Nikos had obviously answered at once. ‘Just go down to the jetty at the end of the boathouses and he will pick you up in ten minutes,’ the doctor told them reassuringly.

Moira chose that moment to call and ask if everything was all right.

‘No, actually,’ Nell replied. ‘Naomi has to go to hospital in Santorini. Nikos is picking us up from the quay outside in ten minutes.’

Moira thought quickly. Santorini was the location of the mysterious statue seller. ‘Do you mind if I come too?’

Leaving no time for a polite refusal, Moira ended the call and grabbed a bike from the harbour. She’d have to find out whose it was later. She rode so fast that she got to the quay near Nikos’s boathouse before they did.

‘At least the sea is calm for the little one,’ Nikos said, smiling reassuringly as they climbed aboard. Penny was grateful that he gave no sign of the intimacy between them. The engine was already running and they headed out to sea. She couldn’t help briefly thinking how painfully different this trip was from their last. Perhaps it was a wake-up call, sharp reality intruding into a misty dream, dispelling it with the worry of Nell’s sick grandchild.

‘Funnily enough,’ Marigold announced, recovering her usual insensitivity, ‘I’ve always wanted to go to Santorini.’

‘How long will it take?’ Willow asked Nikos.

‘Just over two hours if we’re lucky.’

To their general relief, the gentle up and down movement of the boat seemed to soothe Naomi and she fell asleep in her mother’s arms.

‘Tell me if she’s too heavy, darling,’ Nell offered.

‘There is a bed in the cabin,’ Nikos suggested, avoiding Penny’s eyes. ‘Perhaps you would be more comfortable to lie down with her there?’

That left the awkward quartet of Penny, Marigold, Moira and Nikos.

‘So, Nikos,’ Marigold demanded archly, ‘does having a pirate ship make you feel like a pirate? I can see you with a black patch, taking beautiful captives to your cabin.’

‘As I’m the mayor, I think I would be in charge of catching pirates rather than being one.’

‘But you can’t even catch whoever’s stolen this famous statue!’ she accused playfully, looking up at him through heavily mascaraed eyelashes.

Moira exchanged a ‘God, she’s awful’ look with Penny.

‘We don’t even know if there was a statue at all,’ Nikos replied crisply.

‘Moira’s sure there is, aren’t you, Moira?’ Penny couldn’t help replying. ‘Ever since she read about the corsair who found a statue of Venus and was going to take it to the French king but then hid it instead, it’s been a holy grail.’

Nikos looked suddenly as stern as a statue himself. ‘Tell your friend these things are better left to the authorities – that they should not get involved.’