`An entirely sane presumption, given the temples.' Honorius sounded unduly straight. Aelianus shot him a surly look in case he was being sarcastic.

He let the pause linger, milking it. Then he came out with his big discovery: `I found a man who admitted selling hemlock, last autumn.'

`Well done.' I was surprised.

`Mind you,' murmured Honorius, playing the sceptical advocate, `was it the right hemlock?'

`It's our stuff,' smirked Aelianus. He seemed unfazed by Honorius.

`Proving this is the dose used on Metellus won't be easy after all this time -'

`This was not a simple transaction; hemlock isn't a stock item,' said Aelianus, suddenly the expert. `You don't just turn up and pick your bunch of leaves from the bundles hanging on a stall. It was special order; the seller had to have the plant fetched from a market garden he owns out in the countryside.'

`So he had several meetings with the buyer?' I could see where Aulus was heading.

`At least two. Naturally I wanted to know more about this buyer,' Aelianus emphasised heavily to Honorius.

Honorius had an ear for a witness who was about to make a dramatic statement. `And?'

`The seeker of endless sleep was a man in his forties. Not patrician, not a slave, probably not a freedman either. Stocky, shorn head, heavy outerwear, could be a bruiser. Familiar?' Stilled, I glanced at him. Aelianus knew I had recognised the description. Honorius nervously shook his head.

`Could almost be someone daft enough to settle up with a signature!' Aelianus grinned. `He wanted to pay with cash, but hemlock is an unusual request and the seller was an opportunist, so the price was exorbitant. The buyer fetched out his purse, but he hadn't enough money on him. Sadly, just as he was about to write a banker's draft on his employer's account, he changed his mind.'

`Now that would have been a piece of luck for us – and absolutely daft for him!' I said. `He never did it?'

'No. He remembered some coins that he kept in his boot. My seller joked that he could identify him by his athlete's foot.'

`Sensational in court! Enough suspense,' I chivvied. `Who was this poison-purchaser?' I already knew, of course. So when Aelianus tried to squeeze more glory from the moment by dragging things out even longer, I myself said quietly, `It was Bratta.'

Bratta was the informer used by Paccius Africanus. He was on my mind today. For one thing, as I lay dreaming in bed I had become sure it was Bratta's voice that had ordered me to give up this case last night. Once I had thought of him, I had no doubt it had been Bratta's boot that kicked me in the eye.

XXVI

WE TOOK stock.

`You have,' listed Helena, annoying both her brother and Honorius by the ease with which she took charge, `an opinion that Calpurnia Cara must have offended her husband.'

`That can be built up well in court,' Honorius interposed.

`No doubt. Alternatively, Rubirius Metellus may just have been a mean old tyrant, who behaved spitefully to a wife of forty years who deserved far better!'

`But we make our point first.' Honorius smiled.

Helena shrugged. `I see. You say, What husband would dream of removing from his faithful wife all the comforts she has enjoyed through their long marriage – unless he believes her affection is fraudulent – maybe he even suspects she is capable of murder if he will not act as she wishes…'

`Why did they not divorce?' I wondered.

`Easy,' Helena snapped. 'Metellus had written her out of his will – but Calpurnia did not know.' She gave me a long look and I made two mental notes. One, it was time I prepared a testament. Two, Helena Justina should feature in it.

`But if he hated her, why not tell her?'

`Scared, Marcus.'

`A man scared of his wife!'

`Yes, how unlikely. But we know she thought him a coward, darling… Then,' said Helena calmly to Honorius, `you have a link between Paccius urging Metellus to commit suicide, Calpurnia suggesting death by hemlock, and Bratta, known to be a run-around for Paccius, buying hemlock. Yes, the defence can argue that the drug was for other purposes – but you will ask them what. There are not many uses commonly. You can dismiss any suggestion as a curious coincidence.'

`They will maintain Bratta simply bought the hemlock for use by Negrinus,' Honorius offered. `They'll say Negrinus requested it.'

`He will deny it.'

`They will say he's a shameless liar. We can only retaliate by trying to discredit them.'

`I'll sort that,' I said. `Your job is to imply Paccius Africanus – now openly attacking Negrinus – has become an evil influence in the Metellus family. Stress a dark connection between Paccius and the mother -'

`Conspiracy with Calpurnia? Unproven,' reflected Honorius, `but any jury will assume the reasons were sexual. We don't even have to say it. They will be eager to draw the worst conclusion. Then -'

`Then Paccius had also worked on Metellus, wickedly persuading him to disinherit his son and two daughters, in favour of Saffia,' I ticked off

`So… we suggest an unsuitable affinity between Metellus and his daughter-in-law, plus more immorality between Paccius and Saffia.' Honorius, supposedly the young idealist, came out with these shameless slurs automatically. I was impressed.

`Working with Silius has had its effect,' I commented.

`Working against Silius and Paccius will not be easy.'

`That's right,' I grinned. `Be aware of the odds. Then you can't fail.'

Honorius was silent. The good-looking patrician always knew when we were mocking him, though he never knew how to respond. Taking pity, Helena asked if he would make anything of my identification of Bratta among my last night's attackers. Honorius turned to her, answering courteously, `We do not have much else to offer the court. So yes. It always goes down well to suggest that the opposition uses thuggery.'

`Threats are viewed badly by juries – and they hate disorder in the streets,' I agreed.

Honorius had been mulling. `I shall present Negrinus as an unworldly, innocent victim, set up by a gang of cynical bullies who habitually try to pervert justice. Keep that bandage on your eye, Falco. In fact, Helena Justina, it would help if you could pad it out to look slightly bigger. If his bruises fade, you may be able to enhance them with a little feminine eye colour -'

`Eye paint?' Helena asked frostily. I was aware that she used it on special occasions; I grinned at her.

`Yes, try orchid rouge, with smudges of blue put on afterwards.' Honorius was serious. He had done it in the past. How fortunate that this manipulator was on our side – though we had yet to see what tricks the others would play to disadvantage us.

`How will it look about Saffia getting the money?' Aelianus broke in. `Bad, surely?'

Honorius thought. `She will be mentioned – the accusers must go through the terms of the will in order to show how unfairly Negrinus has been treated. That's his supposed motive. Silius cannot avoid mentioning the trust set up for Saffia – I think Silius will do it, to distance Paccius. It won't serve much purpose for us to speculate on why Saffia. (Well, not unless we can find out!) But we can point up the sinister Paccius involvement. Jury members who hate informers will object to legacy-chasing.' Honorius frowned. `That is not enough, however. Birdy simply must make a claim to overturn this will.'

`If he really won't,' said Helena, `You can say, however much he has lost by the unfair provisions of his father's will, he is a man of very great decency – reluctant to initiate an action while his ex-wife is in the process – the dangerous process – of giving birth to his child.'

`Sweet,' I muttered. `But even if he's a thoroughly thoughtful spouse and father, we have to find out why he won't start the action.'