Uncle Cormoran and the Hospital Reconciliation; Overly-Entitled Employers, Then Oops, the Client is Dead. Lethal White Read-Along, Chapters 26-35. Part 4 of 8.

 

July 6th was an eventful day for both our heroes. Strike is trying to get readjusted to his apartment on crutches, preoccupied both with Lorelei's declaration of love and the increasing pressure of the Chiswell case. Then he gets the call that makes all of that seem unimportant, and rushes off to the hospital to be with his critically ill nephew, Jack. 

Robin, knowing nothing of this, makes her risky call where she all-but-impersonates Della Winn and gets the needed information of Sir Kevin, which neutralizes the blackmail threat from Geraint Winn and puts cranky old Minister Chiswell in the only cheerful mood we see him in the entire book. I guess it's good to see the old fart smile once, considering he has less than a week to live. 

I must say, the entire hospital chapter (26)  is probably my second favorite in the book, and possibly in the series, second only to the breakdown on the verge that will be coming up later. First. we see Strike, for the first time, prioritize his blood family over anything. I love the way he steps in, stays by Jack's bedside while trying to update and reassure his parents long-distance, and, as he notes Jack's resemblance to Leda, feels genuine remorse that he has not forged a closer relationship. After spending the last few days resentful of his married employees who must schedule work around family obligations, suddenly Strike has one himself. This entire incident makes him appreciate not only Jack, but Lucy and even her husband, whose voice Strike is actually happy to hear on the phone. 

Then, Robin turns up exactly when he needs her. Not only does she provide him comfort and companionship during the long wait, she had conveniently gotten Chiswell the bargaining chip he needed, handling the agency work quite nicely during Strike's unplanned and unannounced absence. They are back on friendly terms and it is clear that they are each other's "best mates," even if it will take them another two years to acknowledge that. 

“It was a glorious thing, to be given hope, when all had seemed lost”  Is there a better chapter ending in the entire series?

Unfortunately, things take a swift downward turn for Robin when she returns to the Flobberworm, I think it is interesting that she finds him fully dressed and "snoring drunkenly" on the sofa the next morning. If he was that drunk, I wonder how he got home. I wonder if Sarah Shadlock volunteered to see him home safely, and engaged in a little make-out session in the cab?

This is the near-final row for the couple:

"Whereas my achievements...."

“Sorry, remind me what they are again?’ Matthew said, a low blow he had never thrown at her before. ‘Or are we counting his achievements as yours?”

Tired, angry, guilty and miserable, Robin felt as though she were waiting for something definitive to happen, something that would release them both with honour, without more filthy rows, with reasonableness.

The "definitive" thing that will happen, of course, is Matthew resuming his affair with Sarah, which could possibly have happened on the night of the cricket match.  Part of me wishes Robin had not waited for that, that the realization that she did not love him and regretted marrying him would have been enough to get her to pull the plug. 

Robin's days in the House of Commons seem to be numbered after she is accosted by Mitch Patterson and after her near-miss in retrieving the final listening device. Chiswell is back to his miserable self. And, I am always a bit surprised that Barclay and Robin are meeting for the first time here. Barclay's been working for the agency for a month and he and Robin are on the same case. It is also strange to me that the evidence of Della and Aamir having an affair isn't communicated to Chiswell; it seems that would be something Geraint would want kept out of the papers. as well. 

To be honest, I though both Chiswell and Strike act a bit like over-entitled jerks in the day leading up to the Paralympic Ball. First, Strike is a real ass to Hutchins. If you are going to have an employee with MS, you have to create an environment where they can be open about flare-ups; Hutchins was up-front when hired that his disease was unpredictable. Strike calls Hutchins a "stupid fucker" when he has an attack of paralysis and asks "Why didn't you tell me you were ill?"  Uh, maybe because you've been guilt-tripping him about taking time off for injuries to family members and vacations he had presumably cleared with you well in advance?  He expressed doubt about tailing Knight and you reacted angrily; are you then surprised he was reluctant to explain?  I sometimes think Strike is expecting too much devotion from employees who have, essentially, no job security and can be sacked (excuse me, "contract non-renewed" without notice or reason. Has Strike forgotten that he himself recently collapsed in the street and was out of commission for a week, then walked away and did not respond to messages for a full day when Jack was in the hospital?

Second, what type of services does Minister Chiswell think he's paying for?  It was the detectives' job to dig up counter-blackmail material on Winn and Knight. They did that for one and were diligently working on the other. Chiswell seems to think Strike is some sort of private security thug, whose job it is to actually stop Knight from communicating Chiswell's secret to the public. You could argue it was Strike's job to warn the minister once he found out what Knight's plans were, and he did. Actually disrupting the protest to prevent the display of the placard is, it seems to me, an act above and beyond the call of duty of a private detective. Chiswell ought to be grateful Strike limited the damage; instead he threatens to fire them!

A few interesting bits from the Paralympic Ball: 1) The Green Dress, of course. I am so glad she wore it and that Strike noted how stunning she looked. 2) Robin alone appears to catch on to the abject hatred Chiswell is feeling towards Kinvara and 3) the long-awaited return of Charlotte, pregnant with twins, no less. It is amusing to see how aware of each other Charlotte and Robin are, considering they never formally meet. Personally, I am glad the call from Billy Knight disrupts the exit and Strike took his leave from her quickly.

The first half of the book----  and possibly the first half of the series, given the orphan "Part Two*" that opens Chapter 36, draws to a close the next morning, when Robin discovers Chiswell's body.  Good-bye, blackmail, hello murder investigation. We will pick up with Part Two next week. 

*as John Granger pointed out at the time of publication, there is no "Part One" at the start of LW