SATURNALIA

In our discussions, Helena never asked me to devise a way to set her brother free. She probably knew I thought it best if Justinus was held securely until the priestess was found. In fact, none of the Camillus family at any point suggested a rescue. That does not mean the idea never occurred to me. This morning, I would have the luxury of interviewing in my own home. For once, I had helpers. I sent Clemens and a couple of his lads to fetch Zosime, from the Temple of iEsculapius, and also to bring in Victor, the vigiles nark from the Saepta Julia who had seen Justinus captured by the Praetorians. I told Clemens I wanted to see my father too, but he was so nosy that when he saw Victor being gathered up, he would race along to our house of his own accord.

While some legionaries – humbled by their failure to stick with me yesterday – organised those errands, Helena took a pair of the spares out for provisions. Carrying my daughter Julia, I hopped up the Hill to my mother's house.

Ma was slapping dough around in a cloud of flour, in company with Aristagoras, her neighbour. Despite his age, the papery swain was agile on his walking sticks. She brushed aside his adulation but let him into her apartment sometimes and gave him a panfried sardine to reward his faithfulness. On my arrival she always sent him packing.

'My son's here! I'll have to ask you to go.' There was no need to shelter behind me so primly but I knew better than to interfere with my mother's complicated reasoning. Aristagoras never bore me a grudge; he tottered off, with fish sauce all down his tunic. Ma's su

I hoped that Anacrites might have said more to Ma about holding Justinus, but the aggravating swine had not. I just brought down a lecture about how sad it was that the poor Spy, who had no family, would be all on his own at Saturnalia. Fortunately, Mother was sidetracked; she had learned what the girls were plotting about her gift of eye treatment. 'And what do you think?' I asked cautiously. 'I'm not having it! I don't want to be cut.' 'He'll just use a kind of needle. They gently poke the scales aside.' Ma shuddered, with high drama. I could have tried to persuade her, but I chickened out. My sisters had thought this up; they could deal with the obstinacy. 'What do you think?' Ma demanded unexpectedly, peering at me. 'It's a good idea, Ma.' She sniffed. Still, she hated being hampered in her active, scheming life. Perhaps she would accept the operation. If it went wrong, she would blame me. She always enjoyed that. I changed the subject, asking after the young girl I had left in her charge. Ga

Veleda's acolyte looked pale and wary – perhaps from putting up with Ma, though I held back my sympathy.

Fair hair isn't everything. By daylight, I found Ga

As a neutral lead-in, I asked Ga

Without looking up, I said, 'She went straight to Zosime, but I imagine you know that, Ga

'Her reaction does seem plausible – now you have placed her in the vicinity of the crime!' Ga

Yet when Ga

When I first visited the Quadrumatus villa, I had inspected the remote quarters Veleda and Ga