tent, dripping wet, nonchalantly discussing his real estate with me. Funny, the gallus and I walked by the place on our way to Clodia's house and when I saw that all the shutters were closed on such a warm day, I thought Caelius must be inside sleeping off a hangover. Instead it turns out that the apartment is empty. Caelius has gone back to live at his father's house on the Quirinal Hill-where he'll undoubtedly stay, until his trial is finished.'
'Then they're definitely bringing charges against him?'
'Oh yes, charges have already been filed. But not by Clodius.'
'Then by whom?'
'Can you guess?'
Eco shook his head. 'Marcus Caelius has too many enemies for me to hazard a guess.'
'The charges were filed by the seventeen-year-old son of Lucius Calpurnius Bestia.'
Eco laughed and mimed with his outstretched arm. ' 'Judges, I do not point the finger of guilt-I point at the guilty finger!' '
'So you know that story?'
'Of course, Papa. Everyone knows about Caelius accusing Bestia of poisoning his wives. I only regret that you and I were gone visiting Meto when that trial took place. I heard about it secondhand from Menenia.'
'It was Bethesda who told me about it. Well, it looks as if Bestia may soon exact his revenge on Caelius.'
'Has the date for the trial been set?'
'Yes. The charges were actually filed five days ago. Given the customary ten days allowed for the two sides to prepare their arguments, that puts the beginning of the trial only five days from now.'
'So soon! You don't have much time.'
'Isn't that always the way? They come to us thinking we can pull evidence out of thin air.'
Eco cocked his head. 'But wait, you're saying the trial will start two days after the Nones of Aprilis. If it goes on for more than a day it would overlap with the opening of the Great Mother festival.'
I nodded. 'The trial will go on despite the holiday. Lesser courts are suspended during the festival, but not the court for political terrorism.
'Political terrorism? Then it's not a simple murder trial?'
'Hardly. There are four charges against Caelius. The first three accuse him of organizing the attacks on the Alexandrian embassy-the midnight raids in Neapolis, the stoning in Puteoli and the fire at the estate of Palla. I'll take no part in investigating those matters. My only concern is the fourth charge, which relates directly to Dio. It accuses Caelius of attempting to poison Dio at the house of Lucceius.'
'What about the actual murder, the stabbing at Coponius's house?'
'Technically, that's also included. But Publius Asicius has already been acquitted, and the prosecution is wary of trying to prove the same case against Caelius. Instead, they want to concentrate on the earlier poisoning attempt. Of course, I'll find out what I can about the stabbing at Coponius's house, as a corroborative detail.'
'And to satisfy your own curiosity.'
'Of course.'
Eco pressed his fingertips together. 'A politically charged trial, held during a holiday when Rome will be packed with visitors, with Cicero's estranged protege as the accused and a scandalous woman in the back-ground- this could turn into a spectacle, Papa.'
I groaned. 'All the more reason for my misgivings. All I need now is for some of Pompey's or King Ptolemy's strong-armers to come banging at my door, warning me to back away from the investigation.'
Eco raised an eyebrow. 'Do you think that's likely to happen?'
'I hope not. But I have a bad feeling about the whole affair. As you said, there's an odd smell to it. I don't like it.'
'Then why not back away? You don't owe Clodia any favors-or do you? Are you telling me everything that happened in her tent today?' He affected an insinuating smile.
'Don't be absurd. I owe the woman nothing but the retainer I left with. But I do feel an obligation.'
He nodded.
'To Dio, you mean.'
'Yes. I refused him to his face when he asked me for help. Then I talked myself out of going to the trial of Asicius — ' 'You were sick, Papa.'
'Yes, but was I that sick? And then, when Asicius was acquitted, I told myself that was the end of it. But how could it be the end, with no one convicted of the crime? How could Dio be at rest? Still, I managed to shun the obligation I felt, to shove such thoughts to the back of my mind-until yesterday, when the gallus arrived to bring me face to face with my own responsibility. It was Clodia who summoned me, but it wasn't only her.'
'Her brother Clodius as well?'
'No, I mean to say that those two are only the agents of something larger. It begins with Dio, but where it ends only time will tell. Some greater power seems determined to pull me into this matter.'
'Nemesis?'
'I was thinking of another goddess: Cybele. It was one ofher priests who accompanied Dio to my house, and the same priest who came for me yesterday. Do you think it's only a coincidence that the trial will be held during the Great Mother festival-the celebration consecrated to Cybele? You know, it was one of Clodia's ancestresses who saved the statue of Cybele from being lost in the Tiber when it was brought from the East long ago. Do you sense the link?'
'Papa, you grow more religious as you grow older,' said Eco quietly.
'Perhaps. More fearful of the gods, anyway, if not more respectful. Leave them out of it, then. Say that this is merely between myself and the shade of Dio. My sense of obligation runs deeper than my misgivings.'
Eco nodded gravely. As usual, he understood me completely. 'What do you want from me, Papa?'
'I'm not sure yet. Perhaps nothing. Perhaps only to listen to my doubts, and nod if I say something that remotely makes sense.'
He took my hand in his. 'Tell me if you need more than that, Papa. Promise me.'
'I promise, Eco.'
He released me and sat back. From elsewhere in the house I heard one of the twins shrieking. Surely it was time for them to be in bed, I thought. Through the gaps in the shutters I could see that the world outside was dark.
'What does Bethesda think?' said Eco. I smiled. 'What makes you think I told her anything?' 'You must have told her something when you ate dinner with her tonight.'
'Yes — a somewhat expurgated version of my visit to Clodia's horti.'
'Ha! Bethesda would have appreciated the detail of the naked bath-ers, I think.' Eco laughed.
'Perhaps, but I left them out of it. Just as I left out the description of the dress which seems to have intrigued you so much.'
'I think it intrigued you first, Papa. And Clodius's emergence from the river, as naked as a fish from the sea?'
'Omitted-though I did leave in the siblings' embrace.'
'And their kiss?'
'And the kiss. Well, I had to give Bethesda some grist for gossip.' 'And what does she think of the accusation against Marcus Cae-
lius?'
'Bethesda stated quite flatly that it was absurd.' 'Really?'
'Impossible!' she said. 'Marcus Caelius could never have committed the crime. The woman is defaming him!' I asked her upon what she based her opinion, but the Medusa look was the only answer I got. Bethesda has always had a weakness for our dashing young neighbor. Or ex-neighbor, I should now say.'
'She'll miss having him living just up the street.'
'We shall all miss the occasional spectacle of watching Caelius stumble out his front door in the middle of the day with tousled hair and bloodshot eyes, or seeing him carouse through the street with a prostitute from the Subura, or hearing his drunk friends recite obscene poetry from his window at night-'
'Papa, stop!' Eco choked with laughter.
'It's no joking matter, I suppose,' I said, suddenly grim. 'The young man's whole future is at stake. If he's
