慦ell, I don抰 know.?Arthur sounds confused and rather upset.
Ruth decides to change the subject: 慖 went to a school reunion while I was in Eltham. Alison invited me. You remember Ali??
慜f course I do.?Arthur sounds relieved to be on firmer ground. 慒unny little thing. But she had a good heart. I抣l always remember her coming to Mum抯 funeral.?
慚e too. Well, Alison told me that there was an Eltham Park reunion at the Black Lion in Blackheath.?
慛ice pub.?
慪es. Daniel Breakspeare was there. Do you remember him??
慪es. Your mum always liked Daniel.?
慡he did. Dad, did you ever think of sending me to another school??
Another pause. 慦hy would we have done that? Simon went to Eltham Park. Everyone went there.?
慖 don抰 know. I suppose I was just thinking about secondary schools because of Kate.?
They talk about Kate for a comfortable few minutes, then say goodnight. Ruth suddenly feels the need for a drink. She goes to the kitchen and pours herself a glass of red before sitting down at her laptop.
There are three new emails. The first is something of a surprise.
To: Ruth Galloway
From: Daniel Breakspeare
It was great to see you on Saturday. Maybe it抯 old age （！） but I抳e been thinking a lot about school. And about you. Do you ever come to London? It would be good to have lunch one day. And you can tell me more about the mysterious box.
All best
Dxx
Ruth looks at this missive for some time, sipping her wine. Why does Daniel want to see her? Is he just feeling nostalgic? Is it a symptom of age, with or without the jaunty exclamation mark? Is it surprising that he has remembered Ruth抯 half-finished tale of the box marked 憄rivate? And which should she believe: the more formal 慳ll best?or the D followed by two kisses?
The second email is from Alison.
It was good on Saturday, wasn抰 it? So strange to see everyone again. Some people I wouldn抰 have recognised but Kelly was unchanged! Daniel seemed very pleased to see you. Asked for your email address afterwards. What would your mum have said??
Hope to see you soon. Maybe next time we could get together with Fatty? Have a Three Amigas reunion??
Lots of love
Ali xx
PS here抯 the link to LZ as promised.
The third email is from her colleague David Brown. Subject: Tombland Dig. Ruth knows she should open this but instead she presses the link to enter the Lean Zone.
Chapter 7
Ruth抯 day starts with a department meeting. Her predecessor, Phil, avoided group gatherings, preferring to waylay his staff in the canteen, where it was easier to get them to agree with him. Ruth hopes that having monthly meetings will create a sense of camaraderie and teamwork and will also stop the AGM taking what seems like days.
Camaraderie seems thin on the ground today. Bob Bullmore, the anthropology expert, is determined to talk about the new unisex toilets. Fiona Green, Conservation and Bioarchaeology, wants to tell them about her recent paper on gender bias. David Brown, prehistory lecturer and Ruth抯 personal irritant, disagrees with both of them. Peter Llewellyn （Cultural Heritage） says nothing. Eventually the meeting draws to a cantankerous close because lectures are starting. David remains behind. He抯 very tall and he seems to cast a shadow over the whole room.
慔ow was the Tombland skeleton??he asks. 慖 sent you an email last night.?
Ruth doesn抰 apologise for not responding. She wants to break David of the habit of emailing at all hours of the day and night.
慖t was an interesting find,?she says. 慉 complete skeleton, probably female, laid out as if for formal burial. I抳e sent off samples for carbon-14 dating and isotope analysis. We might even get DNA.?