See Delphi and Die

Your son less so?' I queried coolly.

No!' Tullia Longina exclaimed.. Even the magistrate could see in the end that he is innocent. The whole party were exonerated and allowed to go on their way.'

What happened to Valeria's corpse?' I asked.

A funeral was held at Olympia.'

Cremation''

Of course,' said Tullia, looking surprised. Thank the gods. That saved me sniffing at another set of bones.

Helena moved slightly, to break the tension.. What was your reaction when Caesius Secundus came and told you something similar had happened to his daughter?'

Oh the circumstances are quite different. On the limited information we had, I could not see that. Caesius had no idea how his daughter died. Either the Tullia knew more than they were saying about Valeria, or they were determined to say she had suffered an. accident' even though Aulus had written that in Olympia there was no dispute that she was murdered. The Tullia were definitely brushing Valeria's death aside -just as Caesius thought everyone had done to his own daughter. Still, their son had survived, his two brothers were flourishing; the Tullia wanted to get on with their lives.

Is there any chance that we could see the letter Statianus wrote?' Helena then requested.

Oh no. No, no. I no longer even have it.'

Not a family for keepsakes?' Helena barely hid her sarcasm.

Well, I have mementoes of all my sons when they were little -their first tiny sandals, baby cups they drank their broth from – but no. We do not keep letters about tragedies.' Tullia's face clouded.. They are gone,' she said, almost pleading with us.. I understand the other father's grief. We are all very sorry, both for him and for ourselves; of course we are. Valeria was a lovely girl. Did she really think that, or was she merely being courteous?. But now she is gone and we all need to settle down again.'

Perhaps she was right. After this interview, Helena and I decided there was no point pursuing the Tullia. I thought we had probably heard the husband's views in his wife's last statement.. She is gone, and we all need to settle down again. Two months after a death this was not particularly callous, not from parents-in-law who appeared to have barely known the girl.

Did anybody know Valeria?' Helena wondered to me.. Know her properly?'

I thought Statianus was an enigma too. However bland the excuses, I still thought it incredible that he should lose his recent bride, yet continue his travels among a bunch of strangers as if nothing had happened.

The trip to Greece was to celebrate the marriage,' Helena agreed.

16

So if the marriage had ended, what was the point in continuing?'

It was paid for?'

My parents would demand their money back. She grimaced, then added brutally,. Or Papa would quickly fix up a new match, then rerun the tour with wife number two.

I joined in the satire.. Right from Rome, or from the spot where the first bride perished?'

Oh from Olympia. No need to make the bridegroom relive sights he had already enjoyed!'

I grinned.. People think me crude!'

Realistic,' Helena countered. This trip must have cost the Tullia a very great deal, Marcus.'

I nodded. She was right Tomorrow I would seek out and interview the agents who had fixed up the expensive package.

IV

I wore the toga I had inherited from my brother. I wanted to look prosperous, yet overheated and stressed. I piled on some flashy jewellery that I keep for when I act as a crass new man. a torque-shaped armband and big ring with a red stone carved with a man in a Greek helmet. Both came from a stall in the Saepta Julia that specialised in kitting out idiots. Polished up, the gold almost looked real – though not as real as my own straight gold band that told the world I really was a new entrant to the middle class. Vespasian had conned me into taking equestrian rank – so I was really gullible.

Beside the ancient Forum of the Romans lies the modern Forum of Julius; next is the Forum of Augustus, after that you run into the infamous area once called the Subura. Julius Caesar supposedly lived there, when he was not bedding the teenaged Cleopatra or dividing Gaul into parts. The legendary Julius had louche taste. If he lived in the Subura, trust me, he was lucky to survive to the Ides of March.

This dangerous dump was now recategorised as the Alta Semita, the High Lanes district, though little had changed. Even I, in my single days, drew the line at an apartment in the High Lanes. You only die once, you may as well live a little first.

The Seven Sights travel bureau was here – well within reach of the Argiletum where the Tullia lived and the Via Lata home of Caesius. It occupied a one-room lock-up in a dark alley, off a low street where I passed a knife fight being ignored by some small boys having a cockfight near to a dead beggar. I could see why locals would want a getaway. When I stepped across the threshold, I looked nervous and it was not acting. The male occupant ignored me as I glanced along faded wall-maps of Achaea and Egypt, pausing at the sketch of a miserable Trojan horse.

Poor geegee Looks like he's caught the Strangles from his stablemate. Or has he just got woodworm?'

Planning a trip, sir?' The bored salesman retaliated for this bad joke by showing me a set of mainly missing teeth I tried not to stare at the gaping rictus.. You've come to the right place. We'll make everything run smoothly.'

How much would it cost?'

Keener, the salesman approached He was a swarthy, paunchy fraudster,, with a short curly beard and lashings of hair oil He wore a mid-calf tunic in vomit yellow, straining across his belly. How long have you got, and where do you want to go?' I won't say this man was avoiding my gaze, but he was watching an invisible fly that he had dreamed up to the left of my ear.

Greece, maybe. Wife wants to visit her brother I'm scared of the price.'

The agent applied a sympathetic pucker of the lips With practised ease, he hid the fact that fleecing scared voyagers was the sole reason Seven Sights existed. It need not be exorbitant!'

Give me some idea.

Difficult, sir. Once you take off, you're bound to get hooked. I wouldn't want you to be locked into a package if you hankered for a little add-o. suppose you had gasped at the Colossus of Rhodes, then heard of some up-country village that made fabulous cheeses. I thought the Colossus had been snapped off at the knees in an earthquake; still, I love cheese. I brightened. That made him brighten.. Now with our mix-and-match infinite journey plan, sir, anything is possible – right up to the moment you decide to come home so you can boast to all your friends. Tell you what, legate, how about I mooch along to your house and talk you through it?'

I looked nervous. I was nervous.. Well, we're just thinking about it.

Absolutely fine. No obligation. I'm Polystratus, by the way. They call me the Seven Sights facilitator.'

Falco.'

Excellent. Falco, let me drop by with a few maps and itineraries, spread them out in the comfort of your own home, then you can choose at leisure. Make sure the wife is in; she'll just love what we have on offer.'

Oh she's mad to spend some money,' I confirmed gloomily. While he hid his glee, the appointment was made for that same night. Seven Sights never let a victim cool.

Our current address was a tall town house on the Tiber Embankment

in the shadow of the Aventine Hill It had previously belonged to my father, Didius Geminus the notorious auctioneer; we still had a couple of rooms furnished with grand, unsaleable furniture, which Pa kept. forgetting' to remove. One of these salons was ideal for making Polystratus think us wealthier than we were. He tottered in with an armful of scrolls, which he dropped on a low marble table. Helena encouraged him to relax on a metal couch which still possessed uneven cushions; smiley lion's head fimals showed off what looked like real gilding.