Ahead of them, two women push through the doors of another store. One of them glances down the street and catches sight of Maggs and Ruby, but she makes no sign that she knows them. Instead, she nods to her friend and the pair set off towards the bridge. Neither Maggs nor Ruby passes comment as they follow at a distance.

They won’t acknowledge one another until they’ve crossed the river into Lambeth and they know they’re nearly home. That’s how it’s done. They all know the game. Hoisting. Lifting. They’ve been playing it since they were children, one way or another. Say nothing until you’re safe.

Ruby can see that Alice Dunning is limping. Her hip is causing her pain again and slowing her down. She says she fell off a ladder and injured herself trying to climb into someone’s house, or climb out of it. She laughs it off and says she can’t remember which way around it was, and anyway, everyone knows that’s not the truth. On her own, Alice looks like any other smartly dressed woman browsing the shops. Apart from the broken nose that makes her face look squashed. But next to Edith, she is clumsy, lumbering along.

Edith Lennox is wearing her new coat. It’s been specially made, lined with small pockets, so that she doesn’t have to push anything into her skirts. She’s not going to make herself uncomfortable. She’ll only have hoisted one or two items. Ruby watches Edith’s feet criss-cross as she walks. This makes her body sway, and the coat skimming her dainty frame swings at just the right length to show off her ankles. Edith is as vain as she is lazy.

Maggs is watching Edith, too, as she tries to hold the blouse between her thighs. She lets go of Ruby’s arm and clutches her skirt to keep the silk garments in place. It doesn’t matter, though. The bridge is in sight, and they are a long way from the store now.

The lank-haired shop girl emerges from the storeroom, holding up the red silk scarf in triumph: a tribute for the goddess of the silver screen. Her arm falls as she surveys the disruption of her station. The goddess, along with the mink coat and several items from her counter and carefully arranged table, have disappeared into thin air.