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rational, but kept falling asleep. Most likely she slipped into a coma during the night and never woke up. I’ve seen it before. I knew what the outcome would be from the beginning.”
    “I take it no one would have considered the possibility of murder if she were a shopkeeper or a minor functionary?”
    “Or even if her husband were rational.”
    ***
    After Gaius departed John visited Peter, finding him half asleep in his whitewashed room. Sunlight poured through the window across floorboards polished by wear and touched the large wooden cross mounted on the wall above the bed.
    “I have instructions from Gaius that you must remain in bed for some time.” John told him. “It would please me to know you will follow them. That being so, you are going to need help for a few weeks.”
    “Yes, master,” Peter replied in a faint voice. “It was my own fault for not scraping the mud off the soles of my boots at the door. Slipped on the stairs, you see. Careless.” He rubbed his forehead where a large bruise was beginning to swell. “What happened to the swordfish?”
    “I rescued it and I shall grill it,” John replied. “I don’t know if you’ll feel like eating? Soup perhaps?”
    The elderly servant looked horrified. “But master, it is not fitting for you to cook or wait on me!”
    John pointed out he had cooked his own meals many times in his days as a mercenary and there was nobody else to care for Peter with Cornelia away.
    “If I may suggest it, master, would it not be possible for Hypatia to return until I get back on my feet? If someone else must work at my brazier, well, admittedly she over-spices the food but after all, she is from Egypt. She is familiar with the household. We’ve known each other a long time, and she takes directions well.”
    John concealed a smile. Peter had chosen the person he already had in mind, a young woman who had worked in the household in years past. Actually, not quite so young now, he reminded himself. In her mid-thirties. Since leaving John’s employ, she had been working in the imperial gardens. “An excellent choice, Peter. I’m certain it can be arranged.”
    “Thank you, master,” Peter closed his eyes. “I hope she will not be too irritated with me for not cultivating her herb beds as well as I should. I am afraid our garden is not as beautiful as it was when she looked after it.”
    “It will soon revive. Now you should worry about your own health. Try to rest.”
    John went back to his study.
    It did not occur to him that anyone might think it odd for a high official to be caring for a servant. Over the years Peter had become part of his family. He was certain Hypatia would agree to help.
    If only his investigation could be resolved so easily.

Chapter Eight
    John did his best to ponder the task Justinian had set before him but he was preoccupied with other matters. He ended up wandering the house, hoping he would not be summoned by the emperor, and looking in on the sleeping Peter.
    Late in the afternoon he opened his eyes, realized he had fallen asleep at his desk, and went to the kitchen to prepare the swordfish Peter had purchased.
    Though not as tasty as it would have been had Peter been able to cook, the meal was passable. Unlike many men in his position John knew how to clean and braise a fish. Peter could barely keep his eyes open. He dozed off after a few bites and several slurred compliments on John’s culinary skills.
    When he was certain Peter was sleeping soundly John left the house to look for Hypatia in the palace gardens. Hours later, as sunset approached and golden-red light gilded the western sides of trees and bushes, he wondered if he had begun his search too late in the day. The gardens were extensive. They sloped down to the sea on terraces, a vast, bewildering array of vegetation—lawns, shrubbery, copses, meadows, beds of flowers and herbs—strewn with fountains, decorative buildings, covered walkways, benches, and statuary.
    Had