Broken Harbour

The “I GO TO JOJO’S” pin is an important symbol throughout the novel and is crucial to its plot. Scorcher initially finds it when they search the Spains bedroom, when he identifies “the secret [he] had been waiting for” tucked into a cardigan (91). He notes that it “was a round pin-badge, the cheap metal kind you can buy at street stalls […] it had started out pale blue; to one side there was a smiling yellow sun, to the other something white that could have been a hot-air balloon or maybe a kite” (91). At first the pin is a clue that there is something beyond initial appearances to the crime. It shows that Jenny is keeping a secret and is the first indication of Conor’s intrusive presence in the Spains’ home. When Richie identifies Conor as a close friend of the Spains and they interview Fiona again, the pin becomes a symbol of their former closeness and happy memories.

The pin is also ultimately an important plot element. Conor placed the pin in the Spains’ home the day of the murders, intending to lighten the household with good memories of their past. However, for Jenny, it creates a suspicion of her own mental instability, as she is unable to decide whether she had put it there herself, and was struggling more than she realized, or had a stalker.