‘Kyri is a not a dangerous island. I have not heard of one single burglary. People here do not even lock their doors.’

‘That’s amazing,’ marvelled Dora, thinking of her triple-locked front door at home. ‘I expect I’m being paranoid, but could you go and look now? Make sure Ariadne has left it under lock and key? It’s just that Xan Georgiades has started behaving rather oddly.’

‘Of course, ladies. I will go now and look. Go ahead and order; I will have the kleftiko. And do not touch his wine. It is like goat’s piss. My advice is, stick to beer.’ He produced the lovely rubbery smile that transformed his face from ugly to charming.

‘Right. We will.’

They all placed their orders and requested five Mythos beers, which they drank enjoying perhaps the loveliest time of the day on this lovely island. The last rays of the sun gilded the tops of the tamarisk trees and the beginning of a pink glow gave the whole landscape a magical air. The sea beyond was calm and as opalescent as the inside of a shell. Improbably a family of ducks swam past, rendered in the palest dusty pink.

They sighed in collective enjoyment, then began to laugh. ‘Get us,’ Nell pointed out. ‘We’re so old, the beauty of the landscape means more to us than going partying. Whenever did that happen?’

‘Years ago,’ Penny commented. ‘I used to love staying up, but now the idea of a nightclub till 4 a.m. sounds like medieval torture to me.’

‘How about you, Dora? Surely there’s a lot of partygoing in your business?’

‘Fortunately they’re mostly after work, and I can get home and have a pasta from Tesco Finest and devour a box set.’

‘You don’t have one of those TV dinner trays, do you?’ The thought of glamorous Dora with a TV dinner had the others in fits.

‘As a matter of fact, I do,’ announced Dora grandly.

‘So do I,’ confessed Penny. ‘It’s even got a bean bag attached for stability.’

‘Me too,’ Nell giggled. ‘Though I did resist for quite a long time. I couldn’t bear the image.’

‘I’ve always eaten in college,’ Moira chipped in. ‘At least I used to, until they decided I was too old.’

‘Well, I usually go to the pub,’ said Karl. ‘The mainstay of British culture.’

‘That’s because you’re a man,’ asserted Penny. ‘If you don’t have someone to make it for you at home, you just go and find someone who will!’

‘Now, Penny,’ Dora said tactlessly, ‘don’t judge all men by your husband!’

She regretted it when she saw the sudden look of extreme anxiety the comment caused.

‘Speaking of men,’ Karl commented, ‘I see our friend Takis running rather urgently along the beach.’