'Sure, boys.' I jerked my head towards the carriage. 'In you get. We're going for a ride.' I doubted now that they'd be necessary — if the Ethiopian had wanted to put a permanent crease in my skull he could've done it the last time we'd met — but they looked so happy I didn't have the heart to send them back.
I made sure I had my knife in its wrist sheath, though. Some things you don't take for granted.
. .
The property near the Shrine of Hera was pretty upmarket, even for Colonus, which is out in the suburbs and one of the places the rich and good choose to build. Not in Demetriacus's league, of course, but a good solid detached house in a prosperous street, with a walled garden and a freshly- whitewashed front. We pulled up outside.
'Wait here, Dida,' I said, getting out. 'You boys come with me. And no unauthorised moves. We don't want to annoy the neighbours. Clear?'
'Clear, master,' the spokesman said. The guy looked disappointed, but they'd had their trip out and I couldn't be expected to provide all the entertainment.
Okay. So here went nothing. I lifted the heavy bronze knocker and let it fall.
The door was opened by a slave dressed in a smart blue tunic. His eyes widened when he saw the Heavenly Twins, but he bowed and stepped back into the lobby. I was impressed: I could've been paying a courtesy call on some grey-haired ex-archon. For that matter, maybe I was.
'Come in, lord,' the slave murmured. 'The master is expecting you.'
'Uh…he is?' That was news to me, unless the guy was an augur.
'Yes, lord. If your name is Marcus Valerius Corvinus. He has been for several days now, I understand.'
I blinked: somebody was crazy here, and I didn't think it was me. I waved the twins in ahead and stepped over the threshold.
'You…uh…mind telling me your master's name?' I said. 'Just for the record?'
The door slave's eyebrows rose several notches; well, from his point of view I suppose it did sound a pretty stupid question for an expected visitor to ask, but I was beyond caring.
'Eutyches, lord,' he said.
My jaw almost hit the fancy marble floor. 'Who?'
'Eutyches.' He turned. 'He's in the garden at present. If you'd care to follow me, please.'
I went in a dream. The slave led me through the portico into a walled garden at the back, where a little guy in a bright yellow tunic was sitting in the shade of a pear tree communing with nature. When he saw me coming he got up smiling and came towards me, his hand held out, and a huge chunk of the puzzle fell gently into place.
'Eutyches'. Shit. Of course he was. How could I have been so stupid?
31
'Felix,' I said.
'How marvellous to see you again, sir.' He was beaming as we shook hands. 'You're looking terribly well. And Lamprus sends his best regards.'
I turned to my two bodyguards. 'Okay, boys, holiday's over, I won't be needing you now. You can go back to the carriage and twiddle your thumbs.' They gave me a reproachful look and trooped back inside. 'Felix, you bastard, I've made a total mess of this business. Do you want to kick me round the garden, or should I do it myself?'
'Oh, not a total mess, sir,' Felix said brightly. 'We can't function with one hundred per cent efficiency all the time. And you're here now. That's what matters.'
'Yeah.' I had the feeling that that added up to something less than a compliment, but I didn't have the energy to work out the whys and wherefores. Also I deserved all the insults the guy could throw at me.
We'd been followed out by a wine slave holding an ornate silver jug. Wordlessly, he poured out a cup and set it and the jug on the table beside me. At a nod from Felix he bowed and left.
I pulled up a chair. 'How's your boss? Still waiting for the call and buffing up his winged sandals?'
Felix's smile faded. 'Prince Gaius is very well. But as I think I told you last time we met certain jokes are in poor and very dangerous taste. Very dangerous taste indeed.'
Yeah. I did remember that, now he came to mention it; but that was long ago, in another country, and besides the guy wasn't there to hear me bad- mouth him. Or at least I hoped he wasn't. I picked up the wine cup and took a swig…
The wine slipped past my tonsils like velvet, giving them a warm hug and a kiss in passing.
'You like it?' Felix was smiling again, at my expression this time. 'Imperial Caecuban, from the master's own store. He gave me a jar before I left Rome and told me that if our paths did happen to cross I was to welcome you properly.'
'Uh-huh.' Well, maybe Gaius wasn't all that bad after all. He might be a dangerous, loopy, overbred bastard who suffered from delusions of grandeur, but he had style. I sat back and sipped contentedly. 'So. What have you been doing with yourself since we put the skids under Sejanus?'
'Consolidating, sir. The emperor is failing fast. It can't be long before the master succeeds him.' That was all he knew: I reckoned it at about a month short of five years, give or take a few days, but I'd given the Wart my promise and I kept my mouth firmly shut. Where imperial secrets were concerned you didn't mess around, especially with this one. 'However, Prince Gaius sent me over here on a purely private matter.'
'To bid against me for Priscus's statue.'
'Quite, sir.'
'I should've guessed it was you from the name you chose. Eutyches is just the Greek version of Felix. Both names mean "Lucky". That was intentional, wasn't it?'
'Of course. If I may say so, sir, you really should have spotted that long ago. Mind you, it's not an uncommon name.'
'Nevertheless. Did I mention the kicking?'
'You did, sir.'
'Fine.' I took another sip of the Caecuban. 'The name aside. Those snazzy tunics your Ethiopian pal wears. I was supposed to pick up on them as well, right?'
'Memnon does tend to favour a more conservative style. He was quite difficult to persuade.'
'Yeah. I see.' Jupiter, I'd been thick! Still, it was no use crying now. I'd had my chance, and I'd muffed it. 'You mind telling me why you bothered in the first place?'
He smiled. 'A little game, sir. Rather a childish one, I admit, although I did hope you'd catch on to it. For obvious reasons when he sent me out on this business the master insisted on anonymity, but I thought since you were to be our competitor I'd give you a fighting chance all the same. And, naturally, myself an opportunity to renew an acquaintance which I found most stimulating.'
'Yeah. Sure.' I wasn't impressed: where Felix is concerned I'm immune to flattery. 'So when Argaius was murdered and your line to the Baker went cold you put a tail on me in the hope that I'd find it for you.'
'I have always had the utmost confidence in your detective ability, Valerius Corvinus,' Felix said primly. 'You know that. It was simply a matter of time. But you're wrong in one respect. Argaius's murder didn't affect me at all, not in the business sense. I had no dealings with Argaius whatsoever. In fact I never even met him.'
I'd been picking up the wine jug to refill my cup. Now I put it down like it was made of glass. Everything went very still.
'Run that one past me again, would you?' I said carefully.'
'Of course. As far as Prince Gaius and I were concerned the seller was Smaragdus. He wrote directly to the master in his own name and without mentioning a partner. I'd assumed you knew that.'
'Felix.' The back of my neck was prickling like hell. 'Let's get this clear. Smaragdus told me that Argaius handled the business side of things; that he — Smaragdus — wasn't involved; and that he — still Smaragdus — had never met you.'
Another smile; broader this time. 'Then I'm afraid, sir, that he was lying.'
I rubbed my forehead: my brain was starting to hurt. Sure, it was possible, if you looked at it from the other side: I'd never met Argaius myself, and the only evidence of the arrangement between the partners had come from Smaragdus. If what Felix said was true — and I didn't see why it shouldn't be — he had been planning his swindle from the beginning. But that meant…