Ferox shook his head and hoped that he had had nothing to do with her brother. He did not remember anyone called Sulpicius, and most of the men he had been sent to find had ended up dead. He wanted to say that he had only found out the truth, but knew full well that even men he had shown to be innocent were still executed.

‘Well, perhaps, perhaps not. He gets recalled by Nerva and a couple of months later is posted to Syria and gets caught up in a new conspiracy led by the provincial legate. Not the smartest boy, by the sound of it, but then the father doesn’t sound much either. Reckon the lady must take after her mother.’

Ferox stood up and walked over to the little woman, putting a hand affectionately on her shoulder. It was the closest to intimacy they ever got, and a rare privilege, but he felt her shudder. Too many men had touched her too many times.

‘You never cease to amaze me, Flora. I thought you said that you didn’t know much.’ He took his hand away and she relaxed. ‘Sorry, but I haven’t really got much family any more, and somehow you make me feel as if I have.’

She looked up at him, and perhaps it was the light, but he thought he saw a moistness in her eyes.

‘Piss off!’ she said and then sighed. ‘Why do you always pull me back towards the sewer? If I didn’t like you I’d pay someone to kick your teeth in. Not that I’d probably have to pay, if I asked in the right places. You’re not good at making friends, are you?’

‘Then all the more lucky that I have you as one.’

‘You won’t if you don’t look after Procla! Any of your lads hurt her or not pay and it’ll be your bollocks along with theirs that they’ll be feeding to the pigs.’

A door opened and there was a burst of shrieking followed by a man’s bellow. Two women were pushed into the room. One was pale with chestnut hair and the other dark-skinned and black-haired. Their hair was wild, and they wore fine slippers in whitened leather and nothing else. It was the twins, and they were rowing as they often did, so that a big broad-chested man, one of Flora’s slaves, had to hold them apart. Ferox had seen neither woman for a long while, and certainly not like this.

‘Quiet!’ Flora screamed, the sound echoing in the room and probably audible upstairs even above the din. The two women froze and went silent. ‘Are you still here?’ she asked Ferox. ‘Thought you came on business?’

Ferox did his best to look only at the mistress of the house and failed, his eyes flicking over towards the naked slaves. ‘One last question. I saw Longinus as I came in. Do you know him?’