that he had become a power-crazed maniac. This had always been a Roman trait, at the first hint of success to dream of being deified. It seemed unlikely in Petro's case, however. He was so rational he was positively staid.
'Tertulla said you'd spoken to him,' I prodded.
'Oh you've seen Tertulla? That little mite needs looking after. You're her uncle. Can't you do something?'
'You're her grandfather! Why me?' I felt myself going hot. Trying to instil a sense of duty into Father, who had already abandoned one generation, was hopeless. 'Oh Jupiter! I'll see Galla about it sometime ... What's the tale here, Pa?'
'Disaster.' My father enjoyed a spot of misery.
'Well, that's clear! Can we be more specific? Does this disaster involve a major defeat for the legions in a prestigious foreign war - or just the lupin crop failing in two villages in Samnium?'
'You're a sarcastic trout! It's this: a gang of robbers burst in last night and cleaned out half the Emporium.' Pa leaned back on his stool watching the effect on me. I tried to look suitably horrified, while still telling thoughtfully on my own fancy rhetoric. He scowled. 'Listen, you dozy bastard! They obviously knew exactly what they wanted - luxury items in every case. They must have been watching for weeks, until they knew they could snatch an exquisite haul - then they whipped in, snatched the goods to order, whipped out and vanished before anything was noticed.'
'So Petronius has shut the building while he investigates what happened?'
'I suppose so. But you know him; he wasn't saying. He just looked solemn and closed it.'
'So what did he say?'
'Stallholders and wharfingers would be let in one by one, with his man Martinus - '
'Mother master of tact!' Martinus, with his high opinion of himself, was especially dour when dealing with the public.
'To make a list of what was missing.' Pa completed his sentence doggedly. -
'Well that's fair,' I said. 'Surely those idiots can see that their best chance of getting their property back will be if Petronius knows what to look for?'
'Too subtle,' replied Pa with the famous flashing grin that had laid barmaids on their backs from here to the Flaminian Gate. It only caused irritation in me.
'Too organised!' Petronius had my sympathies. Presumably he had come back from Ostia expecting a short stretch of peace after his Balbinus coup, only to be dragged from bed that very night to face one of the worst heists I could remember, in the most important building on his patch... Instead of enjoying a glorious rest as a community hero, he now faced working at full stretch for months. Probably with nothing to show at the end: it sounded as if this robbery had been scrupulously planned.
One aspect was still niggling me. 'Just as a matter of interest, Pa - why did Petronius tell you to send for me?'
My father put on his reliable look - always a depressing portent. 'Oh... he reckoned you might help me get back my glass.' He had slipped it in as delicately as a fishmonger filleting a mullet.
'They stole your glass?' I could not accept this. 'The glass Helena bought for you? That I nursed all the way back from Syria?' I lost my temper. 'Pa, when I left it with you, you told me you were carting the whole lot straight back to the Saepta!' The Saepta Julia, up by the Plain of Mars, was the jewellery quarter where Pa had his office and warehouse. It was very well guarded.
'Stop roaring.'
'I will not! How could you be so damned careless?'
I knew exactly how. Traipsing to the Saepta with a waggon would have taken him an hour or two. Since he only lived two minutes from the Emporium he had gone home and put his feet up instead, leaving the glass that we had nursed so carefully to look after itself for the night.
Pa glanced over one shoulder and lowered his voice. 'The Emporium should have been safe enough. It was just temporary.'
'Now it's temporarily lost!' There was something shifty about him. My lava eruption checked in midflow. 'I
'Tertulla said you'd spoken to him,' I prodded.
'Oh you've seen Tertulla? That little mite needs looking after. You're her uncle. Can't you do something?'
'You're her grandfather! Why me?' I felt myself going hot. Trying to instil a sense of duty into Father, who had already abandoned one generation, was hopeless. 'Oh Jupiter! I'll see Galla about it sometime ... What's the tale here, Pa?'
'Disaster.' My father enjoyed a spot of misery.
'Well, that's clear! Can we be more specific? Does this disaster involve a major defeat for the legions in a prestigious foreign war - or just the lupin crop failing in two villages in Samnium?'
'You're a sarcastic trout! It's this: a gang of robbers burst in last night and cleaned out half the Emporium.' Pa leaned back on his stool watching the effect on me. I tried to look suitably horrified, while still telling thoughtfully on my own fancy rhetoric. He scowled. 'Listen, you dozy bastard! They obviously knew exactly what they wanted - luxury items in every case. They must have been watching for weeks, until they knew they could snatch an exquisite haul - then they whipped in, snatched the goods to order, whipped out and vanished before anything was noticed.'
'So Petronius has shut the building while he investigates what happened?'
'I suppose so. But you know him; he wasn't saying. He just looked solemn and closed it.'
'So what did he say?'
'Stallholders and wharfingers would be let in one by one, with his man Martinus - '
'Mother master of tact!' Martinus, with his high opinion of himself, was especially dour when dealing with the public.
'To make a list of what was missing.' Pa completed his sentence doggedly. -
'Well that's fair,' I said. 'Surely those idiots can see that their best chance of getting their property back will be if Petronius knows what to look for?'
'Too subtle,' replied Pa with the famous flashing grin that had laid barmaids on their backs from here to the Flaminian Gate. It only caused irritation in me.
'Too organised!' Petronius had my sympathies. Presumably he had come back from Ostia expecting a short stretch of peace after his Balbinus coup, only to be dragged from bed that very night to face one of the worst heists I could remember, in the most important building on his patch... Instead of enjoying a glorious rest as a community hero, he now faced working at full stretch for months. Probably with nothing to show at the end: it sounded as if this robbery had been scrupulously planned.
One aspect was still niggling me. 'Just as a matter of interest, Pa - why did Petronius tell you to send for me?'
My father put on his reliable look - always a depressing portent. 'Oh... he reckoned you might help me get back my glass.' He had slipped it in as delicately as a fishmonger filleting a mullet.
'They stole your glass?' I could not accept this. 'The glass Helena bought for you? That I nursed all the way back from Syria?' I lost my temper. 'Pa, when I left it with you, you told me you were carting the whole lot straight back to the Saepta!' The Saepta Julia, up by the Plain of Mars, was the jewellery quarter where Pa had his office and warehouse. It was very well guarded.
'Stop roaring.'
'I will not! How could you be so damned careless?'
I knew exactly how. Traipsing to the Saepta with a waggon would have taken him an hour or two. Since he only lived two minutes from the Emporium he had gone home and put his feet up instead, leaving the glass that we had nursed so carefully to look after itself for the night.
Pa glanced over one shoulder and lowered his voice. 'The Emporium should have been safe enough. It was just temporary.'
'Now it's temporarily lost!' There was something shifty about him. My lava eruption checked in midflow. 'I
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