I pulled the cardigan tight around my shoulders, and went into the living room, where we’d put the kittens. A note on the settee beside their box said: ‘We’ve had our breakfast’. I returned to the kitchen and put a pan on the hob to heat water for coffee. I leaned back against the counter and looked around. I’d had a go at cleaning the tiles and the paintwork, but everything was old and worn; the accumulated grime of the centuries caught in the exposed plaster and the cracks in the wood. We needed more supplies, proper, hardcore cleaning stuff.

I moved closer to the hob, where it was warmer. I laid out the cups for coffee. I yawned. I felt like myself. For the first time in ten years, I felt as if my life was where it was supposed to be. I was with Joe and our combined love for Daniel was as strong as ever and Anna was gone and we had the villa and everything was going to be okay.

Two detectives came that morning to investigate the disappearance of the Madonna del Mare, one male, one female.

I hovered while Joe showed them the alcove in the hall where the Madonna del Mare had always hung and then gave them the photograph I’d found and answered the questions they asked. After that, we all sat in the living room and drank coffee. I fidgeted, unable to follow the conversation, but turning my eyes to whomever was speaking.

When they were gone, Joe told me the officers believed whoever had taken the painting must have had a key. My grandmother’s keys, or the housekeeper’s set, must have been copied over the years. Keys would have been handed out to relatives, tradesmen and so on. Trying to track down everyone who ever had one would be impossible, that line of enquiry simply wasn’t feasible.

‘But if Gabriele Arnone used to come in to do odd jobs, he might have had a key,’ Joe said, ‘and he might have passed the key on to Vito Barsi.’

‘Or Gabriele might have come into the villa himself,’ I said.

‘Maybe.’

‘We need to change the locks, Joe.’

‘We’ll make it a priority.’

‘So, are the police going to question Vito?’

Joe said they weren’t. Not yet. They had a dedicated squad for tracking down missing works of art and the Madonna del Mare would be added to the database of unaccounted for pieces. Auction houses and fine art salerooms would be notified to keep an eye out, but the main focus of the squad officers would be the dark web, where stolen paintings were sold to private collectors with more money than integrity. Once the painting was found – if it was found – then its provenance could be traced back to whoever it was who had taken it in the first place and he or she would be held accountable.