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A skirt?" asked Rusticus, looking keen as he thought up his own ideas. No, sleeping around is allowed! The wrong skirt."
Possible," I agreed. I stayed here briefly. Things seem positively prudish. I've seen hardly any late-night visitations from women with togas." On a female, the toga is the badge of a prostitute.
No; it would have to be big," said Rusticus. An officer in bed with a town councillor's wife?"
Or sending very large presents to a superior officer's mistress?"
Or cosying up to a crook's floozy, even then, only if the crook was under special investigation."
For at least import tax evasion."
With backhanders."
Above-average ones!" We both subsided, at the limit of not-very-shocking offences to name. I can't see it, Falco," sighed Rusticus. Wouldn't raise a flicker in Rome." I was ready to leave. You're right. It's tame. I don't know why he came here, but I don't believe Diocles was looking into the vigiles themselves." He had gone after other jobs, for one thing. So; is there anything else you can tell me about my missing man?"
He was fine when he left here. I said we had no vacancies but I'd keep his name listed. He took it quietly enough." I had reached the door before an impulse made me turn back. Did he give you a contact address? A room by the Marine Gate?" Rusticus looked surprised. He said he'd come in that day from out of town; I had the impression he stayed somewhere on the coast. Afraid I didn't bother to take down the details. I wasn't interested in him, after all." I did find the officer of the day. As I left, he was entering through the main gate, in company and laughing with Privatus, that builder with the stranded hair who was giving Petro houseroom. Maybe he was seeking a contract to rebuild the squadron house. The builder acknowledged me pleasantly, looking vague about where we had met. He seemed at home here. It was too much to hope that it was because he was regularly arrested. I managed a private interview with the officer and asked whether any Damagoras" featured in their special lists. He said the lists were confidential. He refused to look them up. Sick of unhelpful blockheads, I went home for lunch. There, my very intelligent and normally helpful girlfriend was awaiting my return. But even Helena Justina looked as if she might turn nasty.
XI
Albia was playing with the children, head down, not meeting anybody's eye. For once, the two little girls were keeping very quiet. My brother-in-law Aulus was acting unconcerned, as if whatever had happened was none of his fault; he greeted me with a silent grimace, then stuck his head in a note-tablet. I could not even see Nux. They all seemed grateful that I had come home, to fend off the ballistics and rescue them. Helena Justina continued for a moment to slice leeks on an unpleasant wooden board we had inherited with the apartment. Leeks are an Ostia speciality. I had been promised my favourite recipe. It looked as if grit would be left in among the fronds. On purpose.
Helena, dear heart! Shall I go out and come in again, more contrite?"
Are you suggesting there is something wrong, Falco?"
Of course not, fruit. I would just like to make it plain I never touched that barmaid, whatever the girl may be saying, and if somebody has left a dead rat in the gutter overflow, it wasn't me; that is absolutely not my idea of something fu
Ah!" It was one of my relatives. No surprise. I could have run through the possibilities mentally, but there were far too many.
Your sister came," said Helena, as if it had nothing to do with the atmosphere.
Maia?" I did not even bother to mention Allia or Galla. They were useless lumps who tried to borrow things, but they were safe in Rome.
Junia." Right. Junia came back. How typical. Whatever she did or said, I apologise for her, dearest."
It wasn't what she did," snarled Helena, my mild, tolerant, diplomatic partner. It never is what Junia does. It's what she damn well is. It's how she sits there in her neat outfit, with her careful jewels, and her struggling son in his very clean tunic, and her slobbering dog who gets himself everywhere, and I can't actually say what leads it to happen, but maybe her trite conversation and self-satisfied behaviour just, make, me, want to scream!" Now she felt better. I sat down, nodding sympathetically. Helena went back to chopping. For a girl who had been brought up to consider kitchens as places into which she was only expected to wander to give orders about recipes for patrician banquets, she could now wield sharp knives adeptly. I identified a handy cloth that would stanch blood, then I watched with caution. I had taught her to try and avoid chopping off her fingers, but it seemed best not to distract her until she finished. Helena had long, beautiful hands. After a time she threw the leeks in a bowl of water, rattled them about to clean them, wiped the knife, banged down a pan on the cooking bench I had improvised, looked for the olive oil distractedly, and allowed me to find it for her. I took hold of the pan handle. She snatched it away from me. I stood aside politely. She elbowed me back into position and allowed me to take over cooking. Aulus, with unheard-of domestic sense, unwound himself and poured a beaker of red wine, which he placed formally in his sister's hand. Helena leaned against the table, sipping. Her frown relaxed. Soon she told me glumly that Petronius had called that morning; he had looked up the lists of undesirables kept by the vigiles, and found no mention of any Damagoras. Then we got to the nub. Helena added that the reason Junia had called was to gloat that Gaius Baebius did have some information on the name. Being Junia, she would not tell Helena what. Well, that was why Helena was a
I
served it into bowls, and topped off-with a dribble of extra oil. We ate this with yesterday's bread. Helena had been too angry to go out to the baker for fresh.
XII
I took the ferry to Portus, where Gaius Baebius worked in his capacity as a customs clerk, or, as he would pedantically add, a supervisor. The vital labour of harassing importers for their tax took place at the main harbour, the big new one pla