by Paul Davis
‘Wouldn't it have been very dark with the shutters closed?’
‘Not really. The sun was very bright and they're only slats. We all close them from time to time, especially if we don't want to be disturbed.’
Kaires looked down on the quayside. He had spotted Sergius pushing his way through the crowd, and he was now coming up the gangplank. Sergius looked up but did not greet him, for which Kaires was grateful. The longer he could play down his official involvement, the better. But he felt he ought to go down to Gallus’s cabin to see what news Sergius had.
Saying that he had to see to his unpacking, he made his way down the deck to the main staircase.
-0-
Kaires went straight to The Prefect's rooms. He had taken over what once had been the Queen’s Suite, stretching the whole width of the stern. Kaires didn't recognise the guard on the door.
‘Dr. Kaires to see Aelius Gallus,’ he said.
The guard peered suspiciously at Kaires. ‘The Prefect is in private conference at the moment.’
‘I know, and he'll want me there. Could you let him know I'm here, please?’
‘I have orders not to disturb the Prefect for any reason,’ said the guard smugly.
Kaires gave his most winning smile. ‘I assure you he will be happy for you to allow me in’.
The guard smiled back. ‘That's what they all say,’ he said, and folded his arms with an air of finality.
An exasperated Kaires was about to protest further when the door opened from the inside and Sergius burst out, almost knocking over the guard. ‘Where have you been?’ he said. ‘Gallus just sent me to find you. He wants to know what's been keeping you. Get a move on, we haven't got all day. I have to be off the barge before it moves, unless I want to walk back from the pyramids.’ He added as an afterthought: ‘Which are well worth seeing, by the way.’
With what he hoped was a sufficiently withering glance at the guard, Kaires stepped through into the corridor that led to the Queen's boudoir.
Although the rest of the vessel had been stripped back to plain functionality, something of the original grandeur of the legendary queen had been allowed to remain in this, her innermost sanctum. The gilding had all gone, but the decorative wooden columns and panelling were still glorious, framing wide windows, shielded by gauzy drapery, looking out on three sides from the back of the barge. Two additional rooms opened out back towards the centre of the craft, on either side of the corridor through which Kaires had entered. In one Kaires caught a glimpse of an enormous bed, hung with a fine purplish netting; the door to the other remained firmly closed, presumably leading in to the bathing area. The huge open salon was filled with exquisite furnishings – colourfully painted chests, marble topped tables, chairs with beautifully carved legs and wings of sphinxes for the arms. They were all works of art in themselves. Three silk covered couches were ranged in the central bay, with a door opening out on to the private reardeck, and on the middle one of these lounged Gallus, having the decency to look a little sheepish amongst all this glory.
‘Have you checked the place for snakes?’ asked Kaires.
‘Very funny,’ replied Gallus. ‘Add your name to the log over on the desk. You’re the last to sign in.’
Kaires crossed to the desk the Prefect had indicated and added his name to the official list of passengers.
‘Now come and sit over here and listen to what Sergius has to say. I’ve only just managed to get rid of Strabo. Goes on and on with endless questions about the dullest of subjects. Who cares how big this lake is? Can’t we just call it a big lake without having to measure its length, width and depth? Or how many ducks are on it? I've sent him off to find Chaeremon, who should know about that sort of thing. The man’s a nuisance. Wish I hadn’t let him persuade me to bring him along. Don’t know if I’ll be able to put up with it all until Philae. I might just stay as far as the pyramids and then come back to Alexandria. You can keep him occupied until then.’ He turned to Sergius. ‘Well? What have you found out?
Sergius sat rigidly upright on one of the couches and Kaires took the other.
‘Well, first of all we've been interviewing all the library staff. We know that all the scholars went to their rooms after lunch, and Aristeon was the last to see Zeno alive, when he closed his shutters against the light. From then on Aristeon and Dexios, who were directly opposite, had a clear view and both have sworn no one went in to Zeno's room until the servant came round to shoo out the remaining scholars and found the body. Chaeremon had left early in the afternoon as he had a lecture to give - well attended by his students. He was still talking to some of them when Zeno was found. Haemon and Prokles left shortly after him, to go home - both live alone in the Museum complex but the porters at their buildings confirmed seeing them return mid afternoon. They didn’t go out again. Thestor left next, to go to the gymnasium - again there are several witnesses who saw him there - and Mantios went straight to a nearby bar where he sat chatting with the owner until early evening. Both Aristeon and Dexios were still in their rooms. Both had been out in the afternoon to visit the Library, but at separate times, so there was no time when Zeno's door wasn't in view by at least one of them.’
‘So how was he killed?’ asked Gallus. ‘It looks like it couldn't have been any of the scholars.’
‘So it would seem,’ agreed Sergius.
‘On the contrary,’ said Kaires, ‘it certainly could have been. But as yet, there's no way of knowing which.’
‘I don't suppose you'd care to explain?’
‘Once I have a little more information. One or two things don't quite add up and I need to get to the bottom of them. But at least it's obvious why the murderer didn't take the ring. I think that's important, but I'm not sure why. ‘
Seeing that Gallus had started to grind his teeth, Sergius spoke. ‘Any of them could have walked close by Zeno’s room. A quick thrust through the window slats would have done the trick.’
‘I thought of that,’ said Kaires, ‘but I don’t think Zeno would have conveniently positioned himself just inside the window. And the way the body fell was all wrong. He’d have had to have turned himself right around. Also, how could they have done it without being seen? Considerable force was used, and any movement like that would have been highly suspicious. Maybe not immediately, but certainly after the body was discovered.’
‘Forget Zeno for a moment,’ said Gallus. ‘I need to know what the ring was doing there. The name Cleopatra still commands a loyal following in Egypt, despite the strength of Rome. We always have to be on alert for rebellion being stirred up in her name, or that of Caesarion.’ He went over to his desk and picked up the precious seal from where it lay. ‘The ring would be a powerful token for such a cause.’
‘That’s true,’ replied Kaires, ‘but I don’t think that’s why it was there. I think it has something to do with whatever it was that Zeno found in the archives. Mantios has just mentioned seeing some sort of plan on his desk, which wasn’t there when we looked. The murderer must now have it, but how did they get hold of it? Then there’s the third person that Assia Alexia talked about. Whatever his idea was, why did Zeno need someone else to be involved?’
Gallus, controlling his patience with difficulty, inquired where all this talk of a third person came from. Kaires filled them both in with the events of the previous day.
‘Was Zeno having an affair with Assia Alexia?’ asked Gallus.
‘She tried to give the impression they weren’t, but she wasn’t entirely convincing. She implied there was someone else.’
Sergius shrugged. ‘Well, she's no spring chicken and no one in their right mind is ever going to commission her portrait, but on the other hand she's very rich, and Zeno wasn’t, so you never know. Why else would he carry around her cameo?’
‘Good point. Anyway, he was depending on her for funding. This trip must have had some ulterior purpose for Zeno. The idea for it came from him in the first place. If he had some great design to get r
ich he’d hardly disappear off for a few months unless it was an essential part of the plan. So if he had involved another person as he said, that person presumably is the one who killed him. Why share with Zeno if they could have it all themselves?’
Sergius looked serious. ‘So it stands to reason that they are on this trip with you.’
‘Probably be joining us for dinner,’ said Gallus.
-0-
Now everything had been loaded and all the passengers were present, Captain Nehesi was keen to get going. Unlike Kaires, he had no trouble getting past the guard in order to request permission to sail from Gallus. A gentle tap at the inner door alerted them to his presence. Sergius opened it for him and stepped aside to let the captain enter.
Kaires slipped discreetly into the bedroom as he was admitted, and had the opportunity to marvel at the sumptuousness of the bed and ornate dressing tables. He imagined Caesar and Cleopatra lying here, and later Anthony, dreaming of a New Roman Empire with Alexandria as its capital, and themselves as its first King and Queen, founding a new dynasty to rule far into the future. How their dreams had come crashing down, but at least here, in this bedroom, the world must have seemed laid out before them for the taking. Kaires remembered when he was a young boy, six or seven he must have been, seeing the Queen. She had come out on to a balcony of her palace overlooking the harbour. Kaires had been in a small boat, being taken out early in the morning by his father for a day’s fishing. Before his father could stop him, he had excitedly called out and waved both his arms at her. She had seen him, and smiled. A man, Anthony he presumed, had come out and put his arms around her, and they had gone back inside. Just before she disappeared, she had looked back and waved at Kaires.
Was the world really a better place with Augustus as its head? What if Actium had gone the other way? Kaires sometimes wondered where his real loyalties should lie.
Pushing aside such uneasy thoughts he brought himself back to the present.
For a veteran of many gruelling military campaigns, Gallus had certainly made himself comfortable. Two chests lay open, full of the Prefect's clothes and personal belongings. His toga lay discarded over the back of a couch. Bundles of papyri lay by the side of the bed. There were a few suspicious looking pots on the dressing table. Whatever he might say, Gallus was here to enjoy himself.
Kaires came back out into the saloon. Sergius had left with the captain. The Prefect stood looking out of the window across the lake, admiring the view.
‘Had a good nose around, Kaires? I assure you it’s not to my taste at all. But I could hardly give it to anyone else, could I?’
‘It’s not for me to say –‘
‘Oh stuff and nonsense. I know what you’re thinking. Now, what are you going to do next? You’re not on holiday, you know.’
Kaires went over to the table where Gallus had replaced the ring.
‘I should like to take a copy of this seal. It's a strange design, although I've seen others like it from Syria. If you roll the cylinder in some wax it will leave an image, but you can also brush ink on it and roll it on some papyrus. May I?’
Gallus waved his hand in weary acquiescence. Kaires went to the desk. Gingerly he wet a piece of cloth and rubbed it on an ink block, then dabbed it over the raised areas of the seal. Taking a piece of new papyrus (ignoring a call asking him if he knew how much fresh papyrus cost) he firmly rolled the cylinder along, leaving a rectangular image behind. Gallus came across and peered over his shoulder.
‘What on earth is that meant to be?’ he asked.
‘Well, that's Caesarion's cartouche in the centre, at the top. I can’t make much sense of the rest of it. Just lines and diamond shapes. It could be part of an architect’s design, or a map of some kind. But it all seems a bit haphazard - nothing is evenly spaced. If you turn it, the diamond shapes could be squares or rectangles. I don’t know what the two lines either end mean.’ He pointed to one of the central shapes. ‘This one here seems more important; a fine line connects it with the cartouche. I think it’s only a part of something. The design is very unusual, but I can't question the craftsmanship - it's beautifully made. See how evenly it has rolled across?’
‘Never mind all that, what does it all mean?’
‘I don't know. But I think it would be clearer if we had whatever papyrus Zeno had taken from the archives. He was obviously planning to steal it himself, so it must have been important.’
‘Steal it? Why do you say that?’
‘He’d taken out two papyri. The Maxims, from the main Library, and something else, from the archives. He had to return what he had taken. But he’d attached a Library label to one of his copies. He was going to give that back instead. No one knew what was in the archives; as long as he returned the same number of papyri that he took, no one would care. One copy was for Assia Alexia, the other a substitute for the archives. He meant to take the original plan with him. But he was murdered, and it disappeared.’
‘Why not just make a copy of the plan?’
‘He didn’t want anyone else to find it. If he put it back where it should have been, there was a chance someone else might have come across it. So he decided to steal it.’
‘It beats me what something like that was doing in the archives anyway.’
‘If, as we suspect, it had something to do with Cleopatra or Caesarion, it was probably just dumped there along with all the other papers from the Palace after your predecessor took over. Zeno had been joking about some of the letters Anthony received from Augustus, so that must have been the area he was working on.’
‘So we’re stuck without it?’
‘For the time being. But I'll take this copy of the seal and see if I can make any sense of it.’
‘Fine, but leave the ring on my desk. It's government property, you know. Can't be too careful’
Pocketing the papyrus imprint, Kaires put the seal down on a tray on the desk and turned to go. Gallus stopped him.
‘Do you really think one of those ink-fingered bookworms killed Zeno? It seems so extraordinary.’
Kaires paused a moment. ‘It is possible it was an outsider. Until we know more of Zeno I can't be certain it wasn't. But I think I can say with some degree of certainty that we are sharing this barge with a cold hearted, scheming murderer, and the sooner we find out who it is, the better we can all sleep at night.’
-0-
Kaires went down the main corridor of the barge to his cabin. Going in, he saw that all his belongings had been unpacked and neatly placed about the room. Iola sat on a chair by the window, reading a scroll. She put it down as Kaires entered.
‘Very interesting, this. Some of these remedies sound very unpleasant. Crocodile dung and boiled mice? Yuk. But I suppose if they work...’
‘I'm more of a herbalist. I've found the best results are often obtained from plants. Hopefully I'll discover some more as we go down the Nile. I see you've been busy unpacking. Where are all your things?’
‘I have a room of my own. They tried to put me in with all the other servants, but as I'm your personal servant the steward found an empty cabin just for me. It's tiny - actually I think it was just for storage - but it will do me very nicely. And I've met Nakht and Apollonius. Chaeremon's and Mantios's servants. I'll try and get chatting to them and find out a bit more about their masters. No one else has brought a servant so I've volunteered to help out with their rooms. Should give me the opportunity to have a look around. Never know what I might find!'
‘Just be careful. Don't forget we are dealing with a murderer here. One more body probably won't matter very much to them. I wouldn't like it to be yours.’
‘No chance of that. No one really notices a servant. But I'll take care, don't worry.’
Kaires considered how much he should tell Iola, and decided he had to trust her to some extent. He explained everything as carefully as he could, and showed her the seal’s image.
‘Keep a look out for any papyri that has anything similar on it. I s
houldn’t think our killer would leave it lying about their cabin, but you never know.’
The barge gave a lurch, causing Iola to fall against Kaires. He gripped the bed frame for support. Iola steadied herself and went over to the window.
‘That will be them pushing off. Looks like we're under way!’
-0-
Kaires reluctantly left Iola below and hurried up to the top deck. The Gloria Aegyptae was moving slowly away from the quayside, amongst much shouting and rope throwing from the sailors. Several of the passengers had come up to watch the departure; Prokles and Haemon had found some chairs near the front with a good view, and Kaires made his way towards them.
‘Do you mind if I join you?’ he asked.
‘Not at all,’ said Haemon, jumping up and indicating a chair. He was a young man, barely into his twenties, probably the youngest of all the scholars and not well known to Kaires. A mathematician, he believed. Quite tall, with an engaging, if not classically handsome, face. Olive skinned and dark eyed, with a slim frame, he had all the attractiveness of youth. ‘Dr. Kaires. Quite exciting, isn't it? Have you travelled far from Alexandria before?’
‘Only as far as Canopus. Which is no distance at all, really. But I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by.’ He turned to Prokles, whom he knew slightly, if not well. ‘It's a great way of travelling, isn't it?’
‘Perfect for me. In fact realistically it's the only way I really can travel nowadays,’ replied Prokles, ‘since my accident. Forgive me if I don't stand. Before then I used to travel quite extensively, all round Greece. I have cousins in Athens. But now,’ he smiled ruefully, ‘they will have to come and visit me. In the meantime, this method of seeing the rest of Egypt, where I hardly have to move from my chair, is my idea of bliss. I was rather missing the excitement of seeing new places. It is, perhaps, life’s greatest pleasure.’