The Lydian Baker

'Corvinus? Sir?' Felix was peering at me with a worried expression on his face. 'Are you all right?'

'No,' I said. 'All right, pal, is the last thing I am. Look, I need to talk this through. Stop me if I go off beam, okay?'

'Very well.'

I took another swallow of the Caecuban first: I'd need all the help I could get here.

'First off, Smaragdus writes to your boss claiming to own the Baker and offering to sell it, yes?'

Felix nodded. 'Correct.'

'At the same time he already knows — because Argaius is acting up front — that his partner has another deal cooking with me. However, he doesn't let on to him that he has a second customer in line. Gaius is private and personal, and he keeps him strictly under wraps.'

'That I wouldn't know. But certainly Smaragdus represented himself as the statue's sole owner. Its sole owner. It wasn't until — '

I held up my hand. 'Wait. Let's take things bit by bit, because I haven't got them straight myself yet and they're complicated, okay?'

'Very well.' Felix was leaning back in his chair, his fingers steepled. 'Go on, sir. Oh, you can't believe how much I'm enjoying this!'

'Bully for you. Okay. Smaragdus has plans, private plans: he'll sell the Baker to Gaius behind Argaius's back with the intention of slipping off with the cash as soon as the deal goes through. Only then he thinks of a refinement. He'll move the Baker to another hiding place and pretend…' I stopped. 'No. That doesn't make sense.'

'What doesn't make sense?'

'I was going to say he'd pretend to Argaius that the statue had been stolen and so buy himself some extra time. But that wouldn't work now.' I scowled. 'Shit!'

'Why not, sir? Surely as you say it would give him some leeway with his partner; and as far as bringing me to the statue was concerned one cave was as good as another.'

One cave was as good as another. That was the second time that point had come up. There was something…

'Corvinus?' Felix was looking faintly puzzled. 'Didn't you hear what I said? The fact that Smaragdus had moved the statue to a different hiding place wouldn't register with anyone but Argaius. However, if Smaragdus wanted to pretend it had been stolen then naturally moving it was essential.'

'Yeah,' I said slowly. 'That was my original theory. But at the time I thought Argaius was dealing with you.'

'So?'

'Come on, Felix! Smaragdus had you set up as the villain. If Argaius didn't know you existed then he wouldn't have anyone to point the finger at.'

Felix stared; I could see him working that one out. Then he said softly: 'You're right. Of course you are. Oh, well done, sir!'

'Argaius wasn't stupid. Only he and Smaragdus knew the location of the cave. If Smaragdus had come to him and told him someone had robbed the pantry he would've put two and two together pretty fast. And yet we know that Smaragdus shifted the Baker before Argaius's death because otherwise his killer would've found it. So my question is, why did Smaragdus do it?'

'Perhaps as a safeguard. He knew Argaius was dealing with you. The deal could have been formalised at any time, and Argaius would have got in first.'

'Yeah, that's a possibility. But if so the guy was running one hell of a risk. All it would take was for Argaius to arrive and find the cupboard bare for the shit really to hit the shovel.' I frowned: the answer was there, if I could only get it. One cave would be as good as another… 'Ah, leave it for now. Maybe it'll come. You want to tell me more from your side?'

'There isn't much more to tell.' Felix topped up my wine cup. 'I discovered — completely by accident — that Smaragdus normally worked with a partner. Naturally I was concerned, as I knew Prince Gaius would be, that the transaction was above board and this partner's rights were not in any way being infringed.'

I grinned. 'Sure you were concerned!' I liked Felix, but that didn't blind me to the fact that the guy's ethical code had more holes in it than a cabbage-strainer; while Gaius wouldn't know what an ethic was if one jumped up and bit him. 'But you also wanted to make certain there'd be no comeback later if it turned out Smaragdus hadn't the sole right to sell.'

'There was that aspect of the matter too, of course.' Felix looked pained and virtuous. 'In any case, having learned of Argaius's existence I sent Memnon to him to arrange a meeting.'

Uh-huh. Memnon being my Ethiopian pal. This was all beginning to make sense.

'Just that?' I said. 'Just a suggested meeting? You didn't mention the background details?'

'I didn't think background details were necessary.' Felix paused. 'Or, in the circumstances, politic. If the sale turned out not to be wholly above board after all then the time for that fact to come out was when the two of us were face to face.'

'And you arranged the meeting for Mounychia, right?'

'Correct.'

'Why Mounychia? That's out in the sticks even by Piraeus standards. At night, especially.'

'A combination of business with pleasure, sir,' he said stiffly. 'There was a full moon that night, and I wanted to see the Shrine of Bendis by moonlight. It was most impressive, and well worth the effort.'

'Uh, yeah.' Gods alive! Well, the little guy was entitled to his idiosyncrasies, I supposed, but that was pushing it. 'Still, you told me earlier you'd never met Argaius.'

'I didn't meet him. He didn't turn up. Of course, now I realise why.'

'Yeah.' I swallowed a reflective mouthful of Caecuban. 'Had you told Smaragdus about this meeting beforehand, by any chance?'

Felix was no fool. There was a long silence before he answered.

'Yes, sir, as a matter of fact I had. When I brought up with him the subject of his partner's existence. Naturally I asked him to pass the message on, although for obvious reasons I informed Argaius independently.'

'Uh-huh. What did Smaragdus say when you told him you knew about Argaius?'

'That he was fully empowered to conduct negotiations on behalf of his partner. He hadn't thought Argaius's direct involvement was necessary.'

And I thought that I'd been stupid! 'Jupiter, Felix! And you believed him?'

'Let's say I found it…politic, again, not to comment. But it did make a meeting between the three of us more imperative. Remember, as far as I was concerned the deal was already concluded.'

'And Argaius didn't come. For obvious reasons. What about Smaragdus?'

'No. I never saw him again.'

The timing fitted. Sure it did. If his landlady was to be trusted Smaragdus had already packed his bags and lit out for the beach hut.

We looked at each other. It was Felix who put the shared thought into words.

'Smaragdus knew his partner was going to die, didn't he, sir?'

I nodded slowly. 'Yeah. He knew, all right. He set it up.' Good sweet Jupiter! And I'd felt sorry for the murdering bastard!

'There was one thing that puzzled me, even at the time.' Felix shifted in his chair. 'Smaragdus's desire to avoid Argaius I can understand. But why me? I was a committed purchaser, his best and only option, and as I said the bargain was made. Wouldn't it have been more sensible for Smaragdus to have come to the meeting, professed surprise at his partner's absence or made some excuse for it and brazened the matter out?'

'Felix, pal.' I managed to keep my face straight, although it wasn't easy. 'You mean you wouldn't, honest citizen that you are, have called off the deal, at least temporarily while you checked with the authorities?'

Felix smiled. 'Oh, I don't believe that would have been necessary. After all, as the single surviving partner Smaragdus would have had a perfect right to make the sale, wouldn't he?'