They walked on side by side for a little while longer until they came to another clearing with another abandoned white stone hut in a field, this time with goats mooching around in the grass, the brass bells on collars around their necks jingling merrily.

And then it appeared in full splendour.

The powder pink villa where Connie had actually lived.

It had to be. And it was absolutely glorious.

Between the pine trees on the far side of the field, Grace could see a magnificent three-storey villa accessed by a long path and surrounded by citrus trees. The orange and lemon scents were intoxicating in the heat. Chalky pale pink render with stunning archways led on to terracotta-tiled verandas swathed in pink bougainvillea.

‘Wow. Who lives in a place like this now?’ Grace pondered, imagining a movie star, or a singer perhaps, for it was truly impressive and would most likely take a whole team of people to maintain it. She wondered if they would mind them taking a look inside, as she’d really love to see where Connie had actually lived and where she might have written the diaries that Grace was still reading through.

Lifting a hand to shield her eyes from the dazzling sun, Grace gazed at the breathtaking view all around her: sea water glittering below, a majestic cruise liner on the horizon, a cloudless blue sky above. Rows of higgledy-piggledy sun-bleached painted pink, white, blue and green houses hugging the mountainsides, their shutters thrown open wide. And people on scooters zipping along the narrow, bendy roads. She could hear cicadas singing in the trees and in the moment it felt, and looked to Grace, like a perfect paradise.

Closing her eyes momentarily, she drew in a big lungful of the deliciously fragranced citrusy and pine-laden air and focused on taking a snapshot of the scene to have permanently etched in her mind’s eye. And to think that Connie would have seen this exact view too. In fact, she most likely stood in the very spot that Grace was in now, as they were on the only road that led right up to the powder pink villa.

‘Come on, let’s go and find out,’ Ellis said, spontaneously grabbing her hand and practically running her all the way to the gates at the entrance to the long path. On a pillar to the right-hand side was an intercom pad. He pressed the buzzer. No answer. Grace gave it another press, but still no answer.

‘What now?’ she said, her heart sinking with disappointment as she looked again at the gate. It was securely locked and padlocked. As she was pondering all the options, a black cat with white splodges on its face came sauntering towards them.