Road-trips Galore: Masham, Edinburgh and Barrow-in-Furness: Career of Evil Read-along, Part 2 of 6

The first interesting connection I noticed on this read-through was during Linda and Robin's chat in Betty's of Harrogate. Linda had apparently seen the same program with Elin talking about Romantic composers that Elin herself forced Strike to watch in her flat with her, after sex. 

As a neuroscientist, I am of course delighted to see Robin is reading scientific articles on BIID.  Here is one that we know she read, since it was the only study on BIID and brain imaging that had been published before April 2011, when CoE is set. Interestingly, this extension of the study would be published in July 2021, shortly after Robin returned from her ill-fated honeymoon. This study was important because it proposed a different name, xenomelia, for the syndrome. 

We then move from Robin's travels to Strike's The train trip to Edinburgh gives us more a peek at the trauma Strike still experiences from the IED explosion, as he spends a sleepless night on the train, with his phobia of being driven by others returning. He also has to deal with the fact that the Mini is uncomfortable for his leg. 

In the visit to the castle, we get more background on the two army suspects.  I thought this part was and intriguing interlude:

A short-haired blonde in a pin-striped suit approached, going in the opposite direction: “Strike.” He did not recognize her immediately.

 “Emma Daniels. Catterick, 2002,” she said with a grin. “You called our Staff Sergeant a negligent twat.” 

“Oh yeah,” he said, while Hardacre sniggered. “He was. You’ve had your hair cut.” 

“And you’ve got famous.” 

“I wouldn’t go that far,” said Strike. 

A pale young man in shirtsleeves put his head out of an office further down the corridor, interested in the conversation.

Again, one of those snippets that could come up later, not unlike The Silkworm's preview of Brockbank:

He remembered the alcoholic major whose twelve-year-old daughter had disclosed sexual abuse at her school in Germany. When Strike had arrived at the family house the major had taken a swing at him with a broken bottle. Strike had laid him out.

Will we ever meet Emma Daniels or the pale young man again? Could this past encounter with the Staff Sargeant be related to either one of Strike's other cases we have heard about: Perhaps Dean Shaw or the case that earned Strike his medal for heroism?  

On to Melrose, and a lot learned about Donald Laing. The timeline is a mess; my best shot at untangling it can be found here. What struck me in reading this time is Laing's thirst for revenge; his arson, cat-strangling, etc 

We get so involved in learning Laing's history that we almost forget about Matthew and Robin; so the first indication we see that she has left Matthew, coming, as it does, from the killer's perspective, comes as a bit of a surprise. There is a bit of a delay as we divert to Shanker's introduction, and Strike's memories of him as Robin goes off to tail Platinum.  The killer's stalking of her, while she is in this vulnerable and distressed state, adds to the tension. Once we hear the familiar voice saying "No, you fucking can't" and realize Strike has tracked her to the Tottenham, we breathe a sigh of relief, because we know she'll be safe now. 

The talk in the Tottenham is a mirror image of the one we saw in CC, only Robin shows a bit more restraint with her three glasses of red versus Strike's eleven pints of Doom Bar. We finally learn not just about the infidelity that made Robin finally walk out of the Flobberworm, but about the rape that ended Robin's university career. This scene, and the aftermath the next day, are for me, the best Strike-Robin scenes in the series to date, although they would later be superseded by the breakdown on the verge in LW and Whiskey-Curry night in TB. Highlights are:

• Strike putting aside his usual interrogator persona and gently coaxing the information out of Robin, even sharing something about his relationship with Elin in the process. 
• His being astute enough to catch on to the raper without Robin having to explicitly say it. 
• Strike complimenting her observational powers by saying he wasn't surprised her evidence had put the perp away. 
• His being emotionally intelligent enough to realize that the relationship may not actually be over, as opposed to the racetrack visit in LW, where he buys her champagne to celebrate the end. 
• The next morning, when Robin asks him if she still has a job, he acts shocked that that would even be in question.
• Strike calls her "partner" in front of Wardle. 

After they have their follow-up chat in the Feathers, and agree to the first road-trip in the Land Rover, Chapter 23 ends on a most chilling note, as, on the drive to Barrow-in-Furness, Strike finally admits the full story of Noel Brockbank, ending with:

“He was invalided out,” said Strike, his dark eyes meeting Robin’s blue-gray ones. “He got off scot-free, with a payout and pension to boot, and off he went, Brittany in tow.”

By now, sharp-eyed readers have remembered we have heard this story before, without names, in The Silkworm. See above for the full quotation. Before, many readers might have been cheering Strike on as he punched out the drunk child molester who was attacking him. Now we know that this excessive force was one of the worst mistakes of Strike's career; one that not only let Brockbank go free to abuse not just Brittany, but dozens, if not hundreds, of other little girls over the next 9 years, but could have, if not for a diligent lawyer, landed Strike himself in jail. After Robin's drunken confession in the Tottenham, Strike has, in turn, shared one of his own vulnerabilities. It's clear they are getting closer; "Matthew would not like this" is perhaps the understatement of the year.  

On Monday, we'll pick up with Chapters 24-32. Prepare for the premiere of Venetia Hall!