The Hallmarked Man (Cormoran Strike, #8)

by Robert Galbraith

‘Who’s the cleaner?’ asked Strike. Murphy flipped over a page. ‘Bloke called Todd.’ ‘Male cleaner?’ said Strike. ‘Men can clean, I’ve heard,’ said Robin. ‘Thought that was an urban myth,’ said Strike. Acting as though he hadn’t heard this exchange, Murphy continued,

‘People who’re already in trouble are the very people who can’t afford to get careless,’

‘Say the name again?’ ‘Dangerous Dick de Lion.’ ‘He sounds like—’ ‘A porn star?’ ‘I was going to say, a cartoon character.’ ‘He’s a porn star.’ ‘Wh—?’ ‘I’ve looked him up. He’s a bona fide adult actor,

‘Midge and Tasha have split up.’ ‘Ah,’ said Strike. ‘I thought there was something going on. She looked like she was crying when I saw her at the office yesterday.’ ‘Right, so try—’ ‘Not to be a bastard?’ ‘I was going to say “try and cut her a bit of slack”, but not being a bastard works, too.’

‘That men perennially underestimate how many of their fellow men are perverts and predators. You know what they say: “all women know a rape victim, no man knows a rapist”.’

‘How much information has DCI Ryan Murphy been feeding you?’ asked Northmore. Out of the corner of his eye, Strike saw a stiffening of Iverson’s expression. He was surprised they’d named Murphy, on tape. Could the man be under some kind of cloud? Might he even be under investigation? ‘Zero,’ said Strike. ‘Nothing’s been let slip during bedroom talk?’ said Northmore. ‘Haven’t shagged him yet,’ said Strike. ‘Playing hard to get.’

‘Shit ’appens an’ luck ’appens. Thass life. You deal wiv the shit an’ make the most of your luck when you can get it, ’cause it don’t come round too often.

‘Sometimes we’re mistaken about people, however well we think we know them,’

‘Sometimes you wan’ someone so bad, even when you know it’s wrong an’ it’s not gonna work, but you still wan’ ’em, y’know?’