CHAPTER 5
I placed it in my purse with the wax and forgot about it. I strode out of Cinxor's quarters, across the courtyard to my offices. My secretary, Sergius, would already be there.
Sergius would know what to do. He'd suggest selling off one of my older gladiators, perhaps. There were a couple of schools in Pompeii and Brundisium needing a spare fighter.
Or maybe we could do a deal with the local magistrates. Do a show or two and split the takings with them as a bribe.
One or two small events for the approval of the crowd. To get them onside for the next election.
A little graft and corruption would smooth out even the worst business crisis.
It was the cement that held Rome together.
A quick cash flow might offset the loss I'd suffered today. I'd made plenty of money over the years with Cinxor as the main crowd pleaser, but I'd also invested a lot of money in his training and keep.
After I'd deducted his exit expenses and another payment to his woman from his cash .... who knows? Again, I might break even. Sergius would know.
I opened the door. There stood Sergius, at the main table, going over some documents.
Next to him were three men.
A tall slender, dark youth of perhaps only twenty years, or a little more, looked up. He had deep, dark eyes, a long nose, and a lean, hard face with a jaw like a chisel.
Beside him, an older youth, with smiling teeth, thick set, muscular and handsome.
And next to him, a weedy, slender, much older man with a sallow face and large round eyes, like an owl.
Sergius stopped what he was doing and shuffled some papers. The other three just stared at me. Sergius cleared his throat.
"Good day, Cleomenes. Let me introduce Miletus, Glabrus and Rufius. Gaius' own private investigators."
Miletus stared at me. His eyes had the deep, dark emptiness of one who dealt with people without any emotion at all.
"A bad day for you, Lanista, and a very bad day for Magistrate Gaius as well."
I felt a chill crawl up my back. Gaius Tulius, the Magistrate. Augustus' favourite legal fixer, who had been next to him in the audience.
"Probably a bad day for me. Sergius, here, no doubt, will advise and guide me."
"You would be wise to follow your own instincts on this, Lanista. A bad day for Gaius is a bad day for everyone."
A little toad. No doubt Gaius' secret boy.
He moved up close to me, as if sensing my thoughts.
"Be very careful, Lanista. You may think yourself a tough, hard man."
He looked me up and down ... at my fat little tummy, round chest and shoulders, even at my pudgy fingers.
I thought he would smirk ... but his lips didn't even move.
His dark, vacant eyes locked onto mine.
"Even a very tough giant, like the Gaul, can hit the ground with a very hard thud. As you have seen. Come Glabrus and Rufius."
They all walked out the door. Then Glabrus turned and came back in. He stood in front of me and put a finger to his lips.
"Don't mind him," he whispered. "He's Gaius' favourite secret bed boy ... for the moment. When Gaius gets tired of him, he won't be so proud."
Then he turned and walked after him.
I turned to Sergius.
"What else can happen? A trio of Gaius' private investigators breathing down my neck!"
Continued next week........
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Death Of A Gladiator
Mystery / ThrillerDeath is a daily drama in the gladiatorial arenas of Ancient Rome. But when Rome's favourite gladiator dies mysteriously, his owner and trainer, Cleomenes, must find out who and why is behind it before his own reputation and perhaps his own life mig...
