“Decius,” he hissed. “Let it go! It’s over. You proved your client and his friends didn’t do it. Everyone is pleased with you. You’re Caesar’s favorite. Don’t ruin it, I warn you.”
I pushed him back on the cot, drew my pretty new sword, and placed its point just beneath his chin. “Who went out, Lumpy?”
“Easy, there! Put that thing away, you lunatic!”
“Talk, Lumpy.”
He sighed and it was as if all the stuffing went out of him. “I was on night officer duty at the praetorium. Paterculus told me to go relieve Cotta on the gate. He said later on there’d be a party leaving and they’d have a pass from him. I was to let them out and back in and say nothing to anybody about it.”
“And did he tell you why he was doing this?” I asked, knowing the futility of it.
“Why would he do that? It was some business of his own or Caesar’s and I wasn’t about to ask.” No, Lumpy wouldn’t ask. That was why they had sent him. They wanted an experienced political bootlicker on that gate, not an inexperienced boy who didn’t know enough to watch out for his own future. I got up and resheathed my sword.
“Lumpy, I am ashamed to share the same name with you.”
He rubbed his neck, which was bleeding from a tiny nick. “That won’t be the case much longer if you keep this up.” But I was already out through the tent flap.
The guards at the praetorium entrance saluted me and smiled. Everyone was smiling at me lately, except for Lumpy.
“Good evening, sir,” said one of them.
“I forgot something earlier this evening,” I said. “I’ll just go in and fetch it.”
They turned and looked at the tent. Light poured from its entrance. “Looks like the Proconsul’s still up. Go on in, sir. He says all his officers are to have access during his waking hours.”
Caesar was sitting at a table with a line of lamps burning behind him. Before him on the table was the silver bracelet. He looked up as I came in.
“Yes, Decius?”
“The Druids didn’t kill Titus Vinius,” I said. “You did.”
He glared at me for a few moments, then he smiled and nodded.
“Very, very good, Decius. Really, you are the most amazing man! Most men, having settled a problem to their satisfaction, will never reconsider it to see if they overlooked something.”
“You’d have gotten away with it if you hadn’t sent Cotta to fetch me. I knew he’d been assigned to the gate that evening, not to the praetorium.”
“Ah, I see. Upon such minutiae do great matters balance. By the way, I did not ‘get away’ with anything. I am Proconsul of this Province, with complete imperium. I am empowered to carry out executions without trial where I see need, and no one may hinder me in this or call me to account, even if his name is Caecilius Metellus.”
“How did you do it?” I asked. “Did Paterculus throttle him while you stabbed him?” I suppose I sounded truly bitter. I never liked being someone’s dupe, and I had been feeling particularly good that evening.
“Don’t be impertinent! The pontifex maximus of Rome does not befoul his hands with the blood of traitors. The execution was carried out in accordance with my instructions by my lictors, in constitutional fashion.”
“Except for the Druidic embellishments.”
He looked at me sourly. “Oh, sit down, Decius. You’re spoiling my digestion with your righteousness. If you ever hold high office you’ll have to perform some disagreeable tasks. Be grateful if they involve nothing more unpleasant than exterminating a treacherous scoundrel like Vinius.”
I sat. “But why? If you found out what he was up to, why not just denounce him, whack his head off, and confiscate his property?”
Caesar pinched the bridge of his nose, looking suddenly very tired. “Decius, I have here the largest task ever handed to a Roman proconsul. I must use every tool that comes to my hands if I am to accomplish it. Out there”—he released his nose and pointed northeast—“are the Helvetii. You’ve had some experience of the Germans and you know they’re pouring across the Rhine. I cannot afford an alliance between them. I must fight them one at a time. I saw an opportunity to drive a wedge between the Germans and the Gauls and I acted upon it.”
“You interviewed the Druid Badraig concerning their religious practices. That was how you learned of the triple slaying.”
“Exactly. Since I intend to break the power of that priesthood, blaming them for the murder seemed an elegant way to accomplish several of my aims at once. I was sure that Ariovistus would revenge himself upon them and that the Gauls would never ally themselves with someone who killed Druids.”