Message: Murder in the House of Varrus!!! (Chapter VII)
Author: L. Didius Silva
Originally Posted: October 14, 2000 (reposted with the permission of the author)


"Now if there are no more questions..." she turned and stalked out if the room. Gabinius must have been waiting just around the corner for he popped in almost immediately. He walked up to us and said: "Did you have to ask her that?!?"

"Yes!" I replied, "I can't begin to tell you how many declarations of undying love I've heard from a husband or wife who have just washed the blood off their hands. Some have even confessed to killing them BECAUSE they loved them." Piso nodded in agreement.

Gabinius stood there for a minute, running his hands through his thinning hair. Finally, he said: "All I can tell you is that I know they loved each other very much. She's a good woman Didius. She's even taught Meto to read and write." We'd walked into the Atrium and stood by the Impluvium (pool). Above me, through the opening in the ceiling, a cloudless, robin's egg blue sky could be seen. No clouds. It was going to be another scorcher.

"Are you sure, sir, that there is nothing else you can remember?" asked Piso.

"There is one thing. A few days ago the Domina's brother Lucius stopped by to visit her. He wasn't here very long before they got into some kind of a fight. A lot of yelling and name calling. The General went in to put a stop to it just as the Domina ran out in tears. The General and her brother argued and then the young man stomped out of the house in a rage."

"Did you hear what any of the fighting was about?"

"No! Not really. But it had something to do with money, and the Domina's past life. Oh! Just before he slammed the door, he turned and yelled something about making it to the big time and not needing their lousy help anyway, something like that. Does any of that help."

"Maybe more than you know, sir."

I looked out into the garden and saw two men standing with my Decurion Priscus. Now who in bloody Hades is that. I motioned for Priscus to come in. Before I could say anything, Priscus said: "I'm sorry sir, they wanted to come over and pay their respects to the Domina Varrus. I told them they'd have to come back sir, but they insisted." We walked out into the garden.

"Good Morning Gentlemen! I'm Centurion Didius Silva of the Statores Augusti and this is Tribune Sullius Piso of the Vth Vigiles. And you are...?"

"My name is Subrius Flavus and this my friend Plautius Lateranus. He lives next door and I live across the vicus. Lateranus heard about Varrus's untimely demise and notified me. We came over to pay our respects to Aurelia and see if we could be of any service."

"Aurelia ???" I questioned.

"My good fellow, let me explain. We three have been neighbors for years. We used to go the 'Sign of the Owl' together. We all were in love with Aurelia. But she never gave anyone more than time of day except Varrus. So the best man won. No hard feelings and all that."

"Tell us about yourselves", demanded Piso.

Lateranus said: "I own a medical supply warehouse. You know: "Plautius's Potions, Lotions and Notions". I'm one of the biggest suppliers to the legions of splints, liniments, headache remedies, bandages and medical equipment."

Flavus said: "I'm a retired Lanista from Capua. I hated the life, though it's made me a wealthy man. Now I relax and enjoy the life of an amateur architect. I even helped Varrus design his miniature temple."

"What about the lily pond?" I inquired.

"That was strictly Varrus's idea. Personally I'd never have one. It's hard to keep clean and always attracts frogs."

"You don't like frogs, I take it?"

"Heavens no, they're such ugly creatures."

"And they make such an infernal noise," added Lateranus.

"Just to keep the record straight, can you gentlemen tell us where you were last night?"

They exchanged glances, then Flavus said: "Actually, we were both at a party last night at the "Sign of the Owl". After the party we…ah.. retired upstairs with... ah... company. We both returned home around dawn."

"Thank you, gentlemen. That saves us a lot of work."

We'd learned about everything we could. We turned the two visitors over to Gabinius and left. On the way out, I noticed Meto sitting in his cubiculum. I motioned him over. I had some questions to ask. He came reluctantly until he saw the silver denarius flipping in the air.

"Meto! Did you carry any messages for your master yesterday?"


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