A Point of Law by John Maddox Roberts

Author:John Maddox Roberts [Roberts, John Maddox]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Historical
ISBN: 9780312337254
Google: H7kQTwEACAAJ
Amazon: 0312337264
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: 2006-05-15T18:30:00+00:00

8

OCTAVIA SAID SOMETHING IMPORTANT,” I told Julia.

“What was it?”

“I don’t remember.”

“That’s a great help.” We sat eating dinner while sounds of revelry made their way in through the door and over the walls. Everyone was entertaining Caesar’s soldiers, and the party had spilled out into the streets and squares where tables had been set up and the wine flowed. I wished I could be out there with them.

“I mean, I remember everything she said. I just can’t put my finger on what did not ring true.”

“Sleep on it,” Julia advised. “Perhaps, like Callista, you’ll be visited by a god who will sort this out for you.”

“It could happen,” I admitted. “Speaking of that learned lady, did she come up with a solution for the code?”

Julia shook her head. “No, I left her house shortly after you did. I wanted to give her privacy to work on it.”

I wondered what the two had really been talking about. Me and my shortcomings, no doubt.

There was a pounding on the door outside and a few moments later my father came in, accompanied by Scipio and Nepos. Julia served wine and retired, none too happy about it. These men were too old-fashioned to talk politics with a woman in the room.

“What have you learned?” Father demanded. I gave a succinct report of my doings, and he made a disgusted sound. “You’ve wasted your time while we’ve been lining up support for you.”

“No, I find this interesting,” said Metellus Scipio. “You’ve gathered a lot of evidence here and there, Decius. Have you drawn any conclusions?”

“Just a few minor conclusions that may lead to the main one.”

“Such as?” said Nepos.

“Fulvius was killed by three or more highly placed men.”

“How is that?” Father asked. “The number of weapons says multiple assailants and the bugger was held from behind, I’ll grant your Greek friend knows what he’s talking about there. What makes you think they were well-born or important and not just street scum?”

“The clumsiness of the execution,” I told them. “What grown Roman man doesn’t know how to kill a man with a knife? It’s part of every soldier’s training, and even those who never served in the legions see it done in the arenas, both with straight blades and curved sicas. This man was killed by a multitude of shallow cuts, like some wretch executed by an Oriental monarch. And the cuts were administered by straight blades, not well suited to the task.”

Scipio nodded. “And a gentleman would never use a sica, even to commit murder.”

“Precisely. And there was this: Everybody wanted to participate, but nobody wanted to be the one to administer the deathblow.”

“You’ve lost me,” Father said.

“We’ve seen it before,” I told them. “The essence of conspiracy is to take part, but also to make sure that the others take an equal part. Look at the absurd lengths to which Catilina’s men went to make sure that every one of them was liable to the death penalty. That way nobody could back out, and nobody could squeal on the others.

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