‘Extremely unlikely.’ Cato folded his hands together and leaned over the legate’s table to concentrate his full attention on Macro. ‘I’m talking about something else, Macro. I’m saying that I think Ajax was warned. He was told that we had sent scouts to find his hiding place. That’s why he changed it and was able to trick us.’

‘Warned? Who by?’

Cato did not reply. He was quiet for a moment as his tired mind put his thoughts together. At length he leaned back and addressed his friend in an even tone. ‘Don’t you think that Ajax has had a rather extraordinary run of good fortune since we’ve been pursuing him across Egypt?’

‘Good fortune?’ Macro pursed his lips. ‘What do you mean, exactly?’

‘Let’s start with recent events. Ajax’s escape from the temple. You remember the cavalry prefect’s report about the massacre of one of his patrols. He said that the attackers had used a password to get close. So, how did they get the password?’

‘Might they not have overheard someone using it? Like Junius said.’

‘They might, but the men are pretty good at talking only as loudly as they must when making challenges. Even so, the man who gave the password was in Roman kit.’

‘I suppose they could have stripped one of the bodies of the men we lost in the first assault.’

Cato nodded. ‘That’s what I thought. So I checked with one of your optios before we left the temple to head for the valley of the tombs. All the bodies were accounted for, and so was their kit.’

Macro stared shrewdly at his comrade. ‘This isn’t something that’s only just occurred to you, is it?’

‘I had my suspicions. Then when we got to the valley, there was the business with the wrong tomb being identified, and then the legate falling from the ramp.’

Macro shook his head. ‘That was an accident.’

‘You saw it happen?’

Macro was exhausted and had to concentrate hard to remember the details of what had happened in the tomb. ‘We were on the ramp . . . An arrow was shot at us. I heard a cry . . . Turned and saw the legate falling. Yes, it was an accident.’

‘Tell me, who was standing closest to the legate when it occured?’

‘Hamedes was there,’ Macro replied, and then he stared intently at Cato.

‘Hamedes.’ Cato nodded. ‘Precisely.’

Macro was silent for a moment as he took the accusation in. ‘Are you saying he’s a traitor?’

‘That implies that he has betrayed us. I think he never was on our side in the first place. Think about it, Macro. What is his story? He was the only survivor of Ajax’s raid on his temple.’

‘Yes, but he was spared by Ajax to let others know who was responsible. Just like he left other survivors.’

‘True,’ Cato responded. ‘Which is why we were predisposed to believe him.’