Dead Lions / C03
Chapter 3
Summary
River Cartwright takes the train to Tonbridge and tells his grandfather, David Cartwright, that Jackson Lamb believes an old-style Moscow poison operation is running in London after Richard Bough died on a bus. The old man takes the possibility seriously, explains the KGB’s poison programmes, then recalls Bough as “Dickie Bow”, a minor Berlin hand who disappeared in September 1989 and came back claiming he had been kidnapped and forcibly drunk by Alexander Popov. Popov, he says, was an invented bogeyman, a fictional spymaster used to send Western services chasing a network that never existed, supposedly born in a Georgian closed town, ZT/53235, that vanished after a plutonium accident in 1955. Left alone afterwards, Cartwright realises he recited the town’s number too precisely for a man pretending to mislay details, and wonders whether Popov is still fictional. Elsewhere Catherine Standish talks herself out of buying wine while brooding on the bald man from the station video; Louisa Guy researches the day of Spider Webb’s summit in a flat too small for two and concludes she and Min need money; Min, alone in his bedsit, resolves to seize Webb’s olive branch and trust nobody but Louisa. At a DataLok warehouse, night guard Cal Fenton finds a door unlatched, hears a scuff, and is plunged into darkness.
Beats
- C03S01 · River Cartwright — River Cartwright travelled to Tonbridge and told his grandfather, David Cartwright, that Jackson Lamb had convinced himself a KGB-style poison operation was running in London. The old man treated the threat seriously and identified the dead man, Richard Bough, as Dickie Bow, a minor Berlin hand who had vanished in September 1989 and returned claiming Alexander Popov had kidnapped him.
- C03S02 · Catherine Standish — Alone in her North London flat, Catherine Standish made peppermint tea and talked herself out of walking to the off-licence for wine. She thought instead about the bald man stepping into the rain on the railway platform, and about Slough House as the low ceiling her mother would have wanted for her.
- C03S03 · Louisa Guy — Louisa Guy searched online for what else had been happening on the day of Spider Webb’s summit and found a metallurgy symposium, a conference at SOAS and a quarter-million-strong Stop the City rally. Perched among drying laundry, she recognised that Min Harper’s belongings were crowding a flat too small for both of them, and that somewhere better would cost money.
- C03S04 · Cal Fenton — Cal Fenton, working the night shift at the DataLok storage warehouse, found an exterior door unlatched and then heard a scuffing noise along the north corridor. He talked himself out of calling in early and stepped out to check, and the lights went out.
- C03S05 · River Cartwright — David Cartwright explained that Alexander Popov had been a manufactured bogeyman, invented to send Western services chasing a network that did not exist, and described the Georgian closed town ZT/53235 where Popov was supposedly born and which vanished after a plutonium accident in 1955. He then warned River to be careful on the unlit stretch to the station, and River left for home.
- C03S06 · Cal Fenton — In the blacked-out facility Cal Fenton found the office telephone dead and his mobile missing from his coat pocket. He concluded that whoever had done this was still inside, and heard a rubber-soled shoe squeak on the lino in the corridor behind him.
- C03S07 · Min Harper — Min Harper drank alone in his bedsit and smoked at the window, measuring how far he had fallen since the classified disk went missing. He resolved to treat Spider Webb’s summit as his route back to Regent’s Park, deciding to trust nobody — except Louisa, whom he need not necessarily keep informed.
- C03S08 · David Cartwright — Left alone with the dying fire, David Cartwright replayed the conversation and realised he had given River the closed town’s number too precisely for a man pretending to lose details. He dismissed Dickie Bow’s kidnapping story as a drunkard’s bid for a pension, but found himself wondering whether Alexander Popov still did not exist.
People
- River Cartwright — Slough House slow horse; brings Lamb’s poison theory to his grandfather.
- David Cartwright — River’s grandfather, the O.B.; retired senior officer who explains Popov and Dickie Bow.
- Catherine Standish — Slough House administrator; fends off a drink and broods on the bald man.
- Louisa Guy — Slow horse; researches Webb’s summit and worries about money and space.
- Min Harper — Slow horse living in a bedsit; resolves to use Webb’s summit to get back to the Park.
- Jackson Lamb — Offstage: his Popov theory drives River’s visit.
- Richard Bough — Offstage: the dead man known as Dickie Bow, once a Berlin hand.
Places
- Tonbridge — Kent town where David Cartwright lives; his study is the setting for both Cartwright conversations.
Lines worth keeping
““He seems to think there’s a KGB wet squad at large.”” — River Cartwright, on Lamb’s paranoia
““I’m saying that any time Jackson Lamb’s worried about an old-time-Moscow-style op being run in our back yard, I’d pay attention. The name Litvinenko not ring bells?”” — David Cartwright, on poison operations
““Good Lord. Dickie Bow was still alive?”” — David Cartwright, recognising the dead man
““Some kind of accident at the plutonium plant. There were a few survivors, we think. No official figures, of course, because officially it never happened.”” — David Cartwright, on the closed town
Threads
- Plants: Lamb’s belief that a Moscow-style poison operation is running in London.; Dickie Bow’s claim to have been kidnapped by Alexander Popov in 1989.; The closed town ZT/53235, which vanished after a plutonium accident in 1955.; David Cartwright reciting ZT/53235 digit-perfect while pretending to mislay details.; Cal Fenton’s intruder inside the DataLok archive, with the lights and phone cut.; Min Harper’s decision to pass Webb’s test and trust nobody but Louisa.
- Payoffs: The O.B. settles the question of Popov’s existence: he was a fabricated spymaster, not a real officer.
- Continuity: Richard Bough, known as Dickie Bow, died on a bus without a valid ticket.; David Cartwright is River’s grandfather, a retired Service officer living in Tonbridge.; Dickie Bow was a minor Berlin hand who went missing in September 1989 and returned claiming he had been kidnapped.; Min Harper lives in a bedsit, is separated from his wife Clare, and is involved with Louisa Guy.; Cal Fenton is nineteen and works alone on the night shift at DataLok.