Troubled Blood, Chapters 51-56:
Three interviews, the scattering of ashes and a rescue by phone.
This section is bookended with interviews with the two oldest witnessed we see in this case: Brian Tucker (Ch. 51) and Betty Fuller (Ch. 56). Interestingly, Robin's behavior is at polar opposites in these two settings. With Tucker, she is acting entirely on her own initiative, to the extent that she is worried her actions with anger Strike and even "backfire badly on the agency" -- though I find it hard to understand either. They are, of course, trying to learn as much about Dennis Creed as possible, and they know from Roy Phipps that Tucker has spent his life studying Creed.
Another interesting note; Brian Tucker uses the same term Robert Galbraith used in a recent video describing The Hallmarked Man, when he describes the experience of losing his daughter with "it marks you."
With Betty Fuller, Robin starts off planning a routine and approved interview on her own, taking the type of witness for which she is normally better suited than Strike (a vulnerable older lady) and winds up going completely passive and letting Strike take the lead. Atypically, Strike winds up being the better choice to ask questions of Mrs. Fuller than is Robin, likely because he has more understanding of the kind of rough world that Betty comes from than Robin, with her relatively sheltered, middle-class farm-girl upbringing. Leta probably knew multiple women who supported themselves the way Betty Fuller did.
The interview with Betty emphasizes the point Strike tried to make with the students at the Dinner Party from Hell. Betty mocks the social worker who echoed Kyle and Courtney's "sex work is work" and "women can choose to make money with their own bodies if they want to" lines. We see where those "choices" got Betty: living in squalor in her old age and her daughters likewise caught in a lifetime of prostitution and drug abuse, and her grandchildren taken into care. Whereas, the criminal pimp Mucky Ricci, who abused and even murdered the women he trafficked, is resting comfortably in an expensive nursing facility, and his sons, though also criminals, have the money for chocolates and overseas holidays.
I must admit, after my London trip, I am impressed with Barclay, not only because he was able to talk SB down from Tower Bridge, but that he managed to elbow his way through thousands of tourists to get to the poor guy.
In Chapter 52, Robina and Strike check in in Strike's car outside Elinor Dean's. Robin points out the red herring of the suspicious death of Carl Oakden's grandmother. They resign themselves to interviewing Carl Oakden. Robin also reviews Talbot's rascist notes about Wilma Bayliss and cautions Strike to be senstive when interviewing Wilma's daughters. And, texts coming in from Morris increase Strike's jealousy.
The interview with the Bayliss family (Ch. 53) also gives us a nice contrast between Wilma's family and Betty's. Wilma, despite multiple hardships, worked multiple menial jobs to both support her children and encourage their education, and to get the training she needed to become a social worker. While the Bayliss children can't be said to have had an easy life, and have their share of inter-generational trauma, all achieved good, middle-class professions as adults and seem to have greatly improved their lives, compared to their parents. Betty Fuller, of course, passed the legacy of prostitution and the resultant hardships onto her daughters, resulting in her having little support in her old age.The interview is difficult, with the airing of 40-year old resentments about the racist treatment both Wilma and Eden received, but it pays off with our heros recovering one of the threatening notes, with distinctive handwriting, that had been sent to Margot Bamborough.
It does make you wonder where some of the false information came from. Clearly, the word got out that one of the Riccis was responsible for threatening Margot; Tudor Athorn and Betty Fuller both knew that through their underground connections. But where did the story of the note-writer being the killer come from? Could the Riccis themselves have been responsible for spreading that rumor, adding that to the story of their killing (and filming) the rape and murder of a police informant, and knowing they could never be arrested or convicted of it, because, after all, they hadn't done it? Did they have hopes of intimidating still more people in their community, especially freelance hookers like Betty Fuller who competed with their business, or perhaps, as she herself said, got underage girls out of the trade? Or was it simply a mistake someone made along the way?
Chapter 54 sees Strike making the journey back to St. Mawes, with three chocolate hedgehogs in tow for the nephews (Luke gets the broken one) to scatter Joan's ashes in the sea and celebrate easter with Ted. As with the journey to Joan's deathbed, there are unwanted complications, this time in the form of texts and phone calls from Charlotte, culminating in her suicide threats that arrive just as the boat returns from releasing the white lily urn containing Joan's ashes. Much as he did when Robin was stabbed nu Donald Laing, Strike listens to the crises unfold on one phone while summoning help on another, in this case, from a red telephone box in St. Mawes. Unlike Robin, who was already getting help from herself thanks to her defense training and the rape alarm, Charlotte would likely have died if Strike hadn't come to her aid.
The aftermath of Charlotte's suicide attempt continues through Chapter 55. Robin does her best to quell office gossip, even before she knows of Strike's involvement in the incident, but is dragged into conversations with both Max and Ilsa about her. Two weeks after the incident, Robin is finally preparing for mediation with Matthew, interrupted as she waits by a rude email from Carl Oakden and a mysterious call from Pat reporting that Al Rokeby has turned up at the office, looking for Strike. Robin and her lawyer are both shocked when Matthew immediately agrees to Robin's full demands for a settlement. Robin proves she understands Matthew as well as Strike understands Charlotte, as she correctly deduces that the reason for his sudden capitulation is Sarah Shagsalot's "accidental" pregnancy. After expressing her appreciation for his support after the rape, they part "for good."
Coming up Thursday: Chapter 58 (sigh!!!!!)
Another fine summary!
Robin seemed to be reading the room very quickly with Betty Fuller and deciding that Strike was the less threatening interviewer in this instance. While the dialogue was often crudely funny, Betty’s sad circumstances were both a counterpoint to the “sex work is work” argument and an opportunity for Robin to reflect on where “single people” without children end up. Is she starting to question some of her choices?
Robin mentions that something might “backfire badly against the agency” twice in TB—her pursuit of an interview with Creed and, earlier, while telling Saul Morris to lay off Gemma. Interestingly, her sensitivity to risking the agency seems to dissipate when she hooks up with Pez Pierce in the next novel and spends an evening publicly snogging a prime murder suspect. In TB, her motives for taking risks are considerate, selfless and noble—the Robin we all recognize. In IBH, we see an abrupt character shift, exploiting the Pierce interview for personal desires, not so different from the much-despised Morris.
I really loved the way you compare the Bayliss family and Betty - I'm sure the juxtaposition of those two was intentional on Jo's part.
And we know Job is against the whole "sex work is work" thing, as evidenced by her speaking out against Emma Thompson's views about it, which makes this even more interesting to read in retrospect.