Slough House

Dead Lions / C08

Chapter 8

Book 2 Part Two 4708 words POV: Louisa Guy, Jackson Lamb, River Cartwright, Catherine Standish

Summary

Pashkin frets at traffic on the way across London while Louisa Guy, Marcus Longridge and the two Russians escort him, and Louisa privately refuses to accept that Min Harper’s death was an accident. Elsewhere, Lamb meets Bad Sam Chapman in a laundrette near Swiss Cottage and takes delivery of a report on Rebecca Mitchell, the driver, whose last ten years were clean but whose earlier life was not: in the nineties she shared a flat with two Russians from Vladivostok who set her up in business. Louisa takes Pashkin up the Needle, where he asks about cameras, stairwells and emergency exits and then proposes walking down the stairs; she overrules him and takes the lift. River walks to The Downside Man, reviews his three weeks in the village and resolves to inspect the MoD range after dark, and not alone. Back at Slough House, Catherine gives Lamb the name Andrei Chernitsky and argues that he was Popov’s muscle, which means Dickie Bow was bagged twenty years ago to be an alarm bell.

Beats

  • C08S01 · Louisa Guy — Pashkin complained about the traffic while Louisa, Marcus and the two Russians escorted him across the city, and Louisa privately refused to believe that Min’s death had been a simple accident.
  • C08S02 · Jackson Lamb — Lamb met Sam Chapman in a laundrette near Swiss Cottage and took delivery of a report showing that the woman who killed Min had a hidden past.
  • C08S03 · River Cartwright — River walked to The Downside Man, reviewed what three weeks in Upshott had taught him, and decided to inspect the MoD range after dark with company.
  • C08S04 · Louisa Guy — Louisa took Pashkin, Piotr and Kyril up the Needle, answered his questions about cameras, stairwells and emergencies, and refused his suggestion that they walk down the stairs.
  • C08S05 · Catherine Standish — Catherine gave Lamb the name Andrei Chernitsky and argued that he had been Popov’s muscle; Lamb then produced the file showing Rebecca Mitchell’s Russian connections in the nineties, and accepted that Harper had been killed.
  • C08S06 · Louisa Guy — Louisa and Marcus returned the Russians to their hotel and travelled home by tube, Marcus calling Pashkin a gangster while Louisa fixed her mind on the next day.

People

  • Arkady Pashkin — Escorted across London and shown the Needle, where he studies the exits.
  • Louisa Guy — Handling the Pashkin escort while convinced Min was murdered.
  • Marcus Longridge — Louisa’s partner; reads Pashkin as a gangster with political ambitions.
  • Piotr — Pashkin’s man, translating and taking instructions.
  • Kyril — The second bodyguard, at Pashkin’s heels throughout.
  • Jackson Lamb — Collects an off-book report from Bad Sam and confronts the evidence about Mitchell.
  • Sam Chapman — Former Head Dog, now in private investigation, supplying Lamb with the file.
  • River Cartwright — Preparing a night reconnaissance of the MoD range.
  • Catherine Standish — Identifies Chernitsky and builds the case that Bow was bagged as a future alarm.

Places

  • The Needle — Eighty-storey tower with a hotel below and leased floors above; venue for the summit.
  • Upshott — The village and the road down to The Downside Man.
  • Slough House — Lamb’s office, where Catherine delivers her findings.

Lines worth keeping

“You’d think, with all the practice you’ve had, you’d be better at capitalism than us.” — Arkady Pashkin, in the stalled car

“Maybe they didn’t do a proper job on her because they already knew what they’d find.” — Sam Chapman, on Rebecca Mitchell’s vetting

“Popov took a British spy off the streets twenty years ago with no motive except to use him as an alarm bell when the time was right.” — Catherine Standish, her theory of the bagging

“He’s a gangster.” — Marcus Longridge, on Pashkin, on the tube

Threads

  • Plants: Pashkin asks precise questions about the Needle’s stairwells and emergency exits, then proposes walking down them.; River intends to enter the MoD range after dark and has arranged not to go alone.; Rebecca Mitchell shared a flat with two Russians from Vladivostok in the nineties, who set her up in her catering business.; A Stop the City rally is scheduled for the day of the summit and will complicate the route.; Catherine argues that Chernitsky went to Upshott because the network’s ringleader lives there.
  • Payoffs: Mr. B is identified as Andrei Chernitsky, the name on the passport he flew out under.; The Dogs’ finding on Min Harper’s death is shown to rest on a vetting that went back only ten years.
  • Continuity: Pashkin is to be taken to the Needle by service lift the next day, off the record.; Chernitsky flew to Prague the morning after Dickie Bow was killed.; Louisa has been told by Webb that Min’s death was an accident and does not believe it.

Characters

Places

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