Chapter One

„I can't believe you made me come here", Robin screamed at Noah, her flatmate of two months, over the techno music that engulfed them in the bar. He just grinned back at her and motioned for her to join him on the dance floor.

With a mock eye roll, but secretly enjoying herself, Robin started moving around rhythmically to the booming sounds. Already a little loosened up from the glass of wine she had drunk at the bar, she soon forgot that dancing was not something she usually did. She couldn't even remember the last time she went out like this. With Matthew it was always drinks with friends. And Yorkshire was not really the centre of clubbing.

It was Saturday night and for once there was no work today or the next. Robin's go to excuse, the last few times Noah tried to get her to go out with him, did not work today and she was glad about it. It gave her a freeing feeling to move around without having to socialise with anyone and just letting the music run through her. Every thought just fell from her. There was no Matthew, no divorce, no cases. Just her. And she savoured that moment while it lasted.

Too quickly the DJ set was over, and the music style changed. Robin saw Noah come over to her and they made their way to the bar. "Shots?" he asked her. "Sure, why not."

They downed their Tequilas and stood looking around the room they were in. It wasn't big in space but filled to the brim with dancing and sweating people.

"I think the best part is over. Wanna go home?" Noah said close to her ear, so she could hear him. "Let's go. I don't like the music anyway", Robin answered and started to move in the direction of the exit.

When they were out on the street Robin suddenly realised that they had been joined by a young man in skinny jeans and a tight grey t-shirt. "Robin, this is Jonathan. He will join us", Noah introduced them to each other and together they made their way to Piccadilly Station to catch a train to their flat in Earls Court.

Robin's new living arrangements, organised by Strike's friends Nick and Ilsa, turned out to be perfect. Not only didn't she have to justify her working ours anymore when she came home. Often, her and Noah met at the unruliest hours – him, coming home from a night out, her, leaving for an early observation. They also hit it off right away and became immediate friends, which made for ideal company. In two months, they found a rhythm and accord that made her want to go home to after a long day at work. For the first time, since working for Strike, Robin actually wanted to talk to someone about what had happened during her day, and Noah turned out to be a very adept listener. Being confined to the same office with the same people, he enjoyed the stories Robin had to tell about her clients. Even though she didn't disclose any personal details, it still gave him a glimpse into other people's lives and something to look forward to when they met in the evening for drinks in the kitchen.

When they finally got home, Robin declined the offer for a nightcap, to give the two men their privacy and retired to her room. It wasn't very large, but she had tried to make it as homely as possible. She had enough space to fit a queen bed and a comfortable small sofa, as well as a small desk to work from when she wanted to do some research from home.

After having changed from her dress and tights into her pyjamas, Robin said down on her sofa and opened up her laptop. Even though it was past one in the morning she wasn't tired yet. Since she didn't have a TV, the laptop was her only way to catch up on some telly.

The other reason she didn't want to go to bed yet, was that she knew, the moment she would close her eyes, all the thoughts that escaped her during her nightly adventure would start rushing back in again. And she wanted to stay on that blissful cloud a bit longer without a care in the world. The real world would come back soon enough.

Robin listened for any noises coming from the kitchen and being satisfied of having the space to herself, she quickly got another glass of white wine from the fridge and made herself comfortable on the sofa.

She woke up with a start when her mobile started ringing loudly in her ear. Confused where she was, she blindly grabbed for it. Slowly, the memories came back that she had just wanted to close her eyes for a few minutes the night before and must have fallen asleep immediately. Still on the sofa and with sparkling sunlight streaming into her room, she sat up and looked at her phone. It was Ilsa.

"Hey. Sorry, I just woke up", Robin said to her friend, before Ilsa could get a word in.

"That must have been a great night", Ilsa answered with a smile, "It's nearly 12!"

Surprised, Robin looked at her clock on the wall. When was the last time she had slept that long?

"I don't want to keep you from waking up, I just wanted to ring whether you would like to come over for dinner tonight? It's been a while and Nick and I miss you."

Robin smiled to herself. It was a nice feeling to be missed by someone and to be perfectly honest with herself she missed them too. She hadn't seen them for a few weeks and since she had no plans for the evening she accepted happily.

"Shall I bring something?", Robin asked.

"Maybe a bottle of the Rosé we had last time? I remember it quite fondly", Ilsa answered with a grin in her voice.

They agreed on a time and after they hung up, Robin went to the bathroom to take a long shower to wake herself up and start into a new day fresh and clean.

The rest of the day went by quickly. Robin busied herself with chores around the flat and listened to Noah's review of the night that was much more successful compared to her falling asleep on the sofa with an empty wine glass in one hand.

At 7 o'clock, Robin, with a bottle of wine in each hand, rang the Herbert's doorbell. After a few moments she was greeted not by one of her hosts, but by her partner, Cormoran Strike.

"Cormoran", she said surprised, "I didn't know you'd be here."

He reached out to take the wine and made space to let her enter the comfortable flat. In the following shuffle for space in the small hallway, Robin could hide the little smile that had appeared all of a sudden.

"Yeah, I came by to return something and Ilsa told me she'd invited you. So, I thought I'd stay." Realising the implication of what he'd just said, he added with a grin: "You know I can't say no to good food."

Of course, you can't. Robin thought to herself. With a sheepish smile she repeated the sentiment out loud.

Strike laughed and nudged her playfully along the hall into the kitchen, where Ilsa and Nick were busy preparing the food.

"There you are!", Ilsa exclaimed, hugging Robin tightly. Being with people who genuinely cared for her was still a new concept to her. It had taken her such a long time to find friends in London when she'd first moved here with Matthew. She never liked his friends very much, but she also wasn't very good at socialising and meeting new people. So, she had stayed in the same circle for years, even though it made her miserable. But during the last few months she had built herself a small circle of close friends – Nick and Ilsa and Noah, Vanessa, who had helped her in the immediate aftermath of her separation from Matthew, her colleague Sam Barclay and even Strike's old friend Shanker popped up from time to time for a pint in the Tottenham. And of course, Cormoran Strike himself. After they had actually talked about everything that happened during the last year in their respective lives during the horse race in Woolstone, they continued being open with each other. He assured her that her job was safe, and she went back to therapy. The second time around, without the constant thought of being sacked again, it was actually a lot more helpful.

Robin also found out that sharing the pain with people around her was a good thing. During one especially long evening in the Tottenham she and Strike talked about their individual trauma and afterwards it was like a wall had been torn down between them. They both had experienced horrible things, but came out the other side, maybe not unscathed, but alive. Since then, they had spent many an evening together, usually with at least someone else present, but with an ease that was missing while Robin was still living with Matthew.

After all the hugs and the exclamations of "It's been too long!" on the Herbert's part, they sat down for dinner. Ilsa and Robin each had a glass of the Rosé, while Nick and Strike stuck to beer.

Soon, Ilsa turned the conversation towards Robin's reason for sleeping in. "So, Robin, what did you do last night to need so much sleep today?"

Robin suddenly felt all eyes on herself and her gaze quickly darted in Strike's direction to see his reaction, but she only got an inquisitive look that didn't tell her anything about what he actually thought.

"Noah dragged me to a bar. We danced, drank Tequila and when we got home I fell asleep in front of the TV. So, nothing scandalous. Sorry to disappoint", she added with a smile in Ilsa's direction.

"Too bad. I thought maybe a nice, handsome guy was keeping you from getting up in the morning", Ilsa answered.

Robin felt a sudden rush of blood shoot to her face. For all the things they could now talk about openly, Strike's and Robin's respective love life was not one of them. Both were painfully aware that the other was single for the first time since they knew each other. But it was also an unspoken rule between them that nothing could ever come of it. None had a great track record of successful relationships in the past and they didn't want to jeopardise their working partnership for something romantic that would eventually end in tears. That didn't mean that Robin would want Strike to think that she took strange men home on Saturday nights.

"No, no guy. Just reruns of Black Books and a glass of wine. What about you?" Robin tried to segway the conversation into safer territory than her love life and Ilsa accepted the challenge and told her guests about their Saturday evening.

Robin chanced another look in Strike's direction and found his eyes on her. When their eyes met across the table he gave her a quick smile, before concentrating on his friends again. For every reason she gave herself for not pursuing anything romantic with Strike, she would get a warm and fuzzy feeling in her belly whenever he looked at her like that. Before she could dwell on these thoughts for much longer, she ate a piece of the salmon Nick had cooked and joined back into the conversation.

Cormoran Strike knew he was in deep trouble. The moment he heard from his friends that Robin would spend the evening in their company he looked for a way to be there too. He knew as well as she did that anything more than working partners would be a disaster in the making. But after the separation from her husband he realised that the main reason he always gave himself to stop his thoughts from lingering on her too much, was now gone. She was single. And he looked for every possibility to spend more time with her. And now he sat at a dinner table with his best friends and had to hear about her nightly adventures. He hoped no one had heard the release of the breath, he had been holding, while the conversation circled around the possible men in Robin's bed. He should get a grip. Looking away from her beautiful eyes he turned his attention back on his friends and the evening continued in an amicable mood.

While eating the Mousse au Chocolat Nick had prepared the night before, Strike's mobile suddenly vibrated.

"Sorry", he excused himself and took the call to the veranda to use the time for a cigarette. "This is Strike", he answered the unknown number after the fourth ring.

"Cormoran?"

Oh no. He knew that voice instantly.

"Charlotte. What do you want?" he asked with an icy tone. From the periphery of his eyes he saw that three pairs of eyes went to him the moment he had said her name. He turned and walked a few steps from the door.

"Cormoran. I need you." Charlotte Ross sounded nothing like her usual self. Her voice was small and hoarse, with a kind of desperation to it.

"I'm not up for one of your games tonight. Just tell me what you want." After their last meeting at the restaurant he hadn't heard from her and he had hoped that her sudden need to get back together with him was crushed by his decisive unwillingness. But he also couldn't help but feel that something was wrong.

"Something happened. Can you come? To my house?" Either this was her grandest performance, or something was seriously wrong. He couldn't remember having ever heard her voice sound so weak.

"Please tell me what happened.", Strike said.

"I… I don't know. I came home and there he was…" She didn't continue her thought.

"Who was there? Is someone in the house?", Strike asked.

"Jago. He was just lying there and the babies… I don't know what to do."

"Charlotte, what happened to Jago? Where is he?" He had started to get nervous, his cigarette forgotten in his hand.

"There is so much blood…" Charlotte whispered.

Strike felt his insides go cold. He turned around to look at the people at the dinner table. He didn't want to be involved in Charlotte's affairs again, but he knew that kind of thought was futile. His gaze lingered on Robin. He never wanted for her to get dragged into his messy past.

"Have you called the police?" Strike tore his eyes from Robin.

"No, I called you. Will you come?", Charlotte answered.

"Call the police immediately. I'm on my way." He ended the call and went back into the living room. Their looks turned into frowns when they saw his face.

"Cormoran, what's wrong? You look like you saw a ghost." Robin stood up from the table and walked towards him. She deserved to truth, however messy.

"That was Charlotte." Ilsa sucked in a loud breath at the mention of his ex's name. "I think something happened to her husband. I'm sorry, but I have to go."

He turned towards the hall to put on his coat.

"I'm coming with you", he heard Robin say. "You look like there has been a tragedy and you might need help."

To everyone's surprise Strike didn't argue but made way to let her pass to get the coats and exit out the front door after they bade a hasty goodbye to their hosts.

"Let's take a cab. We shouldn't waste any time." With that Strike set out down the street and Robin followed him into the night.