The Ink Black Heart: Chapters 71-78. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

 

"Well, if everyone had your powers of observation and quick reactions, Mrs. Chauncey, our jobs would be a hell of a lot easier."

This police officer says it all. Pat shows her awesomeness not only because of her quick thinking with the parcel, but also with her observational skills, which rival the ones Robin showed when she got the severed leg. Robin echoed another CoE scene (Strike with Rona Laing's mother) when she fetched her a glass of medicinal port. 

But the fact that she has now faced physical danger alongside them, even though that is not an expected part of being an office manager, puts Pat on a similar footing to Robin, who had her own first life-saving and life-risking experiences in The Silkworm. She also connects with Strike as she shares about the death of her uncle in the Troubles: 

"Wrong place, wrong time. Hard to get your head around. Well, I don't need to tell you that."

Strike's quip that Jesus "was definitely on our side an hour ago." is the first hint we have gotten of any of religious belief from Mr. Team Rational. This is a foreshadowing of the St. John the Baptist church scene, where we learn that he was taken to Sunday School as a child, and, though he does nt share Joan and Ted's beliefs, he understands why others are faithful and can draw comfort from the Christian symbols he learned about as a child.

Another echo to The Silkworm: The police arrest the partner for a murder based on what appears, on the service, to be very straightforward evidence, but Strike feels, from the start, that they are on the wrong track. Strike initially tells Anstis, "Sounds convincing when you put it like that," when Anstis outlines the case for Leonora as the killer; when Robin tells him about the evidence against Ormand, he says, "Well, I can see why they think they've got their man." 

In case we have any doubt about the future of Strike and Madeline, he considers getting to skip a date with her a fringe benefit of getting bombed. Also, I have to have some sympathy for Lucy and Linda here; Cormoran and Robin really should have realized how panicked their loved ones would be when the news of the bombing broke and preemptively called them. 

Moderator chats become less frequent as the book progresses, with only Chapter 73 in this section. There's not a lot that is earth-shattering here; the point that is most salient is Anomie suggesting that Morehouse might be heading for an accident. However, the lengthy collection of Tim Ashcroft/Pen of Justice tweets that Robin collects and that Strike reads in Chapter 75 contains lots of fascinating tidbits. We see:

• The start of Ashcroft's grooming of Zoe Haigh.
• Another Ashcroft target, Ruby Nooby, presumably the RubyLoob who commented on Wally's Youtube show.
• Rachel, as Penny Peacock, being one of the few to both stand up for Edie and push back on the Pen of Justice, correcting him factually (e.g., the Wyrdy-Grobs, not Drek, having the largest mausoleum) and objecting to his proposed changes (e.g. changing Paperwhite's color, which is about as sensible as turning Harty the Ink Black Heart human) 
• She also calls him out for repeatedly asking her age. 
• Carly Whistler (another Ashcroft target) and her father Andrew, who apparently caught on to what was happening. Strike later mentions contacting Mr. Whistler about getting Ashcroft prosecuted if he can't get Zoe to cooperate. I am sure Mr. Whistler would help blow the whistle on dear old Tim. 

Onto another fan favorite section:  Strike accepting the offer to sleep over at Robin's, a scene that puts new life into the term, "Winner, winner, chicken dinner!" One should especially notice her intentional selection of a whole chicken, as opposed to the package of chicken thighs she thoughtlessly picked up and tossed into her cart when shopping for herself and the Flobberworm back in Career of Evil. And Matthew didin't even appreciate her efforts!  

It's both touching and entertaining to see Strike looking around Robin's apartment at her pictures, art and other decor and thinking about what it tells him about her. The imagery of the overflowing bookshelf, including both fiction and criminology, is especially relevant. David Martin, Hufflepuff scholar and trivia-master, has written on the importance of books in Harry Potter. David's essay is well worth the read, (as is his book, Twelve Fail-safe Ways to Charm Witches) but the take-home message is this: books indicate a good and trustworthy character. The fact that Robin has lots of books, and that Strike built her a shelf in which to store them, bodes well for their future. 

There's also much to love about the imagery of Strike in his new PJ's, snuggled up in Robin's "surprisingly comfortable" sofa-bed, with cream on his stump. This is a contrast to his night with Madeline, where she fell asleep on his shoulder and he had to sleep with the prosthesis on and got a rash from it, further aggravating the breakdown of the stump skin that will eventually threaten the skin of his stump and land him in the hospital. This is yet another good indicator of the relationship with Robin that will be good for Strike, rather than harmful to him. Yes, his leg will deteriorate quite a bit over the next week or so, but at least tonight, it's well taken care of. 

I must say, it seems very Strike to wake up early, get dressed and fully make up his bed, so as to minimize the time he has to wear pajamas in front of Robin. And, while I am no fan of Stewart Nutley, I think the teams' reaction to him quitting is way too entitled. Everyone, even Robin, who at least tried to give him some pointers on how to improve his job performance, was looking forward to sacking him as soon as they could. Why should they expect life-risking loyalty from a man in whom they are making zero investment and of whom they plan to rid themselves ASAP?

In chapter 76,  Strike and Robin tail the two most evil characters in the book to their vacation home, Aquarelle Cottage, in the seaside town of Whitstable. FYI, "aquarelle" is a specific technique of watercolor painting, appropriate for the home's less-than-beautiful decor. 

Watercolors dotted the walls of the room, which were painted white....Robin wondered whether they were Inigo's or Katya's, and what Mariam or Pez would make of them; to her, they seemed insipid and amateurish. The largest, which has been given a whimsical driftwood frame, showed Island Wall as they had entered it, with Aquarelle Cottage on the right; the perspective had gone a little awry, so that while street looked of immense length, vanishing in a point on the horizon, the houses appeared far too big for their setting. 

The painting could indeed be the work of either Upcott parent, because it seems to reflect the lack of perspective-taking skill that plagues them both:  Inigo with his complete lack of empathy for his wife and children, and Katya with her misplaced priorities, focusing her attention on Josh Blay and the cartoon while overlooking the psychopathy of her son and neglecting and dismissing the needs of her daughter. 

Inigo is, naturally, as charming in his second interview as he was in his first. It is actually easy to feel sorry for Gus here, until you recall that the appointment he is in such a hurry for is not with his cello tutor but with Vikas Bhardwaj and a machete. This is especially true when he, like Flavia before him, walks with Strike and Robin back to their car and, like Flavia, shares some helpful information, telling them of  "Rachel"--- another woman he suspects of having an improper relationship with his father, 

The upside to the Halvening staking out Robin's flat is that it gives our heroes an opportunity to stay overnight at the lovely Marine Hotel of Whitstable.  We'll join them on the top floor next Tuesday. 

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