E24: More Precious Than Rubies

The Strike & Ellacott Files

The hosts analyze chapters 57 through 59 of The Hallmarked Man, focusing on Strike's emotional turmoil following a drunken train trip to Scotland and Robin's reactive 'protest behavior'

Key takeaways

• Kenz identifies Robin's cold email to Strike as textbook 'protest behavior,' explaining how attachment theory manifests in adults through indirect attempts to regain connection while avoiding direct vulnerability.
• The hosts highlight Rowling's deliberate use of gemstone names (Sapphire, Jade, Bijou) as a thematic device symbolizing how predatory men reduce vulnerable women to objects or trinkets for manipulation.

Main topics

• Chapter 57 plot analysis & Strike's emotional state
• Robin's protest behavior & attachment dynamics

Notable quotes

"protest behavior as indirect attempts to regain connection when attachment feels threatened"

Conclusion

The episode delivers a rich blend of psychological character analysis, forens

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Thank you. Speaker 1 (0:26) hi everyone and welcome back to the strike and ellicott files an unofficial podcast dedicated to all things strike and robin as written by robert galbraith aka the endlessly talented jk rowling my name is kens i'm lindsay and i'm pools and today we'll be continuing our reread of the hallmarked man covering chapters 57 through 59 which takes us from strike taking the sleeper train to scotland not the midnight train to georgia to strike's conversation with jade simple I Speaker 3 (0:52) guess it is technically a midnight train going anywhere. Scotland isn't anywhere. Different song. I know. Speaker 2 (0:59) Lots of Speaker 3 (1:00) songs about midnight trains. You Speaker 2 (1:02) took Speaker 3 (1:02) the night train for a reason. Because Robin cancelled your romantic date. And you were sad and you were drinking. Gonna regret that in the morning. Wow, we're good. Nice. And we haven't Speaker 1 (1:20) even finished the intro yet, have we? God damn it. Please be aware, as always, that our discussion of The Hallmarked Man will often reference the ending of this book, as well as the previous books in the series. But before we get into that, we have stuff to talk about. What news do we have? We have a lot of Sleep Tight Evangeline news. We love it. We love it. I'm Speaker 3 (1:38) so Speaker 1 (1:38) excited. Yeah. So let's start out with the new header. New Speaker 2 (1:42) header. Speaker 1 (1:43) Yeah, yeah. This one, it looks Speaker 3 (1:44) kind of looks like a mossy fountain pond looking Speaker 1 (1:47) thing. Speaker 3 (1:48) Like a water feature with a statue. We've got some lily pads. It's apparently of Croydon Cemetery. And Speaker 1 (1:54) I think it's also called Mitcham Road Cemetery. I Speaker 3 (1:57) think it's the East Chapel specifically. Speaker 1 (2:00) I've seen a few folks mention that this cemetery is like 20 or so minutes away from that Irish pub that Joe mentioned Strike and Robin being at a few months ago. Speaker 3 (2:08) I'm wondering Speaker 1 (2:09) if these are close together time-wise in the book or whether there's any relation. Speaker 3 (2:13) Maybe something's going on in this area and they go back a couple times. Speaker 2 (2:18) Yeah. Do we know in the books where Leda is buried? Because I know that they showed her somewhere in the show. It was Whitechapel. Speaker 3 (2:27) It would be a weird place for Leta's grave to be if the last place she lived was Whitechapel, because this is way south of the river. Speaker 2 (2:34) So maybe it's not likely that Leta's buried there, but I'm wondering if the case takes them to this cemetery. I Speaker 3 (2:42) feel like someone might die in the course of the books and they attend the funeral here. It's a crematorium and they hold the funerals. Okay. It's like a couple different chapels here. My guess is that someone dies and they go to a funeral for some Speaker 2 (2:55) reason. Could it be Shanker? My question about Leda is just, I'm wondering if we're ever going to find out where she was buried because... If we're going to see her murder solved, I feel like it kind of has to come up. I feel like it might come up. I know that Roke B is really probably the key to leading us into the Leda territory, but maybe, maybe we could see where she's buried. If Leda was buried here, let's just say for argument's sake, she's buried here and they're there for the case and Strike says, hey, this is where my mom's buried. They go together. It would remind me. of when Harry and Hermione go to Godric's Hollow and find his parents' graves and what a moment that was. And I know that Joe had talked about how that moment had potential for romance with Speaker 1 (3:43) the Speaker 2 (3:44) kissing gates and everything. Speaker 3 (3:46) I Speaker 2 (3:47) would love for Robin to go with him. Speaker 3 (3:49) The cemetery is just up the road from an Ikea. Strike could go shopping. I love an Speaker 2 (3:54) Ikea. We all Speaker 3 (3:55) love an Ikea. Everyone loves it. We all want a trip to an Ikea, get some meatballs, you know. I Speaker 2 (4:00) would like to know where Leida's buried. That was kind of my question when I saw the cemetery. I know that it's probably unlikely, though. Speaker 3 (4:07) I just need this book. Speaker 2 (4:10) I do, too. I like your idea about them going. As long as they go together, I Speaker 1 (4:15) don't care. Speaker 3 (4:15) I want them to be together 24. I want them to be so together. And Robin would Speaker 1 (4:19) be so touched if Strike took her to his mother's grave. I mean, that's right up there with having dinner with Lucy, you know? I know. She would just be so touched by that and be like, oh my God, you took me with you. I want him to be like, I Speaker 3 (4:33) never took you to Lucy's because I don't want to subject you to Greg. I fucking hate that guy. I'm not putting you next to him to deal with him. I think he would be really Speaker 2 (4:42) obnoxious with Robin. Oh my Speaker 3 (4:44) God, he would be so fucking, he would give her Matthew flashbacks is what he'd do. I Speaker 2 (4:48) mean, it might not even be an issue coming up if Lucy does leave. Fingers fucking crossed. Then Speaker 3 (4:54) we can have some family dinners with the guy we want to hang out with. Yes. HMS Speaker 2 (4:59) Lucy. I'm on that ship so hard. I love how my opinion of Wardle has changed so much over the course of the books. Oh Speaker 3 (5:08) my God. Speaker 1 (5:08) Okay, what else do we have? Okay, and this has been the most intriguing one. We got another clue Speaker 3 (5:13) about Speaker 1 (5:14) another Sleep Tight Evangeline location, and it's a different kind of clue than we have ever gotten ever before. Oh, yeah. She really Speaker 2 (5:23) loves her super note. She really Speaker 1 (5:25) does. Speaker 2 (5:26) Guess what I got for my birthday, Speaker 1 (5:28) guys. Speaker 3 (5:29) Hell Speaker 2 (5:29) yes, I did. Speaker 3 (5:30) I'm so excited. Speaker 2 (5:32) It's so much fun. You need to post that and tag her because I feel like she might get excited and respond Speaker 3 (5:37) to you. That's such a good idea. I'll have to think of something to like write on it. You Speaker 2 (5:41) inspired me for my Speaker 3 (5:42) birthday. You influenced me, Speaker 1 (5:43) Jo. Yeah. Strike my inspiration forever. I Speaker 3 (5:46) gotta say, it feels so nice to write on. It feels smooth, but nice. It feels like nicer paper. I Speaker 2 (5:55) know what you mean. Yeah. I'm Speaker 3 (5:56) loving it. I'm loving it so much. I've got my folders here and I'm really hoping it inspires me to write more. Speaker 2 (6:03) But Speaker 3 (6:04) yeah, so brief digression from the clues. I was super influenced. Speaker 2 (6:08) It's so good though. I love how much she posts about it. But yes. Sorry for the distraction. Kenz, tell us Speaker 1 (6:12) what this was. Speaker 2 (6:14) Yes. Okay. Speaker 1 (6:15) So as we're showing off Speaker 2 (6:16) her gifts. Yes, exactly. Speaker 1 (6:18) She's showing us a picture of her notes, her location notes on her fancy super note. Her location in the book. And she doesn't tell us what the location is. Just the description. Yeah. Oh, Speaker 3 (6:30) my God. And Speaker 1 (6:31) Katie took the time to painstakingly transcribe and decipher Joe's Speaker 2 (6:37) handwriting. Ludicrous moniker on Twitter. Yeah. Speaker 1 (6:40) Yes. And it says red leather boots, long bar under drawers. The kind strike can remember on wooden filing cabinets in the military. Bunting in primary colors. Music loud. Dance. An old red carpet on wooden floorboards. Retro feel. Mirrors behind booths. Oval tables. Slightly reminiscent of disrepute. Cocktails. Camden Town Lager. Low ceiling, low hanging fringed lamp. Table 604. QR code to order food, but no 4G reception. Music speaker immediately over their heads. Over Speaker 2 (7:17) their heads. Yeah. That means they're going to have to get close to talk. That is exactly what I thought. Strike having to like lean in. Speaker 3 (7:25) Lips touching hair. Breath touching neck. I'm just saying. Maybe I'm going way too far with that. Speaker 2 (7:29) No, it's the perfect amount of going. What is bunting? Speaker 3 (7:34) Bunting, it's like those little triangle flags on a string and you string it up to decorate. Okay, that and primary Speaker 2 (7:39) colors. Yeah. No one's been able to find it. Speaker 3 (7:41) When I tell the hours I have fucking spent in Google Maps looking at every goddamn bar and restaurant in the UK, not just London. I went UK wide for this. Is it Speaker 2 (7:51) Camden? Is it going to be in Camden? Because it says Camden. No, it's a Speaker 3 (7:54) very, very popular generic beer. Okay. Yeah. So it's served pretty much everywhere. Speaker 1 (7:59) That's not helpful. She actually had a thought about who could be here. And I thought that it was really interesting from Discord. Okay. She thought maybe it could be Strike and Rokeby. Oh, she says they agreed to get together for a beer and the retro feel slash loud music fits with Rokeby. And the thing about Strike feeling like it's familiar with the army, like he's spotting things they have in common, but against his will. And he's loathe. I would love it. Speaker 3 (8:21) But I don't think Strike would go out for a beer in public with Rokeby. Speaker 2 (8:25) That's because that's my only hang up. And Rokeby did say, like, we don't have to go out just. Yeah, I Speaker 1 (8:30) just thought it was an interesting thought. Yeah, it is an Speaker 2 (8:32) interesting thought. Well, maybe that's not the first time they go out for a beer. Maybe he gets more comfortable with it as as it goes on. Or Speaker 3 (8:38) maybe Roke B. Lick hires out the restaurant. And now I've got Google Maps open again so I can try and see if there's one I missed. We've Speaker 2 (8:45) got to figure this out. Didn't Katie think she found it and Joe said no? Speaker 3 (8:49) Yeah, Cahoots did look similar, but it was not. We Speaker 1 (8:51) still don't know where exactly it is, but we do have some additional details that Joe has been tweeting out. One is that the location is not a pub this time. And she's confirmed that it's definitely for Sleep Tight Evangeline. And she's also plotted some of 10. I think that was a response to one of your tweets, Lindsay. Yeah, Speaker 2 (9:10) I asked her, is this for Sleep Tight Evangeline or Speaker 1 (9:12) 10? And she said, she said, S-T-E. S-T-E. She knows. I like seeing her do that. She's using our lingo. Katie has suggested, that's Ludacris Monica on Twitter, has suggested that in reminiscent of Disrepute. is referring to the cocktail bar in Soho called Disrepute. I think it Speaker 3 (9:29) is, which also means that Speaker 1 (9:30) Strike must have been there earlier in the Speaker 3 (9:32) book to be comparing it to it in his mind, right? Yeah. Speaker 1 (9:35) And it did open in December 2016, so it would be possible. And you know what I think? So Speaker 3 (9:39) it says no 4G reception and low ceiling. To me, that's saying a basement bar or a basement restaurant. Disrepute is also in the basement and it has like these side areas that are sort of faulty, curved ceilings. Okay. What if that is the part that's... reminiscent about Disrepute, but the vibe is different. Disrepute's very like sleek and this with the bunting and the carpet, it's different. I feel like maybe that faulty ceiling is what's reminiscent of Disrepute. So I've been, okay, I will stop. I have been Speaker 2 (10:09) going Speaker 3 (10:09) down. Yeah, Speaker 2 (10:11) I Speaker 3 (10:11) have to calm down. I Speaker 2 (10:12) have been Speaker 3 (10:12) tried. I haven't tried because Speaker 2 (10:14) I knew I didn't have time. I Speaker 3 (10:16) have spent hours, hours, hours, hours moving Speaker 2 (10:19) the map two inches, checking all those restaurants, Speaker 3 (10:22) moving it again, doing a grid search through all of London, going to York, going to Portsmouth. I'm like, maybe they're in Edinburgh. I don't know. Maybe it's Speaker 2 (10:31) a Speaker 3 (10:31) surprise location. Speaker 2 (10:32) Every fucking Speaker 3 (10:33) major city, Manchester, Birmingham. That seems Speaker 2 (10:35) like a really hard clue. I mean, how are we ever going to find it? It's Speaker 3 (10:39) driving me crazy. Imagine though. Speaker 2 (10:41) When we get there. Speaker 3 (10:42) Yeah. I'm inspired now. I'm going to be looking Speaker 1 (10:45) while we're recording. Oh, no. Totally paying attention. James, the guy who owns Il Portico, the restaurant. Speaker 3 (10:51) Yes. Speaker 1 (10:52) That's the restaurant that's featured in Running Grave. He's a cool dude. He is. Yeah. He replied to Joe's post with, is this where I think Speaker 2 (11:00) it is? Oh, my gosh. They're so mean. Right. And then he Speaker 1 (11:04) said again, he said it replied after that saying, I'm 99 % sure I'm right, but I can't spill the beans. I promise. And then Joe said, not yet. That's tomorrow. Winky face. And the exchange ends with enjoy. I hope it's the perfect fit. Kiss, kiss, kiss. A perfect Speaker 2 (11:19) fit. I responded to this. I responded to this with, oh, come on. It's teasing. Obviously, it means that she's telling him that she's looking for a place to fit a certain scene. It feels like maybe he recommended something and that she's going to check it out Speaker 3 (11:35) the next day. I want her to have asked him, I need. The perfect restaurant for the first date of a woman you've been in love with for seven years, who's also your best friend and business partner. The perfect fit. It's not a minor. It can't be just. It's probably going to be something Speaker 2 (11:51) like completely different. All the things we guess are going to be a romance are never the things that are. I know. Because she loves messing with us. I'm still going to guess romance, though. Every time. I know. That was the biggest tease I think she's ever done. Because someone else knows things and is teasing us as well. I mean, I love it. I Speaker 1 (12:12) love it. We're going to have to like put a pin in that and see what it ends up, you know. Speaker 2 (12:16) I really hope that someone is able to figure it out. Yeah. Speaker 1 (12:20) I don't Speaker 2 (12:20) think it's going to be me. We Speaker 1 (12:22) need people in London to hit the pavement. Yeah. Boots on the ground. Yes. It's Speaker 2 (12:27) hard to have a clue where we don't know what it is. Speaker 1 (12:30) Yeah, which is why it's been driving me particularly crazy. I Speaker 2 (12:33) know. Speaker 1 (12:34) She's like, I'm tired of you guys figuring out these clues so fast. I gotta give you something to chew on for a while. She's gotta Speaker 2 (12:40) give us a challenge. Speaker 3 (12:41) I think it's gotta be somewhere underground. It's gotta be a retro feel, but the fringed lamp, the bunting, and the rug are more like cozy home aesthetics. So it's gotta be a little quirky. It's got to be big enough that you've got a QR code to order food. Was Speaker 2 (12:55) that a thing back in? No, it wasn't. Speaker 3 (12:58) So Speaker 2 (12:58) is that Speaker 3 (12:59) just now? Well, I'm thinking maybe she's describing Speaker 2 (13:01) it now. Yeah. I feel like kind of an old grumpy person sometimes with the QR codes. I hate Speaker 3 (13:08) the fucking QR codes. Give me a goddamn menu. I'm not doing this. Speaker 2 (13:11) Like this place, you don't have service. So how am I supposed to scan the QR code? I don't want to go to a website. I don't want Speaker 3 (13:17) to download an app. i don't want to create an account i just want you to hand me a menu and Speaker 2 (13:22) let me order my goddamn food i've never had to create an account to order food but it's just like the service sometimes if it's not working then it's frustrating Speaker 3 (13:31) Also, let's make the lighting bright enough that I can read without having to use my phone as a flashlight. Now you sound like an old Speaker 1 (13:37) lady. Speaker 3 (13:37) Can we turn Speaker 1 (13:38) down the fucking music so I can hear myself think? Please. Old woman yells at cloud. Speaker 3 (13:46) Don't even get me started. Anyway, you can expect a very loud voice note. When you find out. Once I realize I'm reading Sleep Tight Evangeline, I'm going to get her to a restaurant, strikes a dimension, a fringed lamp and loud dance music. I'm going to be like, it's. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to be screaming. Yes. I've sunk a lot of hours into this and I'm coming up with Speaker 2 (14:07) nothing. That's funny. What's our last Speaker 1 (14:10) piece of news? We have a tiny bit of casting news for Running Grave. Pearl Miller has been cast as Ching, who was Willem Lund's daughter in the book. And she is just. the cutest can't Speaker 2 (14:21) wait to see her eat Speaker 1 (14:22) some pizza such a little baby Speaker 3 (14:23) oh Speaker 1 (14:24) my gosh should Speaker 2 (14:26) we get into part five Speaker 3 (14:27) do Speaker 1 (14:28) it let's do it part five all right the epigraph it was still a case of faith and hope a case of continual putting in of work and money and so far of getting little out except the dross which intervened between them and their highest hopes Speaker 2 (14:45) And Speaker 1 (14:45) that is from chapter six of A Maid of the Silver Sea by John Oxenham. I mean, Speaker 3 (14:49) that is just such an appropriate epigraph for this whole part. Part five and part six, frankly, are painful. They're putting in a lot of work. They're getting no reward. And the dross getting in between Strike and Robin and their highest hopes, which are not murder related, their real highest hopes. It's brutal. It Speaker 2 (15:08) is so brutal. But we got to have faith. We got to have hope. We got to power through. I don't really have much to add. Lots of faith and hope for the case and the relationship, but just nothing happening. But we'll get there. We will. Chapter 57. Okay. And this chapter, Strike Takes the Sleeper Train to Scotland. And the epigraph, When the bells jostle in the tower, the hollow night amid, then on my tongue the taste is sour of all I ever did. And that's from poem nine. from Additional Poems by A.E. Hausman. Feels Speaker 1 (15:40) like the weight of Strike's mistakes, everything he has and hasn't done, is really weighing heavy on him here. And Speaker 2 (15:45) the boosts. Yeah. The irony of this chapter starting out by saying that no woman had ever accused Strike of being stupid, followed by a couple paragraphs of Strike not being able to figure out why Robin is mad. Speaker 1 (15:58) And Speaker 2 (15:58) he just never lands Speaker 1 (16:00) on... that she knows about Bijou. It's Speaker 2 (16:02) just Speaker 1 (16:02) really funny. It's really funny. It's brutally ironic and hilarious. Not Speaker 2 (16:07) that he's stupid, but it's just funny. No, Speaker 1 (16:09) it Speaker 2 (16:09) is. Speaker 3 (16:09) I mean, he does Speaker 1 (16:11) wonder if it could be the whole Bijou thing. But Speaker 3 (16:15) he dismisses it because there's Speaker 2 (16:17) no Speaker 3 (16:17) way she could know about that. Which is very funny to me because Robin is literally a detective. She is so nosy. She's so good at it. And you know that. Speaker 2 (16:26) She has to know how. Ilsa, Robin, talk. Speaker 3 (16:29) You're really dismissing the possibility that Robin got suspicious and went to fish it out from Ilsa? Speaker 2 (16:35) He probably doesn't want it to be true. Yeah. It's one of the times where sometimes a problem when you have two friends who then become friends with each other. Yeah, it is a drawback that she can do that stuff like that. But you know what? The benefit of Speaker 3 (16:47) that, and Strike is not taking advantage of this benefit fully. He could also use that mutual friend to fish for information about what's going on with Robin. Although she would have to tell Ilsa what's Speaker 2 (16:57) going on with her. And she does not. Yeah. Speaker 3 (17:00) Maybe he'll wise up and be like, Ilsa, do you know she's broken up with Murphy? Very casually. He used to drop the casual and just be like, Ilsa, I'm in Speaker 2 (17:07) love with Robin. You gotta- You gotta throw Speaker 3 (17:09) me a bone here. Let me Speaker 2 (17:10) know what's going on. There's a bit in here. It's the why of the Bijou plot and how it becomes so beneficial because- It makes Strike feel empathy for Rokeby. He's thinking about how it would be this cosmic joke if he was the father because he's been angry his whole life at Rokeby. He is now in the same position. It's the Rokeby empathy. The Speaker 3 (17:31) close call, the scare was important for exactly the reasons you've said. But Jo, she was never going to actually give Strike a baby with Bijou. Yeah, Speaker 2 (17:39) because Speaker 3 (17:39) I think she's just like Jane Austen. Her characters shall have, after a little trouble, all that they desire. quite a little bit of trouble, several books worth of trouble. But the Speaker 2 (17:50) point stands. I agree. I think she really loves a happy ending. Yes. I do like pointing out when we have these back-to-back chapters with Strike and Robin where they're going through similar things, Speaker 1 (18:00) this Speaker 2 (18:01) set is less fun because last time we ended with Robin's worst chapter and now we have Strike feeling very uncharacteristically bad for himself and just so sad. Speaker 1 (18:12) It's nice to see him having such a human reaction to this because you can only expect for him to be able to take so much emotionally before getting to this point where, you know, he starts to feel a bit bad for himself. I like it too. I might be awful for saying this, but I do kind Speaker 3 (18:27) of love seeing Strike so lovesick. Just like with Robin sobbing in the last chapter, his absolute misery and hopelessness and moping, which, as you said, very out of character for him. That's so strong only because his feelings are so strong for her. Speaker 1 (18:42) He's just as much of a lovesick fool as Robin is. Yeah, Speaker 3 (18:45) only the extremity of his love could drive him to this level of self-pity. But can you imagine when we get to see the opposite extreme, the euphoric happiness he's going to feel? When Robin confirms that she loves him too. Speaker 2 (18:57) It's funny that you ask if I can imagine it when I imagine it. Basically every day. Basically every day. I know. I