Real Tigers / C07

Chapter 7

Book 3 Part Two 5900 words POV: Jackson Lamb, Catherine Standish, Marcus Longridge

Summary

In the church of St. Giles Cripplegate, Ingrid Tearney tells Jackson Lamb that she has agreed to close Slough House that morning, and that the closure is Peter Judd’s way of showing her where power lies. She also brings worse news: Monteith’s body has been dumped on a pavement in SW1, and a man who now controls the tiger team has telephoned with a new demand. Lamb works out that satisfying it will put Judd in Tearney’s power, and agrees to have his own team deliver the material without official cover, on the condition that Standish comes home and Cartwright is released. Elsewhere, Catherine Standish sits locked in a converted farm building and remembers the voices that came to her while she dried out in Dorset; Bailey brings her lunch, a small bottle of wine among it, and refuses to say whether he is a soldier. At Slough House, Marcus, Shirley and Ho waste the afternoon flicking CDs until Louisa reports a body dumped near where Judd was dining, and the slow horses begin piecing the day together. The chapter ends with River walking back in.

Beats

C07S01 · Jackson Lamb — Jackson Lamb met Ingrid Tearney in St. Giles Cripplegate and heard that she had agreed that morning to close Slough House. Tearney said Judd wanted the closure as a demonstration of where power lay, then told Lamb that Monteith’s body had been dumped in the street and that his organisation was now run by a man with a new demand.
C07S02 · Catherine Standish — Catherine Standish, locked in a room with a bus in the yard outside, remembered the voices she had heard while drying out in a Dorset sanatorium. Bailey brought her a tray of sandwich, apple, flapjack and a small bottle of Pinot Grigio, said she would not be held long, and left without answering whether he was a soldier.
C07S03 · Jackson Lamb — Tearney told Lamb the new man wanted the Grey Books, the Service’s files on conspiracy theories, in exchange for Standish. Lamb saw that helping the tigers would leave Judd in Tearney’s power, and agreed to have his team deliver the material off the books, insisting that his first priority was bringing Standish home and that Cartwright be put in a taxi.
C07S04 · Marcus Longridge — Marcus Longridge and Shirley Dander flicked CDs into a wastebasket until Roderick Ho took a bet and shattered a lightbulb winning it. Louisa Guy came in with news that a body had been dumped outside a restaurant near the Mall where Peter Judd had been dining without speaking to the press, and argued the day’s events were connected; Shirley accused her of behaving strangely and stormed out.
C07S05 · Jackson Lamb — Lamb took Diana Taverner’s call outside the church and heard that Cartwright had been walked out of the Park, though Tearney had signed nothing. Taverner warned him that Judd meant to replace Second Desk with ministerial appointees, that whoever took the Slough House brief would close it, and that he should choose his side carefully.
C07S06 · Marcus Longridge — In Ho’s room the slow horses learned that Monteith had run Black Arrow, a second-tier security firm with a few small government contracts, and that the van had been abandoned three streets away. Ho found that Monteith and Judd had been at school together, and Louisa set him to dig further into Black Arrow just as River Cartwright walked in.

People

Jackson Lamb — Head of Slough House; takes Tearney’s commission to recover the Grey Books off the books.
Ingrid Tearney — Head of the Service; admits the closure order and reveals Monteith’s death and the new demand.
Catherine Standish — Held captive in a locked room; given lunch and a small bottle of wine by Bailey.
Craig Dunn — Her guard, who brings the tray and avoids saying whether he is a soldier.
Marcus Longridge — Slow horse; joins the CD game and then the discussion of the dumped body.
Shirley Dander — Slow horse; wins and loses bets, then turns on Louisa and walks out.
Roderick Ho — Slow horse; wins the CD bet and then researches Monteith and Black Arrow.
Louisa Guy — Slow horse; brings news of the body and Judd’s silence and pushes the others to investigate.
Diana Taverner — Second Desk; telephones Lamb to warn him about Judd’s plans.
River Cartwright — Released from the Park; appears at Slough House at the section’s close.

Places

Slough House — The slow horses’ offices, where the team gathers and bickers.

Lines worth keeping

“It’s more like a slug in its lettuce patch.” — Ingrid Tearney, on Slough House’s standing

“They get called that.” — Jackson Lamb, on the slow horses

“I’m not a junkie, all right? I like the odd recreational high, that’s all.” — Shirley Dander, denying Marcus’s suspicions

“They were at school together.” — Roderick Ho, on Judd and Monteith

Threads

Plants: The tiger team now wants the Grey Books, the Service’s conspiracy-theory files; Lamb agrees to run the delivery off the books with his own team; Bailey is not a soldier, as Standish notices; A small bottle of wine is left on Standish’s tray; Taverner warns Lamb that ministerial appointees will replace Second Desk; The van used for the body dump was abandoned three streets away
Payoffs: Monteith’s death is confirmed and his organisation has passed to another man; Judd’s motive for closing Slough House is explained as a display of power over Tearney
Continuity: Standish is held in a converted farm now used as a holiday let, with a tour bus in the yard; Monteith’s body was dumped on a pavement in SW1 about an hour before the church meeting; Lamb’s stated first priority is bringing Standish home; Tearney refuses to put Cartwright in a taxi; Lamb once set fire to a church behind the Curtain, half a lifetime ago

Characters

Places

Slough House