itself. 'Yet in a crisis you act responsibly. Spit it out then.'
'The painter lad has a message from Justinus which were they not a pair of reprobates they would themselves be telling you urgently. Instead, my brother merely informed this adolescent painter, about whom we know absolutely nothing, and he deposited the vital facts with me, a drugged-up invalid. He did seem to think you would find me, Falco,' Aelianus mused with some surprise.
'I'm glad someone has faith in me… What's the word?'
'You're in big trouble.' Aelianus always gained too much pleasure from telling bad news.
I glared. 'What now?'
'When Justinus and his friend were drinking in their favourite piss hole in Novio last night, they overheard some men from the site. Have you had a bunch of urchins collecting names and writing up a chart?'
I nodded. 'Iggidunus and Alia. Checking up who really works on site as opposed to the inventive wages records.'
'The men started out laughing about it. Thought you a real clown, wasting time on official nonsense. I hear there were jokes, some cruder than others. I was not given details,' Aelianus said with regret. 'But then one labourer who must have a sliver of brain saw the implications.'
'They realise I am counting them?'
'You reckon there is a numbers diddle?'
'And I'm planning to stop it.'
'That's what they worked out,' warned Aelianus, no longer mischief-making. 'So be on your guard. Justinus heard them making serious plans. Falco, they are coming after you.'
I wondered what to do. 'Has Justinus had his cover blown?'
'No, or he would be here, petrified.'
'You underestimate him,' I stated curtly. 'What about you?'
'The painter says they all regard me as your spy.'
'Well, donkey's dingalings, you must have been really careless!' For jeering at his brother, he was due some insults back. 'I'll move you over to the palace as quickly as possible. We should have the King's protection in the old house. I'll ask Togidubnus to supply me with a bodyguard.'
'Can you trust him?' Aelianus asked.
'Have to. The working presumption is that as Vespasian's friend and ally, he represents law and order.' I paused. 'Why do you ask?'
'The labourers who are after you are the British gang.'
'Oh brilliant!'
Whether I could trust the King when British tribesmen were against me was indeed an unknown quantity. Would his decision to be Roman override his origins? Would completing the project take precedence?
Suddenly it looked as if my personal safety might depend on just how much the royal homeowner wanted his new house.
XXXII
the british involvement was confirmed by a quick trip to my office. Alia and Iggidunus had handed in their list of named workers there last night. The clerk Gaius had already worked through it. The non-existent men to whom Vespasian was paying wages all belonged to the local group who were managed by Mandurnerus.
'You may like to know,' Gaius said heavily, 'Iggy refuses to have any more to do with you; he won't even bring us mulsutn. And Alia has been kept at home by her father. She won't be helping you again either.' Fair enough. I had no intention of placing the young people in danger.
'How about you?' I scoffed dryly. 'Want to bunk off school as well?'
'Yes, I tried to get a sick note from my mother. Trouble is she lives in Salonae.'
'And where is that?'
'Illyricum – Dalmatia.'
'She won't get you off, then.'
Gaius stopped bantering. He spoke lightly, but underneath it he was tense. 'I've never exposed a fraud before, Falco. I take it those involved won't like us now?'
'Us? Thanks for aligning yourself with me,' I said. 'But you'd better say in public, 'I know nothing about it; I'm just the clerk.' Let me be the one who exposes the fraud.'
'Well, you are paid more than me…' He was angling to find out how much. Any clerk would want to know. I did not frighten him by saying that if I died here I would not be paid at all.
I took a chance. There was no real alternative. I found Verovolcus and without giving reasons I told him that my position had become hazardous: in the name of the Emperor, I wanted the King's protection for me and my party. Verovolcus was not taking me seriously so with reluctance I mentioned the labour scam. He said at once that he would tell the King and fix bodyguards. I then confessed that the culprits were the British group. Verovolcus' face fell.
I might be surrounding myself with more trouble. But if the King was serious about Rornanisation, he would have to abandon his local loyalties. If Togidubnus could not do that, I would be in deep trouble.
I was now overdue at the site meeting- the one I had called. As I walked briskly to the ramshackle military suite where Pomponius had his work area, I was aware of a sinister new mood on site. It confirmed the message from Justinus. The workmen had previously ignored me as some fancy management irrelevance. Now they took note. Their method was to stop work and stare at me in silence as I passed them. They were leaning on shovels in a way that had nothing to do with needing a breather and all to do with suggesting they would like to beat those shovels over my head.
Remembering the battered corpse Pa and I had discovered back in Rome, I felt chilled.
Pomponius was waiting for me. He was too much on edge even to complain that I had kept him waiting. Flanked by his twin caryatids, the younger architects Plancus and Strephon, he sat chewing his thumb. Cyprianus was there too. Verovolcus turned up unexpectedly just as I arrived; I guessed the King had sent him speeding here to see what happened. Magnus followed a minute later.
'We don't need either of you,' said Pomponius. Verovolcus feigned not to understand. Magnus, strictly speaking, had no direct management role. Of course he did not accept that definition. He was seething.
'I would like Magnus to be present,' I put in. I was hoping we would find time today to discuss the delivery-cart problem, whatever that was. 'And Verovolcus already knows what I have to say about our labour problems.'
So Pomponius and I were daggers drawn right from the start.
Pomponius took a deep breath, intending to chair the meeting.
Falco.' I held back. He was expecting me to want to lead, so that
floored him. 'We have all heard what you have discovered. Clearly we
should review the situation, then you will send a report to the
Emperor.' 'We need a review,' I agreed tersely. 'Reporting to Rome would take over a month. That's time we don't have- not with so much slippage already in the programme. I was sent to sort things. I'll do that, here on the ground. With your co-operation,' I added, to smooth his pride.
So long as I took any blame for problems, Pomponius had enough arrogance to seize this chance to act independently of Rome. Plancus and Strephon looked excited by their leader being decisive. I felt it could work out badly.
I outlined the situation. 'We have a phantom labour force being charged to imperial funds.' I was aware of Verovolcus listening hard. 'My research, I'm afraid, indicates that the problem is with the British group, the one Mandumerus runs.'
Pomponius leapt in: 'Then I want all the Britons off the site. Now!'
'Not possible!' Cyprianus had spoken up quickly while Verovolcus was still swelling with outrage.
'He's right. We need them,' I agreed. 'Besides, to run a prestigious construction site in the provinces without any local labour would be most insensitive. The Emperor would never allow it.' Verovolcus kept quiet, but he was still simmering.
