Slough House

Slow Horses / C15

Chapter 15

Book 1 Part Two 3278 words POV: River Cartwright, Catherine Standish, Curly, Min Harper, Roderick Ho, Hassan Ahmed

Summary

In a café on Old Street Catherine Standish, Louisa Guy, Min Harper and Roderick Ho try to reconstruct Alan Black’s fallback plan. Catherine draws the line between a black op, which is deniable, and one that is off the books, which never happened, and recalls a Walsall safe house funded through a property account although the house did not exist. Ho traces Roupell Street to a Civil Service sales portfolio, which means Taverner simply squatted an empty property and left no footprint; Catherine refuses to give Hassan up and reasons that Black, running a legend, would have kept a live cover with a credit card for verisimilitude. Ho pulls Black’s personnel file — ending in Slough House after sleeping with the Venezuelan ambassador’s wife — and finds the cover name Dermot Radcliffe, full-dress, with a card and account still open; he starts on its credit rating. Across the road, Lamb sends River into Slough House alone; River climbs past Moody’s body, collects a shoebox from Lamb’s desk as instructed, reflects that Moody could have shot them and did not, then strips the corpse. In the hire car Curly overrules Larry’s wish to dump the vehicle, promises they will not be caught, finds a satnav, and decides to abandon the deadline and kill Hassan wherever they feel safe. In the boot Hassan, hallucinating, hears a woman telling him to open his eyes and wonders why Joanna Lumley is talking to him.

Beats

  • C15S01 · River Cartwright — Lamb parks opposite Slough House, sees a light left on the third floor, and sends River in alone to fetch something from his office.
  • C15S02 · Catherine Standish — Catherine explains off-the-books funding and a phantom safe house in Walsall; Louisa points them at Roupell Street and Ho starts digging.
  • C15S03 · Curly — Curly tells Larry they will be shot rather than tried, promises the people are behind them, and privately writes Larry off as a coward.
  • C15S04 · Min Harper — Roupell Street proves a dead end, but Catherine works out Black would have kept a live legend with a credit card — and says she knows what they did.
  • C15S05 · Curly — Still lost, the two killers find only hire papers in the glovebox until Larry points out the satnav, which gives them a route.
  • C15S06 · River Cartwright — River finds Slough House empty but for Moody, takes the shoebox from Lamb’s desk, and strips the body.
  • C15S07 · Catherine Standish — Catherine argues legends are never wiped and are reused on the cheap, then asks whether Black ever worked undercover.
  • C15S08 · Curly — Guided by the satnav, Curly drops the deadline: kill Hassan wherever is safe, film it, and disappear.
  • C15S09 · Roderick Ho — Ho finds Black’s cover name, Dermot Radcliffe, still live with a card and account, and moves to check its credit rating.
  • C15S10 · Hassan — Hallucinating in the boot, Hassan hears a woman urging him to open his eyes and takes the voice for Joanna Lumley’s.

People

  • Catherine Standish — Runs the café analysis; explains legends and off-the-books ops
  • Louisa Guy — Pushes the Roupell Street lead; keeps Ho in line
  • Min Harper — Works the transport-and-money problem with Catherine
  • Roderick Ho — Hacks the files, traces the property, finds Radcliffe
  • Jackson Lamb — Waits in the car; sends River in alone
  • River Cartwright — Searches Slough House; collects the shoebox; strips Moody
  • Curly — Takes charge of the car; abandons the deadline
  • Larry — Wants to dump the car and run; talks of courts
  • Hassan Ahmed — In the boot, hallucinating a woman’s voice
  • Alan Black — Dead planner; his legend is the lead they chase
  • Diana Taverner — Suspected of funding the op off the books
  • Charles Partner — Dead former First Desk; Catherine was his Girl Friday
  • Jed Moody — Still lying on the third-floor landing

Places

  • Slough House — Entered by River; Moody’s body on the landing
  • Roupell Street — The squat safe house; traced to a sales portfolio
  • Regent’s Park — Holder of Black’s downgraded but live personnel file

Lines worth keeping

“A black op’s officially deniable. One that’s off the books never happened.” — Catherine Standish, The distinction that tells them what kind of funding to hunt for.

“He was holding paper on the name Dermot Radcliffe. Full-dress cover.” — Roderick Ho, Black’s live legend becomes the team’s only lead.

“Why is Joanna Lumley talking to me?” — Hassan, Delirium turns an unheard voice into a television icon.

Threads

  • Plants: The third-floor light left burning at Slough House; Lamb’s shoebox and the instructions he gives River; Ho’s trapdoor in the personnel system; The satnav in the hire car; Curly’s decision to ignore the deadline
  • Payoffs: Roupell Street explained: an empty property lifted from the sales portfolio; Legends kept alive after an officer leaves give the team Radcliffe’s card; Moody’s body is still on the landing, uncollected by any cleaner; Black’s exit from the Park is explained: the ambassador’s wife
  • Continuity: Breakfast: three full Englishes and a mushroom omelette; Ho has no money and needs wi-fi; Curly and Larry have been lost about an hour; it is five o’clock; The slush funds have been tight since the Miro Weiss business; River carries the shoebox down past Moody’s body

Characters

Places

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