Another Murder
Following yesterday’s dramatic cliffhanger, Strike returns for more investigative work as our duo edge ever closer to the truth. With lots of suspects coming to the foreground and very little to work with, another big twist at the end leaves the door wide open. Episode 2 of Strike: Lethal White begins with Cormoran and Robin forced to abandon the pink blanket. Barking dogs edge closer to their location but eventually they manage to slip away. As they do, Cormoran phones in an anonymous tip confirming the remains in the forst. The victim, as it turns out, may be Suki Lane. She went missing less than 10 miles from the estate and that was around 20 years ago. If that’s the case then it moves Chiswell into being the prime suspect of the case. If he’s brought in for questioning though this could cause problems for Robin. Her fingerprints are all over his office and, obviously, she’s bugged the plug switch. Reluctantly, Robin heads back to the office and quickly grabs the plug switch. Only, unfortunately she’s caught spying on a phone on the desk. That phone belongs to Malik. Soon after, Robin heads into the office but Chiswell is rattled by a strange antagonistic call about the dead. There’s specific phrasing referring to “they” rather than “she” here which could prove important going forward. Strike meanwhile finds clues of Billy’s whereabouts but nothing definitive to go on. That evening the group reconvene and decide to continue pursuing Chiswell for now while learning more about Billy. As they head back to the Chiswell estate, the state of the burial site is a big talking point. There’s no taped off area and worse, no evidence that anything has happened. Has Chiswell paid off the police? Before they can find out, they head in to report back to Chiswell what they’ve learned about Jimmy and Billy. Their visit warrants two purposes – the first is obvious but the other is to sneakily investigate Chiswell in private and see if he’s linked in some way. As Robin sneaks off to “use the loo”, she finds a number of horrid photos that seem to be used as a trophy against whomever this woman is. While Robin heads off for an anniversary weekend with Matthew, Cormoran finds Billy. He shows Billy the picture of Suki but the girl he saw strangled was not her. However, Billy refuses to give up the name of who the culprit was for fear of Jimmy’s life. When Jimmy turns up, Billy makes a break for it and bolts. Cormoran, meanwhile, is pushed down the stairs and forced to lick his wounds in defeat. When Robin returns, they discuss more of the case together. The list of suspects continues to grow but everything appears to point toward Chiswell. In his office however, Robin finds a deleted email on the computer from Jimmy Knight. Within the email happens to be the same scene we saw of Jimmy and Billy last episode with the wooden board. Later that day, Cormoran is attacked outside Westminister by Jimmy and the group of activists. It’s just enough to protect Chiswell from being attacked, but not enough to prevent them from shouting murderer. Chiswell’s reaction is telling, scrambling inside before anyone can say anything. After an eventful evening, Robin and Cormoran both head home. It’s obvious though that both characters are going through the motions and hiding their true feelings. As the episode closes out, Billy phones Cormoran and apologises to him profusely. As he mentions his Dad “making him do it”, Cormoran heads out to try and find him. And find him he does. Billy has been stabbed and is losing a lot of blood. Meanwhile, Robin finds Chiswell dead, with a bag over his head. It seems Chiswell was a red herring all along. Alas, the plot thickens!
The Episode Review
With lots of suspects coming to the foreground, Lethal White does a wonderful job keeping things lethal while growing the list of suspects. There’s plenty of intrigue surround this one but it’s ultimately Robin and Cormoran who are the star of the show. Their chemistry is great and they really help sell this hidden sexual tension between them. Quite who is responsible for murdering Chiswell remains to be seen but there’s plenty of finger pointing and not enough to make a definitive case against anyone. Like any good crime drama, this show keeps you glued to find out what happens next. This is definitely one worth sticking with though and the door is left wide open for the final 2 episodes to come.
