Flora Brewster

Flora Brewster is an ex-member of the Universal Humanitarian Church. Strike sees her name on the 2001 census for Chapman Farm and her Facebook page reveals that she spent time in New Zealand and that she comes from a wealthy family.  This information leads Strike to conclude that Flora is ‘the gay girl who joined the Church in her teens, the one that Fergus Robertson spoke to for his article’ (Chapter 15). 

Strike explains to Robin that he hasn’t contacted Flora because her Facebook account is inactive, but that he has found a friend of hers, Henry Worthington-Fields, living in London. Strike thinks Henry is possibly the guy who got Flora into the church as Henry ‘talks about having an old friend the Church nearly destroyed’ (Chapter 15). 

Strike meets with Henry, who reveals that Flora has returned to London from New Zealand.  However he pleads with Strike not to contact Flora as she is ‘still not right’ (Chapter 17) and has previously tried to take her own life. Henry explains that he went to Chapman Farm with Flora but that they were kept separate, and at the end of the week she joined the community and he left.

They met up again five years later after Henry heard Flora had left the Church. She revealed to him some of the bad things that had happened to her in the UHC.

We meet Flora later in the book (Chapter 117) and she proves to have important information.