Meanwhile, Meaty couldn’t wait to tell them how Mrs Papadakis, who hadn’t lost the chicken but just happened to be passing when Zenobia grabbed it from the other woman, had spotted him and Jon on the ground and kicked up a real stink of her own.
‘She called Mr Makris a “lazy sod” for making us do all the work.’ He sounded thrilled. ‘And she shouted “mingebag” at him. What does that mean?’
April glanced at Stella, who shrugged. Louise and Will were in the dark, too.
‘And what did Mr Makris make of her insults?’ April wanted to know. ‘Was he furious?’
Meaty’s eyes widened. ‘Oh no! He was really scared! He kept saying sorry. He even thanked us for cleaning up!’
Now the drama was over and had reached a satisfactory conclusion, Louise and Stella whipped round the supermarket aisles, picking out food for supper: ready-cooked lamb skewers from a smart electric roller grill in the corner of the store, which were still slightly warm, fresh oregano, salad, fruit and crusty bread.
As Stella selected four large, round, ripe peaches from a pile and placed them carefully in the wire basket, she found herself speculating on the relationship between Mr Makris and the housekeeper.
Unless Katerina make a habit of rounding on anyone who happened to annoy her, it seemed likely she knew the old man quite well – well enough to feel she could harangue him, anyway.
While Stella paid the bill, she couldn’t resist asking April about the elderly pair.
‘Did they both grow up here in Porto Liakáda?’
‘Just Mrs Papadakis,’ April said. ‘Mr Makris is from Viron originally, near Athens. I think he came here for work when he was a young man and never left.’
‘Are he and Mrs Papadakis friends? Or were they, before this happened?’
April nodded, before correcting herself. ‘Well, sort of. It’s a bit of a love-hate relationship, to be honest. She was mainly friends with his wife, Cora. She got cancer, the poor woman. She was gone within six months. Must be about ten years ago now. How time flies!
‘She and Katerina used to meet for coffee sometimes here in town. She was so sweet and gentle, Cora. Everyone warmed to her. Not like that husband of hers with a wandering eye. I can’t think why she put up with him. If it wasn’t for their daughter, I reckon she’d have thrown him out years before. She adored Marina; they both did. I gather she thought she couldn’t have children; she had loads of miscarriages, then one day – bam! She got pregnant in her late thirties. Apparently, she went away to stay with her parents while she was expecting and she came back with a baby girl.
‘Marina was a strange little thing, by all accounts, not like other children. Obsessed with books. The art came later. She didn’t play with toys or other kids her age; she was always reading. My friend Sofia – she runs the restaurant up the road, Odyssey – her mum told her Mrs Papadakis lent Marina books from the big house, where you’re staying. The two of them used to read together on one of the benches looking out to sea. Cora wasn’t a reader, you see, but Mrs Papadakis was. She and Marina had that in common.’
Stella paused for a moment, reflecting on what she’d just heard, before picking up the bags of shopping from the counter and handing them round.
The high street was buzzing with people when she, Louise, Jon and Will left the supermarket having said their goodbyes.
Most of the tables in the restaurants and bars were full and there was a steady hum of voices punctured with the occasional burst of laughter.
Stella glanced anxiously to her right but fortunately, Mr Makris was nowhere to be seen, though his shop door was still open. Katerina had vanished, too.
‘You did a really good thing, cleaning up that mess for April,’ she told Jon, who was just behind her. She sounded rather stilted, despite her best efforts, and he grunted some sort of reply. This ‘acting normal’ business wasn’t going to be easy.
They were at the foot of the concrete steps, about to begin the long, arduous ascent to the top, when someone called out Stella’s name.
Surprised, she spun round and was dismayed to see Marina, in a long, flappy, purple and white dress, waving wildly at her from across the road.
From the enthusiasm of her greeting, you’d have thought she and Stella were long-lost friends, not virtual strangers whose last encounter had ended frostily.
Stella gave a cool nod of acknowledgment before turning back to the steps, and Louise grabbed her upper arm.
‘C’mon, quick! Let’s get out of here.’
They rushed up three or four steps, followed by Jon and Will. Marina, however, was too fast for them.
‘Wait!’ she cried.
‘I don’t believe it! She’s running after us,’ hissed Louise. ‘Bloody woman.’
Stella’s heart was racing and in her panic, she dropped her shopping bag. Several items of food rolled out including the ripe peaches, which splattered all over the place.
‘Shit!’
