“By the authority of a proconsul, by Hercules!” he all but shouted.
I remained admirably calm. “You are proconsul in Spain. Here in Italy you are overseer of the grain supply. It is an important and responsible position, but its duties are administrative, not military and not judicial. I, on the other hand, am praetor peregrinus, with imperium and the authority to judge cases involving foreigners all over Italy.”
He dropped the bluster and grinned slyly. “Then why are you embroiled in this case that, as far as I can tell, involves no foreigners? Why not leave it to the local authorities?”
He had me there. “Because I want to, just as you do whatever you want, no matter what rules the Senate and law tables have laid down.”
He barked out a short laugh. “Spoken like a true Metellus. You’re an arrogant lot, no doubt of that.” He leaned close. “Look here, Decius Caecilius. I need this matter settled quickly. I’ll be knee-deep in a war with Caesar soon and I can’t have any distractions plaguing me here in the south.”
“Why do you think whatever happens here can amount to a distraction for the likes of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus? This is a piddling, local affair. It’s nothing on the big game board of world power. There are only two players on that board now, you and Caesar.” The game board image was one Clodia had thrown at me years before, along with her withering contempt for my not being one of the big players. Clodia was the sister of my old enemy Clodius, and the most notorious woman of that time.
“Never mind that,” he said, suddenly cagey. “I have my reasons for wanting this matter over and forgotten, and they’re none of your business.”
“None of my business?” I said, feeling my face begin to flame. “You come in here with no authority and tell me to hurry up and solve this mess and you say your reasons are none of my business?”
He jumped up and his chair went over backwards. “My authority is the authority of a man who can whistle up twenty legions, all loyal to him alone. Nothing else counts these days. Remember that, Metellus.”
I stood too, wanting to tell him how useless his twenty legions would be against Caesar’s veteran killers. But I didn’t and I felt it was incumbent on me to keep the peace. “Oh, sit down. We can discuss this in a civilized fashion. No sense drawing swords before the war has even started.”
He sat without looking back to see if a slave had put his chair under him. Of course, the chair was right where he wanted it. That was always the way with Pompey. “Actually,” he said, “it’s about those legions that I’m here, not your case. I want my men to be prepared to mobilize at a minute’s notice. If Caesar dares to cross the Rubicon, which I doubt he will, he won’t leave me much time.”
He wasn’t a total dunce. He just didn’t understand how little time he would really have. “Will you be here long?”
“Longer than you’d like, but that’s just too bad. Before I leave, I want the crime solved and the killers executed.”
“This is a criminal investigation, not a military campaign. You can’t rush it along with a few floggings and summary executions.”
“I don’t see why not. Who are the most likely suspects?”
“At the moment, the devotees of Hecate.”
He spread his hands. “Well, then, there you are. Try them and execute them. Problem solved.”
“Somehow I knew you would suggest the simplest possible solution. I take it then that you are more interested in having things done with than finding the actual killer or killers.”
“As you’ve said, I have far more important matters to concern me. Personally, I don’t care who killed the priests, and what matter if some half-crazed priests of a foreign goddess are done away with? As long as the countryside is quiet, I will be satisfied.”
“The countryside will not be quiet if I execute the priestesses—most of Hecate’s clergy here are women, by the way—without glaring proof of their guilt. The cult is very ancient and deeply rooted in these parts. It has many more adherents than the Temple of Apollo. Plus, the local merchants have come to depend on the business that the Oracle brings to the district.”
He fumed for a while. “Just find someone to execute and do it soon.” He stood. “I’ll be off. I’ll be raising at least one legion from this district. I will need to requisition supplies from all the local towns. The men have their own arms and equipment, but I’ll want animals, tents, wagons, and a hundred other things.”
“See the city officials of the towns about that,” I advised him. “I’m just visiting.”