‘So what do we do?’ asked Matthew.

Bruce smiled. ‘Don’t move the Chinese cabinet.’

Matthew moved past Bruce and out into the garden. He felt empty. Was it too late to change his mind? He thought it was. Of course they could get a structural engineer and have some remedial work done – that was the obvious thing to do – but what would Elspeth think of him if she discovered that the flat on which he had just spent an inordinate amount of money was not only worth much less than the sum he had paid, but was also on the verge of collapsing?

He walked to the end of the garden. There was a small stone bench against the wall there and he sat down on it. Somewhere in one of the nearby trees, a bird burst into song; and then there was a child’s voice and a woman saying something to the child. Did the neighbours know, he wondered, of the deadly peril they were in? Should he warn them and should they evacuate the whole of Moray Place while his missing supporting wall was replaced? He had no doubt but that it was his duty to do that, but it would not be easy.

He closed his eyes. His life, which only a few months ago had seemed uncomplicated, now seemed to be beset with problems and dangers.

71. Arrival at the Villa

They had received very clear instructions as to how to reach the villa. These were now read out by Angus as Domenica drove and Antonia stared dreamily out of the car window.

‘According to this, we come to a milestone that says twenty miles to Montalcino,’ said Angus, consulting the piece of paper given to him earlier by Antonia. ‘Then, after a further ten miles, we start looking for an unmarked road to the left.’

‘Kilometres,’ said Antonia.

Angus studied the handwritten instructions. ‘No, miles. Look, they’ve written miles.’

He handed the piece of paper to Antonia, who looked at it cursorily and then shook her head. ‘Yes, it appears to be miles, but that must be a mistake. The Italians don’t do miles.’

Domenica joined in. ‘But the person who wrote these instructions – your friend – is not Italian. She obviously thinks in miles and realised that we would be doing the same.’

Antonia shook her head again. ‘But what about the milestone? That’s not going to be in miles, is it? Why would the Italians put miles on a marker? It must be kilometres.’

Angus sought a compromise. ‘Let’s just look for something that says twenty. It doesn’t matter if it’s twenty miles or kilometres or even leagues. Then, when we’ve gone ten kilometres we look for a road. If there is no road, we do an additional … how ever many kilometres would make it up to ten miles.’

‘The wisdom of Solomon,’ announced Domenica. ‘And there, if I’m not mistaken, is the stone.’