Suetonius stood before the assembly to deliver his report. Clarus, Strabon, and Surisca stood a pace behind him, each wondering what their Special Inspector could possibly assert under the circumstances.
"Great Caesar, you have instructed Senator Claudius Septicius Clarus and I, Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, to examine the circumstances of the death of your Companion of the Hunt, Antinous of Bithynia.
You commanded us to investigate the manner of his death and the reason for his death. The enquiry was to be completed within the space of two days and two nights," Suetonius declaimed magisterially in his least-quavering barrister's vocal technique. It had worked well enough decades ago at the Bar of Rome but was a little rusty, he thought.
"No excuses, Special Inspector. Get on with it," Hadrian huffed.
The emperor slumped deep into his throne as the workers bustled silently around him eliminating the odious effluvium of his discharge. Suetonius braced himself as Clarus stood firm nearby concealing sweating palms.
"Firstly, my Lord, a chain of violent events begins when Antinous is found lying beneath a moored fishermen's coracle at the river's edge at first light two dawns ago. That day was the morning of the first day of The Festival of Isis.
Two netters of fish and birds, Ani and Hetu of the village of Besa nearby, drag the body of the youth from the river and raise the alarm. Antinous was beneath the river's waters attired in his ceremonial parade uniform as a Hunt Companion, still wearing the helmet and cavalry mask of a formal imperial parade. It is the regalia of a special ceremony, not of a casual night's pleasures or some sporty lad's horseplay.
Ani and Hetu call for help. Fortuitously, a troop of three members of Governor Flavius Titianus's Praetorian Guard from Alexandria happen to be nearby under the command of Centurion Quintus Urbicus of Numidia. Urbicus and his troops try to revive Antinous, but to no avail. They aim to clear his lungs of water and search his body for signs of the cause of death.
Other than light bruises, the only visible wound is a deep incision in the lad's left wrist. The guardsmen do not report the wound, leaving this revelation to an official magistrate's enquiry or inspection by a physician.
Later when checking the young man's attire it is noted how two of the lad's personal possessions are missing – his youth's bulla locket, the golden necklet containing some favored scripture or charm, and his ring depicting the deity Abrasax, known to be a gift received from you, Caesar, as a protective talisman.
Ani and Hetu later report to us how the only vessel sailing on the river at such early light was a single craft identified by them as bearing the insignia of the priests of the very Temple of Amun we currently inhabit. Their recorded testimony says it is possible those sailing this vessel had deposited the youth at the river's edge and hurriedly departed the vicinity."
Suetonius paused to let the information sink in to his audience, and give him time to assess his next stage of description.
On hearing about the Temple vessel the security chief Tribune Lucius Macedo made a discreet gesture to one of his officers. Guardsmen closest to the priests Pachrates and Kenamun quietly shifted into a formation of nearer proximity to the pair, much to their immediate alarm. Suetonius continued his presentation.
"One of these two fishermen, Ani, is murdered later that same night by masked assailants of unknown origin. Fortunately, we had inscribed a record of the fishermen's testimony. The following morning Ani's decapitated head is exhibited to us by Centurion Urbicus as evidence of the murder. Urbicus had been assigned to us as an investigative operative. Hetu, the other fisherman, is reported chased by the same masked assailants to a fate unknown at this particular time. I will return to Hetu later.
Lysias of Bithynia, Antinous's close friend, and Thais of Cyrene, the youth's language tutor, are attacked at their tents in the Imperial Encampment that same night, also by masked assailants. Simon, a steward of Lysias's household, is murdered and decapitated defending the couple. They flee by devious routes to take secret refuge at the compound of the Companions of the Hunt. Quaestor Salvius Julianus, the former Master of the Hunt, offers his protection to the two at the Companions' stables.
At early afternoon the following day – this was yesterday – our party of three citizens of Rome – Quaestor Julianus, Senator Clarus, and myself of the equites class – accompanied by three worthy staff, are attacked by concealed archers while we were travelling from a riverside jetty to the Hunt compound. Julianus's equerry is wounded in the foot, but all six survive the attack unharmed.
Since that time your investigators suspect their lives are at risk, having been set upon by unknown forces bent on committing harm for unknown reasons of purposes.
So Great Caesar, to tally up, in the space of only two days within the confines of the protected enclave of the Imperial Household your assigned investigators are confronted by the inexplicable drowning of an innocent youth, Antinous; two or possibly three assassinations by decapitation; a murderous attack by unknown archers in which an equerry is wounded; and a general climate of insecurity and uncertainty within the enclosure.
This is a high casualty rate for such a secure facility in the space of two nights – four unexplained deaths and a life-threatening injury, along with general mayhem and havoc. It is my belief, sir, these events are closely linked."
"Linked by who or to what?" Hadrian murmured tiredly. His features displayed a distinct lack of enthusiasm for Suetonius's presentation.
"I must raise the renown principle of cui bono?, sir. Who benefits? It seems a member or members of our court may have good reason to see these offences come to pass. I include the death of the young man Antinous as the primary offence. There appears to be some person or persons among us who possess the resources, the authority, or the determination to prosecute such violence in our midst, Caesar."
Hadrian shifted uneasily in his seat.
"Explain, Inspector! Why do you believe the youth was subject to violence? Importantly too, who can be shown to benefit from Antinous's death?"
"Possibly several people my lord, either directly or by purposeful influence."
"Get to the core of the matter, Special Inspector. Time is passing. Dawn is almost upon us," Hadrian declared impatiently.
"I will be brief, Caesar. Let us first explore our present company at Court to see what motives may exist among us. We will begin with the outer ring, those who are not official members of your Household, the priests of Amun before us. Pachrates the Sage of Heliopolis, and Kenamun the Embalmer, should tell us what they know of the youth's death," Suetonius offered. He gestured to Kenamun nearby as he spoke.
"Kenamun, as the presiding mortician, has an intimate knowledge of the state of Antinous in death, my lord. We should listen to what he has to say on the manner of Antinous's death."
Kenamun glanced nervously at the surrounding assembly of notables and the somber emperor before him. Suetonius nodded to him encouragingly and opened his questioning.
"Priest Kenamun, what can you tell us of the manner of the young man's death?"
Kenamun gulped nervously. His response tumbled out.
"Special Inspector, it is my belief Antinous of Bithynia did not die by drowning. I believe he died instead of a loss of blood which occurred before he entered the holy river's waters. Possibly well before."
A rustle of whispers swept the assembly. Hadrian shifted uncomfortably on his throne. Kenamun continued.
"In preparing the noble youth's cadaver for public display it was evident how very little blood had remained in his veins in the usual way of the deceased. When blood ceases its flow at death a residual quantity lingers in the veins. It coagulates in the veins as mucus which speedily putrefies.
In the case of Antinous, there was very little blood gelled in his veins. Very little indeed. I would hazard a guess he had been thoroughly drained of almost all blood while his life-force still animated his tissues. The faint blood which remained suggested he had died by massive bleeding at least an hour or more before his discovery at the river. This is my opinion.
Also, Antinous possessed a deep incision on his left wrist. It was an incision as a surgeon might perform, not an accidental tear. This tells me he had intentionally cut and bled himself. Alternatively, he had been purposefully cut by another as a slaughtered beast is bled of its impure blood."
The assembly emitted another rush of murmurs. Kenamun continued.
"Further, great sirs, though he was discovered under the river's waters, water damage to his skin and organs was minor. Prey-seeking river vermin are far more aggressive to a corpse over time than was evident on this youth. I believe he had been in the water less than even a single hour prior to his detection.
Considering the incision at his wrist, unless he razored his wrist just moments before he entered the water, he would have been unconscious from blood loss long before he entered the river. It takes time for a living creature to be drained entirely of its blood, as we see at a slaughter man's killing trough."
Suetonius decided to probe this notion closer.
"Priest Kenamun, couldn't he have cut his wrist by accident at the river's edge and then fallen in after fainting? Or cut and thrown himself in as a willing suicide?"
"This is possible, but I doubt it. Far more blood would have gelled in his veins than was apparent when we prepared his body. I sense the incision was made sometime well before him entering the river. This could mean it was inflicted elsewhere than at the river.
I am told too Antinous was left-handed in his activities, yet this incision was in his left not his right wrist. This is unusual. It is irregular.
I believe therefore his arm was lanced in the company of another person or persons to promote bleeding. And then, when his life's humors had been diminished by his own failing spirit, further manipulation may have been applied externally to complete the job. This is just as a butcher does with a beast to drain it of polluting blood. Perhaps only then was his body placed in the river."
The assembly grew agitated and edgy.
"How would someone slit a healthy young person's wrist while they were fully capable of resisting such an attack, unless they were party to their own death? Antinous was no helpless weakling," Suetonius asked rhetorically.
"I don't know," Kenamun offered. "Perhaps he was restrained and it was forced upon him? Perhaps he was given a blow to be unconscious? Or perhaps he was eager to be incised?"
"But why would someone wish to bleed a victim so thoroughly?"
"It is seen by some to be a less painful way to die than other methods. I understand slit veins are a noble tradition among Romans pursuing a pain-free death? But in truth I do not know, Special Inspector."
Suetonius turned to the craggy high priest standing nervously in anticipation beside the mortician.
"Pachrates, high priest and magus of Amun, is it true you promised the youth you had the skill to revive him from death if he aspired to sacrifice himself on the occasion of The Isia? We have been told you have exhibited such skills."
The self-professed wizard uncharacteristically trembled.
"By Sacred Amun!, what can you mean?! My magic does not dare indulge in such blasphemies against Fate."
"Yet you are known to resurrect from death small animals and the occasional condemned criminal with your arts? It has been testified so by witnesses. You do it in public before us."
The priest was quick to respond.
"This is a lesser, minor, inferior Egyptian magic, Inspector, suited only to meager creatures like dogs, criminals, and other vermin. I do not perform magic with the bloodstream and honor of nobles of the Imperium!
Besides, Inspector, my humble arts are only effective at times of an extraordinary alignment of the stars, configurations which occur only once or twice a lifetime," the sorcerer explained unpersuasively.
"Yet, priest of Amun, we have been told the youth Antinous prevailed upon you to perform such magic? We have a witness to your conversation in our written testimony. The youth had seen your magic in action, and requested your special powers be used for his own purpose? This was in the company of Caesar too, we have been told?"
Clarus was becoming tense at the direction the deposition was taking. It veered too close to Caesar's person.
"But I refused him! I said No!" the magus objected. "And then Great Pharaoh intervened to refuse both of us to even discuss the matter! Caesar had spoken! The matter was final!"
Suetonius zeroed in for his coup-de-grace, he thought.
"Nevertheless, Priest, you had sufficiently remarkable prescience to summon priests at Memphis and Thebes to this place, including the very faraway Oracle from Siwa," Suetonius charged, "plus an entire embalming team including Cronon, a Greek painter of funerary portraits from Fayum. They were obliged to travel long distances to this place in anticipation of the youth's death?"
Suetonius felt pleased with himself in this proposition. The assembly rustled with murmurings.
Pachrates rose to the fullest height of his diminutive race, his eyes ablaze.
"You take liberties with our sacred mission, Inspector! This is not so, I tell you!"
Suetonius had struck an open nerve.
Hadrian interrupted this exchange wearily. With a dismissive wave of one hand, he spoke.
"Suetonius Tranquillus, you should be told how the priests and personnel you list were summoned here on my command two months ago. These people are engaged with the planning of our new city of Hadrianopolis. You will hear more about this project shortly.
Pachrates is an honored advisor to us for this purpose. His understanding of the local customs is comprehensive, so he advises us how the various communities of Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians can live in harmony at Hadrianopolis someday. There was no conspiracy in his summons to his artisan compatriots, Inspector. It was on my own authority he did so. Leave it alone, Tranquillus."
Caesar had spoken. Pachrates resumed his usual confident manner.
"I welcome your words, my lord, however there is more to explore," Suetonius continued bravely, if doggedly. His leap of intuition had failed; he moved on.
"We think we know those around us, but we don't really know them at all. There are several undercurrents flowing among us here, tides which might carry us in unwanted directions. Antinous may have been swept along by more than the Holy River's currents."
"Be plain, Inspector. No riddles," Hadrian sniped. His appearance was growing haggard.
Suetonius stepped out in a dangerous direction.
"Take the women among us, for example, Caesar. Julia Balbilla, princess of Commagene and gentlewoman companion to our Great Augusta, your wife, has been outraged by the recorded revelation how her astrologer grandfather in the time of Nero advised his emperor to kill his own counselors.
Her notorious ancestor, Balbillus the Wise, interpreted a comet in the sky to foretell that Nero would die. Rich with the mystical lore of the Orient, Balbillus advised Nero to nominate substitute deaths instead. He put it into Nero's head he should kill the eminent men-of-state of his era to deflect the omen's risk. So the notorious Piso and Vinicius Conspiracies against Nero were invented to fulfill this goal.
It was a most successful strategy, it seemed. Many innocents died cruelly and their families and slaves with them. Their rich properties were confiscated by Nero into his own coffers. It was a winning play for both Nero and Balbillus."
"What has this to do with the death of Antinous?" Hadrian snapped.
"On occasions as you know, Caesar, your Bithynian companion was a guest in the Augusta's household. He and Julia Balbilla, as well as the empress with her retinue, shared playful conversation over wine and snacks. It doesn't strike me as too far-fetched to predict the grand-daughter of Balbilla the Wise could suggest to an impressionable youth how a substitute death was a feasible project for the lad. After all, we already know the youth was intent on some form of recompense, some form of self-sacrifice. Balbilla suggested; Antinous considered; Antinous died. The youth fulfilled his purpose."
Suetonius was going out far on a shaky limb, causing Clarus to perspire even further.
Julia Balbilla and others of the Augusta's attendants seethed beneath their elegant silks.
"Recompense, you say? Substitute? What on earth could inspire such a distasteful proposal, Inspector," Hadrian protested.
"My lord Caesar, your Court is not insensitive to the frisson which prevails between the respective Imperial households. Perhaps the irregular death of the young man could be construed as a slight upon your own integrity? Perhaps Antinous was goaded to commit an act of self-sacrifice, an act which would inevitably cast a shadow across your own virtue. Such a shadow may have political consequences, or at least be the result of revenge?"
Balbilla was aghast. She was about to vehemently remonstrate against the accusation when the Augusta spoke for the first time. Vibia Sabina's voice and forceful manner resonated around the chamber. Her speech possessed a timbre more redolent of a military commander than a demure wife.
"Hold your tongue, Tranquillus, or I'll find a way for you to lose it!" she boomed. "Once again you commit laesa majestas in my presence. You are insufferable! How dare you accuse my household of some malevolent conspiracy against the youth Antinous," Sabina proclaimed for all to hear. "It may not be known to you, but the youth Antinous acted as a useful balm between my husband and I. He was attentive to communication between our households and regularly performed the duties of an appreciated herald between contending parties with great distinction. He is a great loss to our continuing rapport. His rare diplomacy in these activities will be sorely missed. You err in your assumptions, scandal-monger historian!"
The assembly hushed. Clarus by now was alarmed for his own safety. Sweat trickled down his forehead and across his jaw.
Hadrian again interrupted.
"I instructed you, Special Inspector, not to involve the empress in your enquiries. You have no authority there; my wife is above your station, yet you have heard her view. What are you trying to say, Tranquillus, tell us or I must dismiss you immediately!"
Suetonius's internal machinery shifted its grinding cogs towards some other purpose.
"Great Caesar, there is a pattern to this Court's behavior which impacts upon the events of the past few days," Suetonius explained. "A climate exists among us which leads to these possibilities. But I'll move elsewhere in my presentation if it is your will."
His voice softened to a less accusatory tone.
"Another among us is the freedwoman, Thais of Cyrene. Until a year or so ago Thais was the property of Antinous's household assigned as a language tutor. Prior to departing Rome on this expedition Thais's status as a slave was manumitted by vindicta before a magistrate. She was relinquished as his property. She is no longer a slave. She is a freedwoman.
Recently, some weeks after the dissolution of the lad's eromenos relationship at Alexandria, Thais and Antinous became intimate. Very intimate. No previous intimacy had been expressed between them --"
While the biographer was introducing Thais, Hadrian had revived from his languor. His ears pricked up at the account of her involvement with Antinous.
"-- Thais believes she might now be pregnant due to the young man's attentions," the Special Inspector intoned quietly.
The assembly rustled in sotto voce while Thais was seriously discomforted.
"However, Thais has many reservations about the manner of Antinous's death. Perhaps she will tell us why. Describe your last words with Antinous, Cyrene."
Suetonius turned to the dark young woman standing nearby. With her eyes firmly planted on the figure upon the bier, Thais groped to stammer a response. Suetonius nodded encouragingly.
"Good sirs, my former master Antinous spent much of the night and morning prior to his death in my company. He and I were very close, if you understand my meaning, but he did not discuss any threat to his life. Nevertheless he engaged in actions which should have aroused my concerns and invited my greater curiosity --"
"What were those actions, Cyrene?" Suetonius asked.
"Antinous endowed me with a great sum of treasure that day."
"Treasure? What treasure, Cyrene?"
"Coins to a considerable value, precious objects of jewels and gold, and the deed to a property in the city of Athens at Achaea. The total value is very considerable."
"Can you vouchsafe for this endowment, Cyrene? Do you have proof of ownership? Or have you acquired it illegally, perhaps by theft or worse?" Suetonius probed in the style of a prosecutor.
Salvius Julianus, the quaestor, spoke up from across the aisle.
"I can vouch for it, Inspector. My steward, our clerk, and I recorded the endowment in Antinous's company, notarized the records of transfer, and have stored the valuables in the Companions' coffers for security. All with proper receipts and seals. The endowment is legal and secure with all parties.
Antinous was to make a separate endowment the same day to one other person. Both endowments together may have been to the full value of his possessions."
"Is such a gesture so unusual, Thais of Cyrene?" Suetonius soothed. "Surely such gestures are understood between companions of substance?"
"No, Special Inspector, they are not!" a voice called from one side.
Arrian of Bithynia made the announcement across the assembly.
"Senator-Consul Arrianus? You wish to speak?" Suetonius asked. Arrian spoke anyway.
"The treasures you speak of were the Bithynian's total wealth. Coins, gold, jewels, and the deeds to two properties were Antinous's entire fortune. Unlike many at Court the youth hadn't sold favors or peddled his influence with Caesar for high prices. Though his wealth may have been comforting to a lad entering adult life, it was not excessive by the standards of this Court. I know, because I had been the securer of his treasures in my own chests prior to that very day."
"Why do you think the fellow withdrew his wealth and offered it elsewhere? Especially on the day prior to his death?" Suetonius asked. "Is there a connection?"
"He would not give me an explanation of the reason for his withdrawal," Arrian stated. "I begged him to leave his valuables where they were safe, yet it did not occur to me he was about to give his property away to others. I thought perhaps he'd been smitten with the Chrestus disease or fell under some other fast-talking inducement?"
Suetonius seized an opportunity while this matter was progressing. "Tell me, Senator, do you recall securing Antinous's Abrasax ring among those treasures?"
"It wasn't necessary; he was wearing it as usual. He treasured the jewel, a special gift from Caesar," Arrian replied. "He wore it always."
Suetonius made a special note of that comment in his memory. He continued.
"So why then, I wonder, did the lad transfer the remainder of his wealth to others that day? Thais --?"
"I do not know," she quietly replied. "He didn't tell me of his plans. He simply said I was to use the endowment for my sustenance now that I was a free person. I was to rely upon Lysias should anything untoward happen to him. I did not realize how something untoward, something awful, would occur so very soon – in fact later that very day."
Thais's eyes welled with moisture as they fixed upon the pale figure on the bier.
The biographer turned to the ephebe standing beside Thais. "Lysias, do you have anything to contribute to this mystery?"
Lysias picked up the refrain.
"Antinous endowed the remainder of his estate to me. It too was notarized by Julianus's stewards. Ant offered no explanation, but he was adamant I receive the gift.
We've known each other a long time, so I imagined I could return his property to him later when he came to his senses. Ant, like me, is a second son with a claim to only a minor inheritance. He will need this wealth someday. All of it. But that day will now never come, will it?"
"So the Bithynian gifted his entire wealth to others on the very day prior to his death?" Suetonius summarized. "Unless the youth was unhinged, this suggests to me he knew he was greatly at risk, or already knew of his forthcoming fate. This does not imply an accident, Great Caesar. It tells of suicide, murder, or madness.
With mortician Kenamun's opinion of the deep incision on his left wrist and his great loss of blood which would render him incapable of entering the river, we arrive at a disturbing scenario. Murder, pure and simple. So who among us was willing to see Caesar's former eromenos dead? And what was their motive? Cui bono?"
The entire assembly hushed. Clarus was fearful the presentation was speedily going nowhere and Hadrian's patience and interest would be in jeopardy.
Suetonius returned to his fishing expedition, desperate as it may have been.
"Senator Arrian of Bithynia, you deal extensively in other people's wealth or treasures?"
Arrian looked to the Special Inspector with a querying, startled eye.
"What can you mean, Tranquillus? Yes, I am a trader, an investor, and a securer of valuables, but I do not deal in other people's wealth, as you say. I deal only in my own.
I am also a commander of the Legions, a recent proconsul to Baetica at the Iberian Peninsula, and I sit in The Senate at Rome.
Trading and investing in speculation is to my own benefit as a businessman, but I do it with my own money. Securing valuables in safe storage is a service to those of my clientela who trust my integrity with their precious things or have no access to a temple's sanctuary for storing wealth.
Wealth is hard to acquire and even harder to retain. I offer protection against theft or misadventure to members of my clientela. But this is not dealing in other people's wealth, Suetonius Tranquillus, though some may become my partners in speculation. Many people benefit from my policies."
"You received a visitor late at night after Caesar's celebration on the eve of The Isia, the same night Antinous died. The visitor stayed overnight and departed the following morning. May I ask who was that visitor?"
Suetonius was going out on a limb again, and knew it. The investigating team hadn't seen the visitor's face, but Surisca's identification of his perfume indicated the Western Favorite was the likely candidate. The biographer was keen to explore any hidden motive for the pair's meeting on the very night Antinous died. He wondered whether either was party to some act of malevolence against the youth.
"Special Inspector, why would you ask such an impertinent question?" Arrian replied. "You've over-stepped your commission, Inspector. My visitors are my own affair. Those I receive are my own matter. You possess no mandate with a well respected senator of Rome, Tranquillus! Yet because your intentions are honorable, on behalf of your investigation and our master's pain, and because I wish to relieve you of any suspicions you may hold, I'll respond to your questions nevertheless."
There was no patrician derision in his voice. The assembly focused intently on his reply.
"The visitor you talk of was Senator Lucius Ceionius Commodus of Rome. Commodus and I retired late after Caesar's celebration of The Isia to talk deep into the night on many issues. Senators are inveterate gossipers, as we here are all well aware. Senators have a great deal to discuss, to argue, and sometimes negotiate together.
Commodus reflects the views of a particular patrician faction at the Senate, I reflect an alternative colonial view. There are many other factions, some of who disagree with us both vehemently.
Do you think Commodus and I are intimately engaged in some way, Inspector? Do you suspect we're having a hot, passionate sexual affair? No, Inspector, Commodus has far more nubile people in his sights than a warhorse such as I.
Besides, Commodus is now a married man. His wife Avidia is with child at Rome. So he has other priorities these days. These aim to consolidate his career and his future political life, not the pursuit of gentlemanly pleasures.
Caesar has let it be known Commodus may be adopted as his legal heir. Therefore he may be a candidate to be Caesar someday. There are some senators who may resist this prospect, so Commodus and I share continuing broad-ranging discussions of policy and our roles in resolving them. We have interests to explore on behalf of our respective factions and the wider Empire.
All this is entirely innocent, Special Inspector, and does not lead to the murder of Hadrian's intimates. Does this satisfy your prurient curiosity?" Arrian ventured. "If not, ask Commodus yourself."
Turning to the former Western Favorite standing nearby still fumbling for signs of spoiling on his boots and toga, the biographer raised a single questioning eyebrow.
Commodus replied simply, if dismissively.
"It is precisely as Arrian says, no less, no more."
Chastened, Suetonius lurched into fresh, deeper waters of exploration.
"Senator Commodus, would it be presumptuous to infer that the death of Antinous may be a welcome contribution to the progress of the career of an Adoptee Designate?" he proposed, daringly risking Hadrian's ire in the process. "Especially as no love was lost between you and the dead youth, we're told? Could this be construed as a motive for pursuing the boy's destruction?"
Commodus sighed with weary disinterest and then raised sufficient energy to bat the accusation aside effortlessly in the derisive manner of his class.
"Antinous, good Inspector, was my benefactor's greatest joy. Despite my onetime jealousy of the young man's influence upon Caesar, I am not one to deny others their deserved happiness. Especially my Caesar. And definitely not by murder! Gold would probably be adequate encouragement to achieve those ends, I'd guess. You're barking up the wrong tree, Tranquillus. You'll have to search elsewhere for your murderer."
"Yet you are known to have once attacked that unarmed youth at sword point at Athens? You inflicted a wound on the fellow's face! Is Caesar aware of this assault, Senator?"
Commodus sighed tiredly and straightened a fold in his toga.
"That was many years ago. I was suitably chastised by Caesar some months later. But my impetuous nature has moderated over time. I do not harass Caesar's companions these days. Instead, I revel in his pleasure. His joy is my joy.
I am known for many petty foibles, Inspector, but murdering Caesar's chosen companion is not one of them. Besides, you have my alibi for the night in question, I was fully engaged with witnesses of probity throughout. You need not fish in my direction, Tranquillus. Am I such a fool I would jeopardize my future in such an unprepossessing venture?"
Clarus and Suetonius glanced sheepishly to each other. This line of enquiry was leading nowhere. Suetonius changed tack. It was now his palms which were sweating. It was time to return to the Egyptians.
"Priest Pachrates, you yourself have been identified by the two fishermen Ani and Hetu to be the man who was sailing the river at very earliest light when the body was discovered. Ani and Hetu described your temple's felucca with its identifying blazons and your temple colors. We possess a record of their words identifying these insignia."
The Egyptian wizard looked pained by this accusation. He drew himself to his full height.
"But that's not possible, Inspector. Not only am I never upon the river so early in my sacramental day, our sole river vessel is out of commission. It lies at dock awaiting repair. It was damaged a month ago in a river collision. We do not possess a river-worthy felucca at this time. So we hire other people's craft to travel."
"Allow me to read the relevant testimony," Suetonius responded. "Strabon, locate the transcript and read!"
The scribe declaimed the words loudly for all to hear.
"… The fisherman Ani speaks:- 'We know all the fishermen and ferrymen at Besa and Shmun. We know their boats, their trade, and their daily habits. They're our neighbors, we know everyone well. Even though it was some distance away, we could see it was a different sort of boat to ours and of a different people. It was a strong wooden felucca of quality, well made and costly, not a boat of bundled rushes.
Inspector Suetonius speaks:- 'And who would own such a boat at Besa or Hermopolis?'
Ani replies:- 'I did not know either the boat or the two rowers. It could have been a new boat from Shmun we had not seen before, but I would still know the rowers. Perhaps it was a boat sailed by priests from upstream for The Isia, or a boat belonging to Pharaoh's people'.
Suetonius speaks again:- 'Did the boat have any identifying features? Would you recognize it again?'
Ani:- 'Yes, it was painted the color of the sky and possessed the ever-watching Eye of Horus at the prow. Its sail had no insignia."
Whispers rippled the assembly. Suetonius looked questioningly at the priest.
Pachrates spoke with a gleam in his eyes.
"The field of sky-blue and the Eye of Horus are indeed our markings on the hull of our damaged boat from Memphis. Yet you say its sail had no insignia?
Great Caesar and Special Inspector, listen to me; the single craft we possess here at Besa, which has been out-of-commission awaiting repair for the past month, indeed possesses a sail. It is stored at this very temple for security from common theft. It's a sail emblazoned with the major emblem of our deity, the Ram's Head of Ammon. If the felucca had been our vessel, all three tokens of the Old Religion would have been visible to your fishermen, the colors, the Eye, and the Horns of Ammon. The vessel you describe simply is not ours."
Silence fell across the chamber. Surisca tugged at Suetonius's sleeve and raised a finger to speak. Clarus sharply waved an impatient dismissal.
"We're in the company of your betters, woman," he hissed. Suetonius nodded approval nevertheless. She whispered into her hirer's ear.
"May I ask, master, who translated the fisherman's words for you? I was not present at that time, and I doubt any fisherman among the population speaks Greek, let alone Latin."
The biographer blushed in recognition, knowing full well who the available translator had been.
"Strabon," he whispered, turning evasively to the scribe, "who was our translator?" Strabon nodded towards the detachment of troops standing at attention across the sanctuary.
"It was Centurion Quintus Urbicus of the Alexandrian Praetorians, yonder," he whispered.
Surisca's query shifted the enquiry's terms swiftly.
"It is possible, Caesar, that we can test this translation," Suetonius advanced. "I wish to call upon the testimony of a layman worker in our company here today. He is named Hetu, a fisherman. Hetu, come here!"
He waved to the clutch of six Egyptian workers hovering beyond the assembly with their cleaning materials, sponges, and brushes.
"Hetu the menial?! Hetu the serf?! Hetu the fisherman?!" Pachrates wailed.
Strabon, who had spied the man earlier, moved forward and waved at the quaking figure hiding behind other workers, peeping out hoping not to be seen. Strabon called him to the front of the assembly by his name.
"Hetu!"
The workman reluctantly shambled forward, his eyes darting about at the weapons, uniforms, and fine fabrics around him, as well as the temple guards' assegais glinting beneath the brazier flicker. He was ushered into the presence of the awesome notables of Rome and fell to his knees from sheer fright.
"Surisca, do you have sufficient command of the local dialect to translate for us?" Suetonius asked. "We should not leave it to the kind priests of Amun or the efficient Alexandrian guardsmen to interpret for us, don't you think?"
The Syri nodded affirmation.
"Firstly, we must ask him how he came to be here at the Temple of Amun. We were certain he'd been killed by renegades. Ask him for his explanation."
Surisca turned to the trembling worker and spoke patiently and calmly in the fellow's own language. Hetu listened intently. His surprise at being spoken to in his own tongue by such a high ranking lady of quality was evident on his features. He responded in halting bursts of his native speech. Surisca turned to Suetonius to offer her translation.
"He says he fled his attackers after witnessing the killing of his cousin Ani, and escaped here to take sanctuary at the temple. The priests here are customers of his fish and fowl, and pay too for laboring chores, so they know him well. He intends staying hidden from attack at the temple until Pharaoh's Soldiers have departed on their journeys."
"I see," Suetonius said. "He suspects his attackers were Pharaoh's Soldiers does he? Now ask him a simple question:- tell us about the vessel seen upon the Nile at earliest light on the day of his discovery of the water demon, Antinous. Ask him to describe it just as he and Ani described it to us two days ago."
Surisca began to speak to Hetu in a slowly-enunciated articulation of his tongue. His body responded sharply in fear at the mention of Ani's name. On hearing-out Surisca's query, and after a few moment's recollection, he replied in the sharp monosyllabic bursts of his native dialect. Surisca translated carefully to the assembly.
"The vessel was a dhow of fine timbers, a costly lateen-rigged craft from a foreign place.
It's hull was the bright color of the spring crocus, a vivid yellow, and its sail was painted with the many-pointed starburst of the Old Pharaohs.
It was large enough to carry six sailors, though only two were travelling that dawn.
They were having trouble controlling the vessel in the brisk morning breezes. They were amateurs not familiar with the Holy River's whims.
He and Ani were too far away to recognize by their faces, but they were known to be foreigners because of their clothing…"
Suetonius looked to Pachrates and Kenamun for their confirmation of the translation. The two nodded acceptance.
He looked towards Urbicus. The centurion was standing-at-ease pointedly averting his eyes. A rustle of whispers swept across the assembly.
"Its sail was emblazoned with the many-pointed starburst of the Old Pharaohs," Suetonius repeated. "This is surely the eight-pointed star of Alexandria and its dynasty of the Ptolemies. This is the Alexandrine insignia of Rome's Legate Governor. The boat was from the fleet of river craft sailing with The Alexandros, the flotilla of Alexandrian vessels following in the governor's wake."
Governor Titianus immediately cast his eyes over members of his retinue around him. He looked to Urbicus and other officers of his auxiliaries. His glance fell upon Anna Perenna, who stood motionless by his side. He was seeking some acknowledgement of the use of his vessel two dawns previously. No one responded.
He spoke.
"Only two of our craft carry the Governor's star insignia, the others are indicated by their respective corps blazons. Tell us, what more do your investigations reveal, Special Inspector?" the Governor asked, intrigued.
"Hetu thought of the vessel's sailors to be 'foreigners because of their clothing," Suetonius emphasized. "Who could these foreigners have been, we wonder? To Hetu, of course, anyone not residing at Besa is a foreigner."
Governor Titianus spoke again.
"My chamberlain retains records of those who go to- amp;-fro from The Alexandros including, I hope, our service craft. I will order an immediate search of the records," Titianus declared, "but it takes time."
"This might not be necessary, Lord Governor," Clarus intervened enigmatically. "We have taken certain precautions which make a search unnecessary."
Suetonius interrupted the notion.
"Perhaps firstly, though, we should ask Centurion Quintus Urbicus how he managed to be so close to the place where Ani and Hetu uncovered the body at such an early hour two dawns ago? Is the centurion a regular sojourner at the river's edge so early in the day? Does he take the air with his fellow soldiers at first light?"
He turned to Urbicus at the head of the Alexandrian troop just yards to the side of Titianus. All eyes fell upon the guardsman. Urbicus cleared his throat.
"Special Inspector, I and my men had been on a drunken spree throughout the night, and we were returning to our tents in the early hours to revive. It was the first day of The Isia, so our previous night's celebration had been very festive, sir. We probably overdid the festivity a bit, I'd say. There was much wine, women, and pleasure to be had."
"Where precisely, Centurion, did this festivity occur?"
Urbicus hesitated momentarily.
"We had been at the guardsmen's party attached to Caesar's own personal celebration that night. It was at a courtyard close to the Imperial Household's tents," the Praetorian regaled happily. "It was a good party. A hundred officers and ranks from various corps mixing together at Caesar's behest. The wine and local beer flowed abundantly. Soldiers know how to enjoy themselves!"
"How long did this jolly event prevail, Centurion?"
"Why, it had begun in the late afternoon I'm told, but we arrived at dusk. We stayed until the very end in the wee hours, almost dawn. Soldiers' celebrations always survive until the booze runs out or everybody's rotten drunk. Or they've taken a woman or lad for their pleasure."
"So, you were the entire night at the Household's tents enjoying this trooper's party? From dusk until before dawn?" Suetonius probed. "That's a long night's partying?"
"True, Special Inspector. We're members of the Guard after all. We have our hell-raiser reputation to uphold."
The assembly chuckled with uncertain enthusiasm.
"Tell me, Centurion Urbicus, do you have a witness? Is there anyone here who can vouchsafe your drunken revel that night?"
Urbicus looked blinkingly around the assembly. His sight settled on Decurion Scorilo at the head of the Horse Guard brigade colorfully garbed in their Germanic ethnic uniforms.
"My friend and colleague Decurion Scorilo of Caesar's special Horse Guard can vouch for me, Inspector. He was there too. Ask him yourself."
Suetonius cast a questioning eye towards Scorilo, who responded haltingly in his Germanic-accented Latin.
"Yes, sir. We both enjoyed Caesar's party for the troops that night, sir."
"So you too, Decurion, partied into the night as well? Also until dawn?"
"Of course. That's what soldier's drinking bouts are for."
Suetonius turned to Salvius Julianus's group of lictors and grooms. Beside them was the jetty clerk of The Alexandros he had brought with him.
"Officer of the Watch," he called to the clerk, "you register traffic to and from The Alexandros, yes?"
The uniformed Alexandrian was prodded forward gently by Julianus to respond.
"I do, noble sir," he stammered.
"Tell us who you are, identify your unit, and describe your duties," the biographer said.
"Sir, I am Danaos, born at Tanis of the Nile Delta marshes. I am of mixed Greek and native descent. I am a tesserarius of the Alexandrian Auxilia. I supervise and roster the sentries of the Watch. During this imperial river tour I am the shore clerk at the jetty to The Alexandros, the Governor's barque offshore. I and my staff monitor and record all movement to and from that vessel."
"Do you read and write, Tesserarius Danaos of Tanis?"
"I read some Greek and some Latin, sir, with a little more in the local Demotic. I have not mastered the art of writing well. I can maintain records but not express myself."
"My fine scribe Strabon has acquired the traffic records of the past few days at The Alexandros. He has in his possession the record of the day and night, and the following days too, of two evenings ago. This is believed to be the time of Antinous's death," Suetonius announced for all to hear. "I want you, Tesserarius Danaos, to tell us if the record for the first evening is written in your hand?"
Strabon untied the ribbon bindings of the papyrus sheets and took the papers to Danaos to inspect.
"Indeed, sir," the clerk confirmed, "this first sheet is my own writing. I was the attending registrar that night. The next morning's sheet is written by one of my subordinates."
"Tell us, Danaos, had there been any unusual traffic that afternoon or evening?"
"Not especially that I recall, other than the Governor's group departing for an overnight celebration at Caesar's quarters. The traffic was of familiar faces at The Alexandros. The only unusual visitor was a guest of the Governor's consort, Anna Perenna, who arrived with a letter of authority from her. He arrived at dusk."
Titianus glanced slowly around at his consort at his side, whose eyes were firmly planted ahead of her. The ashen powdered face was unresponsive.
"Did the visitor have a name, Danaos?" Suetonius asked.
"The young noble's name and a note on his authority are inscribed on the sheet, sir. His face was not known to me. I had no recollection of a previous visit."
"Will you read your ascription of his name to us, Tesserarius," the Special Inspector asked. Strabon offered Danaos the sheet to read. Danaos cast his eye over the sheet.
"The letter of authority, an invitation written and sealed in the hand of Lady Perenna, introduced him as Lysias of Bithynia. It said he was attached to the contubernium of the Imperial Household, and was invited to a professional consultation with Lady Perenna. My notation confirms this to be so."
Thais and Lysias, standing not far from Suetonius's group, tensed in astonishment. Lysias grasped Thais's hand urgently, his features expressing utter astonishment. Hadrian's sight fell enquiringly across the couple in deep foreboding.
"How would you describe Lysias of Bithynia to us, Tesserarius? How tall was he? How was he dressed? What company attended him? And so on? Would you recognize him if you met him again?" Suetonius asked, his eyes narrowing to interpret the clerk's features. "Is he here among us now, for example?"
He knew full well Lysias stood close nearby accompanying Thais.
"Why yes, great lord, the fellow is with us here as we speak. I recognized him the moment I arrived. He is even wearing the same uniform of his visit at The Alexandros," Danaos burbled with helpful enthusiasm.
"Uniform? A uniform?" Suetonius called, turning towards Lysias who was garbed in the regular chiton tunic and mantle of a Greek civilian, not his hunting cuirass, helmet, and weapons.
"Yes, sir. There. Over there," the tesserarius burbled, pointing across the chamber.
The entire assembly turned their heads in unison in the direction of his gesture.
"On the bier. The body. The dead person. That's Lysias of Bithynia!" he declared with confidence.
A rustle of louder voices rippled across the gathering. Hadrian sat up abruptly to observe the clerk more closely.
"The body upon the bier?! You believe that to be Lysias?" Suetonius called aloud to confirm Danaos' statement.
"Yes, certainly. He's still wearing the same armor he wore at the jetty. That fair-haired young man over there. Fine looking fellow. I'd recognize him anywhere. It was him," the tesserarius confirmed. "He has died, has he?"