Moira was the first to speak. ‘Then there’s every reason why you should stay on,’ she announced briskly. ‘Screw the lot of them.’ The others looked at Moira in surprise. She and Dora hadn’t seemed to get on at all. ‘You can help put Kyri on the tourist map. And we’ll need your PR skills if we find the statue. By the way, Ariadne – what have you done with that hand?’ Moira glanced round to make sure no one else was listening.

‘My father locked it somewhere safe.’

‘Excellent. I can’t wait to look for that sketch. What time is it?’

‘After ten,’ Nell replied. ‘Don’t you have a watch?’

‘Never believed in them. I wonder, is it too late to go round to the doctor’s . . .?’

‘Yes, unless it’s a matter of life and death,’ grinned Penny.

‘To quote Bill Shankly about football, which my father did all the time,’ Moira replied, ‘it’s much more serious than that.’

‘Who the hell is Bill Shankly?’ Dora asked, increasingly bewildered.

‘Manager of Liverpool FC,’ Moira supplied.

‘Ah.’

‘So that’s settled, then,’ Moira sailed on gaily. ‘You’re much better off on a tiny Greek island till this girl realizes her mistake, or the waters settle in the exciting world of PR and they start to bitch about someone else.’

Ariadne was still by her side, looking imploringly up at her unlikely heroine.

‘It seems it’s all been organized,’ Dora conceded. ‘Yes, Ariadne, I will stay on Kyri and not go to home to Anglia.’

Before Dora knew it, Ariadne had flung herself into her arms.

The others watched as Dora patted the girl ineffectually, unused to any sign of genuine affection.

Ariadne looked up to Dora’s superior height. ‘Juno will be very pleased too.’

Dora glanced round at her old friends, feeling suddenly light-headed and possibly even happy. ‘There you are,’ she said with a smile. ‘I’m only doing it to keep the goat smiling.’

The doctor was only too thrilled next morning to offer Moira the services of his library. He was fanatical about local history, and it made a pleasant change from the daily rounds of his patients.

The trouble was, Moira couldn’t remember which book she’d seen it in and they ended up taking down every volume in the place.

Improbably, it turned out to be in a modern guidebook to the Cyclades. Almost bursting with excitement, she took it back to the hotel to show the others.

‘How funny,’ remarked Dora. ‘I read the reviews to that guide and they said don’t buy this book, it’s full of boring history and doesn’t tell you about any good bars and restaurants.’

‘Excellent,’ said Moira. ‘The fewer people who read it and come across the sketch, the better.’