In a modern-day Britain where the Roman Empire never left, Dai and Julia solve murder mysteries, whilst still having to manage family, friendship and domestic crises…
Kalendis Mart. MDCCLXXVIII Anno Diocletiani
Turning out for a dawn raid was one of the aspects of his old job as a vigiles investigator in Londinium that Dai Llewellyn had imagined would not be featuring in the elevated role he now held as Submagistratus for Demetae and Cornovii based in Viriconium. He would have been quite happy to leave it in the capable hands of his Senior Investigator, Bryn Cartivel and the small group of grim faced Praetorians on temporary secondment, under their decanus, Brutus Gaius Gallus. But orders were orders and these came from Rome.
The Magistratus had been regretful about it.
“I know you don’t want to go careering over the countryside at the moment, but this is something a bit more important than just a theft. It’s part of an Empire wide operation against a major criminal organisation and I need you there as my eyes and ears.”
It didn’t help that the Magistratus, Lucius Ambrosius Caudinus, was also Dai’s brother-in-law, thus making any excuses to get out of the duty pretty much impossible. Normally he would not have minded, but then normally he was not distracted by worry about his wife.
Notwithstanding his reluctance, after a few days of preparation he was sitting in an all-wheel somewhere along a dirt track that led to an isolated villa halfway up a mountain, sipping thermos-tea from a paper cup, whilst out in the dark and the cold his vigiles and the praetorians surrounded the building. Dai knew he was going to miss the extra security that Gallus and his men provided on operations like this. They were well armed, elite troops. His vigiles were non-citizens to a woman and man which meant they were forbidden by law to bear arms and when the praetorian detachment returned to Londinium after its six-month secondment at the end of the month, Dai would be faced with having to request armed support of a much less reliable nature.
The door opened, letting in an icy blast and Bryn stood by the vehicle, greying hair tied back and half-hidden under a knitted hat, breath condensing in the dim light. He held a satphone in one hand.
“Everyone’s in place. Just need your word to go in, Bard.”
Dai reached over and tipped the remains of his tea out of the door, onto the frozen gravel.
“Then let’s go wake Vibius up.”
Bryn nodded, closed the door and a moment later the all-wheel was bouncing forward at speed to block the main gate. The night sky was lit by flares and lights came on in the house, followed by the sound of shooting.
Dai followed the progress of the raid on the all-wheel’s comms. Ready to intervene if anything went wrong. He had two praetorians and four vigiles with him in the back of the all-wheel, both as an escort and as reserves if needed. But for once things went smoothly. The reports of rooms cleared and people achieving their designated tasks came through like clockwork.
Before dawn was more than a slice of light on the horizon, Dai was striding into the villa with Bryn at his side and two praetorians as an escort. He ignored the sounds of protest from where the live-in staff were being herded firmly into one of the main rooms by a mixed group of vigiles and praetorians. Heading instead to the small office where Gallus had isolated the master of the house.
The man was in early middle age, but still holding onto the fitness of youth. He was clearly not quite Patrician class, but from the looks of his villa, he had more than a few aspirations in that direction. The walls of the room were lined with ancient Roman artefacts and there was even a legionary eagle on one wall.
Dai took it all in but kept his focus on the man, who was sitting in front of his own desk, under the watchful eye of Gallus himself.
“What is the meaning of this?” Vibius blustered, clearly recognising from the response of the men around him that Dai held authority here. “Who the hell are you and what are these people doing breaking into my house and terrifying my household?” He tried to stand but a firm hand on his shoulder from Gallus pushed him back.
“Josephus Vibius Anser, I am here to arrest you for crimes against the senate and people of Rome. In particular involvement in a conspiracy to steal various sacred artefacts from the Basilica Julia.” Dai let his gaze move obviously around the room.
“Those are all reproduction,” Vibius snapped. “Well, almost all and anything original I have full documentation for.”
“I am sure you do,” Dai said. “And you will have every opportunity to present your case in Rome. Now you can open your safe for us, please dominus.”
This time Gallus let the man rise, he was as tall as Dai and took a step towards him, then stopped as his expression changed from fury to something much more unpleasant.
“I know you. You’re that Briton who married the little futatrix of an Inquisitor, aren’t you? Well, Submagistratus Llewellyn, you’d better make sure you keep her close because you have just put your foot into a hornet’s nest of trouble. If I go down for this, I’ll have someone break her pretty little neck and then they’ll come for you.”
If you want to know how the investigation continues, you can keep reading Dying for a Vacation by E.M. Swift-Hook and Jane Jago.
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