White murder marcus corv.., p.25
White Murder (Marcus Corvinus Book 7), page 25
She looked at me. ‘Because I liked him,’ she said simply. ‘And he loves me.’
‘He’s thirty years older than you are, he has no money of his own and he’s got nothing going for him. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t make sense.’
She shrugged. ‘That depends on your definition of what is sensible. I have enough money myself, more than I can ever need or spend. Gaius is a lovely person, I saw that as soon as I met him. And I’ve always been attracted to men who are much older than me. Not in the sexual sense, I don’t mean that at all. Sex, as I explained to you before, is a different matter altogether. Just to...live with.’
Jupiter! Perilla with her ‘mentality’ would have a field day with this lady! Mind you, in a way I understood what she was getting at. Maybe it had something to do with compartments. ‘He never thought there might be a chance he might be recognised here in Rome? Before Pegasus, I mean?’
‘There was always that possibility, of course, but it wasn’t likely. I told you, Gaius wasn’t an important man in Leptis. He lived all his life in a working-class part of the city, and he didn’t go out much. The only people who would know him were his customers, and they were locals. The chances of one of them ever coming to Rome, let alone seeing him here were remote in the extreme. Besides’ – she shrugged again – ‘if any of them did recognise him and take the news back then what did it matter? As I said, Gaius hadn’t committed a crime. Leaving his wife wasn’t even desertion. She was far better off financially than he was.’
‘Why doesn’t his wife divorce him?’
‘Perhaps she already has. Gaius wouldn’t know. But it wouldn’t make any difference to him if she did. He still wouldn’t marry me.’ She hesitated. ‘You see, Gaius considers himself married, and as I say he has his own ways of looking at things. He can be quite stubborn when he likes.’
Gods! They were a pair, these two. But I couldn’t’ve mistaken the fondness in the lady’s voice at that last bit. ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Now we come to Pegasus. He found out. How?’
‘I don’t know; I honestly don’t know. There are lots of Africans and Tripolitanians in the racing business, Laomedon for one, although he’s certainly from Hippo, not Leptis. One of them might have been responsible. Or perhaps it was someone who knew Gaius when he arrived, before we met. Or Pegasus may have smelled a secret and dug the answer out in ways of his own. That last wouldn’t surprise me. Pegasus was good at finding out things, especially things people didn’t want known.’
‘He was blackmailing you, right?’
‘He went to Gaius first, threatening to tell me. He didn’t know at that time that I knew. After he did, he simply threatened to spread the story around.’
‘This was just before he was killed, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes. About a month before. That was when I broke off our affair, of course.’
‘Uh-huh. You sure you did that, lady? Absolutely sure?’
That got me a long, slow look. ‘I’m not in the habit of sleeping with men who are trying to blackmail my husband, Corvinus. Yes, I’m perfectly sure.’
‘And yet Pegasus didn’t do what he’d threatened to do? Make the story public?’
‘We reached an agreement.’ Her lips tightened. ‘Meaning I paid the bastard.’
‘He didn’t want a share of the Reds?’
‘He did. But he got money instead. A great deal of money. That made up for it.’
‘Until you had him killed,’ I said quietly.
There was a long, long silence. Finally, she said: ‘No.’
‘No what?’
‘I didn’t kill Pegasus, or have him killed. Neither did Gaius. Perhaps I would have done before too long – I would certainly not have had any moral scruples about it – but I didn’t. In a way, I’m sorry because I would have very much liked to.’
I wasn’t a hundred percent sure if she was telling the truth or not, but she sounded convincing as hell. And her story certainly hung together, too closely for me to point a finger and say ‘That’s a lie’. Well, there wasn’t much more I could do here but give her the benefit of the doubt until events demanded otherwise. I stood up.
‘Fine,’ I said. ‘Thanks for your time.
‘Corvinus?’
‘Yeah?’
‘A question for you. Pegasus was a bastard. A complete bastard. Whoever killed him did the human race a favour. So why do you persist? Why not leave things alone?’
Fair point. And I didn’t have an answer for it, either. Not even to myself.
24.
So where did we go from here?
The short answer was ‘home’. If Pudens and Felicula were a washout – and my gut feeling was that they were – then we’d just run out of front-line suspects. In these circumstances, when a bout of solid, basic rethinking is on the cards, then home’s as good a place to be as any.
Pudens had come as a surprise, but for me the one that really took the biscuit was Felicula. If I needed a lesson warning me of the dangers of prejudgment then I’d just had it. Not that the mistake had been totally my fault. Gods alive! the lady wasn’t just unusual, she was unRoman. For a rich widow to marry (or whatever) outside her class wasn’t all that uncommon, but ninety-nine times out of a hundred the guy would be a piece of low-life beefcake, certainly younger and probably with razzmatazz by the bucketful; or she’d go the other way and hitch up with some flashy spendthrift with a pedigree the length of a book-roll but without a silver piece to pay the Ferryman. What she didn’t do – nohow, no way, never – was go for a total loser from a provincial back-street old enough to be her father and with all the panache of a plate of boiled cabbage. Which was exactly what Felicula had done. I couldn’t get my head round that at all.
It just showed you: love’s a funny thing.
What I would have to remember to do, though, was send a runner over to Lollianus at Aqueducts and Sewers telling him to call the search off. I’d been lucky there, at least. The chances of one of his senatorial pals having come across a back-alley grain merchant in the less salubrious parts of Leptis were so slim you couldn’t’ve used them for a doorstop.
I walked down Virbius Incline and turned into Patrician Street and the Carinae. Well, at least Meton couldn’t complain this time: it wasn’t even the middle of the afternoon yet. Maybe the case just needed a while to settle. There were angles I hadn’t tried, loose ends to follow up, see where they led, especially where the big boys, the main faction leaders, were concerned. Them I hadn’t really considered up to now; not because they weren’t likely, but there’d just been better goods on offer. Natalis was the obvious prime candidate, sure, but if what Cascellius had hinted about the Blues’ increased chances for next season was anything to go by then Acceptus was in there with a shout as well. I wasn’t stuck yet.
Bathyllus was buffing up our doorknob when I got back. He was wearing his smug look, together with a natty lemon tunic and a dab of scented hair-oil. Scalp-oil. Whatever. He was also humming.
Frightening; really frightening.
‘Hi, sunshine,’ I said. ‘Tyndaris been?’
‘Yes, sir. She came round shortly after you left.’
‘Success?’
‘The lady was good enough to say my polish was a marvel. I gave her the remainder of the batch and she copied down the recipe.’
‘That’s great. Onward and upward, right?’ I moved past him. ‘Oh, by the way, I got a little something for you on New Street.’ I took out the bracelet and handed it over. ‘Choose an appropriate moment to give it to her.’
The little bald-head flushed. ‘That’s extremely kind of you, sir. I’m...ah...invited over later to share the household’s dinner. I’ll present her with it then.’
‘Good thinking, pal.’
‘Did you have a pleasant day yourself, sir? Can I get you some wine?’
‘Yeah. No hurry, litt–...Bathyllus.’ Jupiter! I’d never get used to this supersolicitous new major-domo of ours. Love’s a funny thing, right enough. ‘Just bring it through when you have a moment.’
‘The mistress is upstairs, sir. In her study.’
‘Okay. Let’s have it there, then. Oh, and Bathyllus, send a skivvy round to the Aqueducts and Sewers office at the Temple of Venus Cloacina. My compliments to Quintus Lollianus, and would he call off the search. He’ll know what I mean.’
‘Yes, sir. Right away.’
I took off my cloak, bundled it up on the hall bench and went up to Perilla’s study. She was up to her ears in book-rolls, holding a wax tablet and chewing on a stylus.
‘Oh, hello, Marcus,’ she said. ‘You’re back early.’
‘Yeah.’ I moved the stylus aside and gave her the usual kiss. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Just updating my catalogue. We really must get some new cubbies put in along that far wall. I’m having to use each one twice already.’
I lay down on one of the two reading couches. Me, I like my study on the bare side; books just clutter things up. Perilla’s was like a corner of the Pollio library, and she’d more paper and ink stacked than I’d use in a decade. How she could work under conditions like these beat me completely. ‘I understand Bathyllus’s floor-polishing went down a storm.’
‘Yes.’ She glanced at the title-tag on a roll, made a note in the tablet and pushed the book into one of the cubbies. ‘You were absolutely right about Tyndaris, though. She is quite large and decidedly...overpowering.’
‘You think there’re any developments there? I mean real developments?’
‘They seem to be getting along famously. And Bathyllus is really coming out of himself. I was amazed.’
‘He’s going next door for dinner tonight.’
‘Yes, I know. I was there when she asked him. He’s quite excited about it.’
I grinned. Gods! Coming out of himself was right! The last time I’d seen Bathyllus get excited about anything was when we had the atrium pool relined. And the lady was certainly pulling out all the stops.
‘So how was your day? Did you talk to Lollianus?’
‘Uh-huh.’ I told her about Pudens and Felicula. ‘We were close there, but I don’t think we won the nuts. We’ll have to think again.’
‘You’re sure they didn’t do it?’
‘Not absolutely. But she sounded genuine. Me, I wouldn’t risk any bets.’
‘Hmm.’ She laid the wax tablet on the desk and sat down on the couch facing me. ‘So where does that leave you?’
‘Basically with the two big faction bosses. Titus Natalis and Gaius Acceptus.’
Perilla frowned. ‘I hate to have to say this, but what about your cartel owner? What was his name? Eutacticus.’
My guts twisted: that that bastard was responsible for Pegasus’s death, despite what he’d said, was a scenario I didn’t even want to think about. If the evidence came, it came, but I wasn’t going to go looking. ‘He’s a possibility, sure,’ I said carefully. ‘The guy’s a complete crook, he wouldn’t scruple over murder, and I only had his word for it that Pegasus was still willing to play ball, but he sounded real enough. And if Pegasus was prepared to sell out the Whites the way he did the Greens then Eutacticus would have no reason to have him killed.’
‘Very well. So. Natalis and Acceptus.’
I shifted into a more comfortable position on the couch. ‘Natalis is the more likely. He certainly has the stronger motive. First, he had a standing grudge against Pegasus. Maybe just because, like he told me, the guy had walked out on him and joined the opposition, but there might’ve been another reason. I just can’t believe Natalis didn’t know anything about the throwing races scam. He’s no fool, and he’d been a driver himself so he’d know what went on backstairs. That being so, he can’t’ve misread the signs among his own team when the lads with Pegasus at the Black Cat let Sopilys punch his lights out. Second –’ I paused; Perilla had opened her mouth and closed it. ‘You wanted to say something?’
‘No, dear. It’s just that –’ She hesitated, then shook her head. ‘Never mind. Carry on.’
‘Okay. Second’s the fact that the combination of Pegasus and that new horse Cammius has been rearing suddenly put the Whites into contention. Either on their own wouldn’t’ve counted all that much, but both together did. Cammius told me the guy had already had a crack at the horse; hitting the driver would be the logical complement. Natalis is no angel, he’s got used to winning, and with Gaius and Macro behind him he can afford to take risks. If –’
There was a tap on the door and Bathyllus came in with the wine. ‘Here you are, sir,’ he said. ‘And I took the liberty of bringing the mistress some of Meton’s cold lemon-and-honey punch.’
‘Right. Right, thanks, Bathyllus.’ Original thinking as well as politeness? Tyndaris was working wonders right enough. I looked at the tray. Jupiter! The little guy had even given us napkins! Freshly ironed! In rings! ‘Just set it down, pal.’ He did. ‘Uh...speaking of Meton. He okay today? I mean, in himself, like?’
‘He was talking of meatballs and boiled turnip for dinner, sir. With apples and custard to follow.’
Hell’s teeth. Well, we’d just have to sit this one out. ‘I see,’ I said. ‘Fine, fine. That’s all, Bathyllus.’
‘Thank you, sir.’ He left.
I caught Perilla’s eye. ‘Meatballs and boiled fucking turnip?’ I said.
‘Don’t swear, Marcus. It’s your own fault. And remember, I have to eat it too, and I’m not fond of turnip either.’
‘At least you like apples and custard. The bastard knows I hate apples and custard.’
‘You said “if”.’
‘What?’
‘You were talking about Natalis being able to take risks, dear. You said “if”.’
‘Uh, yeah. Right.’ I got my mind into gear again. ‘If Natalis did ice Pegasus then he might feel his back was covered. Maybe with justification. We still haven’t gone into that funny business with Valgius and the Eighth District Watch, and that points the finger at Natalis if anything does.’
‘Marcus, if Prince Gaius and Sertorius Macro are involved in this business then I think you should drop it. I told you so at the time.’
‘Too late for that now. We’ll just have to see what the future brings.’
She sighed. ‘You really are your own worst enemy. You know that, don’t you? What about Acceptus?’
‘He’s the tricky one.’ I passed her her cupful of Meton’s lemon-and-honey aberration and took a swig of my own Setinian. ‘At the start I just had a gut feeling about him, but the guy’s beginning to show glimmers of form. He didn’t like the idea of the Whites taking an independent line, to begin with, and he wouldn’t’ve shed any tears when Pegasus got chopped. The main thing, though, is he’s got big backers of his own.’
‘He’s master of the Blues faction. They’re one of the two leading teams. Of course he has backers.’
‘Sure, but according to my pal Cascellius one of them’s our new senior consul. And he has suddenly become bosom friends with Eutacticus.’
Perilla was quiet for a long time. Then she said: ‘Oh. Oh, I see.’
‘Right.’ I swallowed a mouthful of wine. ‘Vitellius’s reputation isn’t exactly sweet-smelling to begin with, and you can bet whatever the two of them talk about at dinner up there on the Pincian it isn’t flower-arranging. Acceptus is definitely on the list.’
The lady had lifted her cup. She hesitated, then set it down again. Very wise. ‘Marcus,’ she said. ‘Can we go back to Natalis for a moment, please?’
‘Sure.’
‘Tell me what you said right at the start. About not believing something.’
I frowned. ‘Uh...I said I couldn’t believe that Natalis hadn’t known Pegasus was throwing races, or at least suspected he was, because –’
‘Because he’d been a driver himself. And that he couldn’t have overlooked or misinterpreted the incident outside the wineshop. Yes, that was it. I completely agree. So doesn’t it strike you as odd that not only did he not accuse Pegasus of malpractice to his face at the time but he denied categorically to you that there had been any? Especially since he and Pegasus didn’t seem to have parted on friendly terms, and Pegasus was moving to an opposition team. After all, why shouldn’t he give him what amounted to a bad reference, even on suspicion? It didn’t matter any more to him.’
I had my mouth open to answer, but I closed it. Gods, she was right: when you came to think about it it didn’t make sense at all. And certainly the Natalis I’d met hadn’t been any kind of soft touch. ‘Go on,’ I said. ‘You have the ball.’
‘I think the reason was that Pegasus’s move to the Whites was engineered. By Natalis himself.’
I picked up my cup and took a slow sip. ‘Perilla, that doesn’t add up,’ I said. ‘Eutacticus admitted that Pegasus was cheating on the Greens. And he was Natalis’s best driver. Why the hell give him to the Whites?’
She shook her head. ‘No. That’s not what I meant. Of course Pegasus was throwing races. What I’m suggesting is that Natalis caught him, but instead of firing him or whatever the normal procedure was he made him a proposition. Pegasus would have to leave the Greens, but there would be no mention of the real reason. Instead, he would be allowed to move – specifically – to the Whites, on the understanding that he would become a sort of agent-in-place. Possibly only temporarily, until he had repaid the debt.’
I sat back. It fitted; it fitted like a glove. It explained Natalis’s atypical blindness and generosity, for a start: he wouldn’t’ve wanted to prejudice Pegasus’s chances of Cammius taking him on by giving the guy the boot, and under the circumstances any hint of skulduggery would be a bad idea. It also – and this struck me like a dash of cold water – explained his behaviour the day I’d gone to see him. I’d been well on my way to being pitched out on my ear when he’d suddenly changed his mind and agreed to see me after all. And what had done the trick was that I’d used the word ‘scam’...
I’d meant a straightforward racing scam, of course: the kind Pegasus had actually had going with Eutacticus. But Natalis didn’t know that, or at least he couldn’t be sure until he’d talked to me, because Pegasus was involved in two scams. One was his own, but the second was Natalis’s. And that was the one he’d really not want to be public knowledge.
