I, Claudia (29 page)

Claudia shrugged noncommittally.

He brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. ‘Besides,’ he added quietly, ‘you can’t honestly expect a red-blooded man to believe you’ve kept a figure like that after three children, can you?’

She turned away to study a butterfly feeding on a poppy. If that was supposed to be a compliment, he could bloody well stick it in his ear. She’d had it up to here with compliments. Gaius wasn’t even buried and letters had come flooding in. Some were condolences, admittedly, but half of Rome’s bachelors had wasted little time in winging off proposals of marriage. Some were clients of Gaius’s, one even was a client of hers. As if she’d marry a pervert like Flamininus the censor, for heaven’s sake! Who was married already, the twisted little tick. He wasn’t the only one, of course. There was Ligarius, who had got it into his thick skull that now she was free they could carry on where they’d left off. Left off from what? They’d never been more than friends, certainly never lovers. Was the man completely mad? There were seventeen proposals in all, ranging from senators to centurions, the latest from that clot Balbus, who could only be after her money because in three months he’d have bored her to death. Juno, it would be funny if it wasn’t so bloody pathetic! ‘What else did your grubby investigations turn up?’

‘Precisely what you’d expect them to, I’m afraid. Once I knew you were an imposter I was…curious. Since you were there the day Quintus Crassus was killed.’

The butterfly was long gone, but Claudia continued to stare at the poppy. ‘So you make up some feeble story about your house burning down and move in with us?’

‘I was on to something, and if that’s what it took to save lives I frankly couldn’t give a toss.’

‘I’d think before I boasted if I were you, Orbilio. Two men were butchered within five days of that clever little scheme.’

‘They were scheduled to die anyway, don’t you understand? Claudia, when I said I know about your past, I meant all of it.’

‘All of what? A mother who worked in a dyer’s, a father who was an orderly in the army? Big deal.’

‘I’m talking about Genoa, for pity’s sake. The poverty, the dancing, the—’

‘—the men.’ She might as well finish it for him. Claudia felt her knees turn to water. The colour must have drained down to them from her face. There was a long silence before she could bring herself to ask, ‘How did you find out?’

‘There was an anonymous letter on Gaius’s desk—’

‘You two-faced son of a bitch, you said you hadn’t searched the house!’

‘That was as far as I’d got. Going through Gaius’s papers like that, it made me
feel…
dirty.’

Funny, there are some things in life you just can’t legislate for. ‘There’s a certain irony in this situation, Orbilio. You see, my mother-in-law wrote that, and she’s a venomous old bitch who makes mischief for the sheer hell of it.’

‘I think you’re wrong. That letter was penned by an educated hand and I’ve checked this family out. Larentia is illiterate and even if she dictated
it…
The words, the grammar the careful phrasing? No, she didn’t send that.’

Come to think of it, Larentia sounded puzzled at the time. Why didn’t I pick up on that? If Orbilio could work it out, I bloody well should have. Serves you right, a little voice answered. You shouldn’t have assumed Gaius threw it away, even though he promised. You knew he was preoccupied over Lucius, you stupid cow, you should have checked.

‘And then there was Ligarius. Your steward mentioned he was hanging around in the street every night. It was only a question of following him to his tavern, throwing in your name, and that was it. The floodgates opened.’

Bastard. Her swore he’d never let her down. Men!

‘So the night he burst in, you clonked him over the head to spare my blushes. How frightfully gallant.’

‘Chivalry’s always been my downfall.’ Slowly Orbilio crossed to the aviary, keeping his back turned towards her. ‘Same as I didn’t want to believe it was you in the tenement last month.’

‘I thought we’d established it was Melissa.’

‘Melissa, yes, Melissa. I was searching her room for money, remember? It occurred to me Crassus might not have been tied up by the man who killed him, suppose something kinky was going on? Could Melissa have been offering such a service? Why not? And suppose Gaius was her pimp, the man who tipped her the wink about which punters were willing and how much to charge? When I heard about her selling the brooch and found the green tunic, it all fell into place.’

He paused. A rock seemed to have lodged in his throat as he remembered seeing Callisunus with his twin.

‘But I was wrong. A man will see only what he wants to see, and I wanted to believe it was Melissa with those men, not you, but the evidence was piled against it. Rufus was so cocksure the woman he’d seen wore a stola, I couldn’t shake him on it. Now a slave might pull on a fine linen tunic and pass as freeborn, but she’d never dare don that distinguishing symbol of Roman motherhood the stola. Whichever way I tried, you see, there was only one solution. It was you. You were in the tenement, Claudia. You found Crassus’s body. Because you were working again.’

‘Rubbish. Why would I do a thing like that?’

‘To pay off Lucan. That debt stood at well over two thousand sesterces the night young Otho called to pay his respects. Correct me if I’m wrong, Claudia, those six men were tricks.’

Vulgar word. Claudia tossed her head in disdain. What the hell. No one can prove Gaius didn’t know my background, the will’s still valid. Nothing can take that away. It means moving on, of course, but I’ve done it before and no doubt I’ll do it again.

‘So now you know the risks I’m running by re-opening the case.’ She hoped from that distance he couldn’t hear the quiver in her voice.

Orbilio turned round. There was little trace of the boyish charm on his pinched features. ‘Tell me one thing, Claudia, and answer me honestly. Do you have a lover?’

‘A lover? With that list of punters? Do me a favour!’ His face relaxed, as though a weight had been lifted from his mind. The dancing light in his eyes was back as he squared his shoulders. ‘Then I categorically refuse to re-open the case. You see, if you don’t have a lover, who else would kill for you?’

‘No one’s killing
for
me, they’re just picking off my clients. I’ve told you, I don’t know who it is yet, but it has to be one of them. I’ve…eliminated all bar six.’

‘How many were there? All right, all right, you don’t have to answer that. All the same, I can’t buy it. Sorry, Claudia, I don’t believe Gaius was set up by one of your punters.’

Neither do I.

‘I want his name cleared, that’s all. If you re-open the case, that will happen automatically.’

‘Good grief, how many times do I have to tell you before it sinks in?
Gaius
killed them!’

‘Orbilio, are you being dense deliberately? Why should he do a thing like that?’

‘I’ve just proved it, for gods’ sakes. He loved you, isn’t that enough? You were sleeping with these men—’

‘I was not! They want to be spanked, beaten, whipped, you name it, but believe me, these guys don’t want sex.’

‘Really? You mean you
didn’t…’
Orbilio cleared his throat. ‘Stop splitting hairs. The point is, Gaius and you had separate rooms, he thought they were getting what he wasn’t so—wallop! Exit the competition.’

Claudia put her hands on her hips, cocked her head on one side and smiled. ‘You know, Marcus, we seem to have come by a convoluted route, but I think we’re finally getting there. Haven’t I been telling you all along Gaius didn’t have a motive for killing these men?’

‘For crying out loud, woman, I’ve just given you one!’

‘Uh-uh. You’ve merely talked yourself out of one. Gaius didn’t love me, I was another of his trophies, that’s all. He married me for my looks and my character, another symbol of his success. Now why do you suppose I was so keen to get rid of the oik? Did you really think I couldn’t handle whatever he might let slip? No, Marcus, I wanted that boy out of the house before Gaius could lay his pudgy white paws on him.’

She paused and looked up at him. ‘Now are you beginning to understand?’

XXV

The light was fading by the time Claudia returned to the house. Orbilio had insisted she stay to eat, but instead of thrashing out the business in hand the conversation drifted on to all manner of subjects, weighty and light, and to her astonishment the afternoon just vanished. For several minutes she simply sat in the litter composing herself. It left you raw, a day like this. You felt as though you’d been peeled and turned inside out. Claudia leaned back on the cushions. They were grubby and the drapes far inferior to her own, but for once she didn’t grumble about using public conveyances. To be honest, she was glad Orbilio had sent for one of these, rather than her own litter, much longer and Claudia might have started to enjoy herself.

The dining room had been as gracious as the rest of the house, the cushions the most comfortable she’d reclined on for many a year and the food exquisite. Scallops from Chios, fried chicken, baked bread with garlic, and sweet, unblemished fruit. She’d been waiting for him to lean over to try to kiss and fondle her, to suggest they retreat to his bedroom and spend the night there, yet he hadn’t so much as touched her. The hours drifted by, with him propped up on one elbow as they laughed and argued and ate and drank. Finally, when she stood up to leave, she asked him again whether he’d re-open the case, and he answered with a simple yes. He would call in the morning, before the burial. They could thrash out a list of suspects.

He was adamant Gaius hadn’t been killed by the man who murdered the others, although he was prepared to go along with it for the moment, since it would be sufficient to swing Callisunus against making his announcement, at least for a day or two. He made a great point of stressing his hope that there weren’t too many skeletons in the Seferius closet, because once he started his investigations, nothing—but nothing—would stop him from seeking out the truth. Did she still want him to probe? She nodded vehemently. By the time he’d dug down that deep, there’d be nothing to find—she promised
herself
that!

Claudia puffed out her cheeks. She’d got what she came for, Gaius’s name would be cleared, yet instead of a sense of satisfaction her brain was in turmoil. Orbilio had sown so many kinds of doubts in her head, that if only half of them germinated she felt she’d explode. In his book, he said, everyone was a suspect, she would do well to bear that in mind. She ought to think carefully, he said. Recap events before Tigellinus was killed back in January, because you couldn’t afford to overlook the slightest detail. Same as you couldn’t rule out without checking and double-checking. Why was she so certain it was a punter? It made no kind of sense, he said, there was no motive. She might be the link between, but without identifying a motive she was whistling in the dark. She should take his word for it, he said. Love was the motive for these crimes, he would bet his boots on that. Finding herself uncomfortable under the intensity of his stare, Claudia quickly pooh-poohed the idea, but Orbilio pressed on.

Had she, for instance, considered Junius as a candidate for Gaius’s murder? No, she replied, she had not, finding that for some reason she was unable to look the investigator in the eye for once. Then she should, he said, and as for the man knocking off her tricks, had she considered Ligarius? This time she could say honestly that no, she hadn’t reckoned on Liggy’s involvement in this. Since Antonia died he’d gone to pieces, certainly, and lately he’d become somewhat unstable, but that didn’t make him a violent man. Not in the cold-blooded way Marcus was talking about. Ah, but suppose Ligarius thinks he’s protecting you in some way, he’d said. After all, the first murder took place shortly after Antonia’s death, didn’t it? Claudia scoffed. Good life in Illyria, whatever was he thinking of? She knew Liggy of old. What he lacked in brains he might make up for in brawn, but a killer? Never. All the same, the spectre—once raised—seemed extremely reluctant to depart…

Cypassis was standing outside in the street as Claudia tipped the litter bearers and dismissed them.

‘The family’s inside,’ she whispered, wrinkling her nose. ‘Been cooling their heels since noon.’

Claudia resisted the urge to hug this big-boned peasant girl. She catches on quick, she thought. She’s only been here a week and she’s sussed out the situation already. It hadn’t taken them long, she thought, before they realized the will was inviolate. She’d expected them to come creeping back soon enough, but obviously they wanted to ingratiate themselves before the burial tomorrow. One big happy family, et cetera, et cetera. United in grief and, goodness me, no—the money doesn’t mean a thing. Claudia shook her skirts, adjusted her curls and prepared for action.

‘Claudia!’

‘Marcellus.’

She wondered how long he’d been waiting by the front door. Hours and hours, with any luck.

‘I’m sorry we were forced to stay away from the funeral. It was agony knowing there was no one but you to mourn Gaius at the pyre, but we’ll be with you tomorrow, love. Right behind you all the way.’

‘Splendid.’

There would be ample time afterwards to tell him that, however much Gaius might have put up with his incessant sponging, she was not prepared to tolerate it one moment longer.