The provided excerpts from Three Hands in the Fountain by Lindsey Davis introduce Marcus Didius Falco, a Roman investigator, and his partner, Petronius Longus, as they pursue a serial killer who dismembers victims and disposes of their remains in the city's aqueducts, with newly discovered hands leading to a formal inquiry led by Julius Frontinus. The narrative alternates between the progression of the murder investigation—which involves questioning witnesses, consulting with water engineers like Bolanus, and confronting the political and bureaucratic obstacles of ancient Rome—and Falco's complicated personal life, which includes his partner Helena Justina, their new baby, and the domestic drama surrounding his mother and Petronius’s estranged wife, Arria Silvia, and his mistress, Balbina Milvia.