Strike is surprised to find Robin in the office and notes she is wearing her engagement ring. Robin declares that if Strike won’t let her perform her job properly, she would rather find alternative employment. She also argues that finding the killer will ultimately make her safer. Strike reluctantly agrees that she can return to full duties.

Robin reveals she has been talking to Jason, a young man on the BIID forum who was in contact with Kelsey. Jason is keen to meet Strike, as he believes he is a voluntary amputee.

Strike sends Robin to Wollaston Close to watch for Laing, secretly believing that this is where she will be safest. He has seen no sign of Laing while observing the Elephant and Castle flats.

Strike believes Robin is making a huge mistake in marrying Matthew. He recalls how he first met Robin on the day he ended his toxic 16-year relationship with Charlotte. Her presence helped him recover after the split. Strike perceived Robin’s engagement ring as a boundary in their relationship that could not be crossed. As a consequence, he dropped his guard, and they became close. He now resolves to “reestablish the professional distance” between them (392). Strike is convinced that Matthew will persuade Robin to leave the agency once they are married. However, he comforts himself that, with two months to go until the wedding, “There [is] still time” (393). He changes his mind about ending his relationship with Elin.

Wardle informs Strike that the killer has struck again. Lila Monkton, a sex worker, was left for dead after the killer stabbed her and cut off several of her fingers. Lila survived but is in a coma.

Strike follows Whittaker’s girlfriend Stephanie when she emerges from their flat. When she enters a pub, Strike waits by a parked transit van. He is surprised when the van doors open and four men emerge, smelling of crack. One of the men is Whittaker, who greets Strike sarcastically. When Stephanie emerges from the pub, Whittaker grabs his girlfriend by the neck, blaming her for Strike’s presence. Strike punches Whittaker and tells Stephanie that her boyfriend killed his mother. He offers to take her to a woman’s refuge, but Stephanie clings to Whittaker.

When Mad Dad’s ex-wife no longer requires services, Strike loses his last client. He watches a strip club where Brockbank may be working, but sees no sign of him.

Robin and Strike arrange to meet Jason and his friend Tempest at the Saatchi gallery restaurant. Robin shows Strike the Jimmy Choo wedding shoes she has bought. He declines when Robin asks if he wants to bring Elin to the wedding.

At the restaurant, Tempest recalls meeting Kelsey, whose boyfriend Niall picked her up on his motorbike. Jason eagerly asks if it is true that Strike shot himself in the leg so that he could become an amputee. Although Tempest is in a wheelchair, she is able-bodied and talks about her “need to be paralysed” (426)—she is transabled. Strike loses his temper, describing the horrific injuries his fellow soldiers suffered in the explosion in which he lost his leg. He advises Tempest and Jason to get psychiatric help.

The killer is dismayed to discover that sex worker Lila Monkton survived his attack.

Wardle is excited to learn that a man picked Kelsey up on a motorbike. He tells Strike that he has located Devotee, who owns a motorcycle. Like Robin, Wardle has discovered Laing’s address from his JustGiving page. Police officers called at his flat, but he was out. The neighbors reported that Laing is severely ill and walks with sticks.

Strike asks Robin to approach Stephanie and find out if Whittaker has an alibi for Kelsey’s murder. Meanwhile, Strike discovers that Brockbank was recently fired from a strip club where his girlfriend Alyssa also worked. He learns that Brockbank lives with Alyssa in Bow.

The killer goes to his “hidey-hole,” where he keeps his victims’ body parts in the fridge. He listens to Blue Öyster Cult as he transforms his appearance.

Robin is watching Whittaker’s flat. However, Stephanie emerges and enters a van, so Robin cannot follow. Deciding to change locations, Robin goes to Wollaston Close and notices that Laing’s curtains are open for the first time. When Robin slips over, a man approaches on crutches and invites her to his flat to clean up. Recognizing him as Donald Laing, Robin politely declines.

The killer is frustrated. After unsuccessfully searching for Robin for days, he sees her in a location with too many witnesses to act. Determined to kill again before he returns to “It,” he spots a drunken young woman lagging behind her companions. The killer grabs the woman as her friends are hailing a taxi. After killing her, he cuts off her ears and leaves her body under a pile of bin bags.

When the body of his latest victim is found, the newspapers begin calling the killer “The Shacklewell Ripper” (467). The murdered woman is revealed to be 22-year-old Heather Smart, a building society employee who was celebrating her sister-in-law’s birthday. When reporters return to Denmark Street, Strike encourages Robin to go to Yorkshire for her final wedding dress fitting.

Wardle reveals that Devotee is no longer a suspect, as he has an alibi for Heather’s murder. Furthermore, the police now believe that the killer may be responsible for two older unsolved murders in Leeds and Milton Keynes. Wardle has been investigating Brockbank, Laing, and Whittaker, but cannot find a connection between any of the men and Kelsey.

In Yorkshire, Robin feels detached from the wedding arrangements. Strike calls during her dress fitting, revealing that Wardle’s brother was killed in a traffic accident. Consequently, Detective Inspector Roy Carver has taken over the case. Carver dislikes Strike and will not collaborate with him as Wardle did. Robin reveals that she has found Brockbank’s address after calling the nurseries in Bow pretending to be Alyssa.