People scattered in hysteria. Petronius and I were running forwards.
Whatever pomade that corpse had, I want some!" We collected up the sobbing girl, bringing the flautist for his own protection. With Helena and Albia at our heels, we raced from the funeral area. We passed a side turning, out of which stepped some vigiles. Petro shouted an order. They tackled our pursuers; though they were heavily outnumbered, it gave us space. We almost reached the end of the necropolis before heavy footsteps came pounding after us. Quick, in here Petro pushed us all inside an open tomb and with his shoulder shoved the door closed. Five of us gasped a bit, then sat down on the floor in darkness. I did a quick recount from memory. Six of us. As we struggled for breath, I gasped quietly, Lucius, my boy; that may be the most stupid thing you have ever done." He was fired up to silliness. Wonder who lives here?" Helena Justina found my hand and held it. And I thought you were irresponsible."
What's your name, son?" murmured Petro to the flautist.
Chaeron."
Well, Chaeron lad, I'd just like to say, before we get hauled out, finely chopped, and turned into soup by a nasty gang of pirates, well done." The flautist giggled. Nobody tried the door. We could hear nothing from outside. Petro decided that meant they could not hear us either.
Now young Rhodope," he chivvied, firmly addressing the invisible cause of our discomfort, we may be here some time. While we are stuck, I shall ask you some questions."
I want to ask one." Rhodope had spirit. Abandoning the hysterics, she reverted to her stubborn streak. Was my Theopompus really killed by his own people?"
Yes."
Why?"
Because Petronius could be very soft-hearted, with girls. He fell in love with you. Cotys will have been annoyed that Theopompus had endangered the group."
How? I loved him. I would never have given away any secrets." Petronius did not know how to tell her that she had already done so. She was vulnerable and young; her father had been so desperate that he ignored instructions to keep quiet about the kidnap and went to the vigiles. Posidonius" name in the file at the station house led me to him, then to her. Rhodope led us to Theopompus. Theopompus led us to the Illyrians, who had not even been suspects until then. After months, if not years, the vigiles had a line on the kidnappers, Cotys was in custody and more arrests would follow. It could have happened some other way, but Rhodope was still the only victim who had ever told us anything worth while. From the kidnappers" point of view, the real blame lay with Theopompus for seducing the girl. From that moment, the clever ransom scheme, which depended on terror and silence, had begun to unravel. He told Rhodope his name. Then, for whatever reason, he eloped with her. His colleagues knew who deserved retribution. I wondered why Rhodope had been left alive. They could have killed her at the same time as her lover. They were too scared of the outcry, perhaps. I no longer thought the Illyrians had ordered Theopompus to fetch the girl from Rome. Had they wanted to stop her talking, she would be dead on the salt marsh too. He must have gone after her on his own account. The pleasant deduction was that he genuinely loved her and could not bear to part from her. The cynical, most likely, reason was that he could not bear to part from her father and his money. Theopompus saw that if he held on to Rhodope he could extract ever more from Posidonius. If he was taking the proceeds not for the group but for himself, that could well have made his cronies turn on him. By acting alone, he made himself an outcast. Theopompus had signed his own death warrant. I had feared that Rhodope came to be seen as dangerous when I mentioned her to Damagoras. But at that time I thought Theopompus was a Cilician, working with Lygon and killed by the group led by Cratidas. Probably my talk with Damagoras had had nothing to do with the elopement or with Theopompus being killed. The Illyrians may never have heard about my visit to Damagoras. They took their own revenge. Or maybe there had already been trouble brewing between the Cilicians and the Illyrians. I provided ammunition to the Cilicians. They complained about Theopompus to his own people; the Illyrians were forced to act, perhaps? Either way, resentment then festered, and the Illyrians later stole the scribes" money chest, though it seemed likely to be the Cilicians who had sent the Diocles ransom demand. Maybe Cotys was annoyed at not being informed of the plan. Each side now saw the other as faithless, all because of my missing scribe. I wondered how he would feel about all this. I had always thought Diocles enjoyed seeing trouble in action and would not be averse to causing some. None of it brought me any closer to finding him. The unlit chamber was growing hotter. Already the air within was stale. These tombs were built solidly, as I had earlier noticed. It was never intended that anyone living should be inside with the door closed. Breathing had not been allowed for. I had ended up with my back against the door. Now I tried to move it. It was solidly jammed. I commented to Petro that the doors of tombs are not meant to be opened from inside.
I'm frightened." That was Rhodope.
I'm sure we are all a little nervous." Helena was aware of the danger of letting the girls become hysterical. I was tense myself. At least we are all together. Lucius, is anybody likely to come and let us out?"
Don't worry."
No, of course; you will get us all to safety." Only someone who knew Helena well would detect her faint note of sarcasm. Not one to dwell on a situation she could not control, she then said, Now Rhodope; you have seen the truth, I hope. Theopompus was madly in love with you, but his people take a different view. You cannot go and live with them."
But I said that I would!"
Forget it," I told her gently. I could hear Albia grinding her teeth at the other girl's lack of logic.
Promises made under duress have no validity," Petronius assured Rhodope solemnly.
It was my own choice…"
You were shackled, by love." He had a ten-year-old daughter. He was a good father; he knew how to lie sincerely when it was for some young girl's own good.
Isn't it time you told us, Rhodope, what happened when you were first kidnapped?" Helena then asked. It took some coaxing. But with Helena's quiet pressure and shielded by the darkness, eventually Rhodope yielded. She told us how she had been snatched from the dockside at Portus, whisked away among a group of both men and women, then taken to Ostia; they had crossed the river, not on a ferry, but in some small boat of their own. A cloak was put around her so her face was hidden from others and she could not see where she was taken. They took her a long way away from the river, as far as she could tell.
Do you think you were drugged while they had you?"
No."
Are you certain, Rhodope?"
Yes. The Illyrians don't drug people." The girl sounded shy now; she knew she was giving away secrets. She was also sure of her facts.
Theopompus explained that the Cilicians work in a way his friends think is dangerous. They have a woman called Pullia, who knows about herbs."
Yes, Pullia. She tests the herbs on herself. So you are sure that the Cilicians and Illyrians have both been involved in these kidnaps."
Yes," agreed Rhodope in a small voice.
They used to work together?"
Yes."
Do they, or did they, exchange information and share the profits?"
I think so." Helena worded it carefully. So… if they don't use drugs, tell me sweetheart, how do the Illyrians keep their prisoners subdued? What happened to you, Rhodope?" Now we could hear real panic as Rhodope muttered, I, don't want to remember."
Did something really bad happen?"
No!" That came out very definite. Helena waited. No," said Rhodope again. Then she sighed quietly. That was the point. I was too frightened to do it. Theopompus intervened and said I didn't have to go there."
Go where, Rhodope?"
Into the pit."
What pit?" demanded Petronius, shocked. Like me, he had been expecting her to say she had been subjected to some physical abuse. Unpleasant, but straightforward in its way.
I don't know. It was somewhere. I could smell incense. I remembered that today, at the funeral…" We heard her voice catch. Her concentration shifted. What is happening to my Theopompus?"
The priest will reconstruct the bier," I assured her quickly.
Theopompus will go to the gods properly. The undertakers will bring you his ashes later." I made a mental note to ensure that they took her some ashes. Preferably in the urn she herself had chosen. Posidonius had paid for a high class funeral company. Once they stopped scampering away in fright, I hoped the undertakers would creep back to continue with the cremation. I could not say to the girl. for heavens" sake, he was just a lecherous, stupid pirate! She still held information. And she still had the rest of her life to lead; duty dictated that we shepherd her into the future kindly.
Tell us about this pit," Petronius Longus reminded her.
It was underground. I was terrified to go in there, that was when Theopompus first became my friend. He was wonderful…" We could almost hear Rhodope trying to think. It was in a place that was religious. I don't remember how we got there, I don't remember anything about that. I was too scared then."
Tell us what you can," Helena coaxed.
A narrow room… lamps… There was an arched entrance and steps leading down; people go below ground as a test of their devotion. The other men were trying to push me down there to keep me hidden. I started screaming, I was so scared that day, I didn't understand why I had been captured. I thought that I would die there underground. They hurried me; they pushed me; they were trying to force me to go down into the dark." Terror took over again. This pitch dark tomb was the wrong place to remind Rhodope of that ordeal. She broke down. Helena soothed and comforted the girl, while next to me I could hear our own tough Albia muttering disparagement.
But Theopompus was kind to you," Helena murmured. Rhodope agreed, then gave way to her grief for him. When the distressed girl finally settled down again, Helena tried a new tack. You must help us, so that nobody else has to undergo such a frightening experience. This is important, Rhodope. Did you at any time meet the man who is the negotiator for ransom money?"
Once."
How did that happen?"
He came to see us when Theopompus brought me back from Rome."
Was he angry?"
He was furious. Theopompus laughed about it afterwards, though I didn't like the man. He was very scary."
What did he look like?"
Old."
What else?" Rhodope hesitated. Helena suggested calmly, We have heard that he dresses oddly."
Yes."
Eye paint and slippers, somebody told Marcus."
Yes."
Well, that sounds extraordinary. So he looked like a woman?"
No, he looked like a man, but he had masses of eye paint, more than you should wear, and very elegant slippers."
Were his manners effeminate?"
No."
And does he have a name?"
He is called the Illyrian." Once again Rhodope paused. It's a joke."
How's that?"
Well, Cotys and his men were the Illyrians, but he is not."
That's very helpful!" said Petronius in a hollow voice. Beside me, Albia shook with a brief burst of wicked laughter.
So what nationality is this man?" Helena asked, ignoring them.
Roman," said Rhodope. People were silent. We were all having problems finding air. After a while Petronius told me, I know what that pit must be. It's the ordeal trench for initiates, she was in a Mithraeum." I thought about that. My brain had slowed down, starved of air.
It makes sense, Falco. Rhodope, listen. There is a religious cult that many soldiers join, and I believe it is common among pirates. Their god is called Mithras. This cult is secretive, but the initiates have to rise through seven ranks. One of their tests is to lie alone in a covered trench all night. I think that was where you were to have been put."
I don't know."
Did they take you to a sanctuary indoors somewhere, maybe in a private house? You would have gone through a changing room, where the men put on various coloured robes. The shrine would be downstairs, perhaps with a statue of a god riding on a bull. Try to remember. Was there a room underground where they held daily services, and this pit underneath the nave?"
I don't think it was like that." Drowsy with grief and lack of air, Rhodope had lost interest and become unhelpful. It's no good going on at me, I don't know!" Helena shushed her. I said to Petro, It's not Mithras. I searched for temples all over town. I know every damned place of worship in the whole of Ostia I never found one Mithraeum."
Mithras is a secret religion. They don't have temples. Did you know what to look for?"
I know as much as you!" I felt bound to ask him, Are you in the cult?"
No." Petronius was also wondering. Are you?"
No." We were both glad to have cleared that up. I was fairly sure that before he died, my brother Festus had tried the whole Mithraic ritual of lying in a trench in the dark and having the blood of a sacrificed bull rain down on him. I doubt if he ever progressed beyond the first level; after initial curiosity, having to be serious about the cult would have put him off. The bull's blood would be enough to deter me.
Of course, jibed Helena, as it's a secret male cult, if either of you were in it, neither would own up." Neither of us answered her.
Petronius is right," I said at last. If this pit is in a Mithraeum, it will be hidden away at the back of a private house or place of work, and we will never find it." Wickedly, I added, Unless, Petro, you have a file at the vigiles station house, with a list of them?"
We have the file," he answered, a little reluctantly. It's the empty one." The young flautist started coughing. He sounded asthmatic. That could be a contradiction, but the breath control when he was playing the flute helped him. That was what he told Helena, as she took up the new task of calming him.
This is a wonderful young man, Rhodope. It was quite superb how he rescued you. He is brave, athletic, polite, sensible, and he has a steady job. When you recover from your grief you should think about settling down with somebody like this." I expected an outcry from the girl, but she was always up for new adventures. Are you married, Chaeron?" Helena asked.
No!" answered Chaeron, eagerly. Who knows where the matchmaking might have led. But Helena fell silent apprehensively, as our hot, cramped tomb suddenly echoed to a hearty knocking sound.