‘Yes. I guess so,’ he nodded. ‘Although there was rumour of the artist being of noble descent – a count, or was it a lord? It was definitely a title or prominence of some kind, but nothing has ever been proven so it could all be hearsay. But mystery surrounding an artist always adds a certain intrigue and premium to the value of each piece as it surfaces.’

‘How exciting. And Connie did live in Italy,’ Grace added. ‘I know that for sure from her diary which is dated 1955 … so the timing fits. Maybe she knew the artist and bought the paintings before they became valuable.’ Ellis nodded slowly, as if mooting the idea as a possible answer to the conundrum.

‘But how come the collection is here in the UK?’ he asked. ‘Why would she bring them all the way from Italy and put them in a storage unit in Greenwich, England? Surely she’d hang them on the walls of her home … don’t you think it seems odd to hide them away for all these years? Call me biased, but to me art is a joyful thing. Something to be treasured and enjoyed, not banished away.’ He shook his head, deep in thought.

‘I agree. But I’ve seen all sorts of things hidden away inside our storage units.’ She smiled, remembering the medals and the fossils.

‘Oh, I bet you have! So come on, tell me what’s the most bizarre thing you’ve ever found?’ he asked, putting his phone away in a pocket so as to give her his full attention.

‘Well, this isn’t bizarre, exactly, but it did make Larry and me stare in silence for a few minutes after unlocking the door to this particular unit … number 211. It’s stuck in my head ever since.’

‘Go on … what was in number 211?’ he prompted, widening his eyes and hanging on her every word.

‘A collection of prosthetic limbs! Which isn’t that unusual; but all of these ones were right legs, and in various sizes from tiny baby ones right up to adult man-size ones – luckily the owner turned up, after Larry sent the third payment reminder notice, and took them away, as we had no idea what we were going to do with them.’ They laughed together, and Grace liked how being here with Ellis made her feel. Light and relaxed. And she wondered if she might get to come to the café again before he had to leave for the next part of his European trip.

‘That’s too funny! I can just imagine Uncle Larry’s face on seeing all the legs. I bet it was a picture.’ And they laughed some more. ‘Well, thankfully it didn’t put you off opening abandoned units for ever more or we would never have discovered Connie’s intriguing collection. And I can’t wait to get inside the unit and take a look.’