Rochelle Onifade is a down-and-out homeless young woman who Lula Landry meets in rehab and befriends. When Strike finally tracks her down, she is described as “uncompromisingly plain. Her greasy skin, which was the color of burned earth, was covered in acne pustules and pits; her small eyes were deep-set and her teeth were crooked and rather yellow. The chemically straightened hair showed four inches of black roots, then six inches of harsh, coppery wire-red.”
Rochelle figures prominently in The Cuckoo’s Calling not only as Lula’s friend (or “project,” as most people view her relationship to Rochelle), but also as having been with Lula on her last day alive.
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