The waiter brought her wine, and as Robin sipped it she found her thoughts drifting towards her ex-husband, Matthew. She’d never have been sitting here if she’d still been married. The mere idea of her texting Matthew to say ‘the office has been bombed, Strike’s coming to stay on the sofa’ was a bad joke: Matthew had taken against Strike from the start, and she could just imagine what he would have said if Robin had phoned home to say, ‘Cormoran and I are going to spend the night in a hotel in Whitstable together.’ For a few seconds she luxuriated in the feeling of freedom this gave her, but then her thoughts jumped immediately to Madeline, and Strike’s lie about room service: she suspected that one of the things he’d wanted to do upstairs was soothe his girlfriend’s feelings. She wondered what Strike sounded like when he was trying to sweet-talk somebody. She’d never heard him do it.
It doesn’t matter, she told herself sternly. You’ve got this – by which she meant the investigation, not the Marine Hotel and the Rioja – which is better. Friends and work partners is better. And before her feelings could mount any counter-arguments, she picked up her phone, opened Twitter and checked to see whether there’d been any response to the long direct message she’d sent an hour earlier to a young Ink Black Heart fan. If Robin’s theory was correct – and she was certain it was – the girl’s response might be extremely important to the Anomie case, but none had yet arrived.
It took Strike half an hour to reach the restaurant, because he’d taken a quick shower in the hope that it might ease his aching muscles before descending carefully to the street for a cigarette. He noticed as he walked across the room that Robin had changed into her new blue shirt. The dark walls threw her distinctive, vivid colouring into high relief and it crossed his mind that he might compliment her on the fact that the colour of the shirt suited her, but before he could do so, she said:
‘How’s your leg?’
‘Not bad,’ he said, sitting down. ‘Tell me what your other news is.’
‘Well,’ said Robin, ‘firstly, I had a private-channel talk with Fiendy1 this afternoon. You two got in a bit deep on the football the other night: I had to do a lot of Googling to catch up. Rio Ferdinand, header against Deportivo, legendary win for Leeds, etcetera…’
‘Sorry,’ said Strike with a grin, ‘should’ve put it in the notes. What are you drinking?’
‘Rioja. It’s good.’
‘Great – I’ll have the same as she’s having,’ he told the waiter, who’d appeared promptly at their table. When he’d left, Strike said,
‘I’m taking it you’re not looking this excited because you went and watched Ferdinand’s header?’
‘Correct,’ said Robin. ‘I’m looking excited because I found out Leeds United are also known as the Peacocks.’
‘And that makes you excited because…?’
‘Because I think I’ve made a breakthrough, a major one. I feel like an idiot for not seeing it before, but there are so many millions of people on Twitter I just… Take a look at these.’
Robin closed Twitter on her phone, opened photos instead and brought up the first of the screenshots she’d taken that afternoon, which showed the last portion of the long private-channel conversation she’d had with Fiendy1.
Fiendy1: this is my last day in here
Fiendy1: I only came in to say goodbye to Worm but she’s not here
Fiendy1: talking to you these past couple of days has been the most fun I’ve had in here for ages
Buffypaws: you’re not really leaving?!
Fiendy1: I’ve got to
Fiendy1: This place has been making me ill, I’m not kidding
Fiendy1: I know you want to be a mod but seriously, don’t do it. This place is fkn toxic.
Strike swiped right and read on.
Buffypaws: have you told Anomie you’re going?
Fiendy1: no
Fiendy1: I’m just going to disappear
Fiendy1: there’s a lot about this place you don’t know
Fiendy1: I’m so anxious my mum wanted to take me to the doctor
Fiendy1: but it’s not a doctor I need
Buffypaws: what do you need?
>
>
>
Fiendy1: to find someone who can stop Anomie
Strike’s wine arrived, but he was so absorbed he didn’t notice; it was Robin who thanked the waiter.
Buffypaws: what do you mean, ‘stop Anomie’?
Fiendy1: Never mind. Just don’t become a mod, seriously. I’m so ashamed I took part in any of this I can’t think about anything else. I’ve gtg
<Fiendy1 has left the channel>
Strike looked up at Robin and opened his mouth to speak, but she said,
‘Keep swiping. There’s a lot more.’
He did as he was told and found himself looking at a series of screenshotted tweets, the first of which dated back more than three years. The profile picture showed a teenage girl with dark brown hair, heavy eyebrows and a wry smile. She’d used no filters on her picture and didn’t appear to be wearing make-up, which made her highly unusual in Strike’s recently acquired experience of young female Twitter users.
Penny Peacock @rachledbadly
had a row with my father on the phone & he called me a fiend from hell #HappyNewYear
1.58 pm 1 January 2012
Penny Peacock @rachledbadly
I freaking LOVE this. Play the game, bwahs!
www.TIBH/TheGame.com
7.55 pm 9 February 2012
Penny Peacock @rachledbadly
so I wuz suspended for smoking in school bathroom 
0.49 am 27 February 2012
Penny Peacock @rachledbadly
so fkn durnk rn
0.49 am 14 April 2012
ME Rights @MEBillyShears
Promising research into mitochondrial dysfunction and pathophysiology of ME here: bitly.sd987m
3.49 pm 14 May 2012
Penny Peacock @rachledbadly
replying to @MEBillyShears
Do you know anything about lupus?
6.02 pm 14 May 2012
ME Rights @BillyShearsME
check out the ‘auto-immune’ section of my website
www.TribulationemEtDolorum.com
6.26 pm 14 May 2012
‘Penny’s been in touch with Inigo?’ said Strike.
‘Keep reading,’ said Robin.
Penny Peacock @rachledbadly
@TheMorehou©e ALPHA CENTAURI Bb BABY!
8.51 pm 16 October 2012
Morehouse @theMorehou©e
replying to @rachledbadly
Yeah I know! Wouldn’t pack your bags just yet, though.
Penny Peacock @rachledbadly
replying to @theMorehou©e
don’t be a killjoy
Morehouse @theMorehou©e
replying to @rachledbadly