Career of Evil

Robin thinks about the argument she and her fiancé, Matthew, had after meeting with Matthew’s friend Sarah Shadlock and her boyfriend. Over dinner, Sarah raised the topic of Robin’s colleague, Cormoran Strike, commenting on his status as a decorated war hero and describing him as particularly appealing. Afterward, Matthew accused Robin of talking relentlessly about Strike.

Robin goes to the private detective agency on Denmark Street, where she works. A courier wearing a motorcycle helmet hands her a package. Inside is a woman’s severed leg.

The woman’s right leg has been severed in precisely the place where Strike’s leg was amputated. An enclosed note quotes lyrics from the song “Mistress of the Salmon Salt” by the rock band Blue Öyster Cult. Strike notices that the package was initially addressed to him, but then Robin’s name was placed over his. Observing that there is old scarring on the dismembered limb, he is filled with dread.

Strike contacts Detective Inspector Eric Wardle, the police officer he most trusts to handle the case. Several members of the Metropolitan Police resent Strike for solving high-profile cases, but his relationship with Wardle remains amicable. He jokes about the severed leg to Wardle, complaining, “it’s not even my size” (10). Robin gives DI Wardle a detailed description of the courier’s clothing and motorcycle, describing him as tall and well-built. Strike suggests the culprit could be Terrence “Digger” Malley, a gangster known for sending body parts to his enemies. Strike testified against Malley in court. However, Strike’s identity was protected during the trial as he was a member of the army’s Special Investigation Branch (SIB).

In his favorite pub, The Tottenham, Strike and Robin discuss the sinister package. He does not believe that Malley is responsible. Strike suggests two likely suspects from his investigative military work: Donald Laing, who served a 10-year sentence after Strike arrested him, and Noel Brockbank, who claimed that Strike gave him brain damage. A third, differently connected suspect is Jeff Whittaker, the widower of Strike’s mother, Leda, who died of a heroin overdose. Leda was a renowned “supergroupie,” and Strike’s biological father is Jonny Rokeby, the famous lead singer of the Deadbeats. Obsessed with Eric Bloom, the frontman of Blue Öyster Cult, Leda had a tattoo of one of their song titles, “Mistress of the Salmon Salt.” Strike explains that the band was known for its obscure lyrics.

Strike insists they must treat the severed leg as a threat. Robin is adamant she will not stop working. Matthew would be pleased if she did so, but Strike sent her on a counter-surveillance course, so she is trained in self-defense. Strike agrees Robin can continue working as long as she does not stay out after dark.

Strike realizes that many people would have seen his mother’s tattoo. Leda lived in numerous squats and communes, had a succession of boyfriends, and was likely photographed naked. He cannot find current addresses for any of his suspects, discovering only that Donald Laing lived with Lorraine MacNaughton in Corby in 2008, and Noel Brockbank possibly lived in Manchester in 2006. Strike fears the severed leg belongs to Brockbank’s stepdaughter Brittany.

On the way home, Robin recalls that she recently opened some strange letters addressed to Strike. In one, a teen girl asked for advice on cutting off her leg. Another was from a sender who found Strike’s amputated leg erotic. Robin files this type of correspondence in “the nutter drawer” (39).

Robin researches Jeff Whittaker online, learning that the would-be musician was charged with killing Leda in 1994, but acquitted. Whittaker’s grandparents gained custody of Leda and Whittaker’s son. Whittaker’s subsequent criminal offences include assault, drug dealing, and preventing the lawful burial of another partner after she died of heart failure. Robin finds a naked online photograph of Leda in which her tattoo is visible. Matthew has recently been reading Robin’s emails to Strike, so Robin changes her laptop password.

The killer thinks of the woman he lives with as “It.” Although he lives off her wages, he resents his lack of freedom when she is home. After “It” goes to work, the killer follows Robin as she undertakes a surveillance job. Robin is following “Platinum,” a Russian economics student who works as a lap dancer. Strike and Robin were hired by Platinum’s boyfriend, whom they refer to as “Two-Times,” as this is the second girlfriend he has had followed.

The killer regularly changes his appearance while following women and has already gotten away with three murders. His determination to avenge himself was reignited by the positive publicity Strike received for solving high-profile cases. While Robin sits in a pub overlooking a lap dancing club, the killer positions himself in a Japanese restaurant opposite and waits.

Strike has been tailing “Mad Dad,” whose wife requires evidence of his unreasonable behavior in a custody battle.

Joining Robin in the pub, Strike reveals they have lost a lucrative job due to the adverse publicity the severed leg has attracted. Strike intends to stay with his friends Nick and Ilsa to avoid the reporters gathered outside their office. Robin asks why Strike doesn’t stay with Elin, his current girlfriend, in her lavish Regent’s Park apartment. Robin secretly dislikes Elin, a beautiful former violinist who is currently a classical music presenter on Radio Three. Strike explains that Elin is divorcing her wealthy husband, so Strike can only stay with her when she does not have custody of her five-year-old daughter.

Strike notices a man in the Japanese restaurant opposite wearing a camouflage jacket and sunglasses. He gives Robin a new rape alarm that sprays indelible red dye when activated and tells her to be vigilant.

The killer notices Strike looking straight at him. When traffic obscures Strike’s view, he swiftly exits the restaurant, turning his jacket inside out.

Strike checks the Japanese restaurant, but the man in the camouflage jacket has gone. Strike asks Graham Hardacre, a former SIB colleague, to look into the whereabouts of Noel Brockbank and Donald Laing. He then calls Shanker, his criminal underworld contact, asking him to locate Jeff Whittaker and Terrence Malley.

In Whitechapel, Strike finds himself walking to the location of the squat where his mother died. Strike was 16 when 40-year-old Leda began a relationship with 21-year-old Whittaker. His stepfather was a bully and walked around the flat naked, causing Strike’s half-sister Lucy to live with their aunt and uncle in Cornwall. Aunt Joan and Uncle Ted begged Strike to join them. However, he did not want to leave Leda alone with Whittaker, who often voiced fantasies about murder. Whittaker was obsessed with the cult leader Charles Manson and the Satanic Bible. He was unfaithful to Leda and constantly tried to extract money from her, falsely believing she had a hidden fortune from her marriage to Jonny Rokeby. Leda married Whittaker when she became pregnant.

Friends of Leda’s were sure that Whittaker was responsible for her death, as, despite her drug use, she did not take heroin. In court, Strike recounted Whittaker’s obsession with the concealed fortune he believed Leda possessed. However, Whittaker gave a convincing performance as the distressed widower. Quoting “Mistress of the Salmon Salt,” he asserted that his wife “wanted to die” (73). Leda’s reputation as a party girl contributed to Whittaker’s acquittal.

Strike admits to his best childhood friend Ilsa that he is worried about Robin’s safety and wishes she would stay somewhere safe until the leg’s sender is found. He is relieved that Robin is spending a long weekend in Yorkshire for her wedding preparations. Ilsa is disappointed that Robin’s marriage is going ahead in July. She often implies that Strike and Robin would make a good match.

Graham Hardacre calls, inviting Strike to visit him at his Edinburgh office to view information on Laing and Brockbank. Strike agrees, resolving to cancel his date with Elin.

DI Wardle shares the results of forensics tests on the severed leg. He tells Strike it belonged to a young woman, was severed after death, and was kept in a freezer. Wardle is convinced that Malley is the culprit, revealing that one of the gangster’s Eastern European sex workers has disappeared. Strike gives Wardle copies of the letters from people he believes have mental illness, including the one from a girl named Kelsey who wanted to amputate her leg.