"Correct. Albia, how did that come about?'

Albia grimaced. "This story is disgusting. You will like it, Marcus Didius.'

"Oh thanks!'

"Pelops is the son of Tantalus, who was a son of Zeus, though not a god, only a king. Tantalus invited all the gods from Mount Olympus to a party on a mountain top.

"He wanted to test if the gods were really all-knowing,' Helena helped out.

"Everyone brought food for a lucky-dip picnic. The gods put nectar and ambrosia in their hampers. Tantalus served up a stew, to see if they would realise what they were eating.'

"What was it? The doorman's sister's oregano hotpot?' I asked.

"Ugh. Worse. Tantalus had killed and cooked up his own son, Pelops! The gods did notice – but not before Demeter the Harvest Queen had eaten her way all through a shoulder bone.'

"She was grieving for her daughter, and rather absent-minded.' A faraway look came over Helena, and I knew she was thinking of Julia and Favonia. "Then?'

"Then Rhea chucked all the bones back in the pot, gave it a big stir, and reassembled little Pelops, giving him a new shoulder made of ivory.'

"Which you have seen'? Don't you believe it!' I scoffed. They glowered at me, wanting to believe the myth.

"Tantalus was horribly punished!' Cornelius had become keen on divine retribution. "He must stay in Hades for ever, staring at a plate

of food and a cup of drink, which he can never reach.'

"That wouldn't suit you, Cornelius.'

"No, but Pelops was better than ever after he was mended, and went out into the world to be a hero.'

"So that was when he came to Olympia and cheated in the chariot race?'

"No choice, Marcus.' Helena was smiling. "Oenomaus was challenging his daughter's suitors using a set of magic, unbeatable steeds.'

"Unfair! But Pelops had his own magic horses, didn't he? Given to him by Poseidon?'

"Perhaps. In a different version, Hippodameia was as keen on Pelops as he was on her. She was desperate not to see his handsome head skewered above the lintel. So she went to her father's charioteer, Myrtilos, and persuaded him to sabotage Oenomaus' chariot by putting in a wax cotter-pin, making a wheel fall off. Now Myrtilos, rightly or wrongly, thought he had agreed to spike the chariot in order to sleep with Hippodameia himself. After the race he tried to claim his reward. Pelops and Myrtilos fought; Pelops drowned Myrtilos in the sea, but as he finally went under, Myrtilos called down a curse on all the descendants of Pelops and Hippodameia. They had, of course, two bonny sons, Atreus and Thyestes.'

I wagged a finger. "I sense a bout of Homer coming on!'

"There is more to your Uncle Marcus than a tough nature and a cheeky grin,' Helena told the boys. "He comes scowling along, fresh from haranguing witnesses, then suddenly he demonstrates how much he reads. So your turn, Marcus.'

"I'm grown up. I don't have to recite lessons.' The boys looked impressed by my rebellion.

Helena sighed. "Spoilsport. It's a second helping of human stew, I'm afraid. Atreus and Thyestes quarrelled incessantly over their inheritance. Finally Atreus cut up all of his brother's children – except one – and served them at a feast where Thyestes was the guest of honour. Thyestes failed to spot the family's signature dish and he ate up heartily. The only survivor was called Aegisthus.'

Helena was flagging so I relented. 'The famous son of Atreus is King Agamemnon. His nagging wife is Clytemnestra. In his absence at the Trojan War, she becomes the lover of moody cousin Aegisthus. Aegisthus is getting revenge for the new stew incident; Clytemnestra is getting her lust satisfied. On his return from the Trojan War, these lovers murder Agamemnon, whose son and daughter then murder them, providing material for many tragedians.'

"The moral is. only eat salad. If a travel group are going on to see Troy,' said Helena, "Olympia makes an appropriate starting point.'

"Yes, the Seven Sights group don't just get sport; they are on a drama-rich route. After a detour to Sparta, their next stop is Mycenae, Agamemnon's palace. Then Aulis, whence the Greek ships departed, and on to Troy – Troy is rubbish nowadays, I have heard, just touts and tacky souvenir stalls. So tell me, Helena, is that why you were fascinated with Pelops?' I asked.

"Well, he represents heroic mortal man. He seems to have had a bad conscience; there are a host of memorials he set up – Myrtilos, Oenomaus, the previous suitors.

"Big of him. I'm damned if I'd honour your old lovers!'

"Didius Falco, you are an informer; you don't have a conscience.' Untrue. Helena knew that very well.

"The whole Peloponnese is named after Pelops!' chirped Cornelius. He had taken to showing off.

Gaius stretched out full length on his back. "This place is stuffed with relics. As well as his shoulder bone we saw his ceremonial dagger with a gold pommel, in the Treasury of Sikyon'

"And Hippodameia's couch,' said Albia. "And her shrine.'

"Girls' stuff!' I mocked. "Now look. I am glad you are all having a good time as sightseers, but we came to Greece on a case.'

"I am pursuing the case,' Helena growled. "Imagine it. The men on the tour had become obsessed with all the bloody sports – boxing, wrestling, and ghastly pankration. The women were sick of the men coming home, prattling about violence and blood. They fixed up a Pelops tour as a distraction. Later that evening, Valeria went to her death – so I am trying to deduce what was in her mind that day.'

"Get anywhere with this theory?'

"I am wondering,' she carried on regardless, "did the courtship of Hippodameia hold a special resonance for Valeria? If she had found she was unhappy with her own new husband, was she affected by the story of a spirited young woman who gained herself a man who really wanted her? Perhaps it made Valeria restless.'

I gazed at my girl thoughtfully. Helena herself had had an arranged marriage, to a weak man who failed her. She stuck it out miserably for a few years, then divorced him. I knew Helena remembered how depressed she had been, both in her marriage and after it fell through.

"Sweetheart, are you suggesting that Valeria Ventidia was afraid she had committed herself to second-best for ever, so became reckless of

her own safety? She wanted to ditch Statianus and find herself an old-style hero?'

"No, I just suspect that while the women were trailing around the Altis hearing about Pelops, poor little Valeria accidentally caught her killer's eye.'

"So this brute offered her a ride in his racing chariot?' I suggested with a leer. Then more seriously, "No, because whoever he was, I'm certain he drew her to the palaestra with sportsman's gossip about long jumps.'

"Couldn't afford a chariot,' Gaius intoned, with envy. "Uncle Marcus, you have to own millions to race chariots. So much, it is the owners and not the drivers who receive the crowns for winning.'

"Right. Not a charioteer then.'

Helena pressed on. "Another question. who took the women on the tour? None of the guides will own up.'

"Still, you managed to find the various relics by yourself

Gaius rolled on to his stomach as he and Cornelius chorused, "Helena is clever!'

"Well, why are the guides so sneery? Pelops is the founder of the Games.'

"Or it's Hercules!' Helena told me. "Anyway, the cult adherents want to keep this site as primarily dedicated to Zeus. Pelops is relegated, a mere symbol of human endeavour. The gods rule this grove.'

"And Zeus is top god… Well, I'd say the women's Pelops excursion has no bearing on what happened to Valeria.'

Cornelius was looking anxious. "At least she wasn't chopped up and eaten in a stew!' It was a shock to discover that I had a nephew who was sensitive. "Uncle Marcus, is it safe here? I won't end up in a pot being eaten, will I?'