‘And you gave it up?’

‘Like for most politicians, it was forced retirement.’ Rex paused. ‘I lost an election. Game over.’

‘Graham fought in the war too,’ Vera said.

‘Victoria Cross,’ said Sparrow.

‘Quiet, you,’ Rex scowled. He ran a sweaty hand across his gauze of hair, reining in the loose strands. ‘But my bloody oath, he did. He was a brave soldier. Corporal Graham Abbott stared down the yellow peril in the jungle, killed six of the squinty-eyed bastards and saved his whole platoon. He was an Australian hero.’

Sparrow sarcastically mouthed the word ‘hero’. Manolis sensed an unspoken tension in the air, as if he’d just walked in on a long-term feud. Sparrow took another draught of homebrew and returned to assiduously studying the dustbowl in the middle distance.

‘Graham fought to keep people like that out of this country,’ Rex added. ‘Turn in his grave.’

Manolis pushed his plate away. He wasn’t full but could suddenly eat no more. ‘That was absolutely delicious, Mrs Boyd. Thank you.’

‘But your plate’s still got all that meat on it,’ she said bluntly.

‘Yes, but I couldn’t eat another bite.’

She looked at him with zero expression. Her next fly swat had extra venom.

‘So you became a copper in the city, eh?’ Rex asked. ‘Good onya, son. Protector of the people, your ol’ man would be proud as punch. And they say the only way out of Cobb is in a wooden box. Reminds me of that old cop show on TV, the actor, what’s-his-name… Greek bloke, bald head, sucked a lollipop…’

‘Kojak,’ said Vera.

The show was before Manolis’s time, from the 1970s, but even he had heard of Greek-American actor Telly Savalas, who played the title role of Lieutenant Theo Kojak.

‘That’s it, Kojak,’ said Rex, smiling. ‘I remember watching that show, your dad probably does too. By the way, you never told me, how’s your old man doing these days? And your mum?’

Manolis’s mind drifted. Eventually, he let his shoulders slump a little and spoke.

‘Mum’s well, but Dad passed away,’ he said heavily. ‘It was recently, only a few months ago.’

His admission was met with a sincere chorus of condolences. Vera was moved enough to stand and embrace him tightly, her ample bosom momentarily restricting his air. Everyone, it seemed, was grieving.

‘Oh,’ Rex said. ‘I’m genuinely saddened and sorry to hear that. I just assumed he was alive and well.’

‘You poor boy,’ Vera intoned. ‘We’re so, so sorry. We didn’t realise you were in a period of mourning.’

That was certainly how Manolis’s mother Maria had approached it, donning all black and refusing to leave the house for forty days. By necessity, her son’s life was more practical.

‘Having work to go to has been good,’ Manolis said. ‘Distracts me, keeps me busy.’

‘From the sounds of it, he lived a full life,’ said Rex.