The Hallmarked Man Real-time Re-Read: Part 4, Chapters 42-44, Opals, alchemy and hopes for the Jowanet.

I hoped everyone enjoyed the delightful end of Part Three, with an intoxicated Robin opening her fabulous silver bracelet on the bathroom floor early Christmas morning, because we are heading into a downward spiral over the next two parts. Robin and Strike's relationship will, arguably, be tested more than at any point than when he fired her back at the end of Career of Evil.  Part Four culminates with a heartbroken and disillusioned Robin canceling the Scotland trip that would have taken them to a lovely and romantic Lake District hotel, and Part Five ends with her storming out of the Swan Taphouse in Ironbridge, leaving Strike to eat her meal. We are in for a rough ride. 

I'm going to continue to frame the conversation around the opening and closing quotations from each chapter. 

Strike spent New Year’s Eve on surveillance in the Stapleton Tavern in Haringey, watching Plug drink in the new year with a group of equally rough-looking friends.

In Chapter 42, Strike's year is starting out pretty well, as he has every reason to be pleased by Robin's response to his Christmas gift. He has also been making regular contact with Jade Semple and she eventually agrees to a meeting, which gives Strike the perfect opportunity to plan a trip north to Scotland with Robin, even though Jade says she no longer believes the body to be that of her missing husband (and Strike is inclined to agree with her!)  On the downside, the threats to the office continue with a painted G on the door (which, conveniently, could be a masonic sign OR a reference to Robin's witness ID in the rape trial) and Vile-lentine F. Longcaster's voice mail New Years greeting suggesting Strike gas himself. Class act, that one. 

I did look up the use of DNA by the British military and it seems that, although they do take DNA samples from soldiers for identification purposes, they destroy them when the individual leaves the military, so Semple's was presumably disposed of when he was discharged. But it is still hard for me to believe that there wasn't a hairbrush, toothbrush, razor, hair in a drain, etc. in the Semple home that could have been tested to rule him out as William Wright. Surely, when he was reported missing, the police would have collected something before the wife could deep-clean. But, I suppose if they had, it would be even harder for Strike to find an excuse to travel with Robin.  

He lay back down to sleep, thinking that the year had, after all, started on a positive note, and already planning strategic manoeuvres that had nothing whatsoever to do with the missing Niall Semple.

Unfortunately, the more Strike tries to use casework as a means of connecting to Robin, the less successful he will be. It seems fate is determined not to reward him for putting his own desires over the best interest of the client. Even worse, although Robin loves the gift, it has not had had the desired effect on her, long-term, as we see in Chapter 43. 

Several days after returning from Masham and having worked almost non-stop since, Robin still felt as she had done ever since she’d unwrapped Strike’s bracelet: anxious and guilty.

We have to wonder 

• What happened when Robin returned to bed with Murphy after opening the bracelet, because it is almost certain he was waiting up for her?
• What happened with her idea to make up with Linda the next morning?  
• How things went on Christmas Day with the family, particularly with Martin and Carmen? 
• What happened during the time she spent in Masham post-holiday?

Something took her from the overwhelmed with love and typing five kisses back to the anxious and guilty person who has convinced herself that every overture from Strike is a plot to destabilize her relationship with RFM so she won't leave the agency. The Silver Bracelet has joined the Green Dress in the category of "Things Robin can't wear in front of her partner." I expect to see them both on her for her wedding day. 

Lady Hermione seeking refuge in the laboratory
of Sir Herman, an Austrian alchemist. 

The only thing we learn about Christmas Day in Masham was that RFM gave Robin opal earrings that matched the opal pendant her parents gave her for her thirtieth in TB,  so add this to the long list of Book 5-8 connections. The SE Files ladies are undoubtedly correct in their analysis of these gifts, with Strike giving her something connected to the exciting career that Robin loves and of which her mother disapproves, while Murphy gets her something that complements her parents' vision of her. But, it is also interesting to look at the symbolism of the opal. While historically associated with good luck, royalty and personal transformation---  and the traditional October birthstone--  in more modern times it has acquired a reputation for bad luck, thanks, in large part, to an 1829 story from Sir Walter Scott, Anne of Geierstein, which includes both a familiar name and a connection to alchemy. 

The grandmother of the titular character, Lady Hermione appeared to possess magical powers. At times, she seemed more an indefatigable spirit — an ignis fatuus or will-o'-the-wisp — than human. She always wore in her hair a golden clasp with an opal that "amid the changing lights peculiar to that gem, displayed internally a slight tinge of red like a spark of fire." This gem seemed to reflect her moods, showing "a twinkling and flashing gleam which seemed to be emitted by the gem itself" whenever she became animated or agitated, "as if it sympathized with the wearer's emotions."  On the day of her daughter's christening, drops of holy water struck her opal, which "shot out a brilliant spark like a falling star, and became the instant afterwards lightless and colorless as a common pebble." Hermione then collapsed. Two hours later, all that remained of her was a handful of gray ashes.

The association of the opal with this story does not bode well for the prospects of motherhood. The other thing we learn is that Robin agreed to make an offer on the second house they had viewed---  presumably the one she had vowed never to live in after RFM squeezed her hand at the sight of the children's bedrooms-- which expectedly and fortunately, was not accepted. 

Adding to Robin's worries is the itinerary for the Scotland/Ironbridge trip, which Robin notices includes a hotel several grades above their usual cheap lodgings. All this has her "policing and second-guessing every move she made where Strike was concerned."  In addition to wondering if there is a hidden message behind Strike's mention of Charlotte in conveying VFL's response, she is wondering whether Strike remembers her Sophia idea (what happened to his great memory?) and fears looking prudish when she decides her repertoire of undercover identities cannot include Venetia Hall, pornography producer. She agrees to try to speak to Sophia's roommate Gretchen instead. Strike shares his increasing suspicions of Jim Todd, while Robin starts her search for Sapphire Neagle's classmate and shares her Reata Lindvall discovery, which Strike can't respond to, due to Mrs. Two-Times responsibilities. His lack of response will have implications later. 

In spite of having something to occupy her mind and the matter-of-fact exchange of information she’d just had with her detective partner, Robin’s underlying anxiety hadn’t been assuaged. She still felt as though waiting for something to happen, something disruptive and cathartic, as a person feels in the change of air pressure the first intimations of a coming thunderstorm.

Chapter 44 is very pleasantly bookended with concerns over and resolution of the sale of Ted and Joan's home in St. Mawes. 

Unbeknownst to Robin, Strike, too, was having property-related problems. A good offer had been made on Ted and Joan’s house in St Mawes, but Greg thought they should hold out for more.

In between, Strike 

• talks fish with Pat, and learns not only that the bad one is a fancy breed rather than a deformed mutant, but also that it's his namesake.
• mediates a dispute between Midge and the Kimphomaniac and asks KFC to apologize for being bossy
• I don't believe for a second that Midge was genuinely harping to Kim about the Candy article; this is yet another attempt by KFC to undercut someone else in the agency and enhance her own position.
• Yes, Midge is a gossip but it isn't much fun to gossip with someone you dislike and she definitely dislikes KFC. 
• Facetimes with Zacharias, Rupert's ex-housemate that fled to Kenya and left Rupert at the mercy of Dredge the drug dealer.
•  I love the way Strike can jerk the chain of rich boys and make them tell him everything. The two most important bits of information are
• that Rupert tore up a favorite "lucky T-shirt and 
• the mention of an "Oedipiddle" complex, which is another pointer to incest. 

The close of the chapter nicely points out how much Strike and Lucy's relationship has improved since the start of the series. It reminded me of how they decided, in The Running Grave, that Ted needed to move to a nursing home in London. Strike stepped up and helped Lucy make a decision with which she was having difficulty, and with which Greg was not being particularly helpful. As with that decision, Strike pushes not just for the choice he wants, but one that will ease Lucy's mind and be consistent with what Ted and Joan would have wanted. In this case, that means selling the home to a local family, even though they might have gotten more for it as a vacation home for a rich Londoner. 

With the money from the sale of the Cornwall house in his account, he’d not only be free of the burden of keeping an eye on the place at a distance of nearly three hundred miles, he’d also be able to offer Robin a personal loan to buy a new Land Rover. His mood somewhat improved, he set to work to try and find contact details for Tish Benton.

A sailboat, hopefully like Ted's, 
tacks in front of St. Mawes Castle. 

I still want to know what became of the boat, and if Ted's ashes were scattered at the time of his death in November. Sailing is possible, but chilly in the winter months off the coast of St. Mawes; the family may not have wanted to attempt it with only Jack to assist Dave Polworth in piloting the boat. We know Book 9 picks up on April 7, 2017, not long before Easter on April 16th. Part of me hopes it was decided it was too risky for the scattering in November, and that the family is planning another Easter farewell, three years after the one they held for Joan. Hopefully, the Jowanet is safe in Polworth's hands and we'll get to see Ted take his last voyage.  

Tune in again on Saturday for the next part. 

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