I don't undestand this
“Evening,” said Strike, moving around the car to open his own door and get in beside Ciara.
“Kieran, you’ve met Cormoran, haven’t you?” said Ciara, buckling herself in. Her dress had ridden up to the very top of her long legs. Strike could not be absolutely certain that she was wearing anything beneath it. She had certainly been braless in the white jumpsuit.
“Hi, Kieran,” said Strike.
The driver nodded at Strike in the rearview mirror, but did not speak. He had assumed a strictly professional demeanor that Strike doubted was habitual in the absence of detectives.】

what does "in the absence of"mean? Strike himself is a detective, why the drive behave like this in the absence of a detective?

Question

I don't undestand this
“Evening,” said Strike, moving around the car to open his own door and get in beside Ciara.
“Kieran, you’ve met Cormoran, haven’t you?” said Ciara, buckling herself in. Her dress had ridden up to the very top of her long legs. Strike could not be absolutely certain that she was wearing anything beneath it. She had certainly been braless in the white jumpsuit.
“Hi, Kieran,” said Strike.
The driver nodded at Strike in the rearview mirror, but did not speak. He had assumed a strictly professional demeanor that Strike doubted was habitual in the absence of detectives.】

what does "in the absence of"mean? Strike himself is a detective, why the drive behave like this in the absence of a detective?

Answer

The driver didn't habitually behave in such a professional manner, but he changed his behavior because of Strike's presence. Strike suspected that if he (Strike) had not been there, the driver would have been much more relaxed and informal.

Answer

It means without using his detective instinct, he and anybody could know that the driver hid something nehind his fake stiff attitude.

Answer

"In the absence" means without. Strike assumed that given Ciara's dress was in a high position that most guys would be, well, interested in something in particular. However, the driver was strictly professional and Strike doubted that would be normal if no detectives were present.

Answer

It seems that from the context that there is some sort of illegal activity going on in the story. With that being said, there are "detectives" (Law enforcement/ police officers) that might be around if they are trying to catch Strike doing something illegal. So, when Strike says the driver was acting "professional" it wasn't a natural to see a driver acting so professional, unless he was working with police (detectives). If the driver were helping detectives try to catch Strike, he might be nervous and act overly "normal" in order to not give away his cooperation (help) with the detectives. Let me know if there is something you still don't understand, I'll try to explain it better if this didn't help.

Answers · 5

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