1 The Cuckoo's Calling

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Begin Reading Table of Contents Newsletters Copyright Page In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. To the real Deeby with many thanks Why were you born when the snow was falling? You should have come to the cuckoo’s calling, Or when grapes are green in the cluster, Or, at least, when lithe swallows muster For their far off flying From summer dying. Why did you die when the lambs were cropping? You should have died at the apples’ dropping, When the grasshopper comes to trouble, And the wheat-fields are sodden stubble, And all winds go sighing For sweet things dying. Christina G. Rossetti, “A Dirge”
Contents Cover Title Page Welcome Dedication Epigraph Prologue Three Months Later Part One 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Part Two 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Part Three 1 2 3
Page 1: A 1 E=mc 2 This eBook is downloaded
Page 7 and 8: Prologue Is demum miser est, cuius
Page 9 and 10: The story forced news of politics,
Page 11 and 12: of happiness at the thought that sh
Page 13 and 14: 2 STRIKE ABSORBED THE IMPACT, HEARD
Page 15 and 16: madness when he had plunged after h
Page 17 and 18: 3 FIVE MINUTES LATER THERE WAS a kn
Page 19 and 20: “It’s—um—actually, I wonder
Page 21 and 22: watching my father carrying her up
Page 23 and 24: He unfolded the note against his kn
Page 25 and 26: “John…I’m going to be honest
Page 27 and 28: Matthew, who was staying for the we
Page 29 and 30: “Understand what?” “Well…an
Page 31 and 32: “Yes, exactly. So—so Lula arriv
Page 33 and 34: 5 STRIKE TURNED TO ROBIN, WHO had s
Page 35 and 36: the street at the foot of Center Po
Page 37 and 38: Strike tweaked a tourist leaflet fr
Page 39 and 40: 6 ROBIN HAD WAITED TEN MINUTES, to
Page 41 and 42: 7 STRIKE HAD SPENT THE EARLY aftern
Page 43 and 44: walking in the direction of Landry
Page 45 and 46: “Don’t you dare fucking investi
Page 47 and 48: “Get on with it,” said Strike.
Page 49 and 50: learned that he was a newly qualifi
Page 51 and 52: “Here’s a bit of film on YouTub
Page 53 and 54:
2 THE CAMERAS LOOKED LIKE MALEVOLEN
Page 55 and 56:
“The balcony she fell from was on
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she run downstairs and tell the sec
Page 59 and 60:
Robin felt as though her own worth
Page 61 and 62:
the empty flat under the eyes of he
Page 63 and 64:
“I’m temporary,” said Robin.
Page 65 and 66:
Rokeby has been married three times
Page 67 and 68:
And yet he was close to feeling abo
Page 69 and 70:
mirrored walls reflecting tables of
Page 71 and 72:
“How did you get on with Lula Lan
Page 73 and 74:
“Suicidal pissed off?” “No,
Page 75 and 76:
“The police came,” Strike said,
Page 77 and 78:
“He’s told you that, has he?”
Page 79 and 80:
“How long were you away from the
Page 81 and 82:
7 A MAN IN HIS MID-TWENTIES was edg
Page 83 and 84:
“Why not?” “ ’Cause she lik
Page 85 and 86:
“Nothing came of it?” “They d
Page 87 and 88:
“I’m gonna be late.” Wilson r
Page 89 and 90:
Weighed down, young, by a mortgage,
Page 91 and 92:
would be able to persuade her to ta
Page 93 and 94:
Strike followed the speculative tra
Page 95 and 96:
9 ON SUNDAY MORNING, WHICH WAS fine
Page 97 and 98:
“Lula made this girl travel all t
Page 99 and 100:
“Rochelle, have you seen her?”
Page 101 and 102:
10 ROBIN STOOD SWAYING WITH THE RES
Page 103 and 104:
“Fire away,” said Strike, as he
Page 105 and 106:
peroxide hair, in their tiny, tight
Page 107 and 108:
camera at the end of Bellamy Road a
Page 109 and 110:
“But while we were proving she wa
Page 111 and 112:
Wardle snorted. “Heard about that
Page 113 and 114:
“You got forensics to check out h
Page 115 and 116:
statement agreeing that Duffield ha
Page 117 and 118:
11 “EVAN DUFFIELD’S AGENT SAYS
Page 119 and 120:
Strike had never moved in the kinds
Page 121 and 122:
He guessed that it would needle her
Page 123 and 124:
“Isn’t he a quarter Malay?” a
Page 125 and 126:
“What were you saying?” she ask
Page 127 and 128:
The thought of Alison’s doomed in
Page 129 and 130:
“He must have moved quickly.”
Page 131 and 132:
“God knows what Lula was doing wi
Page 133 and 134:
Strike had met countless liars; he
Page 135 and 136:
“Thought you might like to know y
Page 137 and 138:
weekend with Dickie, who is a conte
Page 139 and 140:
ecovery. Perhaps the blunt, unnuanc
Page 141 and 142:
Geegee, will you pleeeeeze make Roc
Page 143 and 144:
that gorgeous Charlotte? Not split
Page 145 and 146:
companion, and although its name wa
Page 147 and 148:
3 STRIKE WAS WOKEN EARLY ON Sunday
Page 149 and 150:
4 You think i wont fucking hurt you
Page 151 and 152:
Their pale reflections were swaying
Page 153 and 154:
She recalled the excitement she had
Page 155 and 156:
“Not that much, by your standards
Page 157 and 158:
“You’d think Lula Landry would
Page 159 and 160:
5 STRIKE AND ROBIN PARTED AT New Bo
Page 161 and 162:
“For many reasons, all of them go
Page 163 and 164:
“Feel free.” “…your collusi
Page 165 and 166:
there,” said Landry, stonily. “
Page 167 and 168:
6 “JOHN,” SAID STRIKE, AS HIS c
Page 169 and 170:
“She was—sometimes—a bit like
Page 171 and 172:
mind me telling Tansy who your fath
Page 173 and 174:
“Why?” “Because we’d had so
Page 175 and 176:
“Has your mother made a will?”
Page 177 and 178:
unrolled the gel liner from the stu
Page 179 and 180:
“Bummer,” said Spanner, and the
Page 181 and 182:
e the first to make deep, dark hole
Page 183 and 184:
8 WHEN ROBIN ARRIVED NEXT MORNING,
Page 185 and 186:
“Robin, I need you to check somet
Page 187 and 188:
So that was where they went. Strike
Page 189 and 190:
“Di’n’t her brother tell ya?
Page 191 and 192:
“Did she tell you why?” “Ther
Page 193 and 194:
“One of the shop assistants overh
Page 195 and 196:
“We usedta listen to Deeby Macc i
Page 197 and 198:
He thought that she was going to te
Page 199 and 200:
“That all?” she asked aggressiv
Page 201 and 202:
“Robin says you’ve been out det
Page 203 and 204:
He had a fleeting vision of the all
Page 205 and 206:
Robin selected two bags of salt and
Page 207 and 208:
“I called the Law Society about t
Page 209 and 210:
Lycra. Somé’s snug gray jeans bo
Page 211 and 212:
a life. Get out of the closet. Have
Page 213 and 214:
“They said that a neighbor had ov
Page 215 and 216:
knew what she was going to say, and
Page 217 and 218:
“Freebies, dear,” drawled Somé
Page 219 and 220:
was all getting too much. She wante
Page 221 and 222:
“Big fucking deal,” said Somé,
Page 223 and 224:
“No,” said Somé, with a ghost
Page 225 and 226:
her work, which involved a small cl
Page 227 and 228:
“Seventeenth of March,” said St
Page 229 and 230:
3 THE HEAVY BLACK-PAINTED FRONT doo
Page 231 and 232:
then ascended the stairs, her bucke
Page 233 and 234:
“Were Bestigui’s roses on somet
Page 235 and 236:
“You heard her say,” he repeate
Page 237 and 238:
and stepped outside. Robin did not
Page 239 and 240:
“I—I’ll try.” Bristow sound
Page 241 and 242:
4 THE WEEKEND STRETCHED AHEAD, WARM
Page 243 and 244:
ecause it had once been home to the
Page 245 and 246:
“Met him, did you?” “No, but
Page 247 and 248:
“Could it have been Agyeman?”
Page 249 and 250:
Marlene for two months before she d
Page 251 and 252:
“Yes, that would be good.” “J
Page 253 and 254:
Jago Ross had been married once alr
Page 255 and 256:
“You need to go outside to do tha
Page 257 and 258:
Robin felt equally inclined to laug
Page 259 and 260:
He sat quite still on his camp bed
Page 261 and 262:
aiment suitable for her fiancé; he
Page 263 and 264:
fireplace. The displaced onlookers,
Page 265 and 266:
James—is it James?—had had him
Page 267 and 268:
“In what way?” “Just one of t
Page 269 and 270:
“Oh, it was, like—you know that
Page 271 and 272:
ottles on top of everything he’d
Page 273 and 274:
joke. And she said, like, really se
Page 275 and 276:
8 STRIKE, FOREWARNED, WAS NOWHERE N
Page 277 and 278:
yelping with excitement; and then t
Page 279 and 280:
“I’m not joking, Ciara. You’l
Page 281 and 282:
with Ciara, whom Kolovas-Jones had
Page 283 and 284:
“Yeah?” said Strike, sitting do
Page 285 and 286:
without leaving me a note. I keep w
Page 287 and 288:
“ ‘Bitch you ain’t all that
Page 289 and 290:
“Restrain her?” “You grabbed
Page 291 and 292:
“I’m out of fags. Can I have an
Page 293 and 294:
“And who knew that was going to h
Page 295 and 296:
Duffield puffed and jiggled. “I d
Page 297 and 298:
“We’ll go to mine, then, shall
Page 299 and 300:
She might well be the only person w
Page 301 and 302:
“Yeah, there is. I can’t rememb
Page 303 and 304:
“Royal Engineers,” said Strike.
Page 305 and 306:
miles, stay overnight in this plush
Page 307 and 308:
“You mean…in general?” she sa
Page 309 and 310:
10 IT WAS THE FIRST TAXI that Strik
Page 311 and 312:
“It was stuck in with her Oyster
Page 313 and 314:
Carver’s blunt, wide face was cle
Page 315 and 316:
“She didn’t want to let the gir
Page 317 and 318:
“You’re telling me Deeby Macc k
Page 319 and 320:
“I’m going to be on my way to P
Page 321 and 322:
sole support of Uncle Ted, he had v
Page 323 and 324:
He was inside Bestigui’s office b
Page 325 and 326:
weren’t you? But you can’t go b
Page 327 and 328:
show of conscience might keep her o
Page 329 and 330:
“He wasn’t angry, then, when he
Page 331 and 332:
Bestigui did not answer. Strike cou
Page 333 and 334:
“She had an aunt, remember?” sa
Page 335 and 336:
Strike thought might turn out to be
Page 337 and 338:
“Yet romance blossomed across sec
Page 339 and 340:
She did not answer. “Did you call
Page 341 and 342:
When he saw Robin and Alison come t
Page 343 and 344:
“And the man who came in, when di
Page 345 and 346:
“He’s Lieutenant Jonah Francis
Page 347 and 348:
Her voice was thin and cracked, her
Page 349 and 350:
There was a pause, in which Strike
Page 351 and 352:
“No, of course not. He was a most
Page 353 and 354:
“What other man was that?” “T
Page 355 and 356:
lifted up the board and saw, beneat
Page 357 and 358:
Part Five Felix qui potuit rerum co
Page 359 and 360:
From the depths of his agony he gri
Page 361 and 362:
“Don’t worry about me.” When
Page 363 and 364:
Bristow threw himself into the seat
Page 365 and 366:
“Coming from a virtual down-and-o
Page 367 and 368:
your mother’s room in the small h
Page 369 and 370:
“Alison isn’t very bright,” s
Page 371 and 372:
He saw the pale teeth, bared as Bri
Page 373 and 374:
ut pretty well—and you carried th
Page 375 and 376:
A rustle, the blur of a pale hand,
Page 377 and 378:
Ten Days Later THE BRITISH ARMY REQ
Page 379 and 380:
problems, and I remembered how upse
Page 381 and 382:
“Three prospective clients phoned
Page 383 and 384:
Robin drew herself up a little, ble
Page 385 and 386:
About the Author ROBERT GALBRAITH s
Page 387 and 388:
The characters and events in this b
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