We need to think on this farther and come back in the morning to test it out. No, what we should do is come back just before closing time and watch th... back door to see what happens, to get a shot at the scale of the theft.’ Frances had said, ‘How do you think this seemed so easy?’ ‘Two factors, Frances. One, the staff door can’t have any bar code detector for items leaving without being put through the till, and second, the manager is not making any checks to stop this going on. It is theft on. I put my hair in pigtails. There's a huge bulky wool letter-sweater that's far too warm to actually wear inside here for very long, pom-poms, short white socks, saddle shoes, a sequined front-hook bra, super-skimpy white cotton panties that are actually a couple of sizes too small and barely cover the essentials, and a skirt. Just a hint of a skirt, really. It's not much more than a strip of material about the size of a deck of playing cards. It's so short that I don't even bother to take. After going around the group to make eye contact with them all I say, “OK, people, for your confidential information, I just lost my cool a bit and let slip a few things in the office. Since the office staff know you need to know. If you say anything about my financial situation other than being able to afford to send you to this school you’ll be in big trouble, understand?” They all nod. “Ellie, I’m sure you’ve always wondered how your mother could afford to send you to this school. Well,. In short she was a show-stopper.But her outward maturity did not reflect her inward mischievousness!Being a brilliant fine arts scholar and highly creative she was always pressing boundaries through curiosity and somehow got away with it.As siblings we never fought and much to every parent’s envy we were real buddies and in fact inseparable. She was my shadow and I was her hero. Even my parents acknowledged it. Being eighteen months older than my little sister my seniority compelled me to.