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the servants’ quarters. But they’re not on the master ring, either.’ I withdrew the set and counted them out. Numbers 15 to 18 were still missing.
    We had purchased the house without seeing the small closed-off area at the back of the property. Although we had studied the floor plans together, the surveyor hadn’t managed to gain access, and neither of us had been able to visit the house again before flying back to London.
    ‘You can deal with this,’ he told me. ‘It will be good practice for you.’
    I found Rosita emptying the oven, her face burnished to a coppery red by the flames. Above her, giant iron pans hung like instruments of torture. A lethal-looking jamon holder stood on the wooden worktop, its carving utensils still coated in shreds of dark meat.
    ‘Rosita, the servants’ section is sealed off and there are no keys on this ring.’
    She set her trays down with a clatter. ‘Yes. I keep them.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘I have always done so.’
    ‘Well, may I have them?’ I asked with some curtness.
    ‘The rooms never get any light, and there is no electricity, so there are rats. And the sinks – the taps never worked well. Sometimes there is standing water. It means there are – well, it is best to keep the doors shut.’
    ‘Then surely it’s time the rooms were aired and cleaned. When were they last used?’
    Rosita had an evasive look in her eye that made me suspicious. ‘There have not been any servants here for many years,’ she said, clearly unhappy about being questioned in what she considered to be her domain.
    I stood my ground. ‘Then I don’t understand what the problem is.’
    ‘There is no complete set of keys. I will have to find them.’
    ‘I’d like you to do so. I thought you were going to find a set for the surveyor.’
    ‘I thought I had some copies but I could not find them. The master keys were never properly labelled, and were put in different boxes.’
    ‘Well, I’ll need to get in there sooner or later, because I want to see what needs repairing.’
    ‘Nothing needs repairing,’ said Rosita firmly.
    ‘Senora Delgadillo, my husband and I bought the whole house, not part of it, and now we would like to see what we own.’
    ‘Very well,’ said Rosita finally. ‘I will speak to your husband about it.’
    ‘No, you can speak to me.’
    Rosita sniffed in the subtlest of disapprovals, and continued with her work. I had an ominous feeling that this might turn into a battle of wills.

 
     
    CHAPTER SIX
    The Atrium
     
     
    ‘S HE WON’T GIVE them to me,’ I explained when I returned to the drawing room. ‘She’s been in charge of the place for so long that she thinks she owns it.’
    Mateo laughed out loud.
    ‘I’m glad you think it’s funny.’
    ‘I’m sorry. This kind of attitude is so typical, if you were from here you’d appreciate it. Don’t worry, I have to talk to her about her wages anyway, I’ll sort it all out then.’
    ‘It’s your property. You have a right to know what’s behind those doors.’
    ‘I’m sure we’ll be disappointed. You heard the same as me; they’re not habitable because there’s no natural light. I’ll leave you to go and freshen up for a few minutes. Then we can make a proper tour of the rest, yes?’
    He closed the door softly, leaving me alone.
    Is he expecting me to change my clothes? I wondered, scrubbing a mark from my old blue Just Do It Nike shirt. I couldn’t change who I was, but decided to make a bit of an effort to look more like the lady of the house, at least to start with. I wasn’t about to start creeping about the place in high-necked dresses and court shoes.
    The shower was black-and-white tiled, with a battered tin head that pumped out a drenching waterfall. Outside, the temperature was rising into the high thirties, but the interior of the house remained pleasant and breezy.
    Already my pale skin had freckled and was darkening to a smooth caramel. My chest had cleared its persistent passive-smoker