The two men did not like each other, I could see.They held themselves stiffly, though they bent close to converse.
“Do you trust them?”I asked.
“They have never given me reason not to.”Priscus’s answer was stiff.“My wife trusted them.”
Yet, he claimed to know nothing about the properties his wife owned and let the two servants, one a freedman, one a slave, handle all his accounts.They could be selling houses and siphoning off the money for themselves, and Priscus would never be the wiser.I wondered what Cassia would make of their accounts.
“The man who bought the house is a speculator,” I said.“Buys up empty properties and turns them into insulae or shops.”
“Many in Rome do,” Priscus said.“So I’m told.My wife’s father did the same.”
“Do you know the man who bought this particular house?Sextus Livius.”
Priscus studied the ceiling in thought.“Can’t say I do.My acquaintances tend to be old campaigners, like myself.We reminisce about battles, making them far more glorious than they truly were.We rarely talk about property or speculators.”
I read no duplicity in him.Priscus appeared to be what he claimed, a former general who’d found happiness with a wife who’d happened to be wealthy.Now he had little left of her but his memories.And all her money,I reminded myself.
“Why do you want to know this, Leonidas?”
I saw no reason not to tell him the truth.“A woman was killed, and I do not wish to be blamed for it.She lived in the building you sold.She died the morning we rode out to Ostia.”
“I see.”Priscus rocked on his heels.“I will be happy to tell the magistrates you were with me that morning.You were right beside me, and you couldn’t have done it.Unless you committed the deed beforehand, of course.”
Exactly what a magistrate would say.Priscus could only know about the time he was with me.
“The building was sold very quickly after that,” I said.
“Yes, so it seems.”Priscus’s face darkened.“Celnus,” he called into the atrium.“Attend me, please.”
Celnus broke from Kephalos and moved to us, not hurrying.His slow stride said he obeyed only because he was obligated to.
“Sir.”He bowed when he reached Priscus.
“Leonidas tells me you sold one of my properties, soon after the woman who lived there was killed.”
Celnus did not appear startled, shocked, or guilty in any way.He gave Priscus a smooth nod.“As the house was now empty, and it was a … brothel, I am sorry to say … I felt you no longer had need of it.A man was willing to purchase, so I took the liberty of selling it.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a brothel,” Priscus said.“A man must tend to his needs, and that is what they are for.As long as he doesn’t become a fixture there or behave without honor.”
Celnus gazed down his nose.“The buyer offered a very good price.”
Priscus waved a hand at him.“You see, Leonidas?A straightforward business transaction.Though I’d have been pleased if you or Kephalos had told me of this,” he said sternly to Celnus.
“Kephalos was preparing to inform you, in his monthly report on your finances.”
“I’m certain he was.”Priscus softened his tone.“Never mind, Celnus.I simply wanted to know.But please do not sell any more properties without speaking to me first.”
“Of course, sir.”Celnus was good at being unctuous.He bowed again to Priscus, sent me a veiled look, and glided away.
“It never does any good to shout at him,” Priscus said once Celnus had vanished beyond the atrium.“He only gives me that heavy-lidded stare.”
“Did Kephalos belong to your wife as well?”
“No, no.I picked him up on a campaign years ago.He’s brilliant, if a bit close-mouthed.He and Celnus loathe each other, but they both know a soft place when they find one.”Priscus chuckled, self-deprecating.“Thank you for trying to help me.”
I’d wanted him to helpme.“Would you mind if Cassia examined your accounts?As a favor to you,” I added when Priscus frowned.“She’s very good at accounts.”
“You mean with Kephalos being none the wiser?”Priscus again thought, then looked crestfallen.“No, he’d never let her near.Never mind, Leonidas.Even if he is cheating me a little, I don’t feel it.”
