Psychogenic Spasms, Another Darcy, Mr. Massoumi, a Bonus Pedophile and the Killer Revealed: The Ink Black Heart Readalong Finale: Chapters 95-Coda (Part 8 of 8)

Anomie confronts Worm28 in the moderators' chat, tells her Hartella has left and demands to know whether she recognizes Strike's and Robin's pictures, insisting he plans to "Ledwell and Blay" them and also that Paperwhite will be disappearing. Meanwhile, the morning after the Mad-tantrum, Strike makes several routine case-based calls, while working up the nerve to call Robin and tell her he wants her to stay at the hotel and work on what she thinks is pointless Twitter-tracking, instead of tracking one of the many suspects that need watching. Please note that his leg was twitching both when he composed the email to her and in the follow-up phone call; a sure sign of the stress these communications are causing him. 

Once again, Robin backs down pretty quickly, as if she had forgotten the aftermath of their Mucky Ricci blow-up, where he agreed she would take the same risks he would. Again, I'll assume she gave in to be sure he would get the treatment he needs for his leg. 

Strike gets bad news in the hospital and is told to stay of his leg for four to six weeks, instead of his usual one. While he gets the prescription pain-killers he wanted. Strike is also diagnosed with psychogenic, stress-related muscle spasms, not only in his leg but also in his face. of course, he assures the doctor he was not under any more stress than usual, failing to mention Madeline, his confrontation with the Rosses, and the fact that he nearly got blown up in the office bombing. Don't London doctors watch the local news?

The next morning, Barclay reports from Glasgow. Strike and Robin Facetime with Nicole Crystal and her disgruntled parents, and she confirms she is not Paperwhite. I really hope this communication makes it into the TV adaptation, because I think the conversation with her parents could be very entertaining. They strike me as the Scottish version of Raj's in The Big Bang Theory. Sharp-eyed readers will also notice that the name Darcy comes up, when Nicole asks, "Why would Darcy (her ex's sister and flatmate) send out pictures of my tits?"

Meanwhile, despite feeling disgruntled by the computer task designed to keep her indoors, Robin is making good use of the time, discovering that Max R, Levine's Disciple, Johnny B. and I am Evola regularly cooperate with Anomie in persecuting Edie and each other in setting one another up to use Kosh lines. 

By Monday, Strike is back in the office checking emails. and Pat is continuing to be annoyed by hang-up calls. Dev arrives with the welcome news that discreet antiquities dealer Mr. Massoumi has the goods on Mama Fingers. Robin arrives in the office right before the new furniture, which includes a red fabric sofa that doesn't seem as entertaining has their last one. The mystery caller calls again, and turns out to be a very frightened Zoe Haigh, who has made the connection between Jessica Robbins and Robin Ellacott. 

Robin agrees to go see her at once, but Strike, worried this is a trap by Anomie, insists on coming too, despite being on crutches. The partners have an intense but air-clearing row about it in the car, where they are forced to acknowledge how worried they are about each other's safety. Strike agrees to trust Robin's judgement and remain in the car; she agrees to take her rape alarm and keep in touch by phone. 

Zoe's box room is sparsely furnished but covered with her beautiful artwork. She is worried both because of Anomie's threats against Robin, and because she is increasingly concerned that Anomie killed Edie. Impressed by the fact that Robin is not just Jessica but Buffypaws, Zoe allows Robin to enter they game as Worm28.  When Anomie asks if Worm is talking to Paperwhite on a private channel, and if she would be comfortable if Anomie could see what she's saying. Paperwhite, who is not on the moderator's channel and therefore should not see Anomie's words, gives herself away by typing "Haha, you're in trouble now....liar.  Robin determines Anomie and Paperwhite are the same person, and is promptly banned. Poor Zoe's in a triple state, upset about the loss of her gaming community, fear from Anomie and concern over angering her pedophilic "boyfriend." She also states that she believes Anomie is Nils DeJong. 

Meanwhile, outside, Tim Ashcroft approaches the building. Strike calls him over and confronts him over his molestation of Zoe.

‘Not making an ableist joke about my amputation, are you?’ said Strike, advancing on Ashcroft, who took a step backwards. ‘I might have to start my own blog. “My take on why the Pen of Justice is a paedophile, and why that should fucking trouble you.”’

Even on crutches. Strike manages to physically intimidate the actor, and Ashcroft flees with Saul Morris-like cowardice. This creates a nice parallel to Career of Evil, as our heroes manage to stop a pedophile, even though he was not the original target og the investigation. 

Robin emerges with Zoe and they send her to Robin's room in the Z hotel for safety. On the way to the Ledwells, Strike agrees with Robin that the twitter-trolling foursome are sock-puppet accounts for Anomie, and likely so were Zoltan and Scaramouche. Strike continues to google the names and makes another breakthrough, but before he can tell Robin, Grant Ledwell interrupts them, ready for his "update." 

The interview with the Ledwells lowers the intensity and injects some humor, with Strike saying he's sure his missing leg will turn up,  Heather and her mom's general cluelessness and Robin's deadpan "How bad do you want me to be?" when Strike suggests playing good-cop/bad-cop. The game works, as Grant begrudgingly admits he lied about past communication with her and withheld the letter Josh sent to put in Edie's coffin. As we've seen before with Tigger when Lorraine spoke of Donald Laing, and Rattenbury when Mare Mourning was first introduced, a yapping dog, in this case the neighbor's Pomeranian, means an important clue is nearby. Strike and Robin determine the letter is not Josh's and leave after urging the Ledwells to contact police. 

Our heroes take off for the Upcotts, who aren't answering their phone, with Strike googling names again and connecting John Baldwin to Darcy Barrett, Nicole's ec-boyfriend's sister. There is a call back from the Upcotts, but it is Flavia screaming for help.  Strike calls emergency services and Robin and Strike pick up the pace to the house. 

They arrive, remarkably. ahed of the police. even that they seemed to be a 10-15 minute drive from the house when they called 999. Once they arrive, in a scene that echoes the snowy highway of The Silkworm. Robin jumps from the care, worried about a potentially injured child, leaving Strke to fumble wiht his crutches. He gets out of the car, shouts at a neighbor to call the authorities and follows Robin on his crutches. Robin breaks into the hosuse to find it the lights out, and tries to go upstairs to look for Flavia, but turns to see Strike tazed and attacked  with a machete. This time it is Robin, not Shanker, who jumps the would-be stabber from behind. 

Gus chases Robin upstairs. where she discovers Inigo's body. Gus advances, threatening rape, and Robin manages to throw a marble female torso--- artwork that represents to misogyny of both Gus and his father---out of the window to summon the neighbors. Of course , the neighbors should already be there and helping, given that Strike called them when the car pulled up, but whose's counting?

Robin is able to employ her defense training and stomps on Gus's feet, much as she had on Morris's. She escapes to the bathroom, where Flavia is unharmed while Katya is suffering a stab room. Gus is trying to break in the door when neighbors finally arrive. Gus turns around to deal with the new threat, and Robin manages to open the door and bash his head with a potted cactus.

Upon hearing that someone was stabbed by the front door, Robin rushes down to attend to Strike. When he asks what happened, she reports, "Inigo dead, Katya stabbed, Flavia OK." Though we aren't shown it, I am confident Strike muttered, "Thank F*ck" under his breath at that piece of news, which I am sure was only an expression of relief for Flavia's safety, right?

The coda allegedly picks up five days later, though there are a lot of issues* with the timeline. Robin arrives at the hospital with bags of healthy food, plus a fruitcake from Pat, prompting Strike to say he always liked their chain-smoking office manager. Robin brings Strike a puppy-and-balloon thank you card from Flavia--hopefully a sign that the precocious. aspiring detective is in a nice home with her puppy-raising "auntie." With any luck, Auntie Dogbreeder will file for permanent custody before Katya gets released. It is also nice to see that, after Strike's unwanted bloodhound birthday card from his father. and Hugh Jackass's slobbery St. Bernard Valentine's card, he's its a card neither objects to . They clear up the loose ends of the case, such as Flavia using the Darth Vader voice, "Darcy" being an older music school classmate of Gus's, and the sister of Nichole Crystal's ex. Strike also tells Robin that he has broken up with the Madwoman and to throw out her card (yay!) and that his sister Prudence is planning a visit that evening. 

Strike is naturally dismayed that Robin has a date with Ryan Murphy, but is it really the same "clarification of his feelings" that Robin experienced when she learned about Madeline? Strike acknowledged at the wedding reception in 2011, nearly four years ago, that he "hoped Robin would not marry." He also mused in Troubled Blood that he did not want her to be persuaded into a second marriage, and that he wanted her free. While Robin may have been shocked by her own reaction to Madeline and the realization that she did love Strike, I think the Doom Bar Detective's eyes were opened on this long ago. 

Re-read complete!  Less than four days until The Running Grave!!!

• *The furniture arrival and the visits to Zoe, the Ledwells and the Upcotts all happened in the evening of Monday July 16th, 2015.  
• Strike told Pat the glaziers would arrive the Thursday or Friday, so the 19th or 20th. 
• Five days after Gus's arrest would be Saturday, August 20th. 
• But, Robin's hospital visit seems to happen on a Friday. 
• She says Nutley called that morning to offer to come back and that Barclay had taken the phone from Pat to tell him off.
• Pat would not be working Saturday 
• Robin, when talking about her date with Murphy, says she had a "free weekend."
• But, if Robin visits on  Friday July 20th, no one could have been walking past the new glass for "five bloody days".  
• Also, Strike gripes that there were four people in the office and no one noticed when there ere actually five: Robin, Pay, Barclay, Midge  and Dev. 
• If the visit is a full week later, on Friday July 26th, then it is 11 days after Anomie's arrest, not five.