The Ides of April by Lindsey Davis Read Free Book Online Page B

she would get a big Saturnalia present! And the uncle?’
    ‘Oh a different mullet entirely. Tullius is a bit too randy in his habits to be tied down to marriage. You know the type − jumps any slave of any age, male or female; has even been known to stand up after the appetisers, leave the room with a serving boy, hump the lad in the anteroom and saunter back for the main course as if nothing has happened, taking up the conversation where he left off . . . Flavia Albia, you do rack the questions up. I am impressed!’
    ‘Just habit. I apologise.’
    ‘Oh I don’t care if you want the scandal on Faustus . . .’
    ‘You haven’t told me any scandal about Faustus,’ I corrected him.
    ‘No, he’s a cold fish.’
    ‘If I ever have to meet him, I would like to be primed with some salacious background!’ I had now confirmed that Andronicus really disliked Manlius Faustus. His manner with me generally was so open that I could tell he was being reticent about his poor relationship with the aedile. Of course, that aroused my interest, though I let it pass, temporarily. Andronicus thought me direct, but I could be very patient. ‘So, Andronicus – last night?’
    ‘Faustus had this visitor – people sometimes bother him on business after dinner.’
    ‘He is good about it? Doesn’t mind being cornered at home, when he’s relaxing?’
    ‘I’ve never known him relax! He takes a pious attitude to “duty”. He loves to suffer. And I expect he was curious.’
    ‘Whereas you didn’t care at all what Salvidia’s nephew wanted?’ I teased.
    Andronicus raised his eyebrows so his forehead wrinkled, looking fake-innocent. ‘When Faustus gets up and abandons a nutmeg custard for a mystery caller, I do tend to follow and put my ear to the door.’
    ‘You need to know what he’s up to?’
    ‘I like to keep a kindly eye on him.’
    In some homes, freedmen take that much interest for dubious reasons, hopeful of causing friction between family members, planning blackmail even. Luckily the good-natured way Andronicus joked about it would have reassured even Faustus.
    He suddenly became more serious. ‘I did have an interest, Albia. The fact is, I myself had had a grisly run-in with that awful woman. I can hardly bear to remember it. Salvidia came to see Faustus, but he was out of the office. I had to deal with her. She was furious about the wall poster, the one asking for witnesses to the child’s death. She laid into me something terrible. Left me shaking.’
    ‘Oh poor you!’
    ‘As if it was my fault!’ Andronicus still seemed upset. Having met Salvidia, I could imagine why. ‘She was a pest. Her arrogance was simply unacceptable. I thought she was going to attack me physically.’
    ‘I expect she was afraid there would be consequences after the accident.’ Manlius Faustus could come down heavily on her building firm, to punish them for negligence. Overloading carts and having drunken drivers were areas of interest for aediles. ‘Had you told Faustus about how she confronted you? Was he sympathetic?’
    ‘According to him, my job is always to be helpful to members of the public.’
    ‘He doesn’t know much about the public.’
    ‘Albia, how true! When her nephew arrived to speak to him, Faustus ordered me to sit tight. I wasn’t having that. He went to speak to the visitor; I sneakily followed him.’
    ‘You thought there was some trouble arising from your altercation? Why would a relative feel he ought to inform a magistrate Salvidia had died, Andronicus?’
    ‘No idea.’ The archivist shrugged.
    ‘Maybe,’ I suggested disingenuously, ‘he is prepared to pay the compensation that has been demanded for little Lucius Bassus. So he thinks the poster calling for witnesses should be taken down now? Hush things up? If he means to carry on the construction business, being named as an organisation that has killed a child besmirches its reputation. And if he wants to sell up, he has even more need to hide what