She flashes her eyes at him. ‘I don’t want to give it up. I shan’t wear it. I just want to keep it. I don’t see why I can’t.’

‘Don’t give me that face. There’ll be trouble if you don’t hand it over. Solly’s right. If the coppers don’t have you for it, then Maggs and Annie certainly will. Annie’ll beat you black and blue.’

‘They’ll only know if you tell ’em, Billy Walsh, and you wouldn’t do that, would you?’ She smiles and flutters her lashes.

‘No, but I will,’ says Solly, firmly. ‘Come on.’

The tone of his voice persuades Ruby. She might be able to wind Billy around her little finger, but not Solly.

She pulls the crescent brooch from her pocket, scowling at the two of them. She turns it over in her hand and enjoys the weight of it, this solid, glittering object. The light catches the diamonds, and she is transported to the world of her dreams.

‘I wanted to wear this on a dress made of midnight blue satin,’ she says, placing it carefully on the counter, not quite letting go of it. ‘At Charlie Chaplin’s party.’

‘Another time, Magpie.’ Solly prises it from under her fingers. ‘Another party. This piece has got to go elsewhere.’ He examines it with his eyeglass and whistles. ‘You’ve a good eye, my girl, if you picked this one. Someone trained you well, eh? Very nice. Some good stones in this. I can split them and sell them very easily. New contact in Amsterdam.’

‘Well, you’d better hand over some notes to me then as well as Billy,’ Ruby pouts. ‘You owe me, Solly.’

He gives a short, cackling laugh. ‘You’ll get your share from Annie.’

‘That’s not fair. You’ve given Billy something. I took this brooch, not him.’

Billy laughs, too, but his voice is gruff – a warning to the jeweller. ‘She’s right, Sol. Give her a little something. Pay up. You know she wanted the piece herself.’

Solly mutters under his breath as he opens the cash register again and lays three notes on the counter; he hesitates, then lays a fourth. ‘That’s it. The pair of you will make an end of me. I’ll be out of business.’

Ruby scoops up the notes, folds them over and over again into a tight roll and pushes them into her handbag, right down, below her purse and handkerchief. You can’t be too careful with so many thieves about. ‘True, Solly. That’s why you’ve got a new suit and a new car. You do so badly out of us.’