Lottie gave him a look that clearly said I don’t believe you Oh all right I dropped a coin between the floorboards and I was trying to see if I could get it out Lottie laughed Uncle Bert the Curator of Egyptology at the British Museum had been left in charge of the Roman section for a few weeks while Cedric the usual Curator of Roman Artifacts was on an archaeological dig He had only been gone for three days so far Oh Uncle What did you drop A penny A nickel No it’s eh rather more valuable than that said Uncle Bert with a blush A golden 8
Roman aureus It was two thousand years old and part of the Roman coin exhibit Lottie sighed and went to get Reg the tall caretaker who lived on the grounds of the museum with them He came quickly carrying a crowbar and hammer instead of his usual mop and bucket Reg to the rescue he announced Where did you drop it butterfingers Are you sure that a crowbar is the best way to go about this Reg asked Lottie It seems a bit drastic 9
Don’t worry Miss Lottie I’m an expert in these kind of situations Lottie suddenly realized that she hadn’t yet told the two men about the important donation that Sir Trevelyan needed But she just didn’t know how to tell them She didn’t want to upset them and she certainly didn’t want to disturb Reg while he had a heavy hammer and sharp piece of metal in his hands After a minute or two of frantic hammering
Reg lifted up the floorboard and Lottie reached in to retrieve the coin There it is she said pulling out the shiny gold coin Uncle Bert sighed with relief and reached out to take it Lottie took a step back out of Uncle Bert’s reach and said I think I should take care of this don’t you Uncle Bert I’ll keep it safe Oh for goodness sake I’m not that clumsy I’m perfectly capable of THUD Uncle Bert fell to the floor as he accidentally stepped into the hole in the floorboards
