sister’s safety—you know how these perverts operate. Starts off with spying and escalates from there.’ He turned to Claudia and spread his hands apologetically. ‘In retrospect I should have brought the army in sooner, I didn’t realize how far things had gone. I really appreciate your staying on to give evidence.’
The room swam. Staying on? To give evidence? Gods-dammit, Sergius Pictor, you are one selfish, devious son-of-a-bitch. You stood by and let me think… ‘The pleasure is all mine, Sergius,’ she assured him through a mouth full of honey.
She realized, now, what he was up to. Those big beefy guards weren’t here to protect property. Their job was to ensure the performing animals remained a secret. Once someone had breached that security, and clearly the dung-beetle had, what better way to ensure Master Pictor wasn’t pipped to the post by poor imitations than broadcasting your copyright via the might of the Roman legions? No wonder you can afford marble on this scale.
Macer was holding up a restraining hand. ‘One moment. You’ve lost me, sir.’ He beckoned forward the little blonde girl. ‘Coronis, you’re on record as saying you saw—you actually witnessed—Mistress Seferius stab the deceased.’
‘Well…yeah. That’s what it looked like.’ Coronis stared vigorously at her feet. ‘At the time.’
The Prefect put an exploratory finger in his ear and examined the result. ‘Are you now retracting your statement?’
‘Re—?’
‘Disclaiming. Disowning. Withdrawing.’ Macer tutted impatiently. ‘You did not see the actual knife thrust?’
Corbulo leaned closer to whisper in Claudia’s ear, but she was too intent on Coronis’ testimony to hear what was said.
The girl had clenched her thumbs in her fists. ‘Well, I saw Miss Claudie and the dead bloke, I saw the knife sticking out’—a glance flickered across in Claudia’s direction—‘and since there weren’t no one else, what was I supposed to think?’
Frankly, Claudia couldn’t care what conclusions the silly cow had drawn. A weight had been lifted from her shoulders and she was happily planning revenge on Sergius Pictor. Should that involve regular consignments of Seferius wine, so much the better—sales were abysmal since her husband had died.
‘Prefect, we’re getting off the track.’ Sergius waved his hand from side to side. ‘It’s obvious this pervert had taken his filthy game one step further and either it was an accident, the door slamming on to him, or else, caught red-handed, he took the coward’s way out.’
Possibly. I mean if you were intending to rape a helpless victim at knife point, you would be carrying the weapon with the blade pointed towards you, wouldn’t you? Still, if Macer didn’t pick it up, Claudia had no intention of drawing his attention to the anomaly. He was still addressing the slave girl.
‘Who else was sleeping in the guest wing apart from Mistress Seferius?’
‘Only me, I’m afraid.’ Pallas saved her the bother of answering. ‘And I plead not guilty.’
‘That’s right,’ Sergius said. ‘We all heard screams and came running.’
‘Hmm.’ Macer tapped his lip thoughtfully. ‘Mistress Seferius, in your own words, how would you describe the deceased?’
‘A sleazeball.’
‘You knew him?’
‘I know his type.’
Macer considered carefully before laying himself open twice. ‘I was rather hoping you could give us a physical description. You see, most of the group gathered this morning haven’t seen the body. Your description might trigger a memory.’
In a word, seedy. ‘Medium height, heavy, balding, spongy nose, pouches under his eyes, yellow teeth. Oh, I nearly forgot. He also had a very large belly with a knife in it.’
The Prefect nearly laughed with the rest of them. ‘That’s a pretty detailed description.’
‘We shared a pretty intimate embrace.’
‘Distressing, I’m sure.’ His gaze swept round the room. ‘Your bodyguard. Where
The room swam. Staying on? To give evidence? Gods-dammit, Sergius Pictor, you are one selfish, devious son-of-a-bitch. You stood by and let me think… ‘The pleasure is all mine, Sergius,’ she assured him through a mouth full of honey.
She realized, now, what he was up to. Those big beefy guards weren’t here to protect property. Their job was to ensure the performing animals remained a secret. Once someone had breached that security, and clearly the dung-beetle had, what better way to ensure Master Pictor wasn’t pipped to the post by poor imitations than broadcasting your copyright via the might of the Roman legions? No wonder you can afford marble on this scale.
Macer was holding up a restraining hand. ‘One moment. You’ve lost me, sir.’ He beckoned forward the little blonde girl. ‘Coronis, you’re on record as saying you saw—you actually witnessed—Mistress Seferius stab the deceased.’
‘Well…yeah. That’s what it looked like.’ Coronis stared vigorously at her feet. ‘At the time.’
The Prefect put an exploratory finger in his ear and examined the result. ‘Are you now retracting your statement?’
‘Re—?’
‘Disclaiming. Disowning. Withdrawing.’ Macer tutted impatiently. ‘You did not see the actual knife thrust?’
Corbulo leaned closer to whisper in Claudia’s ear, but she was too intent on Coronis’ testimony to hear what was said.
The girl had clenched her thumbs in her fists. ‘Well, I saw Miss Claudie and the dead bloke, I saw the knife sticking out’—a glance flickered across in Claudia’s direction—‘and since there weren’t no one else, what was I supposed to think?’
Frankly, Claudia couldn’t care what conclusions the silly cow had drawn. A weight had been lifted from her shoulders and she was happily planning revenge on Sergius Pictor. Should that involve regular consignments of Seferius wine, so much the better—sales were abysmal since her husband had died.
‘Prefect, we’re getting off the track.’ Sergius waved his hand from side to side. ‘It’s obvious this pervert had taken his filthy game one step further and either it was an accident, the door slamming on to him, or else, caught red-handed, he took the coward’s way out.’
Possibly. I mean if you were intending to rape a helpless victim at knife point, you would be carrying the weapon with the blade pointed towards you, wouldn’t you? Still, if Macer didn’t pick it up, Claudia had no intention of drawing his attention to the anomaly. He was still addressing the slave girl.
‘Who else was sleeping in the guest wing apart from Mistress Seferius?’
‘Only me, I’m afraid.’ Pallas saved her the bother of answering. ‘And I plead not guilty.’
‘That’s right,’ Sergius said. ‘We all heard screams and came running.’
‘Hmm.’ Macer tapped his lip thoughtfully. ‘Mistress Seferius, in your own words, how would you describe the deceased?’
‘A sleazeball.’
‘You knew him?’
‘I know his type.’
Macer considered carefully before laying himself open twice. ‘I was rather hoping you could give us a physical description. You see, most of the group gathered this morning haven’t seen the body. Your description might trigger a memory.’
In a word, seedy. ‘Medium height, heavy, balding, spongy nose, pouches under his eyes, yellow teeth. Oh, I nearly forgot. He also had a very large belly with a knife in it.’
The Prefect nearly laughed with the rest of them. ‘That’s a pretty detailed description.’
‘We shared a pretty intimate embrace.’
‘Distressing, I’m sure.’ His gaze swept round the room. ‘Your bodyguard. Where
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