Maybe if he had stayed focused, she would not have escaped. But those cat-like dark eyes, mysterious and seductive while at the same time hurt and sad - he had seen them before. Perhaps this little thief simply resembled someone he knew but couldn't name right then, but there was something overwhelmingly familiar about her.
And that is why, Thomas told himself later, she got away. The nimble pickpocket squirmed away from his grasp, and before he knew it, he had lost both his wallet and his watch.
"Hey - hey! Thief! Stop that bloody thief!" he shouted as the woman got away from him. He recognized right away he could never catch her by running, even though he did take a few steps after her, in vain.