Penny was on watching duty first, and she was finding it hard to stay awake. Partly because she’d had rather too much to drink last night, when the evening had turned into something of a party, but also because rather than watching the front with all its interesting comings and goings, she was in charge of the back. She had put her phone on to Radio 4, which amazingly you seemed to be able to get here, and was listening nostalgically to some politician being bullied by John Humphrys, when there was a sudden movement below. She shut Humphrys up with all the ceremony he afforded his victims and stood up. Yes, a grey Mercedes with Georgiades behind the wheel emerged from the garage and sped off up the hill towards Plaka.

It was eight a.m. Was it too early to rouse Stelios? She decided it was important enough to go ahead.

She knocked on his door.

‘Yes?’ came the muffled reply from within.

‘The coast’s clear!’

‘Right. OK. Good.’ Then total silence, as if he’d instantly fallen back to sleep.

Penny decided to go down to breakfast. Even the most eager of the old men would hardly be in the square by this time.

The usual mouth-watering array awaited her. Fresh fruit salad accompanied by yogurt from Cassandra’s famous goats, with or without glorious Greek honey. There were scrambled eggs and various combinations of ham and cheese beloved of the Germans and the Dutch. Not too much, though, since the number of guests was still lamentably few.

‘Morning, Penny.’

She turned to find she’d been joined by Moira, in one of her original outfits that looked as if it had been rejected even by Help the Aged.

Moira happily began to load her cereal with half a goat’s worth of yogurt, then stopped, her face suddenly troubled. ‘Penny . . .’ she began.

Penny put down her spoon. ‘Yes, Moira?’

‘How much longer do you think we’re going to stay?’

‘Until the question of the statue is resolved maybe.’ Or until Colin appeared on the horizon, though that was a fear she wasn’t going to mention to her friends.

None of the others had showed up, so she decided to go for a walk and think.

Penny headed out into the bright sunlit square. She liked this time of the day when everyone was opening up, good-humoured and full of hope that somehow, today, a cruise ship would appear in the harbour or flocks of tourists suddenly descend from the ferry instead of staying on board and visiting the next island.

This time she didn’t head for the beach and the boathouses, but down a narrow lane towards the back of the town. She’d rarely been this way and found herself turning a corner and walking slap bang into a donkey, which was as surprised at the encounter as she was.