Solid Citizens by David Wishart Read Free Book Online Page B

Manlius himself practically dead cert to replace him.’
    I tried a pickle and spat it out. Jupiter! The gods knew where Scaptius bought them from, but I was surprised they hadn’t burned a hole in the jar. When he was crossing the Alps, Hannibal was supposed to have broken up the boulders from avalanches by heating them and pouring on vinegar. This must’ve been the stuff. Come to that, it could’ve done the job on its own. ‘There’ll be a new election, surely,’ I said when I’d stopped coughing. ‘From scratch.’
    ‘Oh, sure, but the chances are that no one else’ll run. With Caesius gone Manlius has the senate in his pocket. Or he and Canidius have between them. Their two families have been the top ones in Bovillae for the past three hundred years. Caesius, sure, he was old-Bovillae too, but his family’s only notched up one magistracy to every ten of theirs. And they’re rich as Croesus into the bargain. If Caesius hadn’t been so highly thought of, Manlius could’ve bought his way into the censorship easily. When he lost it really put his nose out of joint.’
    ‘He can buy my vote any time,’ a punter – not Battus this time – growled. ‘And he gives decent games; you have to say that for him.’
    ‘Come on, now, Thermus,’ Scaptius said wearily. ‘You’re the sort of materialistic bastard that keeps these sods in office!’
    ‘Yeah, that’s me. Materialist to the core. Wouldn’t be anything else. Proud of it.’
    I pushed the plate of suspect nibbles away to where it wouldn’t do any more damage and took a throat-clearing swallow of wine. ‘So,’ I said. ‘This fire. No one knows how it started?’
    ‘Sure they do,’ Scaptius said. ‘That was just Battus sounding off. The night watchman was drunk; he tipped over a lamp and set some straw alight. Or that’s the official version, anyway.’
    ‘Fucking right it’s the official version.’ Battus again. ‘And it’s a lie from start to finish, because old Garganius never touched a drop in his life when he was on duty. If you want to hear the true story you talk to him, pal. Sextus Garganius. Lives over by the fucking meat market.’
    ‘Battus, I warned you! Out!’
    ‘Yeah, yeah.’ The punter set his cup down. ‘It’s OK. Keep your hair on, Scaptius, I was just going anyway. See you later, guys. Enjoy the festival.’ There was a chorus of grunts, whistles and cat-calls. He lurched towards the door, and – finally – through it.
    ‘Prat!’ Scaptius muttered and reached for a cloth to wipe the counter.
    ‘Just out of interest,’ I said to him, ‘do you happen to know where I can find Caesius’s brother?’
    ‘Lucius?’ He gave me a sharp look and put the cloth down. ‘What do you want with him?’
    ‘I just need a quick word, that’s all. For the sake of completeness.’
    ‘To do with the death?’ I said nothing. ‘Well, it’s no business of mine, sir, and no skin off my nose. Sure I know. Far as I remember, he rents a room in the first street to the right of the square, above Cammius’s bakery.’ He turned to the other punters. ‘That so, lads?’ There were a few affirmative grunts. ‘You might see him at the funeral, but I wouldn’t count on it. He and his brother weren’t exactly on friendly terms.’
    ‘So I’m told,’ I said.
Rents a room
, right? So the guy was obviously seriously strapped for cash. Something that was probably just going to change, and pretty drastically, from what I’d seen of the Caesius
ménage
; if he was the dead man’s only heir, he’d be worth quite a bit, shortly. I sank the remaining wine in my cup and stood up. ‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘Catch you later.’
    ‘Have a good festival if we don’t see you before,’ Scaptius said.
    ‘You too, pal.’
    Right. Back to the job in hand. Or at least to the victim’s funeral.

FIVE
    T he market square was beginning to fill up, with crowds starting to form in the porticoes which surrounded it. They’d erected a temporary dais