Throughout The Cuckoo’s Calling, Cormoran Strike makes regular visits to the University of London Union (ULU), mostly to use the showers. He does this without being a student, walking determinedly past reception with a scowl on his face. His glowering pays off, and no one ever challenges his right to be there.
He first visits ULU in Part 1, Chapter 7, eats a stale ham roll and a bar of chocolate from the café, and steals some plastic cutlery.
On the day after Strike got extremely drunk in The Tottenham after finding out Charlotte Campbell is engaged to Jago Ross, he goes to ULU to have a shower and to use the large swimming pool before going to meet Ciara Porter and Bryony Radford.
On our visit to the ULU building, we were asked by a member of staff to leave since we didn’t have our student cards. We should have scowled more and walked more determinedly past reception.
Find ULU – or what is now being called Student Central – here on Google Maps: