The prologue opens with Richard Mayhew’s going-away party as he prepares to leave Scotland and head to London. His friends pool their money to gift him an umbrella with a map of the London Underground on it. He takes a break from the party and sits out on the street, but thanks to his rumpled appearance, an elderly woman passing by assumes that he is unhoused. She tells him that she was once a dancer and was, at one time, unhoused herself; she then offers to read his fortune. After examining his palm, she tells him that he has a long way to go, and says, “It starts with doors” (14). She leaves, but he pursues her and gives her the umbrella with the map on it. Richard’s friends summon him back to the pub, and he drinks with them for the rest of the night. The next day, he goes to London on the train.

An unnamed woman has been running for her life for the past four days. She is “more tired than a body could stand” (16), and she finds what she hopes is a safe place to sleep. 

Meanwhile, two men, Mr. Croup and Mr.