The Wolf and the Lamb Read Online Free PDF Page B

.”
    “A Tribune? I was not aware one such existed in Judea at the moment, aside from your husband, and you are not accusing him, surely. Is this Tribune a part of the mission that recently arrived?”
    “Not him, not one of them, no…it is not clear…wait.” The Prefect’s wife stood still, her eyes looking off into the distance. Or the future?
    “The party has one such, but he is not the murderer. No, it is not one of them, but another.” She turned and disappeared into the shadows.
    Gamaliel stared at the figure retreating into the darkness. “Well, my young dirige , what do you make of that?”
    “They say she suffers from lunacy, Excellency.”
    “Boy, for the absolute last time, I am not ‘your Excellency,’ and it appears as this day unfolds she has plenty of company among the crazed. Get me out of this place.”
    ***
     
    Loukas practiced medicine in Jerusalem. It had taken him many years to find his way to the city of David. He’d spent his youth as a slave apprenticed to a Physician in Antioch. He’d come to Jerusalem, he said, to discover his Hebrew roots. Slaves were not permitted any religion other than their master’s. Loukas’ master had had none, which allowed Loukas to experience all. But it was not until he’d been freed and then inherited the medical practice that he seriously thought about anything remotely resembling the spiritual. Once begun, introspection led him to Judea, God’s promised land, and he’d never left.
    Gamaliel found him relaxing in his back court.
    “Loukas, greetings in the Name. You are keeping well?”
    “And to you, also. As always, Rabban, this is a pleasant surprise. I was just thinking about you.”
    “Good thoughts or bad?”
    “In the case of the Sanhedrin’s preeminent rabbi, I imagine only good. Is this a social call, a call regarding the state of your health, or have you become entangled in another mess that requires my assistance?”
    “I believe the latter. What were your thoughts?”
    “As it happened, I was thinking that it had been a while since we were engaged in anything out of the ordinary and wondering how long it would be before you’d come calling with another problem. Now I know. Tell me what bit of intrigue has managed to entangle you this time—murder, international conspiracies, illicit sales of potions, wayward princesses…what?”
    “I was summoned by his Excellency, the Prefect.”
    Loukas waved him to a bench. “That can’t be good. What did that terrible man want from you this time?”
    “I could use some wine, Loukas. Once my mind is at ease, I will tell you, but you will not be pleased.”
    Loukas called for wine and some fruit and waited until his friend had settled. Gamaliel sighed—he found he did that a lot lately—and told Loukas of his predicament. When he finished, Loukas glared at him.
    “He wants you to investigate the murder he is accused of committing. Have I got that right?”
    “In a word, yes. You see my problem. How can I possibly do as he asks? I am a Jew. I speak practically no Latin, although they all speak Greek. None of his colleagues or his accusers will cooperate, in any event. The matter is to be adjudicated by their law, about which I know little or nothing. I am so limited that—”
    “No. Rabban, excuse me for interrupting, but you are missing the main reason you cannot do this.”
    “Yes, yes, I know. If I take on Pilate’s case, if I ally myself to him, so to speak, and even if I fail at it, I will be forever ostracized by my people—hated probably.”
    “That, too, but you still don’t see.”
    “I am sorry, then. What is it that I do not see? I would have thought I covered all the terrible possibilities I face.”
    “No. Listen. You must ask yourself, what is the man playing at?”
    “What is who playing at?”
    “Pilate. Surely you do not believe he wants you to solve this murder, to exonerate him?”
    “I don’t? Why do I not believe that? I am sorry, Loukas, I must be