Gertrude decides to go in and do a spot of fortune-telling as an excuse for a closer look; the others foregather in one of the chandleries, of the sort that exist to sell things at high prices in a great hurry, and spend a couple of hours there confusing and amusing the clerk (and paying in effect to have a place for the group to wait that won’t get them propositioned).

Gertrude manages to get the crowd more or less on her side, with particularly effective fortune-telling. She does spot a couple of men with the shine, but doesn’t get a very good look at them.

The group gets back together and compares notes. They decide to follow the people with the “shine” back to their homes, at least to find out where they’re living. Milly spots the first one, from a different pub (the Spread Eagle and Crown just up the road); Gertrude and Bessie follow the pair from the Ship. None of them does a particularly good job of not being spotted, but the streets are crowded. If there’s a fourth man, he isn’t obvious.

Someone trips into one of the “shiny” men, and he rounds on him as if to attack; then he steps back, and moves away as if he’s lost interest. The man who tripped into him looks confused, but doesn’t push the matter.

There’s no sign of shine contamination on the door handles of the houses the men go into; nor curtains, windows, and so on.

The group heads home, and thinks of what to do next. If they want to talk to the dockers when they’re sober, they may have to hire them for the day. If the group could exploit a shipping company, that would be easier.