‘The hour was too late. I felt whacked; we were all exhausted after the wedding.’ Polycarpus spoke defensively, looking as if he was unused to having his actions queried. ‘I had it taken out of the kitchen because the staff were on loan and I wasn’t prepared to trust them. Then the most discreet thing to do at that time of night was quietly store it as normal. The master and mistress were to go by litter to the city gates at first light and pick up wheeled transport there. I myself would come in to pack any final items, then we had a cart ordered for drive time.’

In Rome, apart from some exceptions, carts are banned in the day in order to ease congestion. What Polycarpus said sounded reasonable.

‘Were you going to Campania?’

‘Er, no. There is another steward at the villa. I would have the summer to myself.’ Was there a flicker of feeling when he said that?

‘And the slaves who had stayed here after the wedding – were they meant to travel south?’

‘They were expecting to go with the last baggage cart.’ Polycarpus seemed to hesitate, though he carried on. ‘Then I was to close up the house.’

‘What about Myla, who was on the verge of producing?’

‘Not her. Arrangements had been made.’

‘So the house would be locked up during the summer. And if these thieves knew about the silver, they may have realised that night was their last chance to grab it for a long time?’

Polycarpus sighed. ‘Presumably … And before you ask, no, I was never aware of any of our staff talking to outsiders about our valuables. Nor had I seen anyone suspicious watching the house.’

‘The vigiles asked you those questions?’ It was their usual approach. As an approach it often works, though as any vigiles enquirer would know, the weaknesses are that none of the staff would admit to Polycarpus that they had loose tongues, and most professional burglars are unobtrusive when they case a joint. ‘The vigiles like to believe items like this stolen silver may reappear and help identify the thieves,’ I mused. ‘But I am not hopeful.’

The steward continued, ‘The man who came to investigate, Titianus, said the collection must have been stolen to order. He thought it was taken for someone who had been here as a guest, saw it and liked it. But surely, the point of owning treasure is to display it? This supposed guest would never be able to show it off or people would know he stole it. So why bother?’

I agreed. ‘From your description, this stuff is also too distinctive to show up at auction. I know people in that business. Questions would be asked.’

‘Titianus assured me a list would be circulated to jewellers and auctioneers.’