While the King's representative hovered unhappily, I took myself off to avoid further arguments. Strephon, who had been in whispered conversation with Cyprianus, detached himself and followed me out.

"Falco! What should I do about that man?"

"Which man?" I was anxious not to hang around in case Verovolcus grabbed me again. But I was also waiting for Alexas.

"The statue-seller." Strephon dodged aside as Cyprianus pushed past him and stomped off hastily somewhere.

"Sextius?"

Tomponius would not see him. Shall I bring him to you, Falco?"

I would be swamped with petty decisions unless I trained this crew to take some responsibility. I grasped the young architect by one shoulder. "Is there a statue budget?" Strephon nodded. "Right. Your scheme must allow at least one colossal full-length portrait of the Emperor, plus high-quality marble busts of Vespasian and his sons. Cost in family likenesses for the King. Add a bunch of classical subjects

bushy-bearded philosophers, unknown authors, naked goddesses leering back over one shoulder, cute animals and pot-bellied Cupids with adorable pet birds. Plan enough to ornament the garden, the entrance hall, the audience chamber and other major positions. If there is anything left in your money chest, then you can play with it."

The?" Strephon went white.

"You and the client, Strephon. Take Sextius to the King. See if Togidubnus likes the mechanical toys. They may be technically astounding, but the King is trying very hard to be cultured and he may have more refined taste. Let him choose."

"What if-'

"If the King really wants some plaything with hidden waterworks, be firm about costs. If he's not interested, be firm with Sextius. Clear him off the site."

There was a slight pause. "Right," said Strephon.

"Good," said I.

Neither Verovolcus nor Alexas had emerged from the plan room. Since I had Strephon's attention, I collared him. "How was your dinner with Plancus last evening?"

He was ready. "Decent pork, but the shellfish starters make my guts gurgle." It sounded rehearsed.

"Regular event, was this mutual dining?"

"No!" He thought I was implying his sexual tastes were all masculine.

"So why last night?"

"Pomponius used to lose interest in Plancus. Then Plancus would throw a despairing fit; I had to take him in and listen."

"How despairing was he yesterday?"

Strephon could see where I was aiming. "Just enough to drink himself under the serving table and he there snoring until dawn. My house slave will confirm that we were stuck with him all night. And that Plancus snores so loudly, / stayed up playing board games with the boy." An intelligent bit of self-defence had surfaced there.

I'll have to check with your boy, if you don't mind… Why had Pomponius dumped Plancus yesterday?"

"Same reason as always."

"Oh buck up, Strephon. What reason is that? Since Pomponius was done in yesterday, yesterday's cause of distress seems relevant!"

Strephon, in whom I had begun to see a glimmer of accomplishment despite his gawky air and his revolting way of copying Pomponius' hair pomade, drew himself up: "Pomponius was a self centred bastard who easily got bored. Whatever you think of Plancus, he was a true devotee. But Pomponius almost hated him for being so steadfast. When it suited, then Plancus was his darling. When being horrid was more fun, then he avoided poor loyal Plancus."

"Right," I said.

"Good!" Strephon retorted sparkily, picking up my own repartee. Well, he was an architect. He should have a feeling for elegance and symmetry.

The door opened behind us. The team was coming out. Foremost in the gaggle, Lupus was joshing Blandus, the chief painter. "Hope you did an alibi submission for that assistant of yours! He gets around. Whoever knows what he's up to-'

Alexas squeezed out among them. I nodded to Strephon and we left smartly.

XXXVIII

alex as sent for a stretcher to collect the corpse. We walked back to the old house and waited in my suite for the bearers. Alexas thought he might as well take a look at Aelianus' leg. I was impressed by the meticulous care he applied to the cleaning and re bandaging processes. The wounds looked foul now, and the patient had grown feverish. That was bound to happen. It was where my worry started. Many a mild dog bite has turned into a will-reading. Aelianus, clearly feeling rough, said little. He must be worried too.

Alexas spent additional time advising Helena on how her brother should be cared for. He really was thorough.

"Where's Maia?" I asked. "I thought she was helping to nurse him?"

"She probably wanted to bathe," Helena said.

"Not today. You've forgotten the corpse. I had the bath house closed."

Helena looked up sharply. "Maia will be annoyed!" I could see she was concerned about the safety aspects, with a killer haunting the place.

"It's all right. Alexas and I are just going there."

"Ask Alexas to look at your tooth, Falco."

"Problem, Falco?" he asked helpfully. I showed him. He reckoned the fiery molar needed to be removed. I decided I would live with it.

"You'll have less pain if it's taken out, Falco."

"It may be just a flare up."

"When the pain takes over your life, you'll think again."

"Is there a decent tooth-puller in this area?" Helena was determined I should act. I must be more irritable than I had realised.

Tm not complaining," I muttered.

"No, you're trying to winkle it out yourself," Helena accused me. I wondered how she knew.

"Well, let me know when you want help and I can find you someone local with a set of pincers," Alexas volunteered. "Or Helena Justina, you can take him to Londinium and spend a lot of money."

"For the same brutal job!" I grumbled. Alexas grasped he had a difficult patient and offered to grind me a herbal painkiller instead.

I dragged him oft for our unsavoury task. Passing another room in my suite, I spotted our nursemaid obviously about to try on one of Maia's dresses in my sister's absence.

"It suits the real owner better," I announced loudly from the doorway. "Put it back in the chest and mind my daughters, please, Hyspale!"

Hyspale turned round to the doorway, still unashamedly holding the red dress against her body. She would probably have uttered some surly rejoinder, but saw I had a male stranger with me, so that caught her interest. I informed her the medical orderly was married with three sets of twins- at which the simpering chit had the cheek to tell Alexas that she loved children.

"If you want her, she's yours," I offered as we headed down the corridor.

He looked rightly scared.

With a sense that everything around me was going wrong, I set off through the internal corridor to the royal bath house. Alexas took a detour through the garden, looking for his stretcher-bearers, he said. He seemed to be avoiding this corpse with every possible excuse; it was odd, because when he showed me the body of Valla, the dead roofer, way back on my first day here, he had been perfectly composed.

I went on ahead to the baths, where a shock awaited. I could appoint myself the project manager and imagine that I now ran this site- but Fate took a different view. My precautions had been thwarted.

The entrance should have stayed roped off. My instructions last night had been clear. The rope was there all right. But it had been slung aside in an untidy heap, on top of which lay two battered tool baskets that contained a few chipped chisels, flagons and half-eaten loaves. Squatting in the doorway were a pair of slack-mouthed hopeless workmen. They were holding a wooden spar across the threshold, which gave the impression they were levelling or measuring. They did neither. One was deep in argument about some left-footed gladiator, while the other stared into space.