"Of what?"
"Of Mrs. Whitmore."
Evelyn's face hardened.
"You make me sound unreasonable."
Martin looked at her.
"You've gotten people fired."
"I complained."
"You threatened corporate."
"I expected standards."
Camille raised one hand.
"Enough."
Everyone stopped.
She turned toward Evelyn.
"How long have you been shopping here?"
"Eleven years."
"Do you believe that gives you authority over employees?"
"No."
"Then why did they behave as though it did?"
Evelyn had no answer.
Camille continued.
"You weren't security."
"No."
"You weren't management."
"No."
"You weren't an employee."
"No."
"But you gave instructions."
Evelyn looked away.
Camille wasn't finished.
"Would you have behaved differently if the customer had been someone you recognized?"
Evelyn hesitated.
"I don't know."
Camille nodded.
"That's honest."
Then she asked:
"What made you suspicious?"
Evelyn answered quickly.
"Her behavior."
"What behavior?"
"She was watching cameras."
"Anything else?"
"She wasn't accompanied."
"Anything else?"
"She didn't look like a normal customer."
The room went silent.
Evelyn realized the words had escaped before she could stop them.
Camille did not accuse her.
She simply asked:
"What does a normal customer look like?"
Evelyn looked at her.
"I didn't mean—"
"You did."
"No."
"You said it."
Evelyn's face reddened.
Camille looked around the room.
"This is exactly why I came here."
Everyone listened.
"I wanted to know what happens when nobody recognizes the owner."
She stood.
"Now I know."
She walked toward the dresses.
The blue one.
The green one.
The black one.
She touched the black dress.
"I chose these because I wanted to test how employees handled an ordinary customer carrying several pieces."
Jonathan looked at her.