The Silkworm: Chapters 38-40: Leonora arrested, the visit to jail and dinner at the River Cafe. Plus, the story of Holloway prison and a bonus Strike-related podcast!

Before we plunge back into the Silkworm re-read, I'd like to plug a podcast this week on which I was a guest. If you've read this essay, you know I strongly disagree with the idea that Charlotte Campbell could have been murdered.  The Three Broomsticks decided to have both Nick and me on to discuss the matter. Hopefully, I defended the suicide angle competently. 

Back to Book 2!

After a Quine-heavy three chapters, we get a bit of an interlude into the agency's other cases in Chapters 38-40. First we jin Strike in munching his Egg McMuffins and capturing evidence of Miss Brocklehurst's infidelity--his first time completing a task for the client who will eventually be known as Two-times and who will patronize the agency far more times than that, appearing in both CoE and TB. We haven't seen him in a couple of books now.  I wonder if he settled down and got married to a nice brunette, or if the agency just got successful enough that they no longer needed his business.

Later, in chapter 39,  we'll attend a tedious and unnecessary meeting with the flirtatious  Brunette Client's divorce attorney and in Chapter 40 both Two-times and Caroline Ingles will make visits to the office.  One thing I appreciate about these books is that we get to see day-to-day business of the agency in addition to the main cases.  Listeners of The Strike and Ellacott files podcast will recall how adept the posts are at drawing connections between the side case and the main one. Here, I can see the two women clients as people seeking to put a stop to the times of shenanigans that Leonora endures with Quine. Mr. Brunette attempted to take financial advantage of his wife by selling their flat and pawning her emeralds, but she was having none of it. Mrs Ingles may have been willing to forgiver her philandering husband for the sake of their children, but she went right back to Strike for help when he failed to uphold his end of the deal.  I'm not sure how or if Two-times connects; perhaps he is just here to preview his role in Books 3 and 5. 

We also revisit Dave Polworth, who calls to convince Strike to come home to Cornwall for Christmas. He has voices what is clearly in the back of Strike's mind, the likelihood that Charlotte will come "galloping back over the horizon" before her wedding to future Viscount Ross. Dave also makes Strike miss the call from Leonora about her arrest. As Strike feared, his encounter with Pippa in the last chapter was enough to scare her and Kath into going to the police with their evidence. 

As news of Leonora's arrest spreads, we get a little inverse-preview with Liz Tassel of something that happens to Pat frequently: her deep voice causing her to be mistaken for a man on the phone. This leads to one of my more dread predictions, namely that Pat's years of heavy-Superkinging will catch up to her before series' end and she'll be facing the same sort of respiratory difficulties as Liz does in this book. That is one Book-2/Book-8 connection that a fervently hope does not come to pass. 

Also in Chapter 39, Robin is back to her house-elf efficiency, pouring tea when Strike needs it, arranging the interview with Leonora at Holloway, providing much-needed sandwiches and crisps and locating an interview Michael Fancourt has given about Owen Quine. Her first day at the office, when she first demonstrated her talents is evoked:

"It's not over," she said, winding her scarf around her neck as she prepared to depart. "We'll prove it wasn't her.

She had once before used the plural pronoun when Strike's faith in himself was at a low ebb. He appreciated the moral support, but a feeling of impotence was swamping his thought processes. Strike hated paddling on the periphery of the case, forced to watch as others dived for clues, leads and information. 

Kind of an interesting foreshadowing of the role his oldest mate Polworth will play in solving the case, eh?

Two things of note from the Fancourt interview:

• The title of Fancourt's first novel, which apparently includes a grisly rape scene, is Bellafront, which is the name of the title character of The Honest Whore, the play that provides the epigraph to this chapter, as well as chapters 16 and 33. 
• Though we don't actually see it, we hear of the third major reference to a sculpture here: Micael Fancourt's recent purchase of a rusted metal version of the Fury Tisiphone, avenger of murder. Strike will think of this sculpture later in the waiting room in Holloway. Interestingly, the artist who rented space at Talgarth Road and brought all the hydrocloric acid in also worked in rusted metal.  Could this be one of his works? 

The interview at Holloway (a prison whose history is well worth reading!) is quite touching, of course. I remember being quite taken by the red herring clue of the broken credit card machine at the writers' silent auction. But the most important clue is the mention of Cheeky monkey and Orlando's pictures. 

Interestingly, in 2015, only a year after The Silkworm was published, it was announced that Holloway Prison would be closed and sold, with the proceeds devoted to finding alternatives to incarceration for non-violent female offenders. Galbraith's imagery of the bleak conditions certainly makes it clear why this step was needed. The redevelopment of the space is supposed to include affordable housing, a women's center and green spaces. 

Back to Denmark Street. Polworth's prediction re Milady Berzerko seems to be coming true, as Strike receives and is clearly shaken by the "it was yours" message. Having to immediately dress up in his Italian suit and go to the very restaurant where they has "enjoyed their last happy evening together" had to be difficult, but fortunately Strike perseveres. Brother Al is a breath of fresh air in this meeting; as with Polworth, I prefer this version to the one we see in Troubled Blood. 

We also get a rare look at Strike's army career, as he remembers seeing his father and younger brother celebrating the latter's commencement while on a heart-breaking Army assignment:

One evening in a military tent in Afghanistan, Strike had seen a photograph online of eighteen-year-old Al in a cream blazer with a crest on the pocket, long hair swept sideways and gleaming gold in the bright Geneva sun. Rokeby had had his arm around Al, beaming with paternal pride. The picture had been newsworthy because Rokeby had never been photographed in a suit and tie before…

Strike had seen Al’s graduation photograph online a bare hour after interviewing an inconsolable nineteen-year-old private who had accidentally shot his best friend in the chest and neck with a machine gun.

I have speculated elsewhere that this incident might be related to the "prank gone wrong" incident involving Private Dean Shaw that was mentioned in TIBH, or perhaps even Emma Daniels "negligent twat" staff sergeant, mentioned briefly in CoE?  I have thought we might learn more about Strike's Army career in THM, particularly if the "hallmark" in some way relates to his medal, in which case this could be an interesting Book 2/Book 8 connection. 

But back to the case at hand. Thankfully, Strike is able to get his mind off Charlotte and put the pieces of the case together well enough to deduce the killer, with 10 full chapters still to go in the book. 

Comments welcome!  Though some find it easier on the Substack version of this blog.