Ode To A Banker by Lindsey Davis

walked up to the slave with the tray. I signalled his guard to stand off.

    'You the one who found the body?'

    He was a thin, Gallic-looking scrag-end, of around fifty. He was in shock, but managed to respond to a civilised approach. I soon persuaded him to tell me it had been his daily duty to deliver a snack for Chrysippus. If Chrysippus wanted to work, he would order a tray from the kitchen, which this fellow would place on a side table in the lobby of the Latin library; the master would break off and clear the victuals, then go back to his reading. Today the tray had been untouched when the slave went to retrieve it, so he had carried it through to the Greek library to enquire if Chrysippus was so absorbed he had forgotten it. Rare, but not unheard of, I was told.

    'When you saw what had happened, exactly what did you do?'
    'Stood.'

    'Transfixed?'

    'I could not believe it. Besides, I was carrying the tray -' He blushed, aware now how irrelevant that sounded, wishing he had simply put it down. 'I backed out. Another lad took a look and rushed off shouting. People came running. Next minute they were haring about in all directions. I was in a daze. The soldiers burst in, and I was told to stay here and wait.'

    Thinking about how silent the library had been, I was puzzled.

    Sound would never carry from indoors to the street. 'The men in red were very quickly on the scene. Someone ran out from the house?' He looked vague.
    'I think so.'

    'Do you know who it was?'

    'No. Once the alarin was raised, it all happened in a blur -'

    'Was anybody in either area of the library when you first went in?'
    'No.'

    'Nobody leaving as you arrived?'

    'No.'

    'Anybody there the first time you went? I mean, when you first delivered the tray?'

    'I only went in the lobby. I couldn't hear anyone talking.'

    'Oh?' I eyed him suspiciously. 'Were you listening out for conversation?'

    'Only politely.' He kept his cool at the suggestion that he eavesdropped. 'Often the master has somebody with him. That's why I leave the meal outside for him to collect when they have gone.'

    'So go back a step for me: today you delivered his lunch as usual; you put down the tray on the side table, then what - did you call out or go in to tell your master it was there?'

    'No. I never disturb him. He was expecting it. He normally comes out for it soon after.'

    'And once you had delivered the tray, how long elapsed before you returned for the empties?'

    'I had my own food, that's all.'

    'What did you have?'

    'Bread and mulsum, a little slice of goat's cheese.' He said this without much enthusiasm.

    'That didn't take you long?'

    'No.'

    I removed the tray from his resisting fingers and laid it aside. The master's lunch had been more varied and tasty than his own, yet not enough for an epicure: salad leaves beneath a cold fish in marinade, big green olives, two eggs in wooden cups; red wine in a glass jug. 'It's over now. Try to forget what you saw.'

    He started trembling. Belated shock set in. 'The soldiers say the slaves will get the blame.'

    'They always say that. Did you attack your master?'

    'No.'

    'Do you know who did?'

    'No.'

    'No need to worry then.'

    I was about to check with Fusculus what else had turned up, but something made me pause. The waiting slave seemed to be staring at the luncheon tray. I peered at him, querying. 'He's had one thing,' he told me.

    'What do you mean?'

    The slave looked slightly guilty, and certainly troubled, as though there was something he could not understand.

    I waited, keeping my face neutral. He seemed intrigued. 'There was a little slice of nettle flan.' He sketched out the size with his thumb and one finger, a couple of digits of finger buffet savoury, cut as a triangle; I could imagine it. We both surveyed the food. No flan slice.

    'Could it have dropped on the floor when you panicked and ran out?'

    'It was not there when I went for the tray. I noticed specially.'
    'How can you be sure?'

    'He