Rooney was the only unmarried one in the dustbin gang He had worked as a dustman for fifteen of his thiry five years and his mates all agreed he was too canny to be caught, already having avoided four widows and two spinsters in ten years Rooney liked life to follow a pattern that and his independence were what made him tick However, when he moved into Ma Howlett's place all that went out of the window and life became more complicated than he had ever imagined