"In a province like this," Aelianus soothed me, 'a trained spy will stand out rather."

"Nonsense. I'm a professional myself and I meld in."

"Right." He chortled. "If anybody comes to get Maia Favonia, we are here. She is more closely protected than she would be in Rome."

"And in the long term?"

"Oh you'll sort something out, Falco."

"I don't see how."

"Deal with it when you need to Aelianus was sounding like me these days. He lost interest in my problems. He sat up. "Well, I want to do something, Falco. And I'm not going back to mind those damn statues. Sextius can mollycoddle his own junk

"You are going back right now I had to keep this trooper in line. Anyway, I had a plan. "I am coming with you There had been the usual tramping of booted feet all evening as the labour force marched off into town. "By the sound of it, they have all gone to see the wondrous female entertainer Justinus mentioned. Bare flesh, bad breath, leather knickers and a ratty tambourine- while the labourers afc trying to paw her bikini strings, the coast is clear for us. You and I are going to have a look in some of those delivery carts. Something's going on."

"Oh I know what it is!" Aelianus amazed me by saying as he scrambled to his feet. "It has to do with them sneaking materials off site. A new cart came in today; all the drivers looked at me, and said loudly, "Here's the stolen marble; don't let Falco find out!" nudging each other."

"Aulus! I should have been told about that hours ago you're a lot of use."

As I went to fetch light, boots and outer wear, the baby started wailing again plaintively. Helena jumped up and suddenly said she was coming with us.

"Oh no!" cried her brother. "Falco, you can't allow it."

"Hush; be calm. Someone has to hold the lantern while we search."

"What if we run into trouble? What if someone discovers us?"

"Helena and I can fall down on the ground in a passionate clinch. We'll be two lovers having a tryst in the woods. Perfect alibi."

Aelianus was outraged. He could never cope with the thought of me making love to his elegant sister least of all because he rightly sensed that she liked it. Publicly I gave him credit for some experience and he of course played the worldly type, yet for all I knew he was a virgin still. Nice girls of his own age would be chaperoned, he would be scared of disease if he paid for his fun, and if he ever eyed up his mother's matronly friends for a little adultery across the generations they would only tell his mother. Senators' sons can always jump on their household slaves- but Aelianus would hate having to meet their eyes afterwards. Besides, they would tell his mother too.

He became extremely pompous. "And where does that leave me, Falco?"

I smiled gently. "You are a pervert, spying on the leg over from behind a tree, Aulus."

XXIX

rome has its deep areas of darkness at night. Nothing quite like the open country, though. I would have felt safer in narrow twisting alleys, unlit courtyards and colonnades where any lamps had been doused by passing burglars. There even seemed to be fewer stars in Britain.

We took the service road around the palace, going up carefully on the eastern side then along the north wing, past the secure depot. Walking on the metalled road was easier than tripping across the site, with its mud and fatal pitfalls. A young fox let out a bloodcurdling scream from nearby undergrowth. When an owl hooted, it sounded like a human wrongdoer signalling to lurking friends. Noises carried alarmingly.

"We are mad," Aelianus decided.

"Quite possibly," whispered Helena. She was unperturbed. We could hear that my supposedly sensible lady was now thrilled to be up and at an adventure.

"Face it," I told her brother. "Your sister never was the docile type who would happily fold tablecloths while her men went out to spend, bet, feast and flirt."

"Well, not since she noticed Pertinax doing all those things without her," he conceded. Pertinax had been her short-lived first husband. Helena hated to have a failed marriage, but when he neglected her she took the initiative and issued a divorce notice.

"I saw her reaction, Aulus, and I learned from it. Whenever she wants to play outside with the boys, I let her."

"Anyway, Falco," Helena murmured silkily, "I hold your hand when you're scared."

Something quite large rustled away in the undergrowth. Helena grabbed my hand. Perhaps it was a badger.

"I don't like this," Aelianus whispered nervously. I told him he never liked anything, then I led my companions silently past the specialist finishers' huts.

The mosaicist had his window shuttered tightly; he probably still mourned his dead rather. From the fresco painters' hut came a smell of toasted bread; someone inside was whistling loudly. We had already gone by when the door was flung open. I sheltered our lantern with my body; Aelianus instinctively moved closer to help block the light. A cloaked figure emerged and, without a glance our way, skipped off in the opposite direction. He was a fast, confident walker.

I could have called out and initiated a deep argument about crushed malachite (which is so expensive) as against green earth celadonite (which fades), but who wants to start libelling "Appian green' with a painter who is known to thump people?

"Your Stabian, Falco?"

"Presumably. Toddling off to thump your brother again."

"Or serenade Hyspale?"

"I bet he hasn't even noticed her. He and Justinus are on a promise with a wine bar-dainty called Virginia."

"Ooh, I can't wait to tell Claudia!" Aelianus sounded as if he meant it, unfortunately.

Helena gave me an angry shove. I moved on.

We found the line of carts. Poking about strange transport wagons in pitch darkness, when the owners of the wagons may be waiting there to jump you, is no fun. An ox sensed our presence; he started lowing with a mournful bellow. I could hear the tethered mules stamping. They were restless. If I had been a carter here, I would have come to investigate. No one moved. With luck, that meant no one had stayed here to watch the wagons. Not that we could assume anything.

"Helena, we'll explore. Listen out for anyone coming."

Not long after we first started searching, Helena thought she heard something. We all hushed. Straining our ears, we did hear faint movement, but it seemed to be retreating away from us. Had someone spotted us and gone for help? It could have been horses or cattle nosing about.

"Pretend that like rats and snakes they are more scared of us than we are of them…"

I ordered Aelianus to resume, but told him to hurry. With our nerve almost going, we hopped from vehicle to vehicle. The empty carts were no trouble. We checked them for false bottoms, feeling fools as we did so. We found nothing so sophisticated. Other carts were carrying goods for sale- wicker chairs, hideous mock- Egyptian side tables and even a batch of soft furnishings: ugly cushions, rolls of garish curtain material and some ghastly rugs all made to lousy standards of workmanship, in what was thought to be provincial taste by people who had none themselves. Other cheap jack entrepreneurs like Sextius must have made their way here on the off-chance. If they failed to find a buyer in the King, they then drove into town and tried g to flog their merchandise to the townspeople. In exchange, the canny

Britons probably tried to palm off the sellers with fake amber and cracked shale.

Not wanting to leave signs that we had searched, we had problems with these carts. Still, we poked beneath the merchandise to our best ability. One of us would heave up the crude produce, while the other quickly scrabbled underneath. It would have helped if Aelianus had bothered to prop things up as he was supposed to, instead of letting a lady's armchair crash down on my bent head. Woven basket ware is damned heavy.