game with him in the dark. Shit-hot jurist; he’s written books on the subject. Oh, and a straight-down-the-line Stoic, like his great-grandfather.’
The Cassius who’d put a knife into old Julius. Yeah, I got the picture, and by the sound of things great-grandson was out of the same mould: a good old-fashioned damn-your-eyes Roman with an integrity you could bend iron bars round. Interesting that he should be a Stoic, mind: Stoic philosophy seemed to be cropping up pretty frequently in connection with this case. But there again, Leonidas the estate manager had said that most of Surdinus’s friends were on the philosophical side, and he was a Stoic himself, so maybe that wasn’t so strange after all.
‘You happen to know where I can find him?’ I said. ‘Should I want to talk to him, that is.’
‘Which you don’t.’
‘Which, at present, I don’t.’
He grinned again and filled up my cup. ‘Right. He has a place on the Quirinal, off High Path and near the Shrine of Mars. You’ll probably find him there, because he hasn’t got much else to do at present but stay at home grumbling and twiddling his thumbs. You can tell him …’ He stopped. ‘Oh, hell.’
The door had just opened and a freedman-clerk had come in. He looked round, fixed on us, and came over. Secundus sighed.
‘Yes, Acastus. What is it?’ he said.
‘The departmental accounts committee meeting, sir.’ The freedman touched the brim of his cap. ‘It’s in less than an hour’s time. You asked to be reminded.’
‘Bugger, so it is.’ He stood up. ‘Sorry, Marcus, I’ll have to go. Finish the wine, OK?’ He waved at the barman. ‘My tab, Quintus, right?’ The barman nodded, and Secundus turned back to me. ‘Use my name as an introduction to Longinus if you like,’ he said. ‘Not that you’ll need to; he’s a perfectly amiable guy. And you know where to find me. Any other questions regarding the case you don’t want to know the answers to, I’ll be happy to help. Or, depending what they are, tell you to go and screw yourself. Fair enough?’
I grinned. ‘Fair enough. Thanks, pal, the next one’s on me.’
‘Damn right it is. See you remember,’ he said, and left.
I settled down and poured the last of the Massic into my cup. Yeah, well, I didn’t know how much of all that had been relevant, but it had certainly been interesting. So Longinus was in Rome, was he? And, from what Secundus had said, he’d arrived back just before Surdinus was topped. Probably coincidence, but still …
Plus – and I couldn’t see how or whether it fitted in with the murder, or indeed why the hell it should – there was the question of why the emperor had suddenly decided to bring Longinus back. Why should a paranoid bastard like Gaius go over the senate’s head and recall their top governor, who was not only holding his end up where the job was concerned, but was by all accounts so squeaky-clean-honest that you could play
morra
with him in the dark?
Yeah, right; there was only one answer to that, really. Whether or not, as I say, it was relevant to the case was another thing entirely. We’d just have to see what the future brought.
Meanwhile, I had Lawyer Venullius to talk to. Then it was home for a bit of a think.
THIRTEEN
‘E verything to do with the will checks out,’ I said to Perilla when I was changed into a dry tunic and ensconced in the atrium with a cup of wine beside me. ‘Apart from a few minor bequests, Surdinus Junior gets the bulk of the estate; Marcus – Hellenus – gets a third, while Tarquitia gets the interest on fifty thousand sesterces and the capital when she marries. Which, of course, we know she’s done already. So at least no one’s telling porkies there, and there’s nothing we’re missing.’
‘Hmm.’ Perilla was twisting a lock of her hair. ‘You’re sure Hellenus and Tarquitia were working together?’
‘Yeah. That’s more or less beyond doubt. And everything fits in. Vulpis at the
The Cassius who’d put a knife into old Julius. Yeah, I got the picture, and by the sound of things great-grandson was out of the same mould: a good old-fashioned damn-your-eyes Roman with an integrity you could bend iron bars round. Interesting that he should be a Stoic, mind: Stoic philosophy seemed to be cropping up pretty frequently in connection with this case. But there again, Leonidas the estate manager had said that most of Surdinus’s friends were on the philosophical side, and he was a Stoic himself, so maybe that wasn’t so strange after all.
‘You happen to know where I can find him?’ I said. ‘Should I want to talk to him, that is.’
‘Which you don’t.’
‘Which, at present, I don’t.’
He grinned again and filled up my cup. ‘Right. He has a place on the Quirinal, off High Path and near the Shrine of Mars. You’ll probably find him there, because he hasn’t got much else to do at present but stay at home grumbling and twiddling his thumbs. You can tell him …’ He stopped. ‘Oh, hell.’
The door had just opened and a freedman-clerk had come in. He looked round, fixed on us, and came over. Secundus sighed.
‘Yes, Acastus. What is it?’ he said.
‘The departmental accounts committee meeting, sir.’ The freedman touched the brim of his cap. ‘It’s in less than an hour’s time. You asked to be reminded.’
‘Bugger, so it is.’ He stood up. ‘Sorry, Marcus, I’ll have to go. Finish the wine, OK?’ He waved at the barman. ‘My tab, Quintus, right?’ The barman nodded, and Secundus turned back to me. ‘Use my name as an introduction to Longinus if you like,’ he said. ‘Not that you’ll need to; he’s a perfectly amiable guy. And you know where to find me. Any other questions regarding the case you don’t want to know the answers to, I’ll be happy to help. Or, depending what they are, tell you to go and screw yourself. Fair enough?’
I grinned. ‘Fair enough. Thanks, pal, the next one’s on me.’
‘Damn right it is. See you remember,’ he said, and left.
I settled down and poured the last of the Massic into my cup. Yeah, well, I didn’t know how much of all that had been relevant, but it had certainly been interesting. So Longinus was in Rome, was he? And, from what Secundus had said, he’d arrived back just before Surdinus was topped. Probably coincidence, but still …
Plus – and I couldn’t see how or whether it fitted in with the murder, or indeed why the hell it should – there was the question of why the emperor had suddenly decided to bring Longinus back. Why should a paranoid bastard like Gaius go over the senate’s head and recall their top governor, who was not only holding his end up where the job was concerned, but was by all accounts so squeaky-clean-honest that you could play
morra
with him in the dark?
Yeah, right; there was only one answer to that, really. Whether or not, as I say, it was relevant to the case was another thing entirely. We’d just have to see what the future brought.
Meanwhile, I had Lawyer Venullius to talk to. Then it was home for a bit of a think.
THIRTEEN
‘E verything to do with the will checks out,’ I said to Perilla when I was changed into a dry tunic and ensconced in the atrium with a cup of wine beside me. ‘Apart from a few minor bequests, Surdinus Junior gets the bulk of the estate; Marcus – Hellenus – gets a third, while Tarquitia gets the interest on fifty thousand sesterces and the capital when she marries. Which, of course, we know she’s done already. So at least no one’s telling porkies there, and there’s nothing we’re missing.’
‘Hmm.’ Perilla was twisting a lock of her hair. ‘You’re sure Hellenus and Tarquitia were working together?’
‘Yeah. That’s more or less beyond doubt. And everything fits in. Vulpis at the
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