Chapter 13

Summary

Before dawn, Jackson Lamb picks the lock of Catherine Standish’s flat in St John’s Wood, takes the stairs rather than the lift, and is challenged through the door by Standish, who is holding a bottle of mineral water and claiming to be armed. He tells her to get dressed. Dressing, she reflects that her first instinct was the bottle rather than the telephone, that the adrenalin felt like the second shoe dropping after finding Charles Partner’s body, and that she has spent years rebuilding a life she will not surrender without a fight. In the lobby Lamb gives her the minimum: Baker has been hurt, Moody is dead, there is probably a collect-and-comfort order out on all of Slough House, and he would rather not spend two days answering questions underneath Regent’s Park. Outside, Nick Duffy and Spider Webb are waiting in an SUV. Webb asks whether they are armed and wants to search them; Lamb refuses, warning that anyone frisking Standish would need two working wrists afterwards. Duffy puts Standish in the front and Lamb in the back. Driving, Lamb says Taverner is rewriting the timeline to put Slough House in the frame for Hassan Ahmed’s execution, that Loy would have been turned in three minutes, and that the cover-up will unravel. Standish unzips her bag, takes out the gun Lamb hid there while she dressed, and aims it at Webb’s foot. Lamb tells the two men they can walk home.

Beats

• C13S01 · Jackson Lamb — Lamb picks the locks on Standish’s flat and she challenges him through the door with a bottle; he orders her to get dressed, and something in his voice makes her obey.
• C13S02 · Catherine Standish — Dressed and downstairs, Standish learns that Baker is hurt, Moody is dead and Slough House is in the shit; she follows Lamb out and sees the SUV parked opposite.
• C13S03 · Nick Duffy — Duffy and Webb intercept them; Webb’s attempt to search Lamb for weapons is overruled, and Duffy puts Standish in the front and Lamb in the back for the Park.
• C13S04 · Catherine Standish — In the car Lamb says Taverner is framing Slough House for Hassan Ahmed’s execution; Standish draws Lamb’s gun on Webb’s foot and Lamb offers the Dogs the chance to walk home.

People

• Jackson Lamb — Collects Standish himself, then talks his way past the Dogs
• Catherine Standish — Woken before dawn; takes Lamb’s gun from her own bag
• Nick Duffy — Head Dog; commands the pickup and defers to Taverner
• James Webb — Young non-Dog drafted in; wants to frisk Lamb, gets a gun aimed at his foot
• Charles Partner — Standish’s dead boss; finding his body was ‘the first shoe’
• Diana Taverner — Accused of rewriting the timeline to frame Slough House
• Struan Loy — Named by Lamb as the three-minute weak link
• Hassan Ahmed — The hostage whose execution Lamb says Taverner will pin on them
• Jed Moody — Dead, and therefore unable to contradict Taverner’s version
• Sid Baker — Reported hurt; Standish asks how badly

Places

• Regent’s Park — Where Duffy is taking them, and where Lamb refuses to answer questions

Lines worth keeping

“Whoever you are, back off. I’m armed.” — Catherine Standish, Her challenge through the chain, holding only a bottle of mineral water.

“Shit has hit fan. Big time. Leave now with me, or soon with less friendly people.” — Jackson Lamb, The whole explanation she gets before the SUV arrives.

“But I’ll put a bullet through your foot if I need to.” — Catherine Standish, She has taken Lamb’s gun from her own bag and aimed it at Webb.

Threads

• Plants: Lamb’s gun, placed in Standish’s bag while she dressed; Lamb’s distinction between Moscow rules and London rules; Duffy’s private doubt about whether Lamb was playing him; Taverner’s ‘cover-up’ that Lamb says will unravel
• Payoffs: Standish’s readiness with a weapon pays off the bottle she grabbed in fear; Lamb’s flattery of Duffy as ‘Nick’ lands, and Duffy softens the arrest; The C&C threat named in the flat materialises as the SUV outside
• Continuity: Dawn is breaking as they drive to the Park; Webb drives; Standish in front, Lamb in the back with Duffy; Lamb has a cold and keeps sneezing; Lamb and Standish are effectively under arrest

Characters

• Jackson Lamb
• Catherine Standish
• Nick Duffy
• James Webb
• Charles Partner
• Diana Taverner
• Struan Loy
• Hassan Ahmed
• Jed Moody
• Sid Baker

Places

• Regent's Park