Free A Coin for the Ferryman by Rosemary Rowe

now?’
    ‘More than the villa, by this time, I should think. Unless you have instructed your slaves to be discreet, I imagine they will be abuzz with it and chattering to any tradesman who might call.’
    She was looking stricken. ‘We had some olive oil delivered just before you came. And I sent a slave to Glevum to hire dancers for tonight.’
    ‘Then almost certainly the news has reached the town,’ I said. I could see that she was shaken, and I went on soothingly, ‘But anyway, as I understand it, you have sent your land slaves out to make enquiries in the area about a missing girl. You can hardly expect the matter to be secret very long – and you want the family to claim the corpse if possible.’
    ‘Girl?’ That was Lucius again. ‘I thought it was a youth?’
    ‘The land slaves supposed it was a girl at first,’ Marcus said shortly. ‘Because of the peasant dress, I suppose. However, it appears that in fact it is a male. Libertus can tell you – he discovered that.’
    ‘Really?’ Lucius turned to me suspiciously. ‘How did you come to be involved?’
    Marcus laughed. ‘I assume that Julia asked him. I would have done the same myself. I always call on him, if there’s a mystery to solve. He has a mosaic-maker’s brain and sees the patterns that other men might miss.’
    Lucius looked more disapproving than ever. ‘Of course! I’d forgotten that you were a tradesman, citizen.’
    ‘An artist,’ Julia said, and would have earned my gratitude and love on the spot if she had not already had them both. ‘And very clever too. He has helped to solve a number of unpleasant crimes, and has even uncovered several plots against the state. He once received a personal reward from Pertinax himself.’ She saw the expression of surprise, and pressed the point. ‘That’s right – the Pertinax who was the Governor of Britannia once – the same Prefect of Rome that you’re so proud to know.’
    ‘I see. Then I salute the citizen.’ Lucius’s expression did not change a whit. ‘Obviously, Marcus, he is the proper person to advise on how you should deal with this unwelcome corpse. Myself, I should have counselled that you put it on the pyre – as I was saying to your charming lady here – before the Festival of the Dead begins. But obviously you don’t need my advice. I leave it to Libertus, who’s accustomed to such things.’ His condescending little smile did nothing to mask the harsh, sarcastic tone.
    My patron, however, did not rise to the bait. He pretended to accept what Lucius had said as a genuine compliment to my aptitude. ‘Then, since there is to be a banquet later on, perhaps you would care to pay that visit to my new bath-house first? I instructed the slaves to light the furnaces last night, and the steam bath and the hot room should be warm by now. I will have a robe and oil and a strigil sent across to you, and Niveus can come and scrape you down and rub you dry – unless you would prefer to use your own attendant for the task?’
    Clever. Marcus had acquired this country residence only a year or two ago and he had been making improvements ever since – including a new sleeping wing for himself and Julia – and this new bath-house was his latest toy: proper little hot and cold rooms and a plunge pool at the end, for which I’d been invited to design the floor. An invitation to enjoy the private facilities in this way could only be interpreted as a compliment – a piece of conspicuous hospitality extended only to the most honoured guests – and since Lucius had obviously been angling for the chance to sample it, he found himself entirely outflanked. He could do nothing dignified except capitulate, muttering his less than heartfelt thanks, and accept the offer with as good a grace as he could muster in the circumstances.
    ‘Ah, here is Niveus now,’ my patron said, as the page came struggling in, with a tray in one hand and a pair of folding chairs in the other. ‘Stay and take