Slow Horses / C07
Chapter 7
Summary
At ten, River Cartwright is back in his car opposite Robert Hobden’s flat, watching a shadow cross the curtain. Sid Baker taps on the glass with two coffees, having guessed where he would be, and tells him Five have Hassan Ahmed’s name. River admits the files she lifted from Hobden’s laptop were Hobden’s own and that they decoded only to pi; he argues Hobden wants the clampdown that follows an execution, not the execution itself. They sit out the next hour and Sid describes temping in the City on 7 July 2005 — the swelling sound at Aldgate, walking home in heels she has kept in a cupboard ever since — and says the bombs are why she joined. Then she tells him the real reason she was posted to Slough House: to keep an eye on him, which means someone else arranged his fall. Before he can press her she sees a black-clad figure go over the wall beside Hobden’s window. River vaults after it, finds Hobden in an arm-lock held with a .22 by a man who is not an achiever, and is kneeling at gunpoint when Sid seizes Hobden on the pavement. River lunges with an ashtray; the gun coughs once and one of the three falls into a puddle that spreads to the gutter.
Beats
- C07S01 · River Cartwright — Sid taps on River’s car window with coffee, gives him Hassan’s name, hears his Hobden theory, and stays — making him buy breakfast if nothing happens.
- C07S02 · River Cartwright — Sid explains that 7 July brought her into the Service, then that she was posted to Slough House to watch him; a black-clad intruder goes over Hobden’s wall and the night ends in a shot.
People
- River Cartwright — Staking out Hobden’s flat; learns he was being watched from inside
- Sid Baker — Arrives with coffee; admits she was sent to Slough House to watch River
- Robert Hobden — Prowls his lit flat, then is taken at gunpoint by a fake achiever
- Hassan Ahmed — Discussed; Five have his name but not released it
- James Webb — Recalled from a seminar on not provoking the target
- Jackson Lamb — Recalled: agreed Hobden was calling the Service Nazis
Places
- Slough House — Named as the posting Sid was sent to in order to watch River
Lines worth keeping
“I was put there to keep an eye on you, River.” — Sid Baker, The disclosure that reframes River’s whole exile as someone else’s arrangement.
“It’s not a theory once it’s proved. After that, it’s just a conspiracy.” — River Cartwright, His answer to Sid’s dismissal of conspiracies, and his case against Hobden.
“Everybody’s got their own memorial, haven’t they? Mine’s a pair of ruined shoes in a cupboard.” — Sid Baker, Her 7 July account, and why she joined the Service.
Threads
- Plants: Someone ordered Sid to watch River — so someone arranged his fall; A black-clad man who is not an achiever holds Hobden at gunpoint with a non-Service .22; One of the three falls into a puddle; the text does not say which; Sid now shares River’s exposure over the stolen files
- Payoffs: The pi-encoded files are confirmed as Hobden’s deliberate dummy back-up; River’s Hobden theory is finally spoken aloud to Sid, who half accepts the stakes; River’s reflex to doubt his own judgement is traced to Spider’s set-up at King’s Cross
- Continuity: Stakeout begins at 10 p.m.; Hobden’s window stays lit and he keeps prowling; River wears blue jeans, white collarless top and grey V-neck; Sid black jeans and hooded sweater; The intruder goes over the five-foot wall right of Hobden’s window; the flat is reached through a shared rear lobby; 7 July 2005: fifty-six killed; Sid was temping at a City bank and walked home in heels