccus does.” He walked to the bar and came back with a worn and dented leather cup. I gave him the loaded die.
“See who rolls first. First winning roll takes it.”
He rolled, and a six came up. I groaned. “Goddamn it.”
Draco took the die. He rolled a three. I rolled a four. I handed it back to Leather Man. I took out my supposedly last denarius and Draco took out his, and we threw them on top of the mound of coins.
The tanner put the dice in the beat-up cup and shook them just right. He rolled, and they came out spinning. Draco and I-and Flaccus, who wandered over-watched them drop.
“A one-a two-a five-and a three! Iactus Veneris! A Venus Toss! Goddamn it, but you’re a lucky bastard!”
He was fingering the denarii and quickly stuffed them in his pouch. Draco scooted his chair back a few inches and let his arms dangle to the side. I threw a nasty smile at the tanner.
“Least you could do is buy us some wine, seeing as you won all the money. I figure you owe us that much.”
He glanced back over to where Flaccus was behind the counter and said nervously, “Yeah. I’ll join you.”
We watched as he went back to the counter where the barkeep was busy serving leftover vomit. They whispered to each other for a few minutes, and I gave Draco a few looks that were supposed to mean something.
He came back with a jug of wine. I kept an eye on Flaccus while the tanner crouched on a stool. We all three leaned in close.
“I got the note,” I murmured. “You got the money. What do you know?”
He swished his wine around the leather cup. It was the same one he’d tossed from. “Not so fast. How do I know you won’t-”
“You don’t. Just like I don’t know that Flaccus over there doesn’t have a large club or a small knife for when we walk out of here. But you’ve got the money, and if it means anything, I’m a man of my word. If it doesn’t mean anything, there’s not a goddamn thing I can do for you.”
He stared at each of us in turn. “Drusius said you’re all right, and I guess that’s good enough for me.” He took a swig of wine. “I hope I ain’t sold too cheap.”
“Not unless you can tell me who killed Faro and everyone else in this goddamn town. Now talk.”
He leaned forward. “All right. Faro was in here last night.”
“This place? Not the type.”
“Yeah. That’s why I spotted him. Lot of money, too, bought the best Flaccus got. But he don’t get drunk or laid. It was like he was waitin’ for something.”
“Did he talk?”
Leather Man shook his head. “No. Nice-lookin’ horse outside, though, and a kit packed. Has this ugly wooden thing tied to the saddle, and I ask him about it. He says it’s a ghost-raisin’ mask.” He shivered. “I’m gonna have bad dreams thinkin’ about it.”
“Dream about all those denarii. What else?”
“Well, long about the fourth or fifth hour of the night, I look around from the dice game-I’m not winnin’ that one so easy-and I see this young girl come in here. Now, we don’t usually get young ones at the Nymph-them whores out there are all old enough to jerk you off before you knew you was hard, and this one was young and pretty.”
“What about Faro?”
“That’s it. She came for him. That’s who he was waitin’ for, because he follows her outside like a dog. I want to see if she’s goin’ up against the wall, but it ain’t like that. When I get outside, she’s gone, and he’s holdin’ a note, starin’ at it. So I say, ‘Where you goin’ so late?’ thinkin’ he’ll never answer me, but he just looks at me funny and says, ‘Where we’ll meet again.’ Then he climbs on the horse and rides off.”
He gave me a look that was supposed to tell me something. “I guess you know what that means.”
“Yeah. Is that it?”
He swigged the wine again. “Ain’t it enough?”
“Yeah.” I stood up, and Draco echoed me. “Thanks for the game.”
He grinned. “Glad you thought of it.”
I lowered my voice. “Be careful. Funny things happen in Aquae Sulis, especially to people who talk to me.”