Slough House

Slow Horses / C08

Chapter 8

Book 1 Part Two 6555 words POV: Hassan Ahmed, Min Harper, River Cartwright, Dan Hobbs

Summary

Hassan Ahmed, alone in a damp cellar, talks himself towards calm about his execution and then loses it, remembering that he is nineteen and a Business Studies student who wanted to be a comedian. In the pub near Slough House, Min Harper and Louisa Guy drink and agree the Voice of Albion will carry out its threat; the group went public that evening with a thirty-hour deadline, 56 tube deaths for 56 in return, and Ho has noted that its website is only two weeks old. They decide to slip back into the office and read Lamb’s email, guessing his password is ‘Password’. At the hospital, River Cartwright lies locked in a store cupboard, remembering childhood hospitals and his mother Isobel; Lamb arrives, deals with the officer guarding him, Dan Hobbs, and takes him out to his car. Sid Baker is still in surgery, a bullet having taken a chunk out of her head. River says the shooter never spoke, and names him as Jed Moody. Meanwhile Min and Louisa, having kissed on the stairs, are attacked by a balaclava’d intruder who springs from Catherine Standish’s cupboard; Min tackles him and the pair crash down a flight, breaking his neck. They unmask him: Moody. Lamb and River reach Slough House, and Lamb searches the body, finding a bug, an envelope and two mobiles. One has a single incoming call; Lamb answers it.

Beats

  • C08S01 · Hassan Ahmed — In the cellar Hassan talks himself into calm about his coming execution, then panics; he was a Business Studies student who wanted to be a comedian, and he thinks he knows why Larry, Moe and Curly chose him.
  • C08S02 · Min Harper — Over tequila and vodka in the pub, Min and Louisa agree the Voice of Albion will kill Hassan, note the group’s website is only two weeks old, and decide to sneak back into Slough House to read Lamb’s email.
  • C08S03 · River Cartwright — Locked in a hospital store cupboard, River remembers childhood hospitals and his mother Isobel’s arrival after he fell from a tree; hearing scraping and footsteps, he waits for the door to open.
  • C08S04 · Min Harper — Min and Louisa climb the dark staircase, brush hands, and end up kissing against the wall in Loy’s room; two floors above, a black-clad figure pauses in Lamb’s office.
  • C08S05 · Dan Hobbs — Dan Hobbs, posted outside River’s cupboard, finds his phone has no signal, decides on a quick trip upstairs, and hears someone coming down.
  • C08S06 · Min Harper — A louder noise interrupts Min and Louisa; they zip up, arm themselves with a paperweight and a stapler, and move onto the landing to find the intruder.
  • C08S07 · Dan Hobbs — The fat man Hobbs takes for a lost member of the public turns out to know him; he asks Hobbs to open the door, bends to his ear, and his hands move.
  • C08S08 · Min Harper — Climbing to Lamb’s office, Min and Louisa shed their drunken, post-pub selves, become agents again, and silently agree that they trained for this.
  • C08S09 · River Cartwright — Lamb opens the cupboard, finds River on the floor among boxes of rubber gloves and cutlery, and orders him up; River cannot say how long he was locked in.
  • C08S10 · Min Harper — Lamb’s office and Catherine’s room seem empty until the intruder springs from her cupboard; he punches Min and Louisa, and Min drags him down the stairs.
  • C08S11 · River Cartwright — Lamb walks River past police and out to his car; River’s own car is gone, and Lamb says Sid is still on the table, the bullet having taken a chunk of her head.
  • C08S12 · Min Harper — At the foot of the stairs the balaclava’d man is dead with a broken neck; Min takes his gun, and they prepare to unmask him.
  • C08S13 · River Cartwright — River tells Lamb the shooter never spoke because he feared being recognised: it was Jed Moody; downstairs, Louisa peels off the balaclava and Min recognises him.
  • C08S14 · River Cartwright — Driving to Slough House, Lamb rejects River’s Hobden theory, reveals Ho traced him in exchange for the story of why Lamb is at Slough House, and says Sid’s claim to be watching River never happened.
  • C08S15 · River Cartwright — At Slough House Lamb finds Moody dead, hears Min and Louisa’s account, and searches the body: a bug, an envelope, two mobiles — one with a single incoming call, which he answers.

People

  • Hassan Ahmed — Nineteen-year-old hostage in the cellar, awaiting execution.
  • Min Harper — Slow horse; tackles the intruder and breaks his neck.
  • Louisa Guy — Slow horse; with Min in the pub, then on the stairs.
  • River Cartwright — Locked up at the hospital; released by Lamb, names Moody.
  • Jackson Lamb — Runs Slough House; frees River, then searches Moody’s body.
  • Sid Baker — Shot in the head; in surgery throughout the chapter.
  • Jed Moody — The balaclava’d intruder, killed on the stairs.
  • Robert Hobden — The man River was watching; fled the pavement shooting.
  • Nick Duffy — Hobbs’s superior; ordered the hospital door secured.
  • Roderick Ho — Traced River’s ID; reputed to know Lamb’s password.
  • David Cartwright — River’s grandfather, recalled; nearly named him Wolfgang.

Places

  • The cellar — Damp room where Hassan is held and waits to die.
  • Slough House — Dark and empty; Moody dies on its staircase.
  • Regent’s Park — Referenced as the source of River’s ID alert.

Lines worth keeping

“Who were these people, and why had they chosen him?” — Hassan Ahmed, His refrain about the three men holding him, and his fear that he already knows the answer.

“If you had issues with him, I could have spoken to HR. Arranged an intervention.” — Jackson Lamb, Standing over Moody’s body, absorbing the killing as an administrative matter.

“I’m afraid he can’t come to the phone right now.” — Jackson Lamb, Answering the single call on Moody’s spare mobile; the chapter’s last move.

Threads

  • Plants: Moody’s second mobile holds one incoming call; Lamb answers it and says ‘We need to talk’; A bug is found on Moody, so someone had him sweep Lamb’s office; Moody was carrying an envelope taken from Lamb’s office; Ho traded the trace on River for the story of why Lamb is at Slough House; Sid’s claim that she was planted to watch River, which Lamb flatly denies; River’s conviction that Hobden is tied to the kidnap; Moody’s death has to be managed before anyone outside hears of it
  • Payoffs: The intruder at Slough House is identified as Jed Moody; The man who shot Sid Baker is named as Moody; River is released from custody and rejoins Lamb; Ho’s usefulness explained: he traced River through the Service ID
  • Continuity: Voice of Albion deadline: thirty hours from its evening announcement; Sid’s head wound: bullet ’took a chunk out of her head’; she might live; Moody’s body lies on the landing, three and five steps below where Min and Louisa sit; River’s palm still sore from yesterday’s burn; River’s car, left in an ambulance space, is gone when he leaves; Lamb has been drinking; his eyes are red; Min and Louisa have had three drinks each before going back to the office; River was nine when he broke his arm; his mother had been in the country for months, not hours; River was nearly named Wolfgang during his mother’s Teutonic phase

Characters

Places

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