Page 5 of Match Point in Crumbleton

‘Yeah, that and the fact that Crumbleton is so steep, the tarmac would probably ooze down into a great big puddle near the City Gates,’ laughed Heather. ‘I’m sure it’d make a horrible mess of the oldest ones up by the museum first, though!’

‘Mean!’ gasped Andy.

Heather grinned at him.

‘Speaking of the museum, have you met the new person yet?’ he said. ‘The who’s taken on the curation job? I thought she was meant to be arriving soon.’

‘She’s already here,’ said Heather.

Andy frowned. ‘Why exactly did you point at the sky when you said that?’

‘Because,’ said Heather, ‘she moved into Oli’s flat last night.’

‘Then we’ve probably just woken the poor woman up!’ said Andy, dropping his voice to a stage whisper.

‘Nah,’ said Heather.

‘How’d you know that?’ he said in surprise.

‘Because I saw her leave the flat and wander off up the hill about five minutes before you appeared.’

‘This morning?’ said Andy, raising his eyebrows as he glanced down at his battered old watch. ‘As in… before six in the morning?’

‘Uh huh,’ said Heather, looking unperturbed.

‘You do realise that’s not normal behaviour?’ said Andy. ‘I mean… for anyone other than us two!’

‘Andy love, if you think it’s normal to get up this early just to fix twelfth-century cobbles…’

‘Actually, this little patch is probably a replacement that happened somewhere around the late seventeen hundreds,’ said Andy.

‘Definitely not normal!’ chuckled Heather, shaking her head. ‘And anyway, maybe our new curator is just keen.’

‘Let’s see how long that lasts when she gets to the museum and sees the state of the place,’ said Andy, pulling a face. ‘I heard that she took the job without even coming down for a look around.’

‘Ouch!’ said Heather.

‘Yeah,’ sighed Andy.

He had a feeling the new arrival was in for a bit of a shock—unless Ruth from the council had been scrupulously honest with her… which he somehow doubted.

The castle with its attached museum building needed some serious repairs—but it wasn’t just what was going on with the outside that might put her off. Inside, the place was piled high with the detritus of decades.

‘Well… let’s just hope she sticks around,’ said Heather. ‘Anyway, I’d better head back inside if you want your fruit slice before lunchtime!’

‘Erm sis… isn’t that your phone?’ said Andy.

They both paused and cocked their heads.

‘It is!’ said Heather. ‘Who on earth’s calling at this time of day?’

Andy shrugged, but the question had obviously been rhetorical as Heather had already dashed inside to answer it.

Grabbing his bucket of sand from the wheelbarrow, Andy started to set out his tools so that he wouldn’t have to keep clambering to his feet every five minutes. He was just about to get stuck in when Heather reappeared with the phone clutched in her hand.

‘What’s up?’ he said in surprise.

‘It’s for you,’ said Heather.

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