"I acknowledge your sense of urgency, Calpurnia, but I don't understand what you want from me. What would you have me do? Where would I begin?"

Porsenna cleared his throat. "You can start by retracing the steps of the man we called upon to do this work before you. He delivered written reports to us."

"I take it this fellow came to a bad end. Yes, from the looks on both your faces, a very bad end! I don't care to follow in the footsteps of a dead man, Calpurnia." I directed my gaze at her, pointedly ignoring the haruspex, but it was Porsenna who replied.

"Those footsteps might lead you to the man's killer," he said, "and knowing who killed him might lead us to the source of the threat against Caesar. The fellow must have discovered something dangerous, to have paid for it with his life."

I shook my head. "Dreams, divination, death! I don't like anything about this affair, Calpurnia. I respectfully decline to become involved."

Porsenna was about to speak, but Calpurnia silenced him with a gesture. "Perhaps, if you saw the dead man…" she said quietly.

"I don't see how that would make a difference."

"Nonetheless." She rose from the chair and proceeded toward a doorway. Porsenna indicated that I should follow. I did so reluctantly, with Porsenna behind me. I disliked the haruspex from first sight and didn't like having him at my back.

We walked down a long hallway, passing rooms as simply decorated as the one in which Calpurnia had received me. The house seemed empty; Calpurnia's slaves were trained to remain out of sight. We crossed a small garden ornamented by a splashing fountain with a splendid statue of Venus-Caesar's reputed ancestor-standing naked upon a gigantic seashell.

A man was sitting in the shade of the garden. He wore the voluminous toga of a pontifex, with its extra folds gathered and tucked in a loop above his waist. His mantle was pushed back to show a head of perfectly white hair. The old priest glanced up as we passed and gave me a quizzical look. I thought I saw a family resemblance to Calpurnia. His words confirmed it.