Under Vesuvius(43)

“You two are having a bad influence on my husband,” Julia said. “But if it’s a prostitute’s trick, doubtless Gaeto had a number of them in his slave barracks.”

“The murderer came from outside—we’ve established that,” I told

her.

“If you can rely on the word of an old cavalryman,” she said. “If he made up some details to make himself seem more important, he wouldn’t be the first.”

“I trust him,” I said. “Now what have you learned from the girls?”

“Leto is shattered and not a hand has been laid on her. Gaia is made of stronger stuff and that girl Charmian must have been made of iron to escape after the beating she took. I’ve dosed both the girls in our custody with poppy juice. I hope they can talk for a few minutes before they pass out.”

“They’d better,” I said. “I have to find Charmian. Surely she must have had someplace to run to.”

“You should send out word that she is to be brought to you when she’s found,” Circe advised. “Otherwise she’ll be turned over to Diocles for the reward and he’ll probably kill her. That old man is entirely too fond of the whip.”

“And he has something to hide,” Julia said.

“Everyone does,” I mused, “but I don’t want people combing the whole countryside for her. I need her alive and talking, and it’s best if she comes to me freely.”

“How is she to know?” Antonia asked.

“Hermes will put out word on the slave grapevine,” I said. “He knows how to do it.”

“You have a romantic conception of slaves’ concern for one another,” Julia said. “Her fellow slaves are as likely to sell her to Diocles as guide her to you.”

“Nonetheless, that is my decision.”

Shortly after this, Hermes came to inform us that the girls were able to talk. I told Antonia and Circe to rein in their unhealthy curiosity and stay where they were. They yielded with poor grace. Julia and I went to the room that had been prepared for our unexpected guests. Gaia lay on her stomach. The cushions beneath her were arranged for the greatest degree of comfort. Her stripes were cleaned and anointed with soothing oil, and she was covered with the lightest, gauziest sheet to be found in the villa. Leto sat beside her, holding her hand. She swayed in her chair, calm but almost numbed by the drug. Julia and I took other chairs, while Hermes and Marcus stood behind us.

“Girls,” I said, “I need some information from you. I know you both need sleep but this will not wait. I am not going to threaten you with punishment, but I must have your fullest cooperation. You will be much safer that way. Do you understand?”

Leto nodded dumbly. Gaia managed to say “yes” in a weak voice.

“We won’t turn you back over to Diocles,” Julia told them firmly. “You have been seized as evidence. My husband will have you remanded to the state, and I can then buy you and give you easy work in our own household. My husband can do this. He is a Roman magistrate. But you must answer him honestly.”

This seemed to reassure them. “What do you want to know?” Gaia asked, her voice a little stronger. She must have been captured young or else born in captivity. Her Latin was without discernible accent.

“First off,” I said, “what was Charmian’s offense?”

“She was helping Mistress Gorgo,” Leto said, speaking for the first time, although somewhat listlessly. “When the mistress went out at night, Charmian spied the way for her. Sometimes, I would sleep in Gorgo’s bed, so it would look like she was there.”

“Charmian would hide the gifts the mistress returned with,” Gaia said. “When Gorgo could not get away, Charmian would sneak out and tell the—the visitor.”

“Gorgo was seeing a lover?” Julia asked. Both girls nodded. “How often?”

“Almost every night,” said Gaia.

“Was there just one lover?” I asked. “Two? Many?”

“They never told us,” Gaia said. “She confided fully only in Charmian. They were almost like sisters.”

“I think there was more than one,” Leto said in a tiny voice.

“Why do you say that?” I asked her.

Even in her benumbed state, the girl’s face flushed. “Some nights, when I slept in Gorgo’s bed, she would just climb in and tell me to go back to our chamber. On some nights she—she smelled different than others.” Her head nodded and in seconds she was asleep, still sitting, holding Gaia’s hand.

“She never told me that,” Gaia said.

“A few words more and you can sleep, too,” I told her. “How did you help Charmian escape?”