Ling Ling and her friends kept stopping to look and laugh at one of their phones. They turned onto the main road. I waited a beat and then followed. I turned the corner in time to see the Ghost pull the bag off Ling Ling’s shoulder and push her to the ground. She let out a cry of pain as she hit the ground. Her two friends went to her and shouted at the departing Ghost. I didn’t understand Mandarin but it sounded far angrier than anything that could’ve been said in English.

I chased after him. He had the bag. We had to get it back. What Ling Ling might write off as an unfortunate incident with a random London mugger, we knew must be a tactic to find out Peng’s schedule for the next few days.

The Ghost was fast. I was grateful that Pixie had allowed me to wear my trainers. I sped after him at full pelt. He turned back once to see who was after him. Seeing a woman in a catsuit with backbrushed wild hair and sunglasses on her head was probably not what he expected.

There was another warehouse on the corner. I was betting it was where their vehicle was parked. He would have to slow down to turn the corner – that’s when I needed to hit.

I kept up my pace, never more grateful for the fact that despite work, despite Gigi, I still made the time to run twice a week. The Ghost slowed slightly as he approached the corner. I pushed myself further; I was nearly there. He turned the corner just as I came flying at him. We both fell to the ground. He landed badly. With me on top of him. He was unconscious, or doing a good job of pretending to be.

A van came screeching down the road towards us and pulled to a halt. Cameron got out the driver’s seat.

‘So you can still run. Even though you are a bit more . . .’ she tilted her head, ‘squashy.’

I tried to get my breathing to return to normal. My heart was still racing.

‘My Ghost is in the back.’ She motioned towards the back of the van. ‘Any sign of the third?’

A small Vauxhall Astra came racing down the road and passed us and the van without slowing. It turned left down the main road at full speed. The final Ghost was leaving. No attempt to retrieve fallen colleagues. No honour among thieves, no loyalty among Ghosts.

‘I already spoke to G,’ said Cameron. ‘He’s wiping us from any CCTV but we need to move fast. A police car will be here in seven. Ling Ling’s friends called them. I’ll play the helpful American tourist, return Ling Ling’s bag to her and then we get back to the Platform.’