Billy Kuckuck is robbed of her briefcase, which also contains all her money, by a boy at an appointment - who should clearly be at school at this time. It is only by chance that she meets the thieving boy again when she demands the money for a kitchen stove she has sold from her single mother Louisa. It soon becomes clear that Louisa is in a more problematic situation than the unpaid stove initially suggested. The boy is her son and his name is Marcel.