Claudia's greatest admirer is Marcus Cornelius Orbilio, an investigator with the Imperial Security Police, of patrician rank. A dogged and clever detective, Orbilio is aware of most, if not all, of the crooked dealings she engages in to survive, but refrains from turning her in because he is so deeply in love with her - and because, despite what she might think, her dealings are often petty crimes compared with the murders, rapes, and conspiracies against the state he is usually investigating.