b'DEATH AND A CROCODILE 45with wide eyes and wringing hands. They trundled the sobbing woman across the garden and into her sitting room. A maid gath-ered her wits enough to fling aside the curtain of the sleeping alcove and helped them maneuver Mother into bed, where she collapsed with sobs even louder than before. Livia sent one maid for a cup of honeyed wine laced with chamomile and another for some damp towels before turning to Eunice. Youd better stay with her. Use your usual tricks to calm her down, see if you can coax her to sleep.Yes, my lady.Back in the garden Livia whistled the remaining slaves to at-tention. For those who have not heard the tragic news, my fa-ther and Tyndareus have been killed. Abuzzofquestionsfilledthespace,andsherealizedshe didnt have answers. I dont know where he was killed, just that he was attacked by thieves. Curio will give you the details later.Her voice wavered. She took two deep breaths and pressed her fingernails into her fists until shed regained control. My mother is suffering from the shock of his sudden death. While she recov-ers, the rest of us must prepare the household for mourning.Dawn was breaking over the city by the time Curio returned with the bodies. Livia was ready for him. Four slaves were hang-ing cypress around the doors and others waited to wash and pre-pare the bodies. Cook and Mintha took Tyndareus body to the back of the house. Fathers body was laid in the garden next to the fountain. Once the body was made respectable, Father would be laid in state in the atrium until the funeral. Dryas, Fathers personal slave, immediately took up a position beside his dead master, ready to assist. The slaves have a million questions about what happened, Livia said to her brother. Where were they killed?The edge of the Subura. Someone reported them to the vigiles an hour or so after midnight.Why was Father in the Subura at that hour?'