Read Online The Wolf and the Lamb by Frederick Ramsay - Free Book Online

but if he had been forewarned, by whom, and could he have not prevented the murder?”
    “You believe he set the thing in place himself? That Aurelius was sacrificed for some larger political purpose?” Pilate pursed his lips and nodded. “It would be consistent with how the elite operate in the capital. Yes, very good, Rabban. Those were my thoughts as well, but I cannot prove them.”
    “I only think it is one possibility.”
    “Only one?”
    “We have only scratched the surface here. For example, how well do you get on with this Priscus? Then, you say there is a Tribune of some note in the visiting company. Who is he and why is he here? Could it be that he plotted to be your successor as Prefect? Perhaps it was not Aurelius who lusted after your position but this man, or even Rufus, here. How confident are you that he is not plotting against you?”
    Rufus bolted from his chair and moved toward Gamaliel, his sword half out of its sheath.
    “Easy, Rufus,” Pilate said. “He is only making a point. No one suspects you of anything. The Rabban is instructing me in the complexities of solving murderers. I take your point, Rabban. Why must you speak to the Centurion?”
    “Why? Among other things, I wish to be certain that he did, in fact, send the message, not someone else.”
    “Rufus, fetch Priscus the Centurion here and then find that Physician. He must be finished with poor Aurelius by now. Anything else, Rabban?”
    “Yes, where is the messenger?”
    “Where? I have no idea. In the barracks, or standing guard, or patrolling. Who knows? I told you, it was not a written message, only delivered to me verbally.”
    “I want to speak to that soldier as well.”
    “I have no idea who he was. As I said, one legionnaire looks much like another to me. Theirs, ours, what difference does it make.”
    “A great deal. Listen carefully, if I understood you correctly, there are not two as I believed earlier, but three sets of legionnaires in play here. There are those who arrived with you from Caesarea, those who form the permanent garrison in Jerusalem, and those who accompanied the delegation from Rome. Only the latter are beyond your control. Have I got that right?”
    “Yes, I hadn’t thought of it that way. I don’t see why dividing the first two is important, though.”
    “Perhaps there is none, but you are not in contact with the garrison here on an everyday basis. They would be less familiar to you, wouldn’t they? And that could be important. I do not know why at the moment, but it is something to be considered. At any rate understanding the shape of everything is important. One last question for now, but there will be others, many others, later on. Who had access to your dagger? Knowing that will limit the number of suspected killers if the people who might have taken it are few.”
    “Anyone with access to my apartments, my baggage, and my things could have stolen it.”
    “Obviously you did not wear it to the banquet?”
    “No.”
    “Did you intend to?”
    “It occurred to me, and when I couldn’t locate it right away, I dismissed the thought. No one would notice.”
    “So you missed the dagger at the outset? That didn’t upset you?”
    “Things were still being unpacked and sorted. I was busy. I put the loss down to the momentary confusion.”
    “Which would make stealing it that much easier.”
    “Yes.”
    “And Cassia, even though he had arrived ahead of you by a day, recognized it as yours without your telling him?”
    “Yes…now that is interesting. I hadn’t thought of that. How would he know it was mine? Very good, Rabban. We are making progress.”
    “I wish that were so. All we have established is the possibility that you were part of an elaborate scheme to oust you from office. We have no idea why or by whom.”
    Loukas entered the room with Rufus who shrugged. “I cannot locate the Centurion,” he said.
    Loukas nodded to Gamaliel and jerked his head toward the door. Gamaliel