‘That I don’t deny. People said he had been accused of thieving as a child, and I did hear that years ago a woman said he had raped her.’ Thamyris seemed unconcerned. On the scale of country crime, rape tended to rank with shouting boo at chickens.

‘So why do you think he left?’ asked Helena. ‘We heard he was “going to see his grandmother”, whatever that means. What’s the mystery?’

‘A classic excuse.’ Thamyris gave a laugh. It was the irritating kind that suggests someone knows a lot more than you do and intends to take a very long while revealing it. ‘When people want time off.’

Helena asked, ‘So what was up with him? Was he upset? Did he have a quarrel?’

‘Better ask Costus.’ Hearing his name, a corn cockle on another bench looked over. ‘Nobilis!’ called his boss in explanation.

‘Oh him!’ The younger man exclaimed dismissively; then he just went back to whittling.

I raised my eyebrows. Thamyris dropped his voice. ‘Had a fling.’ I showed that I still didn’t get it. ‘Costus.’ The voice lowered even further. ‘With Demetria!’

I left Helena to draw out anything else she could from the dealer, and strolled across to Costus. He was a handsome chunk, who looked none too bright—in fact, if he had moved in on the wife of the violent Nobilis, he couldn’t be. ‘You’re brave!’

‘Stupid,’ he conceded.

‘I’m looking for your war wounds.’ I could see no recent bruises, though his nose and one ear had a squashed look. Without a word, he pulled up the lower edge of his tunic to reveal a ferocious, fairly new knife scar running from below his hip to his belly-button. It was healed, but he must have been laid up and in some danger for a long time. I whistled through my teeth. ‘Very brave—and no wonder you seem subdued.’ The Claudius women had told me it was three years since Demetria had left Nobilis. She must have already known Costus, through his working with her husband; were they lovers before, or was it only after she left that this young man had provided a consoling shoulder? ‘Did Nobilis stop working here because his wife left him for you?’

Costus shook his head. ‘She just left him. Then he went to pieces. He couldn’t accept it.’

‘You took her over afterwards?’ A couple of his workmates were now watching us quietly. ‘Do you know where she is now?’

‘Nope.’

I bet he did.