Slough House

Dead Lions / C14

Chapter 14

Book 2 Part Two 4120 words POV: Narrator, James Webb, River Cartwright, Roderick Ho, Catherine Standish, Diana Taverner, Shirley Dander, Jackson Lamb, Louisa Guy

Summary

London turns out for the march on the warmest day of the year, and the crowd moves east along Oxford Street towards High Holborn with a violent fringe inside it. At the Needle, Webb welcomes Pashkin on the seventy-seventh floor; downstairs Marcus and Louisa frisk the Russians, and Pashkin refuses to let his case be searched. Once inside he has his men tear out the room’s cameras and sets a white-noise device on the table, quietly taking charge of the meeting. In Upshott, a military patrol stops River and Yates; River attacks a soldier, a shot is fired and Yates is beaten, before River disarms the pair and identifies himself as MI5. Catherine, alone at Slough House, treats River’s half-heard warning as a possible Code September and calls the Park, where Taverner counts a panicking Barrowby down until he authorises a response. Shirley runs for the Needle and Ho takes a cab. Lamb takes his leave of Molly Doran in Records after fifteen years away. At the Needle an evacuation alarm sounds, and Pashkin admits he knew it was coming and produces a gun. River reaches the hangar to find the plane and the fertiliser gone, and follows a trail of spilled powder outside.

Beats

  • C14S01 · Narrator — The march moved east along Oxford Street and up towards High Holborn, vast and mostly good-humoured. Among the stragglers were people carrying masks in their pockets and intending to break windows.
  • C14S02 · James Webb — Webb greeted Pashkin on the seventy-seventh floor while downstairs Marcus and Louisa frisked the Russians and were patted down in return. Pashkin refused to open his case, then had his men rip out the room’s cameras and set a humming white-noise device on the table.
  • C14S03 · River Cartwright — A jeep reached River and Yates and a soldier demanded River’s phone. River knocked the man down, a second soldier drew a gun, and Catherine heard River begin his protocols before a shot cut him off.
  • C14S04 · Roderick Ho — Ho found no car and Shirley already across the road and moving fast. He accepted that they were going to the Needle on foot and began to run.
  • C14S05 · Catherine Standish — Alone in Slough House, Catherine identified Code September as a plan to fly an aeroplane into a building. Unable to raise River again, she called the Park.
  • C14S06 · Narrator — At Centre Point a small boy pointed at the sky and his father glimpsed sunlight flashing off the distant Needle. He lifted the boy onto his shoulders and they walked on.
  • C14S07 · River Cartwright — A shot went over River’s head and he flung himself flat, and a soldier beat Griff Yates to the ground. River shouted that he was with MI5 and was told to shut up.
  • C14S08 · Diana Taverner — Roger Barrowby was settled in Taverner’s office needling her about the cost of her chair when her phone buzzed. She took the call and asked for the caller to be put through.
  • C14S09 · Shirley Dander — Shirley ran until her ribs forced her to stop, then saw the tip of the Needle above the rooftops. She left Ho behind and ran on.
  • C14S10 · Roderick Ho — Ho reached a park entrance with his lungs burning and was offered a lift by a black cab. He fell onto the back seat and asked for the Needle.
  • C14S11 · River Cartwright — Yates turned the tables on the soldier who had beaten him, took his gun and covered the other. River took the second weapon, identified himself as MI5, and this time the soldiers listened.
  • C14S12 · Jackson Lamb — Lamb said goodbye to Molly Doran in Records, admitting he had stayed away for fifteen years. She told him to come back only when he needed something.
  • C14S13 · River Cartwright — In the jeep, Yates let slip that Moult had suggested the range and had asked after River, and River saw that Moult had staged the whole thing. They reached the flying club and found the hangar empty.
  • C14S14 · Diana Taverner — Barrowby panicked over acting on half a message from a slow horse, and Taverner counted him down four seconds. Told there was only one thing he could do, he asked what it was.
  • C14S15 · Louisa Guy — The meeting stalled on big-picture small talk until an evacuation alarm throbbed through the building. Pashkin said he had known it was coming and handed Piotr a gun from his briefcase.
  • C14S16 · River Cartwright — River reached the hangar to find the Skyhawk and the fertiliser gone, with only a spillage left on the concrete. Following a trail of powder to the side door, he found the bags stacked there and demanded a phone from the officer who confronted him.

People

  • River Cartwright — Disarms the soldiers, learns Moult staged his detention, and reaches the emptied hangar.
  • Roderick Ho — Runs and then rides to the Needle at Catherine’s order.
  • Shirley Dander — Runs ahead of Ho towards the Needle without knowing the reason.
  • Catherine Standish — Alone at Slough House, escalates River’s warning to the Park.
  • Diana Taverner — Forces Barrowby to authorise a response to Code September.
  • Roger Barrowby — Chair of Limitations; dithers over the warning and asks Taverner what to do.
  • Jackson Lamb — Closes his visit to Molly Doran and leaves Records.
  • Molly Doran — Bids Lamb goodbye and tells him not to return until he needs something.
  • Arkady Pashkin — Runs the meeting, admits foreknowledge of the emergency, and arms Piotr.
  • James Webb — Hosts the summit and loses control of it.
  • Marcus Longridge — Frisks the Russians and nearly fights Kyril in the garage.
  • Louisa Guy — Watches the meeting stall and hears Pashkin admit he knew.
  • Piotr — Bodyguard; takes the gun Pashkin hands him.
  • Kyril — Bodyguard; squares up to Marcus in the garage.

Places

  • The Needle — Tower whose seventy-seventh floor hosts the summit; it is evacuated.
  • Regent’s Park — Taverner’s office and Molly Doran’s Records below it.
  • Slough House — Catherine alone, taking River’s call.
  • Upshott — Upshott airfield whose hangar is found empty.

Lines worth keeping

“I’m afraid I did.” — Arkady Pashkin, admitting foreknowledge of the alarm

“Roger—you do know what Code September means?” — Diana Taverner, pressing Barrowby to decide

“I don’t know, Diana—you’ve got half a message on a mobile from a slow horse out in the sticks.” — Roger Barrowby, resisting the warning

“Only come back when you need something. Even if it’s another fifteen years.” — Molly Doran, saying goodbye to Lamb

Threads

  • Plants: Pashkin knew the emergency was coming and is armed; The fertiliser stack has been moved from the hangar to beside the MoD range fence; Tommy Moult engineered River’s detention so he would see the fertiliser and be freed; Kelly Tropper’s flight and cargo are still unaccounted for
  • Payoffs: River and Yates overpower the soldiers and are believed; Taverner forces Barrowby to act on the Code September warning; Lamb’s fifteen-year estrangement from Molly Doran is addressed
  • Continuity: River’s protocols are Mandarin, dentist and tiger; he got only Mandarin out; The white-noise device and the destroyed cameras mean the Needle meeting is unrecorded; Ingrid Tearney is out of the country and Barrowby, as Chair of Limitations, can claim First Desk; The party entered the Needle on a contractor’s plate and are officially meeting a kitchen supervisor

Characters

Places

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