That's right," I said. I tucked her hand in my arm and kept it there.
I'm getting old and easy to outwit; even so, I should still be able to manage talking to a pair of Gazette scribes. But this way, if I find myself in any danger, I can use you as a shield."
Holconius and Mutatus were sitting glumly in their hired room. Between them, spread on a carefully laid out cloak, lay an unpacked packed lunch, looking like food they had brought from Rome with them. They had divided it neatly into two portions, but seemed too disheartened to start. I introduced Helena, as if I forgot she had met them that morning. We both assessed them thoughtfully. two lean, middle-aged freedmen with excellent Latin accents and grammar, who must be equally smart at Greek. Two sophisticated, literate men, who seemed ill at ease outside their natural environment.
Marcus had heard you were both on leave," Helena said, settling herself. As she spread her skirts and readjusted her bangles, Mutatus shook his head. It was a rapid, nervous gesture.
With our responsibilities, we are always available in emergencies." I wondered if Diocles had been growing into a similar bald, bewildered-looking misfit. Somehow I thought not. The missing man had regularly covered worldly stories; he travelled; he could offer himself for work in diverse trades. Diocles was feckless and he drank. He owned a sword. The man could have been an informer, had he been able to choose a decent weapon. Holconius and Mutatus did not look like men who had brought swords. I doubted that either owned one. Nor could I easily imagine either with family connections. Both had the narrow, obsessed air of experts. Bachelors, or men with dim wives who were expected to admire their husbands" culture and intelligence from the background. Holconius, the elder, was in a white tunic with cream undertones; Mutatus was in white that had a greyish tinge. Otherwise they matched as well as a pair of table ends.
Do you want to see the ransom note, Falco?" Holconius demanded.
All in good time. It is true that there has been a kidnap racket operating in Ostia, and that Diocles may have stumbled across it. But my first consideration, when a ransom demand is delivered like this, has to be whether it is genuine."
Genuine?" They looked startled. Holconius scoffed, Why should you doubt it?"
It's too long since your man vanished." Even Helena was watching me curiously. This was our first chance to evaluate what was going on. I had been thinking about it as Helena and I walked here. This does not fit the pattern, Holconius. In the abduction cases we know about, there are strict rules. they carry off women, not men; they make their demands for money normally on the same day; they close the deal fast; they choose foreigners who will leave the country if threatened. Basically, they avoid coming to the attention of the authorities." Holconius nodded. His role at the Gazette was to take the notes in the Senate. It must have been a pleasant change to hear a worthwhile argument, with points listed cogently.
What choice do we have?" demanded Mutatus. None. The race is fixed. Somebody's got Diocles; the outcome is a dead cert." Mutatus covered the games. As a sports commentator he made swift assess ments, then perhaps thought about it afterwards while other people were howling that he was a complete idiot.
Kidnappers work by trading on their victims" inexperience," I told him. They want you to be so scared for Diocles, you follow their instructions exactly. You two have never been in this situation before, and it fills you with consternation. But I am thinking it through. For one thing, they claim they have had Diocles ever since he disappeared, having transported him to Sardinia. Is this credible?"
It sounds like a cover-up." Helena reinforced my argument. Some opportunist has seized on the fact that people are looking for Diocles, and is hoping to cash in." I agreed. Someone has just heard that Sardinia is full of bandits, and they decided that would sound good. When people go missing, especially when there is high profile anxiety about their fate, such nonsense happens."
Cranks, maniacs and confidence tricksters are drawn to a tragedy," Helena told the scribes. Families who lose loved ones in unexplained circumstances can be horribly exploited."
That is why I have to advise you whether to take this demand seriously," I said. Frankly, I am doubtful."
You don't want us to pay the money?" asked Mutatus.
I don't."
