Message: Murder in the House of Varrus!!! (Chapter V)
Author: L. Didius Silva
Originally Posted: October 12, 2000 (reposted with the permission of the author)


"Look at the wound Silva! Do you see?"

I walked back around the table and bent over the body to peer more closely at the wound. Piso pulled a knife from his waistband and carefully slit open the General's garment around the entry area. He then took the pitcher and slowly poured some wine over the wound to clear the dried blood away.

"There!" Piso said, "Look at that."

"Man, Piso, have you got good eyes." Piso smiled at the compliment. With the area cleared of blood, I could see that the knife had been shoved into the heart with the blade parallel with the spine. Then the knife had been twisted to the left so that the blade was now parallel with the shoulders. The final wound was in a pie shape with bottom left quarter still in place. We'd both seen that type of wound before.

"Are you ready?" I asked. He nodded. I grabbed the handle and slowly drew the knife out. The blade was about six inches long; the handle was made of wood. Piso drew a rag from his tunic and I placed the knife on it. We looked carefully at both sides. Nothing. "You can find that little beauty for sale in every ironmongers stall in the Urbs, and a copy of it in every kitchen, including my own," I commented.

"It's a shame that the killer wasn't considerate enough to leave his initials carved on the blade or handle," Piso said.

"Maybe someday we'll be able to tell who belongs to a weapon just because they touched it, or breathed on it, or something like that. Just like a dog can tell one person from another just by the smell," I said.

"While you're at it, Silva, put in a wish for a way I could talk to my men back at the station house, without having to walk up and down hill for two miles every day." We both laughed.

"Are you done here, Piso?" He nodded.

We then walked over to the rear gate and examined it. The bolt was drawn back. "Sir," I said to Galabrio, "Do you know if this gate is usually kept locked or unlocked?"

"It's always kept locked, Didius. The General insisted on it for security's sake. I always check on it before I go to bed. I'm positive it was locked last night."

I worked the bolt back and forth. It was rusty but serviceable. There were no scratches on it, as there would have been, if someone had pushed a 6" blade through the doorframe and tried to force it open. I pushed the gate open. Clemens, Rantius and Bolanus were standing in the lane staring at us.

Piso said: "Clemens! Go around front and get Gallus. Bring the stretcher back here and take the General's body to the station house."

Galabrio stood there with tears running down his cheeks. He said: "I'll go with him Sullius. I'll get a sheet to wrap the General in. It's not right for them to carry him down the street like that for all the world to see." He turned and marched back toward the house, his back stiff, his head held high. He looked like he'd aged ten years in the last hour.

We followed a few steps behind him. We wanted to leave him room to mourn without being observed. Back at the house, we were taken through the Atrium and shown into the Tablinum. Galabrio said: "The Domina will be here in a few minutes." He bowed and left us there. The study was clean but the paint was faded. The murals were chipped and cracked. Statues of Maximinus, Severus, and Aurelius sat on pedestals. But other pedestals and shelves, that might at one time have held vases, statues or other artworks, were now empty. It gave every evidence of a house that had fallen on very lean years. Like many of the old aristocracy, it was long on honor but woefully short of ready cash.

"Obviously, theft was not a motive." Piso nodded in agreement.

"Here comes the motive now!" he whispered to me.

Copyright © 2000-2001, L. Didius Silva. All Rights Reserved. All Rights Reserved. All copyrighted material is the property of the original author.