Blind Alley - Iris Johansen [48]
“Acting?”
“And other more intimate accomplishments. It seems that to be Cira's lover was a coveted honor among the elite of Herculaneum. She picked and chose who was to occupy her bed. She was born a slave and managed to work and scheme her way to freedom. Then she started to climb the ladder. Some called her a prostitute, but she—”
“They had no right to call her a prostitute,” she said fiercely. “She had to survive and sometimes men only understand what they can use and possess. You said she was a slave. How could she be expected to— Do you know how hard it must have been for her to survive?”
“No.” He paused. “Do you?”
“I can imagine. Beatings and starving and—” She stopped, realizing that her reaction was far too extreme. “Sorry. I've always hated people who condemn first and try to understand second. Or maybe don't try at all.”
“You're taking this very personally.”
“I have reason. I assume this woman had my face. You can't get more personal than that.”
He nodded. “Touché. And, yes, she did look like you. There's an amazing resemblance.”
“How do you know?”
“The library had several statues of Cira. Julius evidently commissioned some of the finest artists of his day to create likenesses of her.”
“And you saw them? You only mentioned Aldo and his father being in the tunnel. You were there in the library?”
“Yes.”
“That was brief. It won't fly, Trevor. I don't want bits and pieces. I want the entire story.”
He chuckled. “You want it all. You have more than a physical resemblance to Cira. She wanted it all, too.”
“How do you know?”
“I read some of the scrolls. I was stuck there at the site for weeks and I had to have something to do while I waited for them to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”
“Pot of gold?”
“Julius mentioned a chest full of gold that he'd given to Cira to get her to stay with him for a few more weeks. It was supposed to be hidden in a room in one of the tunnels and only he and Cira knew where it was. She'd found another lover and was about to leave him and he was desperate.”
“It's the gold you want.”
Don't remember Cira's words to Antonio. Concentrate on today, Trevor, Aldo. “Those scrolls must have been in ancient Latin. How did you translate them?”
“I was motivated. And I had the services of a scholar Guido had hired after he discovered the library. Actually, I put him in touch with Pietro Tatligno. Pietro was smart as a whip and had an almost childish enthusiasm. He was more interested in a historical find than he was in the money Guido promised him. The scrolls were preserved in the bronze tubes. But Pietro still had to be extremely careful when he was handling and transcribing in order not to damage them. He made Guido pay a fortune for the equipment to preserve them.”
“But you weren't concerned about the incredible historical find.”
“I like money. I appreciate historical artifacts, but in the end I've noticed that even museums use them to barter. Besides, I don't believe Cira would want her possessions stared at by strangers.”
“My, what an incredibly convenient belief.”
“But true. I found myself developing a very personal feeling for Cira during those weeks. We all did. It may even be that Guido never intended a double cross when he brought me to the site. He and his son became obsessed and didn't want to share.”
“The gold?”
“Not really. It wasn't long before I found out what was most important to them. Guido was completely obsessed with finding Cira's remains. When he was a young man he'd run across a statue of Cira in the ruins of the theater and spent the rest of his life trying to find her.”
“Were there any stories in the newspapers about it?”
“No, I told you, he was completely