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Lies," murmured Helena, to whom I had been referring. Tell him the rest, Albia."
Notebooks."
Notebooks! I thought we had those, mostly empty."
These new ones are written in. There are quite a lot. I believe Titus had kept them, hoping they might be valuable. Now he is frightened he will get into trouble!" Albia spat. It was a habit we had yet to cure. So he will. Sooner or later, and I think sooner…" Prophesying doom for men gave Albia much satisfaction. Titus said, or he pretended, he had been asked to look after these tablets by your scribe. To put them in a safe place, and not tell anybody. That is why he kept them secret from you. But some men came to the house asking about them yesterday, and Titus is now very scared."
Who scared him?"
He knew no names."
I had a quick look at the tablets," said Helena. I imagined her speed-reading before she rushed back to the Aquarius for lunch. Two different authors, I would say. Some look like old diaries, don't get excited; it's not love affairs of the famous. They are ship's logs, or similar."
Boring! I can do without a load of notes saying wind nor" by nor nor" west, sea choppy; had beans for supper, farted hilariously." Helena had been teaching Albia to read on quiet evenings. Albia must have sca
Who wrote these logs?"
It does not say. There are a lot of meetings." Albia was a bright girl. She knew we had been talking about pirates. Most are brisk" and end with a list of good prices."
Sold five what?" I met Helena's eyes. Like me, she suspected the worst.
The lists of sales are endless," Albia told me unhappily. Are they people, these numbers? These fives and tens and threes and even twenties? Are they people, being sold into slavery?"
The tablets are old and battered," Helena tried to reassure her. I think we'll find these events happened many years ago." Realistically, Albia knew that not all stricken people could be saved from their misfortunes as she had been. Eventually she said in a low voice, Wrapped in one of the clean tunics was a sword, Marcus Didius/
Did Titus say anything about it?" Albia saw Titus as one of life's lowest characters. No, he shrugged it off as unimportant, but he is keen to get rid of it to you now." I told her she had better show me, so we went indoors. The sword was a plain, short-bladed model in an ill-fitting, twisted leather scabbard. No soldier or ex-soldier would have given it a second glance, but an imperial palace freedman, brought up among bureaucrats, would not have known it had poor balance and blunt edges. There was rust on the blade, which had never been oiled and looked after, and a great deal more rust where the handle was attached with a crude weld. One sharp blow and I reckoned the ensemble would fall to pieces. I doubted if Diocles had ever used this weapon; he must have had it for reassurance only. So when he went out the last time, Diocles had left the weapon in his room, because he thought he was going somewhere safe, either alone or among people who meant no harm to him. More importantly, he had believed that he would be coming back.
XXXVI
I left Helena with the new note-tablets. The children were contented, so she was ready to read and interpret this written work. There were enough tablets to cover a side table. Most looked ancient, their wooden boards bleached and dried up; these were filled with uneven scribbles of the kind Albia had described earlier. A few newer tablets matched those we had found before in Diocles" room. Perhaps they would give a lead as to what had happened to him. Helena assured me this task needed one person to review everything, that was, her. I went out instead to investigate the two bars where Ba
Something to eat, sir?" No thanks. I was grown up now. I knew what would happen if I ate in a dump like this. I could not spare the time to be that ill. I'm looking for the Illyrian."
Not here. Get lost."
Has he ever been here?"
If you say so. Everyone seems to think he has."
Who's everyone?"
A stupid stiff from the vigiles." Bru
It sounds as if he knows how to behave… But I am told he's rather sinister?" My informant, a spotty young male in a filthy tunic, laughed. He never scares me!"
You mean he's not as fierce as he makes out?"
No, I mean he wears eye paint and silly slippers." In a lifetime of unexpected answers, that came as a genuine surprise. The Illyrian?" The waiter thought my remark hilarious. He's as fierce as a wet sponge. He's just a scrawny old queen." A couple of vigiles looked in at the door. I took that as my cue to leave. I had no wish to hang around while members of the Fourth Cohort jumped all over the place like fleas on a scruffy dog. But the night was young, and I needed to think. I started to walk. A short stroll took me away from the river and into the Forum on its western side. As an attempt to avoid the vigiles, that was a disaster. more of the Fourth were lined up in rows at the foot of the Capitol. I could see Rubella with them, so although they looked sick that they were missing the wine-shop inspection, they were on their best behaviour. In general, most never saw the cohort tribune. They stared at him curiously. Petronius was seconding Rubella, chewing his thumb and looking bored. I also recognised Fusculus, Petro's deputy in Rome. Fusculus, an increasingly rotund, happy fellow, appeared to be the duty officer in charge tonight. He had formed up a small group in a half-hearted honour guard. The vigiles do not wear uniforms or carry armour so they ca