The Running Grave Initial Read-Through, Part 5. Spoilers Through Chapter 58

 As always, spoilers in Blue.

I knew the locked barn full of "junk" would be important, eventually. I suppose that is Maeve Doherty's stuffed cuddly bunny in the trash heap?  Recollections of Blue Bunny in The Christmas Pig. I hope it finds its way back to her, somehow.  In the meantime, given that Basil the yapping dog pointed us to the importance of the Polaroid of Deidre, we should attend to the Polaroids Robin finds in the barn, which is the closest thing to a Chamber of Secrets we have seen so far. 

The Tottenham has become the Flying Horse! 

Dev Shah seems like a great guy who has Strike's back, warning him first about Littlejohn, now about the piece in Private Eye. I really hope the fact that he, like Littlejohn, was off the same night as the snake arrive is just coincidence. 

It is good to see Strike rapidly neutralize Bijou; I hope he is as effective with Charlotte. Good for him for apologizing to Ilsa, too. Hiring some of Shanker's goons to tail Littlejohn was probably a good idea, but surveillance is clearly not their game any more than it is Shanker's.  Remember how he botched the Donald Laing job?  I'm also a bit suspicious of this so-called Mommy's boy client; the timimg on his name-dropping Patterson seems a bit too convenient. 

OK, more dirt on Abigail Wace. I am still hooked on my hypothesis that Cherie Gittims/Makepeace/Curtis is Kurt Jordan Reaney's still-unnamed sister. Now I am also thinking that Cherie is the "other girl" who tried to save Paul Draper from a whipping, but wound up beating him themselves. That would qualify as "getting himself in a bad situation," except that, according to the news article, that person did not die. I am not convinced Abigail is telling the truth about not knowing where Cherie is. 

I am also wondering who the Pinterest artist is.  I had initially assumed someone connected to Deidre's family: perhaps one of her children or even her ex, but I am now wondering if it could be someone else.  The Abigail/Jordan/Cherie trio seemed to have left before Deidre would have been there. Perhaps Jiang?  

The prison interview with Jordan clears up the information gap about when Paul Draper and Jordan exactly were in the cult; they appear to have entered and left together in 1993 and 1996. Given that the polaroids seem to be from this era, they appear to have been made after Alexander Graves' death. But, the dark-haired chubby girl seems to resemble Phillipa Graves, suggesting someone in the group had some power over her after her brother's death, and potentially after her niece's. Assuming she is a few years younger than her brother, she could be have been in her early 20's at this time. 

The fact that Jordan reacted with unease to Cherie Gittins' name makes me think again about whether she could be his "sister."  I am also wondering if "Jacob" could be the Pirbright's absent father. 

Robin's eavesdropping on the Pirbright sisters raised more questions than it answered. 

Timeline

Jacob Messenger would have been arrested in 2011, according to Murphy

Jordan and Paul Draper appear to have been in the UHC 1993-1996, when the former was 17-20. 

Becca Pirbright would have been about four years older than Daiyu Mace, and therefore about 11 when the latter drowned. Emily would have been about 9 and Kevin only 6. 

Shawna is supposed to be 18, but has two children already, the younger of whom is at least two. This suggests she, too, was pregnant while underage, probably when younger than 15. 

Names

Bo: This is a name of double meaning: Scandanavian: "Living" and in Chinese "waves."  There are certainly a multitude of ocean and water themed names at this community!

Barry: "Fair-haired."

Saxon: "Dagger, short sword"  This seems fitting for a man Strike believes is set on vengance.

Shawna: "God is gracious." 

Sita:  "furrow;" also the name of the Hindu goddess of agriculture. 

Gillian:  "Youthful"

Heaton: "The High Settlement"

Harry Potter Echoes

Barry is giving off Bloody Baron vibes, and the fact that his last name can mean sword isn't helping. 

Mazu is increasingly Voldemort-like when it comes to punishing her followers.