I laughed out loud at this sudden intrusion of Hieronymus's vanity into his report. It seemed that my friend had not only managed to get himself invited into Antony's house but also had won plaudits from Cytheris. I could easily imagine him reciting a racy bit of Aristophanes at one of the couple's raucous gatherings, after warming his throat with a draft from the dwindling store of Pompey's fine vintages.

I quickly scanned the rest of the material about Antony. The details seemed to be as much about the spy as about the spied upon-Hieronymus reported that one of his puns had made Antony laugh so hard he spat out a mouthful of wine, and recounted at length a verbal duel in which he got the better of a faded actor with rouged cheeks. I grew weary of the ornate prose and found the documents increasingly difficult to read. It seemed to me Hieronymus was intentionally filling space to pad reports that had contained very little actual information. He would not be the first confidential informant to pull such a trick. As long as Calpurnia kept paying (and Antony kept inviting him back), why not stretch out the accounts as much as possible, even if he had nothing of importance to report?

I wondered if his private journal had been as prolix. I set aside the material about Antony and picked up the scraps of parchment I had found in Hieronymus's apartment.

I saw at once that the prose was indeed different-it was entirely in Greek, with some passages succinct to the point of abbreviation, like the shorthand code invented by Cicero's secretary, Tiro.

I saw my own name and stopped to read the passage.

Beginning to think dear old Gordianus was a bit of a puffed-up charlatan. This "finder" business not remotely as difficult, or as dangerous, as he always made it out to be. The tales he used to tell, portraying himself as the fearless hero on a relentless quest for the truth! Half of those stories were probably made up. Still, if he's truly dead, as people say, I shall miss the old windbag…

My face turned hot. If the lemur of Hieronymus was present, watching me, what would he say now about the danger of this sort of work?

I shuffled through the notes, looking for other mentions of my name, but instead I found this:

At last, I have hit upon it! Calpurnia's fears, which I had begun to think absurd, may be well-founded, after all-and the menace to Caesar will come at a time and from a direction we did not anticipate. But I could be wrong. Consequences of a false accusation-unthinkable! Must be certain. Until then, not a word in any of my official reports to the lady and her soothsayer. I dare not write my supposition even here; what if this journal were to be discovered? Must keep it hidden. But what if I am silenced? To any seeker who finds these words and would unlock the truth, I shall leave a key. Look all around! The truth is not found in the words, but the words may be found in the truth.

An icy chill swept through me. Apparently Hieronymus had discovered something of deadly importance, after all. But what?

It appeared he had even foreseen his death and anticipated the discovery of his journal. But what was the key he spoke of-a real key or a metaphorical one? "Look all around!" he wrote, yet I had searched every corner of his rooms and found no key, nor anything else of obvious significance. "The truth is not found in the words, but the words may be found in the truth." More of his irritating, self-indulgent wordplay!

Mopsus appeared in the garden to announce that dinner was ready. I put aside the scraps of parchment and rose from my chair, glad to feel the warmth of the last rays of the sun on my face.

IV

I stayed up late that night, reading for as long as the lamps had oil to burn. My eyes are not what they were, and neither my brain nor my body can boast the stamina they once possessed. Deciphering Hieronymus's ornate handwriting and his cluttered prose, especially by dim lamplight, wearied me to exhaustion. The great majority of documents remained unread when I finally succumbed to a few hours of restless sleep.

Before breakfast, I stepped into the vestibule to view the body of Hieronymus. All had been properly done, according to Roman custom. Washed, perfumed, and dressed in a spotless tunic, surrounded by fragrant garlands, he lay upon a bier with his feet toward the door, his upper body slightly elevated so that any visitors could see him at once from the entrance, where a wreath of cypress had been hung on the door to signal the household's grief.

No doubt the Massilians had their own way of doing these things, but Hieronymus had rejected his native city, and it seemed to me that Roman rites would be proper.

I gazed for a long moment his face, which was peaceful in repose. In death, his features gave no indication of the tart words that could issue from that mouth of his, within which now lay the coin to pay his passage to the underworld.

"Puffed-up," he had called me, and "charlatan," and, worst of all, "windbag." Indeed! Yet, gazing at him, I could feel no resentment. Tears welled in my eyes, and I turned away.

After a breakfast of farina prepared in the Egyptian manner, with bits of dates and a sprinkling of poppy seeds-since our return from the Nile, Bethesda had prepared nothing but Egyptian dishes, revisiting all the favorites of her childhood-I set out, with Rupa at my side. If I were to discover the reason for Hieronymus's murder, I had to begin somewhere. The house of Pompey, where Antony now resided, seemed as good a place as any.

The so-called Great One had owned several houses in Rome. I was most familiar with his magnificent villa with gardens on the Pincian Hill, outside the city walls. The house claimed by Antony was within the walls, in the very heart of the city. People called it the House of the Beaks, because the vestibule was decorated with metal ramming beaks from ships captured by Pompey during his illustrious campaign to rid the sea of piracy some twenty years ago. Only the choicest of these trophies were displayed; it was said that Pompey captured some 846 ships. The House of the Beaks was located in the Carinae district, on the southwestern slope of the Esquiline Hill above the valley of the Subura.

The most prominent monument on the slope of the Carinae was the Temple of Tellus, the earth goddess. We passed it on the way to Pompey's house, and Rupa indicated, by a nod and gesture, that he wished to step inside for a moment. I could guess his reason. Tellus is celebrated during sowing and harvest, for accepting seed and giving forth grain, but she is also worshipped for receiving the dead, for all things return eventually to the soil. Rupa still mourned his older sister, Cassandra, whose death had brought him into my family. No doubt he wished to put a coin in the temple coffers and say a prayer for the departed spirit of Cassandra.

I waited outside on the temple steps, remembering Cassandra in my own way.

Just as Rupa emerged, I saw a litter coming up the hill, heading in the direction of the House of the Beaks. Through a break in the yellow curtains, I caught a glimpse of the occupant. It was Cytheris, lounging on a pile of rust-colored cushions that complemented her auburn hair and exquisite complexion. Cytheris had known Cassandra, and Rupa, back in her days as a dancer in Alexandria. If I moved quickly, I might make it appear that we had run into her by chance. A meeting that seemed fortuitous rather than premeditated was often to be preferred in my work-as I had more than once told Hieronymus. Had he absorbed that lesson, or had he considered it hot air from a windbag?

I grabbed Rupa by the arm (insofar as my hand could lay claim to such a massive limb) and hurried down the steps to intercept the litter, which was making slow progress through the crowded street.