'The night before last, when she was recovered enough to walk, even run if she should have to, we left the temple, went out through the grove by the spring, and from there she ran.'
'Where did she go?' I asked. 'Did she tell you her destination, who would hide her?'
'She said she would be safe, that she had a friend in Baiae.'
'So you returned to the temple and pretended that she was still in the lockup?'
'Yes. Diocles wasn't fooled for long, but I bought her time to escape.'
'Gaia,' Julia said, 'why didn't Charmian accompany Gorgo on the night she was killed?'
'She went, but Gorgo told her to stay at the edge of the grove, not go with her to the spring.'
'Had Gorgo done that before?' Julia asked.
'I don't know. I don't think so. .' The girl was asleep.
We rose and left them there, under the eye of a slave woman skilled in healing. Back in the colonnaded courtyard, we compared notes.
'She went to Baiae,' I said. 'Who would she have gone to? Who would hide her?'
'It must have been one of the lovers,' Julia said. 'What other free 'friend' would she have had?'
'We know it wasn't Gelon,' Hermes said.
'It's a long walk to Baiae for a girl in her condition,' Marcus noted.
'Desperation drives people to do surprising things,' I said.
The next day was a day when official business was forbidden, for which I was grateful. It gave me a chance to wander about in Baiae, ostensibly just enjoying the sights but in reality snooping. Hermes and I made our way into the goldsmiths' and jewelers' quarter which, this being Baiae, was bigger than Rome's.
'Somewhere here,' I said, 'there has to be someone who knows who bought that necklace.'
'Why?' Hermes asked. 'It might have been bought in Alexandria or Athens. Somebody may have found it in a shipwreck and peddled it cheap. The man who gave it to her may have stolen it. Why are you so sure that the man who sold it is here? I looked all over this quarter last time.'
'Because this morning I sacrificed a very fine ram to Jupiter and I specifically requested that we find that man today.'
'Oh, well, then. Let's go find him.'
Amazingly, we found the right man on the third try. The shop was one of the smallest, wedged between a huge cameo display and a place that seemed to specialize in rubies the size of minor Asiatic kingdoms.
'Must've missed this one,' Hermes muttered.
We went inside and a man looked up from behind a display case. 'Yes, sir? How may I-' he caught sight of my purple stripe and jumped from behind the case '-help you?' He was of that Greek-Asian breed so common in the gem trade, the sort who hails from Antioch or Palmyra or some other Eastern metropolis.
'Hermes,' I said. He took the necklace from inside his tunic and held it up for the man to see. 'Do you recognize this?'
The man took two or three of the massive links in his fingertips and studied the carved gems. 'Why, yes. I sold this piece about a year ago. I am quite certain. This is a very remarkable necklace. It's Phrygian. Is there some problem?'
'I just need to know who you sold it to,' I told him.
'Of course. Gaeto the Numidian bought it. I've heard he is dead. Is there a problem with the inheritance?'
'Exactly.' I was astounded, but I had a politician's knack for covering such lapses. 'Did he indicate when he bought it that he intended it as a gift?'
'No, but I presumed that he did intend it so. A man does not wear such jewelry, after all.' He thought about this for a moment. 'Well, admittedly there are certain men who-but not Gaeto, certainly. He must have intended it for a woman.'
'For his wife?' I asked innocently.
'Well, sir'-he chuckled-'in the first place, I understand that he had more than one. In the second, well, in my experience, which is quite extensive, a man rarely buys such a piece for a woman to whom he is
'I know what you mean,' I told him. 'I don't suppose he made any indication of just who the recipient might be?'
'I am afraid not. Gaeto was always the soul of discretion.' He sighed. 'I am sorry to hear that he is no more. I know he was a slave dealer but really quite a splendid man, extremely rich and a very good customer.'
'He bought other items from you?' I asked.
'Oh, yes. He had a taste for these massive, Eastern pieces. They are my specialty, you see. Most of the items I sold him, he bought for himself. Men in Numidia wear heavy gold bracelets, for instance. And he bought heavy signet rings, gifts for Numidian colleagues, I believe. And he did not haggle. He knew what my merchandise is worth.'
'I am sorry you have lost a valued customer. I rather liked the man myself, brief though our acquaintance was.'
'I take it,' he said with a wry expression, 'that his widow-the local one, I mean-is disputing possession of that necklace with a favorite? It is a common story.'
'Yes, yes, but please keep this to yourself for the time being. Delicate legal matter, you understand.'
'Of course, of course.'
We went out, walked a few streets, and paused by one of the many fine fountains. A little consort of musicians played harp and flute for our entertainment.
'So it was Gaeto!' Hermes said. 'He must have been one of her lovers.'
'So it would appear,' I said. I stared into the swirling waters of the fountain, musing on this new development.
'She was doing the father and the son at the same time?'
'If Gelon is to be believed, he was courting her, but matters had not yet progressed to physical intimacy. As Julia pointed out, she almost certainly was not going out to meet the giver of the necklace, because she wore all her jewelry except that one piece. Gaeto was not the killer, because he was at the banquet with us at Norbanus's house when it happened.'
'Don't let him off that easy,' Hermes advised. 'Men use hirelings to commit their murders and make sure that important people see them when the crime is committed.'
'All too true,' I agreed. 'But I somehow feel that it isn't what happened here. This thing-' my frustration made me lose my vocabulary, a rare thing for me '-this is so different from the sort of crime we are used to in Rome. There, the motives are relatively simple. Men want supreme power and are willing to do anything to get it. When all the confusing shrubbery is cut away, that is what remains: the lust for power. If jealousy is involved, it is because men envy one another's power.'
'That's how it is in Rome,' he agreed.
'Here, we have wealth, and status, and jealousy and snobbery and, I suspect, love.'
'Love?' Hermes said.
'Our first day here, Gelon rode up to the temple and we saw how he and that girl looked at each other. I am certain that that was real. Whoever else she was seeing, whatever other lovers she had, she loved that boy, and he loved her.'
'It's not usually a motive for killing,' Hermes said, 'except when a man surprises his wife with a lover. Under law, that's justification for homicide.'
'That's not about love,' I said, frustrated. 'That's about
'Still, jealousy is a powerful thing,' Hermes said. 'If Gaeto was visiting Gorgo on the sly, giving her rich presents, Jocasta would have a reason to kill them both.'
I nodded. 'That thought has not escaped me. But you pointed out yourself that the blow that killed Gaeto could not have been delivered by a woman.'
'A hireling,' he said. 'This is Campania, homeland of gladiators.'
'And would Gaeto have allowed one such into his bedroom at night? And then turned his back on him?'
