Message: Murder in the House of Varrus!!! (Chapter VI)
Author: L. Didius Silva
Originally Posted: October 13, 2000

The Domina Aurelia Varrus entered the Tablinum. She looked at us with frightened eyes that were still swollen from crying. She bowed her head and stood there staring at the floor with her hands clasped in front of her. She was about 30 years old, 5'4" tall, brown hair, brown eyes, a slender yet alluring figure. I thought she was an attractive woman. She was the kind of woman that a man wanted to protect, rather than ravish. She finally looked up at us and said: "Officers, I have often heard your names mentioned when my husband and Gabinius reminisced about their days in the Legions. They spoke very highly of you both."

"Domina Varrus! We're terribly sorry to trouble you at this tragic time. But you must realize, that in an investigation of this type, the faster that I, UNGH ( an elbow from Piso), that is WE can get any information, the better our chances of finding the murderer. If you could answer a few questions." She nodded.

"When was the last time you saw your husband?"

"Last night. We had a late dinner together. Then my husband read for several hours. Around the 4th hour (10 p.m.) he decided that he wanted to go out and sit in the garden temple."

"Did he do that often?" asked Piso.

"Yes, almost every night. He enjoyed the quiet time, the moonlight and the stars. He had a terrible time getting to sleep. Sometimes he would toss and turn for hours. Marcus hated that it kept me awake too. So he would read, or sit in the garden, until he was very tired, or he knew I would be asleep. I took a pitcher of wine and his favorite red cup out to him, kissed him then went to bed. That was the last......."

"Red cup," I thought, "the cup on the table was blue."

"We found the garden gate unlocked. Did your husband ever have visitors at night."

"Oh no, never. He only saw visitors in the afternoon, here in the Tablinum. The gate was kept locked at all times."

"Did you hear or see anything last night?" Piso asked.

"I thought I heard Marcus come in about an hour later. He rummaged around for a minute as if looking for something, then he went back out again. I went back to sleep. Then around the 6th hour (midnight), I woke up because the frogs were making a terrible racket. I remember being angry at him for waking me up and wondering what he'd done to set them off."

"Do frogs do that a lot?" Being strictly a city boy, I had no idea.

"They stay under the water in the daytime to escape the heat and never make a sound. But they come out at night and the least little thing spooks them."

"Domina we found the gate unlocked and the wine pitcher was almost empty. It's obvious to us that he did have a visitor last night. Could you possibly tell us if any of your cups are missing?"

"Easily," she replied, "All we have is a blue ceramic pitcher with six matching cups. They were a wedding present from a friend. Oh, and Marcus's favorite red cup. Let me go see." She returned in a few moments, a concerned look on her face. "There is a blue cup missing. I'm sure it was there last night."

"Domina! Do you know if your husband had any enemies?"

"No, he didn't. He'd been away from public life a long time. We both enjoyed the quiet life here and we seldom went out or entertained."

"Do YOU have any enemies?"

She stared at us for a long moment. Her jaw and hands were clenched tight. Her lips were almost white. "As you officers probably already know, until a year ago, I worked at the "Sign of the Owl". I sometimes refused my services to a customer. But I don't think that would be enough motive to kill my husband. Marcus came in about once a week. He was completely different than any other man I'd ever known. HE was a kind and gentle man. All HE wanted to do was talk with me. He told me about his wife and sons, his time in the legions, the places he'd been and the things he'd done. He was a very lonely man. I found that I looked forward to seeing him. When he didn't come in, I missed him. It made me realize that I was lonely too. One day he asked me to marry him. MARRY HIM! Not whore for him, or be his mistress, or even just live with him, but a real ROMAN marriage. I sat him down and told him everything about myself. EVERYTHING! Do you know what he did? He brought me here and showed me the lily pond. He had it built especially for me, just because I once told him it was my favorite place as a little girl. I accepted his proposal. We were married in the little temple in the garden. It's been the happiest year of my life. And something else you should know: I LOVED MY HUSBAND! Now! If there are no further questions....."

She turned and stalked out of the room.

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