The Far Shore by Nick Brown Page A

doesn’t mean there aren’t others. And we now know something else – our man might have gone by a name beginning with D. Also, I need two of your men.’
    ‘Sir.’
    Clemens took the other two legionaries with him and marched away along the street. Cassius led the other two into the office.
    Sudrenus looked up.
    ‘These men are going to find your slave,’ Cassius said. ‘Give them all the help you can – I need to see him at once.’
    ‘Very well,’ the Greek replied wearily.
    ‘You get hold of him, you bring him to me,’ Cassius told the legionaries. ‘I don’t care if you have to drag him out of bed.’
    Once back outside, he found Annia questioning the sergeant about Drusus Viator. Cassius held up his hand before the sergeant could answer. ‘That’s really none of your concern, miss. I did ask you to leave this matter in my hands.’
    Annia gestured to the carriage. ‘Please, Officer. We can get you to the Helios in no time.’
    Cassius looked around. As well as Simo, Indavara and the three sergeants, Trogus, the driver and Annia’s maid were also standing there, listening in.
    ‘Give us a moment,’ Cassius said irritably. As the others moved away, Annia stared back at him, arms folded across her chest. Cassius could quite happily have slapped her, but settled for leaning in close and addressing her in an urgent whisper.
    ‘Miss, I do not intend to try and apprehend a known criminal by arriving at his house in a carriage with two
women
in tow. It is time for you to remember your place and stay out of my way.’
    Annia matched his whisper but replaced urgency with defiance.
    ‘You, sir, are not in a position to tell me what my place is. The only man capable of doing that is dead.’
    Cassius straightened up and took a breath. The girl really was quite infuriating.
    ‘I ask you again, miss, will you just allow me to do my job?’
    Annia took a long time to reply. ‘Very well.’
    She aimed a finger at Trogus. He, the driver and the maid climbed back on to the carriage.
    ‘But I want to know something,’ Annia added. ‘It’s possible the assassin has already left the island, yes?’
    ‘Several vessels departed yesterday. We must establish whether he was on one of them.’
    ‘And if he was? Will you charter a vessel and follow that ship?’
    ‘That is one possibility, yes. We might also look to the navy for assistance.’
    ‘I see. I apologise for getting in your way, Officer. Knowing my place has never been a great strength of mine.’
    This first flash of humility came as a surprise to Cassius. He followed Annia the few steps to the carriage, then offered her his hand as she climbed up.
    The driver waited for a rider coming up from the harbour to pass, then turned into the road and followed him. As the carriage trundled away, Cassius glanced at Indavara and rolled his eyes.
    ‘Women, eh, sir?’ said one of the young sergeants. Cassius knew he should admonish him for his cheek but he couldn’t resist the reply.
    ‘Ladies are worse.’

    Crouching behind a cart loaded with bundles of dried reeds, Cassius, Indavara, Simo and the three sergeants looked across the street at Drusus Viator’s villa. It was situated in a mainly residential area on the slopes above the Little Harbour; the third of three identical properties squeezed in between a bakery to the left and a tree-lined sanctuary to the right. The columns on either side of the front door seemed rather grandiose for a one-storey building with probably only three or four rooms.
    ‘Sure it’s that one?’ asked Cassius.
    ‘Definitely, sir,’ replied Auspex, the sergeant who’d arrested Viator before. ‘He went flying out the back when our men rang the front-door bell.’
    ‘Indavara, remember the glass factory in Antioch?’
    The bodyguard pointed to a little scar on his neck.
    ‘Ah,’ said Cassius.
    ‘I’ll take the back,’ said Indavara, who always became more vocal and animated with the prospect of a bit of