5
Sister In The Night
Titiana startled Argolicus as she slipped past a sleeping Nikolaos and stood in the room. His head was bent over his notes on the small table in his room. He had a list of people he knew were involved with Pius. Under each name, he jotted what he knows. The girl whispered, “My father was a philanderer of the worst sort.”
Argolicus composed himself and asked, “What do you mean?”
“He held orgies.” Her voice rose above a whisper.
“Orgies?”
“Yes, all those powerful people, he blackmailed them.”
If Nikolaos was awake now, he was keeping quiet.
“Powerful, like Boethius?” Argolicus asked. Boethius might be rich, but he also seemed an honest man.
“No, no, no. He didn’t go to the parties. It was lesser men. Not consuls and the wealthy but officials—a tax collector, th
