I glanced at the knife. ‘I’m sure they were out to implicate Tur.’
‘Then I would have had to vouch for him, to insist that he couldn’t have left his bed. My slaves would be put to the torture, to swear that the boy was laid up and being cared for, throughout yesterday and last night.’ Aristarchos shook his head. ‘I could no more allow my household to be abused like that than you would see your man Kadous suffer. So our enemies would be free to whisper and murmur all around the agora. What disgraceful secrets could I possibly be hiding, if I refused to let my slaves testify? What’s my real connection with these ungrateful Ionians? If they’re not paying the tribute they owe to Athena, whose strongbox is their silver filling?
‘As for Hipparchos…’ He shook his head again, eyes shadowed. ‘I don’t suppose he would have been openly accused of your murder, not at first. I imagine someone would have visited me discreetly, to let me know that he’d been involved. Of course, they’d have witnesses to your death. Hades, depending on what they wanted from me, they’d probably have ten men ready to swear that he’d held the knife that killed you.’
He startled me with a growl of wordless fury.
‘I don’t know what their price would have been to save my son from public trial, exile or execution and my other children from disgrace. Perhaps it would just be my silence while they set Athens and Ionia at each other’s throats. Or if they were bold enough, they might have demanded that I do something to promote their cause. You have saved me from those particular dangers.’ He brushed plaster flakes from the table onto the paving. ‘As for Hipparchos, he was always going to get into serious trouble, sooner or later. All things considered, I’m glad it was sooner and no worse than this. The boy has been spoiled and sheltered all his life. That’s as much my fault as his mother’s,’ he admitted, his voice tight. ‘After his brother was killed in Egypt…’ He closed his eyes.
‘I know.’ I didn’t need him to say any more.
After a moment, Aristarchos regained his composure and looked steadily at me. ‘He’s run wild ever since he came back to the city, him and his idiot friends. They’re so certain that their names and their families’ money will shield them from any follies they fall into. But now he has stepped into this swamp, he realises he needs me to drag him clear of it. He’s had a glimpse of just how easily he could have sunk and drowned.’
He sighed. ‘That’s a lesson I was able to teach his brothers before they risked their necks. If Hipparchos has chosen to learn this the hard way, that’s between him and Athena. You have nothing to apologise for. If anything, I owe you my thanks.’
‘We both owe whoever’s behind all this a hard and painful reckoning,’ I retorted.
‘That is very true,’ he agreed.
‘But we’re no closer to finding them.’ I let my exasperation show.
Aristarchos’s sigh betrayed his own frustration. ‘Perhaps we’ll get some indication when I speak to Megakles Kerykes.’
‘Nikandros’s father?’
He nodded. ‘He won’t want his son’s involvement in some attempted murder made public, nor several other things that I could let slip about his business dealings.’
I rose cautiously to my feet. Even sitting for a short time meant I’d stiffened up horribly. ‘Let me know as soon as you hear anything.’
‘Go home,’ Aristarchos advised. ‘Go to bed and rest until I learn something useful and we can plan our next steps in this campaign.’
That was tempting, but my day’s labours weren’t over yet. ‘I have to go to my brothers’ house. I owe my mother a visit. That’s not too far, and I can’t believe these people are so bold that they’ll murder me in broad daylight inside the walls.’ Though it was unnerving to feel that my own city’s streets weren’t safe. ‘When I’m ready to leave, someone there can walk back to Alopeke with me.’
He nodded. ‘I’ll send word when I have news.’
Chapter Twenty
I had several good reasons to head for my brothers’ house once I left Aristarchos. The walk home last night had been long and exhausting, even with that spear shaft to lean on. Kadous and I had passed several people who knew one or other of us. They’d all exclaimed with concern over my battered face and dirty clothes. With Rumour so quick on her wings, some busybody or other would have surely decided it was their duty to alarm my mother with lurid exaggeration.
I was right. The slave who opened the gate clapped his hand to his chest. ‘Zeus be thanked! You’re—’
‘Walking, slightly wounded,’ I said wryly. ‘Maybe a couple of cracked ribs. I assume you’d heard far worse?’
He bit his lip. ‘The master is on his way to your house.’
I grimaced. ‘When did he leave?’
‘Not long ago.’ The slave looked expectant.
I nodded. ‘Send someone to run and catch him.’
If he found my gate locked and the house deserted, Nymenios would surely fear the worst. Not that learning I wasn’t laid out and clutching my obols for Charon’s ferry would see me forgiven. Since I wasn’t all but dead, he’d be furious that he’d missed today’s tragedies.
Still, I reminded myself to look on the bright side. At least I didn’t have to go all the way to the theatre and try to persuade him to leave in the interval between two plays.
‘I must speak to my mother.’ I walked through the courtyard, past the empty workbenches. Every knife and tool was neatly racked, ready for work, and a silent reminder of my duty here. Now I no longer had my play to occupy me, I had to help save the family business. I headed for the door to the house. The wide porch was swept clean and tidy. Baskets of fleece would soon clutter up the empty space here, needing to be combed and
