‘Ah, I found it,’ he said, finally producing a little gold key. ‘My mother, she hide it here.’

Conscious of the time, I started to dress quickly while I watched him. Then I removed the plank that kept the door closed. He unlocked the little box and rummaged around. I heard him make a little, ‘Ah, perfect!’ while I was pulling my shoes on. He reached for my hand and pulled me up. ‘Close your eyes,’ he said, I did, and felt him slide something cold and lumpy onto my ring finger. Before I could see what it was, the door burst open, knocking me sideways. Manno backed up. A rotund woman in heavy black skirts and scarf, brandishing a besom, set about walloping poor naked Manno. She screeched at the top of her voice while pointing to the jewellery box on the table. Unnoticed, I slipped out and ran down to the port as fast as I could, not slowing until I was up the ramp and safely on the ship.

I hurried around the deck until I reached the side furthest from the quay, hidden from the port. There, I examined the ring, a silver dolphin that curled itself around my finger.

‘Hello, Delphi,’ I whispered. ‘You precious creature of the sea.’

Chapter 41

CHAPTER 41

SHELLY

Greece, present day.

LATE AFTERNOON, SHELLY IRONED HER white linen pants and a matching shirt. Apart from a little mascara and lip gloss, she abandoned the idea of make-up, but then fumbled with buttons and smudged her eye make-up while fretting about Elias’s remark. He’d been moody and begrudging all day and she hoped he wasn’t going to try and embarrass her in front of the dive team, though she wouldn’t put it past him. Had she understood correctly, that Harry had an endless string of girlfriends? The man was, after all, good-looking and surrounded by beautiful, half-naked women for much of the year. She would be naïve to think he lived like a hermit. Also, she wondered if Elias was perhaps a little jealous of her receiving most of Harry’s attention.

At the dive centre, she found a long trestle outside the building, overlooking the sea. Petros was setting out thirty places with notebooks, pencils, upturned plastic glasses and bottles of water.

She found Harry inside, on his tablet and knew better than to speak to him.

Outside again, she noticed a place set with a label bearing her name. Feeling Petros’s eyes on her, she looked up and gave him a smile. ‘Thank you, Petros. It feels good to be an official part of the team.’

‘According to my father, you’ve got more qualifications than several of the main dive team.’