Aurelius.”
“Very well, I want Marius to escort Loukas to the body and then to the place where you found it. Loukas will need a great deal of light, so you might want to assign a soldier or two to be torch bearers. While he is busy with that, you will tell me everything that happened the day of the murder.”
“Everything?”
“Yes, everything, from the moment you awoke until you found yourself confined to this terrible place.”
“That may take a while.”
“Then we need to begin. Loukas, follow the boy. Rufus, stand ready to correct the Prefect’s account even if you think it makes him look bad. I must know everything as it happened and in the order it happened.”
Gamaliel listened to Pilate’s narrative, stopping him occasionally and asking him to repeat or clarify a particular point.
“When did the Centurion hand you the note to meet Aurelius?”
“Did I say the Centurion handed me a note?”
“It was implied.”
“You misunderstood. A legionnaire reported the message to me orally.”
“He spoke to you? I see. As there seem to be two separate sets of them, was this soldier one of yours or one that accompanied your visitors?”
“Is that important?”
“I should think it very important.”
“One soldier looks much like another. I don’t know.”
“Surely not. Please concentrate. Yours or theirs?” Pilate only shook his head. Gamaliel slapped his hand on the table. “Prefect, please, could it have been one of theirs?”
“I don’t know, perhaps, it could have been, yes. Satisfied?”
“Not even close. When did this exchange occur?”
“I thought I should honor the delegation from Rome. Actually it was my wife who thought of it. I proposed a banquet. They arrived a day earlier than I, as I told you, and as I had not been informed that they would be here, I needed some time to make ready.”
“You did not know they were coming?”
“No.”
“Is that usual?”
“Let us say that it is not unusual.”
“I see. So, a legionnaire approaches you at the banquet—”
“Before the banquet.”
“Before the banquet and gives you the message. What was the message, exactly?”
“It was to meet Priscus after the celebration was done.”
“And Priscus is the Centurion? It cited a specific location?”
“Yes.”
“Have you spoken to this Priscus since?”
“No.”
“Why not?’
“Better question, Rabban, why would I? He sent the message.”
“But he was not at the location when you arrived. Didn’t that strike you as odd? He sends an urgent message but isn’t at the scene when you arrive?”
“Not at all. I make it a habit of arriving early at meetings of that sort. I do not like surprises. I assume he practices that habit as well.”
“You assume that. Were you early to this one and he was not?”
“This one? Let me think. No, as a matter of fact, I was delayed. He must have been as well.”
Gamaliel closed his eyes and fought to suppress his frustration at Pilate’s opacity.
“Another assumption and even so, you had a surprise after all. And this equally late Centurion, might he have arrived after Cassia found you and fled for fear of being implicated.”
“It is entirely possible.”
“But you have not asked him this?”
“No.”
Gamaliel considered suggesting to Pilate that Priscus might have been party to the plan to implicate him in a murder and then thought it a better idea to wait and spring that on him later.
“I will need to interview him. Next question. You may not know the answer, but I wish you would venture a guess. How did Cassia come to be in that hallway at the precise moment you discovered the dead man? A moment sooner and you are in the clear. A moment later, you would have raised the alarm and been void of any incriminating evidence. But, miraculously, he appears at the precise moment when neither can occur. How did that happen?”
“I can only suppose he had been forewarned and followed me there.”
“Yes, very interesting,
“Very well, I want Marius to escort Loukas to the body and then to the place where you found it. Loukas will need a great deal of light, so you might want to assign a soldier or two to be torch bearers. While he is busy with that, you will tell me everything that happened the day of the murder.”
“Everything?”
“Yes, everything, from the moment you awoke until you found yourself confined to this terrible place.”
“That may take a while.”
“Then we need to begin. Loukas, follow the boy. Rufus, stand ready to correct the Prefect’s account even if you think it makes him look bad. I must know everything as it happened and in the order it happened.”
Gamaliel listened to Pilate’s narrative, stopping him occasionally and asking him to repeat or clarify a particular point.
“When did the Centurion hand you the note to meet Aurelius?”
“Did I say the Centurion handed me a note?”
“It was implied.”
“You misunderstood. A legionnaire reported the message to me orally.”
“He spoke to you? I see. As there seem to be two separate sets of them, was this soldier one of yours or one that accompanied your visitors?”
“Is that important?”
“I should think it very important.”
“One soldier looks much like another. I don’t know.”
“Surely not. Please concentrate. Yours or theirs?” Pilate only shook his head. Gamaliel slapped his hand on the table. “Prefect, please, could it have been one of theirs?”
“I don’t know, perhaps, it could have been, yes. Satisfied?”
“Not even close. When did this exchange occur?”
“I thought I should honor the delegation from Rome. Actually it was my wife who thought of it. I proposed a banquet. They arrived a day earlier than I, as I told you, and as I had not been informed that they would be here, I needed some time to make ready.”
“You did not know they were coming?”
“No.”
“Is that usual?”
“Let us say that it is not unusual.”
“I see. So, a legionnaire approaches you at the banquet—”
“Before the banquet.”
“Before the banquet and gives you the message. What was the message, exactly?”
“It was to meet Priscus after the celebration was done.”
“And Priscus is the Centurion? It cited a specific location?”
“Yes.”
“Have you spoken to this Priscus since?”
“No.”
“Why not?’
“Better question, Rabban, why would I? He sent the message.”
“But he was not at the location when you arrived. Didn’t that strike you as odd? He sends an urgent message but isn’t at the scene when you arrive?”
“Not at all. I make it a habit of arriving early at meetings of that sort. I do not like surprises. I assume he practices that habit as well.”
“You assume that. Were you early to this one and he was not?”
“This one? Let me think. No, as a matter of fact, I was delayed. He must have been as well.”
Gamaliel closed his eyes and fought to suppress his frustration at Pilate’s opacity.
“Another assumption and even so, you had a surprise after all. And this equally late Centurion, might he have arrived after Cassia found you and fled for fear of being implicated.”
“It is entirely possible.”
“But you have not asked him this?”
“No.”
Gamaliel considered suggesting to Pilate that Priscus might have been party to the plan to implicate him in a murder and then thought it a better idea to wait and spring that on him later.
“I will need to interview him. Next question. You may not know the answer, but I wish you would venture a guess. How did Cassia come to be in that hallway at the precise moment you discovered the dead man? A moment sooner and you are in the clear. A moment later, you would have raised the alarm and been void of any incriminating evidence. But, miraculously, he appears at the precise moment when neither can occur. How did that happen?”
“I can only suppose he had been forewarned and followed me there.”
“Yes, very interesting,
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