Maximin again lay in his cot, happy in his fresh clothes. For all I knew, Theophanes hadn’t touched a baby in fifty years. But he hadn’t lost an ounce of a very considerable skill. He could have given lessons to Gutrune on how to clean shitty bottoms and then tie the clothes on.
Martin and Alypius had danced attendance with bowls of water and lengths of fine cloth. Then Theophanes had spent an age praising the boy’s present and future qualities. He had evidently enjoyed himself with Maximin but it was also clear that he’d been eager for any excuse to change the subject. But if I was willing to let him recover his composure, there was much more ground to cover.
‘Now, Theophanes,’ I opened, ‘let us deal with this matter of an apparently insoluble murder. We have the Permanent Legate’s body in a locked room, with neither weapon nor murderer. I have no doubt you were highly pleased with yourself when you set it up. But I am not one of those two-legged sheep wandering about the streets of this city.
‘The main enemy of truth is not ignorance. If perceived, that can be the beginning of wisdom. The real enemy is false assumptions.’
I leaned forward and dropped my voice lower still. I now spoke in Latin.
‘What reason,’ I asked Martin, ‘have we to believe that the Permanent Legate’s room was bolted on the inside?’
‘I watched three powerful Northerners smashing the door in,’ he answered in a whisper. ‘That surely tells us something about the room’s security.’
‘It tells you that the room was secured,’ I said. ‘It doesn’t tell you that the door was secured from the inside. We both saw Demetrius fussing with his keys. Can you remember how many times he pushed them in and out of the lock? I think it was twice. Before that, Legation slaves had been trying to get in. Once would have unlocked a door unbarred on the inside. Twice would have locked it again for us to have a go.
‘And when we did break in, did you bother to check which way the bolt was drawn? I know I should have. But I didn’t. By the time I realised what must have happened, the Black Agents had done their work, and it was too late to tell.
‘Let us assume, though, that the door wasn’t bolted when we broke it down – that it was only locked – and that part of the mystery is solved. Demetrius drugged the doorkeepers. He let Agathius in. Perhaps they killed the Permanent Legate together. Agathius then came looking for me.
‘The Permanent Legate’s body lay undisturbed until Demetrius went back into the room and made a commotion just before we returned from dumping the now unfortunate Agathius, and then came out and locked the door. Everyone accepted that the murder had taken place later than it did. That would explain why the body was already stiff when Martin and I moved it. It would also explain why it was removed after it was known that I’d called for a medical examination.
‘Do you not think, my most Magnificent Theophanes, this provides a natural explanation of your alleged miracle? You will pardon me if all this escaped my notice yesterday. As you can imagine, I was somewhat overcome by the pressure of events – and by the drugs you had Alypius slip me in the Circus.’
Theophanes reached up and dabbed gently at his face. He looked down at a shaking and now white finger tip.
‘Was it out of some regard for my safety’, I asked ironically, ‘that you tried to ensure I’d not fall asleep that night? Or was it because you’d set Agathius up? You had him kill the Permanent Legate. Then he was supposed to come round and finish me off. You made very sure I’d be in bed, by twice getting me away from Priscus. But you also made reasonably sure that it was Agathius whose corpse lay on my bedroom floor.
‘And bearing in mind the contents of the letter you gave him to plant by me, you knew there’d be no fuss about a body. That would have left you with a dead Silas and a mystery that no one could have unravelled. Isn’t that how it happened, Theophanes?’
I leaned back again in my chair and twisted slightly to deal with the itching of my sore back.
‘Would you think it a breach of our friendship,’ I asked, with a wiggle of my index finger, ‘if I were to ask you what the fuck is going on?’
Theophanes swallowed and looked at Alypius. If Martin could have squeezed himself through a gap in the floorboards, I’m sure he’d have stirred from his utter immobility.
‘Aelric,’ he said, moving out of Latin, ‘do you recall how dexterously I juggled those heads in the tent of the Great One? That could stand as a metaphor for how well I had arranged matters in the city. But any juggler will tell you how, on account of some overlooked defect in his objects, he will need to step sideways to avoid dropping something. He must then step back to catch those things that remain in their appointed course. Before long, his performance will have been destabilised. His efforts must now be turned to a less elegant set of improvisations as he endeavours to regain his original equilibrium.’
‘If I can decode your utterance, Theophanes,’ I said with a bleak smile, ‘you’ve lost control of your plot, and you’re now having to make things up as you go along. Any chance you might care to explain yourself in plain Greek?’
Visibly recovering, Theophanes was for the moment inspecting his face in a little bronze mirror and touching up the paint.
‘It was not my choice’, he began, ‘to put you in charge of the investigation. I had been expecting Priscus to handle that. He could safely have been left to rack his way through the Legation staff while everyone else agreed on some demonic intervention. And yes – it was at least partly from the great love I bear you that I made sure the odds would be moved in your favour. Luck may be a philosophical absurdity. But you are possessed of it well enough to use whatever improved odds are given you.
‘This being said, I am not at liberty to tell you more than you have uncovered for yourself. There are matters that cannot be revealed to you without the gravest possible consequences, as I have already explained. Let me assure you, however, that I had no part in the murder of your freedman. I am sensible to my own debt to him, and I truly deplore his murder. Beyond guessing that it was Demetrius who served the poison, I cannot say more. And do not ask what has become of the body.’
He ignored my reply and continued: ‘I must warn you that if you have any regard for any person in this room, you will say nothing more of your most interesting theory. You have been appointed to investigate the murder of His Excellency the Permanent Legate. This does not mean you are required to solve the case before Heraclius arrives in the city.
‘Please rely on Priscus for as much help as he offers you. Do not continue with your own speculations. They will serve no useful purpose.’
I looked over at Maximin, who was now sleeping peacefully, then turned back to Theophanes.
‘What chance’, I asked, ‘of another murder attempt the moment I set foot outside the Legation?’
‘None,’ he assured me. ‘With both Agathius and Dioscorides out of the way, Heraclius has lost his only men of any ability in the City. In your new eminence, you are above any law that bars the carrying of arms in the street. I have no doubt you can handle any casual attempt that may be made against you.
‘Stay inside the Legation as much as you can,’ he said with quiet emphasis. ‘Wait for the moment when the blockade has been lifted and you – and yours – can make your escape.’
As Theophanes made his excuses for getting away, I poured out the remnants of the pot. Since no one else wanted any, I took the lot for myself and crunched on pulverised berries.
‘My dearest friend Theophanes,’ I said as Martin helped fasten his cloak, ‘I have business myself at the Ministry later today. Depending on how long Priscus or his secretary have need of me, might I have the pleasure of a visit to your office?’