We had to stop then, because news came in about the discovery of more bodies.

Justinus and I went with Silvius to inspect the site. On the way, Silvius owned up that the Urbans had been using Claudius Probus for the past few days to help them identify places where his brother Nobilis might have buried corpses. ‘We believe Probus is himself implicated in the abductions, though not as the principal.’

‘How did you make him talk?’

‘We had to provide immunity. The way it works, Probus suggests places that Nobilis liked—secret lairs he had, on his own or with Pius.’

‘Pius was the one who lured the victims; he brought them to Nobilis?’

‘Seems so. These spots are difficult to access, so Probus takes us and points out where to look.’

‘He knows too much about it to be innocent.’

‘He admits that. He says he was young, and coerced by his brothers. He claims he became too horrified and stopped joining in.’

I hated him being given immunity. Sometimes you have to compromise, but if Probus was directly involved in the deaths, immunity was wrong. Silvius just shrugged. ‘When you see the terrain, you will understand. There is no other way we could ever find the bodies. My seniors conferred. It’s worth it, to clear up the old disappearances.’

Silvius was quite right about the dreadful terrain. The first place we went was a forest, a few miles out of Antium. A thick canopy of slim-trunked scented pines, intermingled with stunted cork oaks, filled this thickly wooded area. At ground level, dense brushwood impeded movement. Nobilis must have used a narrow track. A slightly wider access had been bashed down by the Urbans. Following a guide, we struggled along it to a dell. We went in silence. When we reached the activity, the shocked hush continued, broken only by rustles and chopping spades as work went on slowly at the sordid scene.

Bodies had been excavated and placed on flattened underbrush. There were eight or nine, of different ages; their poor condition prevented an exact tally. Most were now collected in proper array, but the bones of one or two could only be hopelessly jumbled on a sack. The troops had lifted most remains from their resting places and laid them in a row—except one. One body lay apart and they had not touched it. One was new.

The men stood back. Silvius, Justinus and I went to look. While the workers waited, watching us, we surveyed the remains, pretending to be experts.

Most of the recovered bodies had been found in the ritual position, face down and with outstretched arms—the mark of the Modestus killers. There were no more severed hands. Petronius must have been right that this was the letter-writer’s particular punishment for making appeals to the Emperor.