See Delphi and Die

Again the father steadied his breath.. I was told,' he stressed,. that while they stayed at Olympia, she disappeared. After extensive searching – that was how they described it anyway – the rest of the group continued on their way.' His voice was cold.. Like me, you may find that surprising.'

Who informed you?'

One of the Seven Sights staff came to my house here.'

Name?'

Polystratus.' I wrote it down.. He was sympathetic, told a good story, said Caesia had suddenly left the party, no one knew why. I was too shocked to interrogate him closely; in any case, he was just a messenger. He seemed to be saying Caesia had caused them inconvenience, by flighty behaviour. Apparently the other travellers just woke up one morning, when they were preparing to embark for their next venue, and she was not to be found.' Caesius became indignant.. It was almost as if Seven Sights were claiming financial compensation for the delay.'

Have they softened up now?'

Given that she is dead.

Now they are frightened that you may sue them.

Caesius looked blank. He had not thought of it. His one motivation was finding the truth, to help him in his grief.. The tour had a

travelling manager called Phineus. Falco, it took me some time to find out that Phineus had left the group when Caesia disappeared; he returned at once to Rome. I find his behaviour deeply suspicious.' Now we were getting to his angry theories.

Let me identify suspects for myself, please,' I instructed.. Was there any information from the girl's aunt?'

She stayed in Olympia until there seemed nothing else she could do. Then she abandoned the tour and returned home. She was devastated when I finally discovered my daughter's fate.'

Can you put us in touch with the lady?'

Unfortunately no. She is abroad again.' My eyebrows shot up.. She enjoys travel. I believe she has gone to Alexandria.' Well, that's the trouble with holidays; every time you take one, you need another to recover. Still, it was three years since her niece died; Marcella Naevia was entitled to resume her life. People must have said Caesius should do the same; he looked tetchy.

While I noted down the aunt's movements, Helena took over.. So, Caesius. You were so dissatisfied with the official version of events, you went out to Olympia to see for yourself?'

At first I wasted a lot of time. I assumed the authorities would investigate and send me word.'

No news came?'

Silence. So it was almost a year later that I travelled there myself. I owed it to my child to discover what had happened to her.'

Of course. Especially if you have doubts.'

I have no doubt!' Caesius burst out.. Someone killed her! Then somebody – the killer, the tour arrangers, some other tour member, or the local people – covered up the crime. They all hoped to forget the incident. But I shall never let them forget!'

You went to Greece,' I intervened, calming him.. You spent a long time haranguing the authorities in Olympia. In the end, you yourself discovered human remains outside the town, with evidence that confirmed it was your daughter?'

The jewellery she wore every day.'

Where was the body?'

On a hillside. The Hill of Cronus, which overlooks the sanctuary of Zeus.' Now Caesius was struggling to sound reasonable, so I would believe him.. The locals claimed she must have wandered off, maybe on some romantic whim to watch the sunset – or sunrise – or listen for the gods in the night. When they were being most offensive, they said she was meeting a lover.'

You don't believe that.' I passed no judgement on his belief in his daughter. Other people would give us the unbiased view of Caesia.

This is a very hard question,' Helena enquired gently,. but could you deduce anything from your daughter's body.

No.'

We waited. The father remained silent.

She had been exposed on a hillside.' I kept it neutral.. There was no sign of how she died?'

Caesius forced himself to relive his grim discovery.. She had been there a year when I found her. I made myself look for signs of a struggle. I wanted to know what had happened to her, remember. But all I found were bones, some scattered by animals. If she had been harmed, I could no longer tell how. That was the problem,' he raged.. That was why the authorities were able to maintain that Caesia had died naturally.'

Clothing?' I asked.

It looked as if she was… clothed.' Her father stared at me, seeking reassurance that this was not a sex crime. The second-hand evidence was insufficient to judge.

Helena then asked quietly,. You gave her a funeral?'

The father's voice was clipped.. I want to send her to the gods, but I must find answers first. I gathered her up, intending to hold a ceremony, there in Olympia. Then I decided against it. I had a lead coffin made for her and brought her home.'

Oh!' Helena had not been expecting the reply.. Where is she now?'

She is here,' answered Caesius matter-of-factly. Helena and I glanced involuntarily around the reception room. Caesius did not elucidate; elsewhere in his house there must be the coffin with the three-year-old relics. A macabre chill settled on this previously domestic salon.. She is waiting for a chance to tell somebody something of importance.'

Me. Dear gods, that was going to be my role.

So…' Chilled, I ran slowly through the remainder of the story.. Even your sad discovery on the hillside failed to persuade the locals to take the matter seriously. Then you nagged at the governor's staff in the capital at Corinth; they stonewalled like true diplomats. You even tracked down the travel group and demanded answers. Eventually you ran out of resources and were forced to return home?'. I would have stayed there. But I had upset the governor with my

constant appeals.' Caesius now looked abashed.. I was ordered to leave Greece.'

Oh joy!' I gave him a wry smile.. I love being invited to participate in an enquiry where the administration has just blacklisted my client!'

Do you have a client?' Helena asked me, though her glance told me she had guessed the answer.

Not at this stage,' I responded, without blinking.

What exactly brought you here?' Caesius asked narrowly.

A possible development. Another young woman has recently died in bad circumstances at Olympia. My assistant, Camillus Aelianus, was asked to make enquiries. That was pushing it. He was just nosy.. I am interviewing you because your daughter's fate may be linked to the new death; I want to make a neutral reassessment.'

I asked all the right questions in Greece!' Obsessed by his own plight, Caesius was showing just how desperate he was. He had hardly taken in what I said about the latest death. He just wanted to believe he had done everything for his daughter.. You think that if the questions are asked by a different person, there may be different answers?'

In fact I thought that by now everybody under suspicion would have thoroughly honed their stories. The dice were thunderously loaded against me. This was a cold case, where the nagging father might be quite wrong in his wild theories. Even if there really had been crimes, the first perpetrators had had three years to destroy any evidence and the second ones knew all the questions I would ask.

It was hopeless. Just like most of the dud investigations I accepted.

Belatedly, Caesius was taking in the fact that another girl had been killed and another family was suffering.. I must see them.

Please don't!' I urged.. Please let me handle it.'

I could see he would not heed me. Caesius Secundus was fired by the hope that a new killing – if that was really what had happened -would provide more clues, more mistakes or muddled stories, and maybe a new chance.

III

The coffin of Marcella Caesia stood in a dark side room. Its lid was painstakingly forced open with a crowbar. The surly slave who forced the curled lead edges apart plainly reckoned I was yet another callous fraud preying on his master.