2nd July 2011: Robin and Matthew’s wedding reception at Swinton Park.
The following dates take place in 2012.
Monday 11th June: Robin has a week off for her move to Deptford. The ex-SIB subcontractor drives his car into the back of someone he is tailing; Strike fires him.
Thursday 14th June: Strike interviews Sam Barclay in The Tottenham. Billy Knight comes to the office. Robin walks around Deptford after her counselling session.
Friday 15th June: Strike conducts surveillance on Dodgey Doc on Harley Street, then goes to Charlemont Road in East Ham: he goes to the Well on Vicarage Lane to meet Jimmy Knight, then to the White Horse pub. (Chapters 5 and 6)
Saturday 16th June: Robin and Matthew’s house-warming party at their new house on Albury Street, Deptford.
Sunday 17th June: Robin texts Strike about Monday and he tells her to come to the office.
Monday 18th June: Robin arrives at the office at quarter to 9; she listens to a recorded message from Billy while Strike is on the phone. Jasper Chiswell calls the office.
Wednesday 20th June: Strike spends hours in Harley Street on surveillance.
Thursday 21st June: Strike goes to a tech conference in Epping Forest.
Friday 22nd June: Strike meets Chiswell at Pratt’s club, then meets Robin at the Red Lion; Strike tells her she is going undercover in Westminster. Strike later sees his girlfriend, Lorelei.
Saturday 23rd June: Strike and Lorelei get coffee at a cafe. Strike goes to Chiswell’s house on Ebury Street. He goes back to Denmark Street and searches Jimmy Knight on the internet.
Sunday 24th June: Strike searches Geraint Winn on the internet. He gets a Chinese takeaway. Eric Wardle emails Strike information on two missing kids in Oxfordshire/Wiltshire. Robin tries on her disguise. Strike and Robin talk on the phone. England plays against Italy in the European Football Championship in Kiev.
Monday 25th June: Robin wakes up in a panic from a bad dream; it’s her first day undercover in Westminster.
Tuesday 26th June: Strike goes to Manchester to interview Dawn (Jimmy Knight’s ex-wife). Robin visits Chiswell at the DCMS. Sam Barclay gets in with Jimmy Knight. Strike and Robin talk on the phone.
Wednesday 27th June: Robin leaves the house at quarter to 6. In Westminster, she bugs Winn’s office; Raff startles her as she enters Izzy’s office. Later, Strike and Robin meet in the Two Chairmen.
Friday 29th June: Robin is at Westminster. Chiswell quotes Catullus to Aamir Mallik. Strike asks Robin to cover Jimmy Knight the following day, but Robin declines since it’s her anniversary weekend and she’s leaving London with Matthew that evening. Robin talks to Raff in the office; Kinvara walks in, and later Jasper and Izzy.
Saturday 30th June: Strike goes to Jimmy Knight’s protest march; he follows Jimmy and Flick to Bow station but tears a hamstring in his leg and has to call Lorelei to pick him up.
Sunday 1st July: Robin and Matthew are away for their wedding anniversary weekend at Le Manoir aux Quatsaisons.
Monday 2nd July: Robin and Matthew’s wedding anniversary.
Thursday 5th July: Lorelei tells Strike ‘I love you’; he doesn’t say it back.
Friday 6th July: Strike returns to Denmark Street after staying at Lorelei’s for 6 nights with a sore leg. Dominic Culpepper calls Strike. Lucy calls, but he doesn’t answer. Barclay calls. He answers Lucy’s third call. Robin spends the day at Westminster and visits Chiswell at DCMS after contacting Sir Kevin and getting information on Geraint Winn.
Saturday 7th July: Strike spends the day with Jack in hospital; Robin goes to see him there. Later, Robin meets Matthew back at a bar, but his rugby team had lost and he doesn’t speak to her. She goes home alone.
Sunday 8th July: Robin and Matthew spend hours arguing; she spends the next three days sleeping in the spare room.
Wednesday 11th July: Robin makes her way to the House of Commons and is stopped by Mitch Patterson. She speaks to Strike on the phone in a tea room. Strike follows Dodgey Doc to Sloane Square, Chelsea Physic Garden.
Thursday 12th July: Strike rests his legs up on the office sofa and reviews the Chiswell file. He is to go to dinner with Lorelei that night. Robin and Barclay meet outside and they head up to the office together; the three of them listen to a tape recording of Della and Aamir talking in Winn’s office. Strike gets a taxi from Charing Cross Rd to St James Park, and walks past the street where Pratt’s is located. Strike gets punched by Jimmy and is taken to Lancaster House, Stable Yard, by Chiswell. Strike meets Charlotte, and Robin sees them leaving. Strike gets a call from Billy and tries to find him in Trafalgar Square. Robin gets home and Matthew rips her green dress. Strike goes to the restaurant late to meet Lorelei.
Friday 13th July: Robin goes to the cafe on Ebury Street where she waits for Strike. Due to Tube delays, Robin goes to Chiswell’s by herself and finds him dead. Strike arrives; after the police arrive on the scene, they are both escorted to Scotland Yard and interviewed separately. Strike takes a taxi back to Denmark Street, collects his things, and goes to Nick and Ilsa’s.
Friday 20th July: Strike is at Nick and Ilsa’s. He looks at the photos of Chiswell taken by Robin. Strike and Robin talk on the phone.
Friday 27th July: Strike goes to Lucy’s to watch the London Olympics opening ceremony; he ends up staying over for the night.
Saturday 28th July: Robin wakes up at 4am from a nightmare and lies in bed until 7am. Strike has breakfast with Lucy and family. Izzy calls Strike and he agrees to go and see her. Strike goes to Izzy’s and she hires him to investigate Jasper’s murder. Strike tells Robin over the phone that Izzy has hired them. Robin and Matthew have dinner with Sarah and Tom, which is “an awful affair.”
Wednesday 1st August: Strike and Robin meet Oliver Bargate at the Corner Café on Lambeth Road.
Friday 3rd August: Strike goes to Lorelei’s in Camden; Izzy calls, then Barclay calls. Lorelei is upset.
Saturday 4th August: Strike rises at 6am; Lorelei catches him as he’s leaving her flat. Strike makes a detour to a handy McDonald’s for an Egg McMuffin and a large coffee. In McDonald’s, Strike googles Della and Geraint’s divorce. He gets the Tube to Barons Court station and Robin arrives in the Land Rover to pick him up; they drive to Woolstone, Oxfordshire. They notice the white chalk horse. They go to Chiswell House and interview the family, then go to Steda Cottage. They go to the White Horse pub; Strike has a pint of Arkell’s Wiltshire Gold; their food arrives midway through conversation; Strike has a burger and blue cheese and Robin has a bowl of chili. They drive home.
Sunday 5th August: Strike is in the office all day; he gets an email from Lorelei; he calls Robin about the photo of Malik (it sounds as though she’s been in the middle of an argument); she hangs up quickly. Strike watches the Olympics highlights.
Thursday 9th August: At lunchtime, Strike is at a pizza takeaway restaurant watching Ivy Cottages opposite, which is Della’s house. Robin calls Strike, saying she got the job at the jewelry shop with the “mad Wiccan owner.” Strike follows Aamir to his house; he questions him and also finds the carved horse on the bathroom door.
Friday 10th August: Robin starts working at the jewelry shop in Camden. Strike spends the day following Geraint Winn. Later, Strike, Robin and Barclay have a Chinese takeaway in the office; Barclay leaves and Strike and Robin discuss the case.
Saturday 11th August: Strike talks to Lorelei on the phone at lunchtime. He has an appointment with Henry Drummond at the art gallery. Strike and Charlotte go to Franco’s and talk. Robin is with Flick at The Duke of Wellington in Hackney for a CORE event, then back to Flick’s house for a party. Robin finds the note in Flick’s bathroom.
Sunday 12th August: Strike is asleep when Robin texts. At 1am, Strike goes through the files and writes a to-do list. Strike does the stuff on his to-do list. Later, Robin and Strike speak on the phone. Robin finds Sarah’s earring and realises Matthew has been cheating again. Strike interviews Della at her house in the evening. At 9pm, Matthew comes home and Robin leaves him and goes to Vanessa’s.
Monday 13th August: Strike interviews Billy at the psychiatric hospital. In the evening, Robin interviews Raphael. Strike goes to the Tottenham with his notebook. Robin and Strike speak on the phone.
Tuesday 14th August: Strike calls Wardle for info but he is too busy; Robin watches Dodgy Doc on Harley Street.
Wednesday 15th August: Robin calls Strike and asks for two days off.
Saturday 18th August: The day of the trip to Oxfordshire to interview Tegan Butcher at Crafty Filly, Newbury Racecourse. Robin picks up Strike in the Land Rover at Wembley station. Geraint Winn calls on the way and Robin breaks down. Strike comforts Robin at the side of the road. Later, they interview Tegan and watch the races. Strike, Robin and Barclay dig up the dell and find the horse’s skull. Strike and Robin interview Kinvara. Strike tells Robin his theory.
Tuesday 21st August: Strike and Robin are invited to New Scotland Yard. Robin gets the Tube to Warwick Avenue to meet Matthew; Raphael kidnaps her in the barge. Everything is revealed. Robin later gives her statement at New Scotland Yard.
One Month Later (mid September): Strike and Robin meet Izzy and Billy at a restaurant. Plans for the evening include Strike and Robin meeting at Nick and Ilsa’s for dinner.