The Lydian Baker

Demetriacus was silent for a long time. Then he said quietly: 'You know what I came to say already, don't you?'

'Yeah, I know.'

'But not quite everything, I think. Hermippe isn't "staff".. She's my sister. Stepsister, rather. We had different mothers.'

I sat back as the last piece slid into place. Sister. That explained a lot. Come to that, it explained the whole bag. 'I didn't get that impression when we talked at the Scallop.'

'And I didn't intend that you should. I told you before, I don't like needless complications. Our relationship isn't common knowledge outwith the family; not even the girls know. Nor is it relevant to anything.' He paused. 'Or hasn't been, up to now. Which is why I am giving you the information.'

Bathyllus was hovering. I sent him for a jug of wine. 'You're partners? In the Scallop?'

'Yes. We always have been, since Melanthus sold it to us. And equal partners in all other respects as far as business is concerned.' Demetriacus paused again. 'Unofficially, of course. Hermippe's name doesn't appear on any deeds. It's unfortunate that our society won't tolerate a woman in business. Not in the higher reaches, that is; which was another reason for not making the relationship widely known.'

'You mean she's the brains and you're the front?'

'I wouldn't put it quite so crudely. We have our different strengths and weaknesses, and they balance each other. Hence our success. But Hermippe is certainly the driving force. The ruthless one, the risk-taker. My role is to implement her recommendations and follow them through. To be her public persona, if you like to call it that.'

'Uh-huh.' Check. That fitted in with what Callippus had told me. 'She certainly struck me as…full-blooded, shall we say.'

'Why not? It's a good phrase.' Demetriacus looked down at his carefully-manicured fingernails. 'Hermippe has always had greater appetites than I. In every way. Also she's much more intelligent.'

Yeah, well, maybe. Or it could be her intelligence just took a different slant. Certainly she had a high opinion of her own cleverness: one got you ten Perilla had been right about the Ptolemy statue.

'Don't put yourself down too much, friend,' I said. 'It's bad for the male image.'

He smiled. 'I'm a realist, Corvinus. If a thing is obvious I state it. That is one of my strengths.'

I thought of the Scallop's decor, and the way Hermippe had picked me up when I looked at the painting in the hall. 'She's interested in art, too, isn't she?'

'Very. It's one of her passions. And Hermippe has passions rather than interests. That was what first attracted Melanthus.'

I nodded: there had to be something like that going on. 'They were lovers?'

'Yes. From the first days of the Scallop. Before, even. Until my sister tired of him.'

Bathyllus tiptoed in with the wine. I didn't take my eyes off Demetriacus while he poured. 'Not the other way round?'

'No. They stayed friends afterwards, but Melanthus was by far the more constant of the two. He continued to use the Scallop because it was congenial and satisfied him physically, but I suspect he always hankered after a re-establishment of the old footing.'

That made sense too. I held out my hand for the wine cup. Bathyllus offered one to Demetriacus, but he shook his head. Yeah. I'd forgotten. Maybe I should've offered the guy some warm milk.

'So,' I said. 'Melanthus got into the habit of dropping in for what he hoped might turn out to be more than a chat after he'd finished upstairs.'

Demetriacus's lips pursed. 'Again I wouldn't put it so crudely, young man. If I have my weaknesses then so do you, and I'm afraid crudity is one of them.' Gods! 'I told you, Hermippe is intelligent. Very intelligent. Melanthus enjoyed talking with her. And when I was on the premises — which I was careful to be if possible when Melanthus visited — then we all talked together. For me it was an education, which is something I feel I have always lacked.'

Sure. And for Melanthus I'd bet it was one almighty pain in the rectum. Still, it takes two to make the third a gooseberry, so maybe I was being too hard on him. 'The staff — I mean the girls — knew about these little get-togethers, right?'

'Naturally. Although we encouraged the assumption that Melanthus was my particular visitor. That was Hermippe's idea, to avoid gossip. And our private quarters are out of bounds, so they wouldn't know whether I was there or not.' He gave a wintry smile. 'Mind you, being unaware of the true relationship between Hermippe and myself I believe the girls thought her already spoken for.'

Right. That added up. A brothel's like any other small closed community: the inmates live on gossip. And even if there was nothing in it Hermippe wouldn't be too keen on the rumour getting around that she was sweet on one of the customers and vice versa. Bad for discipline. It explained why Cotile hadn't made the link, too. Demetriacus wouldn't have objected, either: commercial big wheel or not, the guy obviously preened himself on his relationship with a top-notch philosopher, even if it did have to be kept private.

'Okay.' I took a swallow of wine. 'Let's summarise. Stop me if I go wrong. Melanthus regularly came round for a chat with your sister even when you were away.' Especially when the poor bugger was away; but there was no sense in labouring the point. 'They talked about high-powered stuff like philosophy and art. Then one day when you're bed-bound with your chronic gut ache Melanthus happens to mention to her that he's acting as quality control in negotiations for a certain unique statue. The buyer's a Roman, and Melanthus, being a good Greek, says he thinks it's a shame it should go abroad.'

'I'm sorry, Corvinus, but there I can't help you. If that is how things happened then as you say I wasn't present. And I knew nothing about this affair until after Watch Commander Callippus's visit, because Hermippe never mentioned the Baker.'

'Yeah. I'm coming to that, and it's important. Okay. Knowing that Hermippe is a rich woman in her own right as well as a culture buff Melanthus suggests they cut the Roman out in the interests of Greek solidarity. Maybe he also suggests — tactfully — that it would be good for the family and open a few closed doors, because gifting the Baker to the city would send her brother's street cred sky-high.'

'That is certainly a possibility,' Demetriacus said gravely. 'We'd talked about it often before in different terms. I had thought of building a porch, perhaps, or even a theatre.'

'Uh-huh.' A theatre! Holy Dionysus, the guy must be loaded! 'Only by telling Hermippe he made a bad mistake. As far as she was concerned the city fathers could go hang: she wanted the statue, sure, but she wanted it for herself, either to look at or to sell. And she'd no intention of paying for it if she could avoid it. Right?'

Demetriacus nodded slowly. 'Again, I can't speak from knowledge. But it fits Hermippe's character, certainly. As I told you, she has the ruthless streak in the family. And she has always found it hard to spend money when it isn't necessary.'

'The problem is, she can't afford to let things slide. You're out of the picture but it won't be forever. Sooner or later you'll be back at the Scallop and the first thing Melanthus will talk about when he calls in for his cosy post-coital chat will be the Baker.'

'Indeed. So she had him killed to stop me finding out.'

'She had him killed.' I swallowed the last of the wine in my cup and poured myself another belt. Maybe I should've offered Antaeus some, but I didn't know exactly what footing we were on here yet. 'Speaking of which, who's Prince Charming?'

Demetriacus looked blank. 'I'm sorry?'

'The heavy who did the actual killing. Must've done it. Callippus described him to you the last time we talked.'

'Glycus?' Jupiter! Pure accident, but I'd been close: the name means 'Sweetie'. 'He was the murderer?'

'Three times over, pal. And that's not counting Smaragdus.'