Scandal takes a Holiday

Next day I went back to the scribe's lodging, this time in the morning. With luck, the landlady would be out then, and I could ask her new tenant to show me the scribe's room. I left Helena continuing her task of reading old copies of the Gazette. She was doing this in the presence of our daughters. Julia Junilla, aged three last month, could start a riot that required quelling by the urban cohorts when she felt obstinate; at the moment she was playing cute. She did it with style and my heart melted. Sosia Favonia, a sombre thug of only fourteen months, was standing up naked in her crib, having learned how she could pull herself upright even as it rocked. Next trick. falling out and cutting her head open. Still, Albia had laid a rag rug beside the crib to limit the damage. In order to read, Helena resorted to the old wheeze; she produced a new toy, [all the doll, ball, hoop, whistle and wooden animal makers in Rome knew and adored us, then she moved away quietly as the children grew absorbed. She was safe with her scrolls until the next screaming quarrel started. I kissed the girls. They ignored me; they were used to me leaving home. Sometimes they seemed to think I was just the greengrocer's delivery boy. No; he would have been more exciting. With Nux darting through my ankles in an attempt to trip me up, I returned to the Marine Gate. It was a long way to walk, only to find the new tenant was out. Depressed, I went to knock on the landlady's door, and at this point the Fates took pity. She was out too, so I finally met her all-duties slave, Titus. A snub-nosed, scar-faced rascal in a loose-fit one-shouldered tunic, this Titus had been kept away from me on previous calls. He was sharp as a nail; like all his tribe he knew exactly his value to a man in need. The pittance the Gazette scribes were paying me would not go far around many like Titus, but according to him he was unique. So that was all right. It was Titus who had actually cleared the room after Diocles went missing.

Excellent news. Now earn those tinkling coppers you just squeezed out of me, Titus. I know what Diocles is supposed to have left behind, a few used tunics and some empty note-tablets. Now you tell me what else was there, and don't hold back."

Are you saying I nicked something?" Titus demanded indignantly. Always eager to join in a rumpus, Nux walked over and sniffed him. The slave eyed her uneasily.

You are entitled to perks, young fellow."

Well, that's how I see it." He settled down. Nux lost interest. He had a couple of other tunics, clean ones. As he wasn't coming back, I had them off him."

Sold in the second-hand market?"

Too right."

Diocles came to Ostia for the summer," I mused. He wouldn't have walked in with just one knapsack and a packet of squid dumplings, but even if he did."

What you saying, Falco?"

Where did his knapsack walk off to?"

He had two. I got a good price for them."

Were they empty?"

Oh yes." It sounded true. I looked at him steadily. I shook them out, Falco."

Where did his cash go, then?" Titus shrugged. No idea, honest." There was no point pressing it. I noticed the slave had not asked me, what cash?

How much luggage did he have when he first arrived? Would you say Diocles could have moved gear to some other lodging?"

What he brought with him was left when he bunked off. A stool, and stuff

Forget the stool!" I had retrieved it. The folding stool was wobbly and I had pinched my finger when trying it out. Was there a weapon?" I growled.

No, sir!" Now that was wrong. In Rome it is illegal to go armed [not that that stops people] but when travelling we all tool up. I knew from Holconius and Mutatus that Diocles always carried a dagger, and sometimes he took a sword too. The other scribes had told me these were standard precautions, in case he ran into an offended husband or a furious wife's huge whip-wielding driver. I don't want them back, and I won't report you, Titus. I just need to know."

There was none."

Right."

You don't believe me!"

I believe you." I believed no slave would ever confess to stealing anything with which he could arm himself, even if he had sold on the weapon. Slaves and swords don't mix.

So is that it?" asked Titus, looking hopeful.