“Oh, she doesn’t like tospendmoney,” Merope declared. “She likes to keep it. She owns a warehouse in the Emporium and is part owner of a ship that runs spices. She has a fortune tucked away. Why do you think Rufus wanted to marry her?”
“Why did she want to marry Rufus?” I thought that the more baffling question. Rufus was not the best-looking man, his granite-like face having been caved in too many times, and his voice loud and grating. Chryseis had beauty.
Gaius broke in, “She wanted a gladiator at her beck and call. Wanted to boast to her friends about it, I suppose.”
I thought of the brittle woman in the doorway of the apartment, and the chill wind coming down the stairs from the floor above. Chryseis likely did want to brag that she’d tamed a vicious gladiator, and Rufus had probably thought he’d landed in soft living.
Rufus, as a free man who’d made a contract with Aemil, could marry if he liked—perhaps he’d chosen Chryseis to pad his retirement. Then maybe Rufus had, too late, realized she was tightfisted, and too late Chryseis realized she couldn’t control Rufus at all.
“How did you two meet him?” I asked the sisters.
“Gaius did,” Merope said. “Rufus came into the popina, and Gaius works there. Gaius became his lover first then he introduced him to us.”
“Gladiators stink,” Gaius declared, then flushed as he caught my eye. “At least Rufus does. So I foisted him off on my cousins.”
“We like him,” Martolia said. “We send him off to the baths and then he smells fine. Why do you need to speak to him, Leonidas? Can’t you talk to him at the ludus?”
I pondered what to tell them. I hated to introduce the tragedy of Ajax into this lighthearted room, but I also wanted them to be aware of the danger.
“Aemil is looking for him. He didn’t return when he was supposed to.”
The two women appeared puzzled. “Then he’s with Chryseis,” Merope said. “He has to spendsometime with her so she won’t disinherit him.”
“She has not seen him, and I am concerned,” I said. “So is Aemil.”
Merope lost her cheerful smile. “What is it, Leonidas? What has happened?”
I let out a breath, choosing my words carefully. “The gladiator, Ajax, was killed last night. Murdered.”
The warmth drained out of the room with a swiftness of a winter storm. Merope and Martolia drew nearer to me, and Gaius went silent, his gaze on mine.
“Someone killed him?” Merope whispered. “In a fight?”
“No.” I did not want to tell them the details, so I closed my mouth.
Merope and her sister had quicker minds than the wealthy Chryseis. Merope’s lips quivered. “And you are afraid this has also happened to Rufus?”
“I don’t know. I will feel better if I find him.”
The young women exchanged fearful glances. Rome was a dangerous city. The desperate preyed on any they could, and a group could bring down even the toughest man.
Merope swallowed. “We will search for him.”
“No,” I said at once. “Tell me where he liked to go, and I will search.”
“The three of us can do it more quickly,” Merope countered. “We know every place Rufus might hide, places you will never find. We will look and send word to the ludus.”
“Send word to me on the Quirinal.” I explained to them the location of the wine shop and the apartment above it. “Tell me or Cassia.”
Martolia’s curiosity flickered above her alarm. “Who is Cassia?”
I cleared my throat. Explaining Cassia was never easy. “A scribe who works for me.”
“Scribe?” Martolia repeated. Both girls and Gaius turned to me with interest.
“She’s a friend and very smart.” I rose. “Thank you for the wine. If you find Rufus, keep him here if he won’t return to the ludus, and inform me.”
The young women nodded, and Gaius watched me in concern.
