Not shuffled off stage--less present, but very much not forgotten; no easy fix; demonstrates agency in responding to changes in her life (with a really nice little callback to the first book). Suspect not so much on the sexual presence, but one of the things _I_ liked was that while he was aware that she was attractive, it didn't feel to me like he was that serious about hoping they would become involved, it was just a little background awareness that didn't impede their friendship, because I _want_ straightforward genuine platonic male-female friendships more often in books.

(As for the plots, there's a bit where he says that he understands why Mama Thames [how much do I love Mama Thames and her daughters, by the way?] gave him that name and then many things became clearer to him, and I said yeah, that's nice for you, where is my police-procedural-standard debriefing scene?)