as 'Splice'-what has happened to him? I must see him.'
'You'll have to find him first,' scoffed Petro.
'What has happened?'
'He escaped from custody,' I acknowledged somberly.
'Pyro was probably wiped out by the gang,' Petro added, being professional. 'To stop him talking. Splice may have reckoned he had lost his value for them too, so once on the loose he turned on them.'
'Wait, wait-' Popillius broke in. 'Go back a stage. You are telling me my client escaped?'
'Fixed up by you, Popillius?' I inquired satirically.
Popillius retaliated, 'Just be professional and tell me what is going on.'
We sat either side of him and talked to him like schoolteachers. 'One of your imprisoned clients has been relieved of his life while in custody-'
'Splice saved his skin by not eating the tainted trayful-'
'Then while he was being removed to a safer place, somehow the troops managed to 'lose' him.'
'Bribes were used,' decided Petro flatly.
'And who is the prime suspect for paying them?' I asked him. 'Falco, I'd say, look for a crooked lawyer.'
'Face it,' I advised Popillius. 'If you work for gangsters you are assumed to be their fixer.'
Popillius growled. 'I merely accepted clients, in a case where legal intervention was justified.'
'Well, you've lost them both now.' I was grim. 'Pyro was poisoned- and Splice has been killed in a fight.'
'Are you sure, or is this hearsay?'
'I saw it. How exactly were you first approached to take them on?' Popillius replied openly: 'Somebody's slave brought me a letter. It outlined their position as prisoners and asked what my fee would be.'
'Who sighed the letter?' Petronius demanded.
'Anonymous. The proverbial 'Friends of the Accused.' It happens. Usually the reason is, they don't want the man in question to feel obligated and embarrassed afterwards.'
'So how did you answer?' Petro snapped back. 'Was that by letter too?'
Popillius nodded. Cynically, I then asked, 'How could you be certain that you would be paid?'
He smiled slightly. 'My terms were payment in advance.'
'Oh, smart! The upfront cash arrived, I take it?' Again he nodded. 'So,' I summed up, 'you never had any direct dealings, and you still don't know who your principals are?'
Popillius gazed at me. That was when he chose to surprise us. He leaned back, with his hands linked on his belt. 'Not quite,' he retorted. 'I do know who commissioned me. And more important to you, perhaps-he does not know yet that I traced him.'
Petronius and I looked at each other. Even before Popillius continued, we understood what he was going to do. It appalled us that he was about to undermine our prejudice-but his last speech warned us: he would tell us the name.
We were lads of tradition; we were shocked. But it was true: we were staring at an honest lawyer.
XLVII
Even Helena had stopped murmuring to Albia. Helena had wonderful ears. Those shapely shells were perfect for pearl earrings, tempting to nibble-and they could single out whispered words of scandal from right across a humming banquet hall. She held up a finger to keep the girl silent.
Petronius Longus placed his hands flat on his thighs, breathing slowly. 'You are about to do something noble, Popillius?'
'I am not as stupid as you seem to think,' returned the lawyer peacefully.
A half-grin fixed itself on Petro's face. 'You tailed the slave!' 'Of course,' confirmed Popillius with a light inflection. 'When the legal profession are offered anonymous clients, it is regular practice.' Petronius winced. 'And to whose house did the slave return?'
'That of Norbanus Murena.'
Petronius and I leaned back and slowly whistled. Popillius looked reflective. His voice was low, almost sorrowful, as he contemplated the devious world. 'The perfect neighbor, I am told. A decent man, with an elderly mother upon whom he dotes. She is not with him in Britain, if the lady really exists. Which I regard as unproven, incidentally.'
Petronius and I both shook our heads in amazement.
'So why are you telling us?' I queried.
'That should be obvious,' the lawyer replied piously.
'You hate and despise gangsters?'
'As much as anyone.'
'But you take their money?'
'If there is a justification legally.'
'Then why give Norbanus away?'
Now Popillius did look slightly embarrassed, but the mood was fleeting. 'I was hired. I took the case.' I still did not see the point.
'You told me Pyro was poisoned by these gangsters,' explained Popillius. Then he showed us that a lawyer's conscience is a tender thing: 'I have been paid for my services and I will defend his interests. What has happened to Pyro is an outrage. I cannot allow anyone to kill my client and get away with it.'
XLVIII
So Florius was in partnership with Norbanus Murena.
There was a sensible course of action (go home; inform governor; change into dry tunics and put feet up while governor took risks). Then there was the course Petronius and I chose.
I blame Helena Justina. She reminded me that Norbanus also lived in the northern part of town, nearby. Popillius told us the address. He lent his carrying chair to take Helena and Albia back to the residence. When he offered to escort them himself, I refused.
'So I may be an honest lawyer-but you don't trust me!' he twinkled.
'Not with my wife,' I replied.
The lawyer's directions took us to a neat house on the bank of the main stream. There stood several shrines to the Three Mother Goddesses, bulging British deities sitting among fruit and baskets of wool and looking as if they would clout anyone disrespectful rather hard around the ears. A couple of other buildings in the vicinity were using the water supply for light industry, among them a pottery and a decorative metal works. These must be where those neighbors lived who thought Norbanus such a nice man.
Petronius and I approached quietly. We walked discreetly all around the boundary. It was quiet. Nobody was about that we could see. But if this was the headquarters of a major gang of criminals, armed personnel could be all over the grounds, waiting to ambush us.
'You knock on the door,' I said. 'He knows me.'
'He's met me too.'
We were behaving like naughty schoolboys who planned to disturb the porter then run away. We did not make a move, however. We were taking stock. For one thing, while Norbanus had no reason yet to suppose we were onto him, this house lay close to the arena, and not far from the waterwheel hut. There was a possibility that Florius had hidden up here. If we had only associated him with Norbanus before this, we could have searched this house in time.
Now, however, the question was not did Florius come here after the fight-we both thought it almost certain- but was he still on the premises?
'I think he would bolt to his associate, get his breath, then move on fast,' Petronius said. I agreed. But we still
