Troubled Blood, Chapters 15-20: From sexist colleagues to unwanted cards to flatulent witnesses.

"That's an excellent suggestion, Miss Triggs. 
Perhaps one of the men here would like to make it."

Part 3 sees Strike returning to Cornwall after Joan is hospitalized, leaving Robin in charge ot the agency. I think a lot of women in the workforce relate to her feeling of not being heard by her male colleagues. Thank goodness for Barclay having her back. 

"Of course, as Robin was well aware, she and Barclay had once gone digging for body, and such things create a bond."

And, of course, they'll get to go digging for a body at the end of this book, as well. It will be interesting if Kim Cochran is hired in The Hallmarked Man. For the first time, women would outnumber men at the team meetings. 

The less said about Morris's call to Robin at home, the better. The only thing about these types of encounters that I like is that it makes the final ejection of him on Whiskey Night all the more satisfying. 

Robin settles down to read more of her Demon of Paradise Park and learns of the rumor of Margaret Bamborough having an abortion shortly before she died. 

There's a time jump of four day, then Strike arrives back in London on the sleeper train, and calls Robin, who has been up all night on Postcard surveillance. I felt a little twinge of sadness when Strike talks about going back to see Joan for Christmas in a fortnight, knowing that trip will not be happening. They talk about the number of Bamborough witnesses who are dead or untraceable, and we first hear about the challenges Robin is having with two of the most elusive: Gloria Conti and Paul Satchwell. Strike is having similar problems with Steve Douthwaite. Like the final horcruxes of Deathly Hallows, these three will pop up relatively quickly at the end of the case. 

The subject then turns to the Demon of Paradise Park and the fact that Robin's first edition has an extrs three paragraphs abut Margot's supposed abortion that were removed after legal action by Roy Phipps and Oonaugh Kennedy resulted in Carl Oakden's book being pulped. Quite interesting, considering that Galbraith himself is known for making changes in later editions, sometimes to correct clear errors and sometimes for reasons hard to understand (*cough*--Mia Thompson--*cough*). 

There were several portraits of James Duffield Harding
at the NPR that could have been featured on the Postcard;
 I picked this one because it seemed the "mousiest." 

The conversation is interrupted by a text from Al imploring Cormoran to reconsider coming to Deadbeat Daddy Dearest's party. This leads to a classic instance of Strike and Robin's missed signals, where she first interprets Strike's annoyance and distraction from the text as dismissal of her National Portrait Gallery idea (which, of course, winds up being the stroke of brilliance that cracks the case!) and then spends way too much time wondering if the text was from Charlotte. 

Prior to responding to Al, Strike reflects on some painful memories from his childhood, including Leda's sinking the child support money into "wildly extravagant treats," failed business ventures and high-end concert trips for herself, while neglecting to get her children basic needs like new shoes and winter coats. There is also a mention, the third in the series, of the Norfolk commune as the worst experience of Strike's life. We also learn that Leda started to reject Rokeby's child support payments once they came with restrictions and that the money has accumulated, unspent, in a bank, from the time Strike was 13 until he was 18. We also learn that in recent interviews, Rokeby had expressed pride in Strike and implied they had a cordial relationship.  After much agonizing, Strike sends a short and sweet "no" message to Al. 

Strike also reflects on the conversation he had with the always awesome Barclay the previous day when he picked up the surveillance of Twinkletoes. Sam, as it turns out, loves Pat despite her characterization of him as the "Scottish nutter" but also feels duty bound to report on some of Morris's faults, including his resistance to following Robin's orders. Strike must still be distracted by the Rokeby issue, because he's remarkably slow on the uptake with his, interpreting Barclay's report as a disagreement on the specifics of the Shifty case, rather than evidence of Morris's general misogynistic jerkiness. He also seems to miss what is a pretty obvious hint that Morris is sleeping with Gemma, something he had supposedly strictly forbidden earlier. 

"You think he's still seeing the PA?"

"'Seein' might be a polite way o' puttin' it."

Strike finally gets to the major business of this chapter, the intial visit and interview with Greg Talbot. We get another vignette of parenting choices, as seen by the foster parenting Talbots, something Strike finds pretty incomprehensible. He learn that Greg Talbot 1) is a slob 2) is rather defensive about his father's legacy and talents as a detective and 3) most importantly, still has his father's leather-bound notebook ("The True Book") which he agrees to hand over to Strike. 

Chapter 18 is a brief update on the state of Robin's divorce of the Flobberworm, complete with a visit to her attorney's who, in the face of Robin's considerable doubts, suggests mediation. it is bookended by two case developments: Eden Richards's call" to Robin to say that none of Wilma Bayliss's children want to talk to her happens on the way to the lawyer's office and Strike's call about the interview that he has arranged with Janice and Irene comes as she is de-stressing with a coffee and brownie afterwards. 

Friday is the day before Strike's 39th birthday, and he arrives at the office surprised that Pat has collected several presents and cards for him from the mail. This bit is entertaining upon re-read:

"Many happy returns, " grunted Pat. "You should've said." 

"Why? Would you have baked me a cake?" 

"No," said Pat indifferently. "Might have got you a card, though." 

"Lucky I didn't say, then.  One fewer tree's died."

"It wouldn't have been a big card." 

It's nice to know that by the end of the next book, she will be baking him her famous fruitcake, and won't even need a birthday for an excuse. Unfortunately, the pleasure of opening his gifts the next morning is ruined by an unwated bloodhound card from "Jonny (Dad)**" which he immediately tears up and which puts him in a foul mood for the drive with Robin to interview Janice and Irene. 

He cheers up reasonably quickly thanks to a combination of Robin's thoughtful card and gift (a St. Mawes watercolor and replacement headphones), her company, the fact that she packed food for the road trip and the fact that she is wearing her old perfume rather than the Fracas. They have a great conversation about the points Strike gleaned from his latest review of the police file, including:

• The crank call that was made by a Margot impersonator on Anna's second birthday
• Irene had lied about going to the dentist and had gone shopping, instead
• Janice had lied about having a car at the time of the abduction; hers had been scrapped, making it even less likely that she could have abducted Margot.
• However, Talbot had interviewed her seven times, more than anyone else, and was initially interested in information she might have abut her neighbor, Steve Douthwaite, Later, he expanded to queries about her dreams and sexual partners. 

Onto the "over-embellished, over-padded opulence" that is the home of Irene Hickson and the interview with her and Janice. This chapter is perhaps the biggest information dumps of the book, and a number of facts that, in hindsight, are important clues. For example, Irene's IBS mysteriously clears up when she goes on vacation, but flares again as soon as she gets home.  Janice sets the tea tray, with "an assortment of chocolate biscuits, some of them foil-wrapped" on a "padded ottoman." Similar biscuits and another ottoman will be crucial to solving the mystery, and the woman doing the serving  here will be unmasked as the killer. 

One thing I noticed here wad that there seemed to be a considerable age gap between Irene and her late husband, Eddie Hickson.  He is described as dying the previous year at "nearly 90," while Irene was only in her mid-twenties in 1974, and therefore would be only in her mid-sixties in 2013, That may explain her attraction to the "rock star" Paul Satchwell. We also learn of the existence of the Athorns in this chapter. Irene may be annoying, but it's probably a good thing Irene kept referring to the "funny-looking kid" with "massive ears;" how else would Strike have been able to luck into recognizing Samhain on the street? 

Of course, there is a lot we hear about in this interview, mostly thanks to Janice, that turns out not to be true. Charlie Ramage never reported seeing Margot in Leamington Spa. Gloria Conti was not from a criminal family. Dr. Brenner was neither a barbiturate or a concentration camp liberator. It was interesting to me that Irene thought to lie that Margot's unauthorized examination of Kevin Beattie was the reason for her and Margot's argument at the Christmas party. First, it seems odd for Irene to argue with Margot about something that happened with Janice's son. Second, the examination must have happened shortly before Margot disappeared in October; Christmas was a good 10 months prior to that. No wonder Janice required a pointed glare from Irene to back up her story.  

Irene's lamb bhuna brings the interview to a flatulent end.  Tune in Thursday for Chapters 21-27. 

Comments welcome!  Some find it easier to comment  on the Substack version of this blog. 

*in the presence of a pooping Doberman, which echoes The Silkworm. 

** I love the clarification, as if Strike's initial response might have been "Jonny Who?"