Was Izzy Raped? and, at Long Last, the Verge Scene: Lethal White Read-along, Chapters 56-63. Part 7 of 8

 

This section opens with the scene of Strike interviewing Billy Knight in the psychiatric hospital. I love how the compassion Strike has for Billy comes through here, just as it did for Orlando and Jack. This scene makes me think that Strike, his declarations to the contrary, would actually make a great dad. 

We get some important information about Billy being the carver of the White Horse on the bathroom door, and that he routinely did this sort of craftwork to sell to tourists. We also hear at the end that there was something he "hated putting the horse on. "

We see a great piece of narrative misdirection in this scene, too:

“Heard Jimmy talking about him," said Billy, gnawing at his nail again. "Jimmy said Winn was going to help find out all about the kid who was killed."

‘Winn was going to help find out about the child who was strangled?”

“Yeah," said Billy, nervously.

Only later will we learn that "kid who was killed" was Samual Murape, not the child from Billy's memory. 

In Robin's interview with Raphael, she makes the potentially deadly mistake of revealing private information to the suspect, enough that it allows Raff to successfully impersonate Matthew by book's end. We also learn in this interview of Jimmy Knight's sexual encounter with Izzy at Freddie's 18th.  This disturbed me on this re-read, because I, for the first time, considered Izzy's age at the time.  

Freddie, we are told, was the eldest.  I have always assumed Izzy was around Strike and Charlotte's age, given that she was described as an old school friend of Charlotte's. But, at Chiswell House, Fizzy is described as “older, heavily freckled and weather-beaten, her blonde hair streaked with silver, making her the middle sister. But, by mid-thirties, if Fizzy is going to appear visibly older that Izzy, there must be a reasonably long age gap between them, at least three years. Assuming that Freddie is, at most, a year older than Fizzy, Izzy would have been, at most, fourteen at the time of her "deflowering" and possibly several years younger. I don't know what UK laws are for underage sex, but, if Jimmy was substantially older than her (and he seemed to be at least 16), then Rhiannon Winn was not the only case of sexual assault at this party. Unless some sort of "Romeo and Juliet" clause was in effect because of Jimmy being under 18, it appears he could have been charged with statutory rape. 

Think about this: they let a very young girl get drunk at this party, and she was taken advantage of, sexually, by an older boy. Jasper Chiswell was aware of what happened to her, but apparently never took any legal action, presumably because the reputation of his family mattered more than justice for his youngest daughter. If true, then Jasper Chiswell also had potentially damaging information about Jimmy Knight, but declined to use it. Strike had done some digging for any underage girls Jimmy might have slept with; but there may have been one right under his nose. 

Moving on to my absolute favorite scene of the book, and possibly the series, the second drive to Oxfordshire, the breakdown on the verge, Strike's response, then their follow-up conversation at the racetrack. Finally, the relationship is back on track. I love how Strike responds the exact opposite way that Robin expects. Instead of declaring her unfit for work, he offers her comfort, praises her abilities and shares not only some of his own vulnerability (his past PTSD symptoms) but even some of his fallibility (his utterly off-base suspicion that Robin is pregnant). It's delightful to see both the elation he feels at Robin's split from Matthew and his need to (mostly) hide it. He is remarkably insightful; during the broken engagement in COE, he was careful not to disparage Matthew, suspecting the split might not be permanent. This time, he buys her a mini-bottle of overpriced champagne to toast his departure.  And Robin saves the cork.

The chat at the racetrack about the future of the agency echoes the Burger King chat from The Silkworm, but is a huge improvement. The concern there was Matthew impeding Robin's work; now Robin is free of Matthew and Strike is 100% sure she can do the job if she addresses the panic attacks. We've gone from "Shut the fuck up and eat your burger" to "Bear in mind that we want exactly the same thing while I'm saying the next bit, all right?"

I can't leave this conversation without sharing two moments that always make me laugh. 

“I don’t need Winn to tell me I’m basically a pair of walking tits, a stupid, deluded girl who doesn’t realise that’s my only useful attribute.”

“Matthew’s been telling you that, has he?" thought Strike, imagining a few corrective measures from which he thought Matthew might benefit.

and

"I'm not Sarah Shadlock."

“Obviously not. If you were that bloody annoying I wouldn’t be working for you.”

“Maybe you could put that on the next employee satisfaction review. “'Not as bloody annoying as the woman who shagged my husband.' I’ll have it framed.”

Teagan's interruption was timely, as she interrupts Strike's initial explanation of his new theory. I realized this go-around that it was likely the mention of the necklace that made Kinvara and Raff the key suspects, once Strike concluded that two people must have collaborated. If Kinvara called Drummond about getting a valuation on the necklace on the night of the Paralympic Ball, she must have known Jasper was dead or would be soon. Surely she would not expect to get the heirloom as part of a divorce settlement. The fact that she nearly brained her husband with a hammer would certainly have been used against her in any sort of financial settlement. I suppose she could claim Jasper gave it to her, but there is a lot of family to testify that "letting all the wives wear it" was not the same as gifting. And Strike always found Raff's story implausible. 

Once Teagan spills the beans about the designer British gallows business, a big piece of the puzzle is filled in. Does anyone know if exporting gallows is legal again, after Brexit?

We'll finish the book up on Thursday!