‘So, I ask you, friends – you are in need of tourism,’ Georgiades continued. ‘When my house is completed I have plans to spend much more time here and open a beach club somewhere on the island. That will attract plenty of tourists. Does anyone have a proper objection to me building my house?’

At the very back of the crowd, a disembodied voice shouted: ‘The goddess Aphrodite does!’

Everyone turned, and a passage opened up like the parting of the Red Sea to reveal Ariadne full of angry confidence. ‘The grove is sacred to the goddess and she is very angry at your blasphemy.’

Xan’s response was to start laughing. Soon others in the crowd started to echo him.

‘Poor girl,’ sympathized Dora, ‘she’s only fifteen.’

‘Aren’t you’re the daughter of our hero Takis?’ Xan sneered. ‘No doubt you want to keep your job working for him.’

‘No, she doesn’t.’ This time Dora got to her feet to intervene. ‘Ariadne is a clever girl. She doesn’t want to work in a bar or at the hotel. She wants to go to university and study plants!’

Xan ignored her. ‘So how do you know the goddess is angry with me?’ he asked rudely. ‘More imaginary scent of myrtle?’

‘Because she left this!’ Ariadne drew a perfectly carved marble hand holding an apple from her sleeve, where she’d been hiding it.

‘Oh my God!’ breathed Penny.

‘Maybe it’s all true,’ Moira endorsed, hardly able to contain her excitement, ‘about Olivier de Menton’s Venus!’

Xan Georgiades shook his head dismissively. ‘This is Greece. There are bits of statue in every farmer’s field. Anyway, how we do know she didn’t plant it there?’

A snigger at the back of the crowd swelled into a laugh like an aural Mexican wave until almost everyone was doubled up at the idea of little Ariadne, a village girl, finding and deliberately planting a marble hand in a field to thwart this posh Athenian’s holiday home.

‘He’s lost them,’ grinned Dora.

‘Enough, enough now, arketa, arketa.’ Nikos rose to his feet. ‘Thank you, my friends. I think we must look into the mystery of this marble hand. We will postpone the decision for tonight at least.’

Xan glared at Ariadne and tried to grab the hand from her. ‘Where did you get this anyway?’

Ariadne stood her ground and hung onto the carving.

‘Who do you think you are?’ he demanded. ‘Some kind of sibyl at the Delphic Oracle? You’re just a stupid little girl!’

‘Thank you, Mr Rich Athenian,’ Takis intervened. ‘As we’ve already heard, she’s a very intelligent young woman.’ He put his arm round his daughter and shepherded her towards the hotel.