At that moment, Takis wandered out of the hotel’s reception with the mayor a step or two behind him. Penny’s whole demeanour instantly changed, as if a lightbulb had been turned on inside her. And the most telling thing was that she didn’t even know.

They all stared, with varying degrees of discretion, at Nikos. He walked straight over to Penny. ‘How’s the furniture transformation going?’

‘We’re only really starting this morning,’ Penny replied. ‘What will happen now with the olive grove?’

‘The Department will want to come and have a look. Mr Georgiades is livid. He has even offered for us to go and dig it up ourselves to prove there is no statue there.’

‘It’s funny,’ Moira whispered, watching Penny and Nikos. ‘They’re talking about furniture when they really want to talk about sex.’

‘Moira!’ Nell and Dora chorused.

‘Don’t be such prudes! You’re in the country of Eros, the god of sexual attraction! If he shoots an arrow at you, you have no choice but to succumb.’

‘Well, I hope Eros keeps his arrows in his quiver, especially where I’m concerned,’ Nell said firmly.

‘Oh, I don’t know.’ Dora looked across at Takis, who was rearranging the tables and chairs on the hotel terrace. ‘Our host here has rather a taking twinkle, don’t you think?’

A little later Penny joined them, still glowing from her encounter with Nikos.

‘I forgot to show you,’ Moira suddenly said. ‘With so much going on.’ She winked at the other two. ‘Here’s the drawing from the doctor’s library.’

There it was: the statue of Venus, reclining on a couch, holding the golden apple in her hand. Penny looked at it intently while Dora studied it over her shoulder, then had the sudden brainwave to photograph it on her phone.

‘It’s very beautiful,’ she said. ‘You can tell the quality of the workmanship even in this basic drawing. No wonder the king wanted it.’

Not only was it beautiful, Dora couldn’t help thinking, but there was also something vaguely familiar about it that had nothing to do with the hand holding the apple.

Perhaps she’d seen a copy of it in a museum somewhere. The only thing was, Dora wasn’t really one for museums. The only Venus in her life had been all too real, the little bitch. Dora put her phone away, trying not to think about Venus Green, who she had probably become much too fond of, and who was now being represented by Dora’s greatest rival.

Eight

Penny began the furniture restoration with a chest of drawers, standing at the front of the room so that the rest of the helpers could see how she did it.