Slough House

Real Tigers / C10

Chapter 10

Book 3 Part Two 7466 words POV: River Cartwright, Roderick Ho, Shirley Dander, Nick Duffy, Ingrid Tearney

Summary

River and Louisa arrive at a wasteland of derelict office blocks and a disused factory west of Ealing, Louisa convinced they were followed and River privately doubtful. Lamb phones to warn them to let Donovan leave once he has the files, and two men step out from behind a pillar. Donovan and Ben Traynor confirm they want the Grey Books, refuse to say where Catherine is held beyond a promise to release her unharmed, and send the two slow horses in first to open the doors. Elsewhere Ho is press-ganged into driving Lamb to the High Wycombe building he found; Marcus and Shirley, newly sacked, argue in a black SUV before Marcus persuades her that Donovan may be after something real, and they drive west, only to attract a police car. Duffy, briefed by Tearney to follow Donovan to his lair and deal with him once the files are taken, watches from a neighbouring block. River and Louisa learn the facility is a converted cold-war bunker and drop through a drain cover into the dark. Tearney, reviewing the day, questions Taverner about Donovan, realises files classed Virgil were moved, and tells Duffy the plan has changed.

Beats

  • C10S01 · River Cartwright — River and Louisa parked on wasteland west of Ealing, among derelict office blocks and a disused factory, Louisa insisting a car had followed them from the Barbican. Lamb phoned to order them to back off once Donovan had the files, and two men emerged from behind a pillar in the nearest wrecked building.
  • C10S02 · Roderick Ho — Roderick Ho, alone in the emptied Slough House, was cornered by Lamb, who put a hand on his chest and asked where he thought he was going. Lamb told him they were driving to High Wycombe and asked where his car was.
  • C10S03 · Shirley Dander — Marcus drove Shirley through stalled traffic and the two sacked officers argued about who was to blame, Marcus citing his mortgage and she her own ruined life. Marcus raised the possibility that Donovan was not a fantasist but after something real in the Grey Books, and Shirley told him to go.
  • C10S04 · River Cartwright — River and Louisa met Sean Donovan and Ben Traynor in the shell of an office block, and Donovan refused to say where Catherine was held beyond a promise to release her unharmed once he had the Grey Books. He told them to go in first and open the doors for him, and the pair walked back into the sunlight towards the factory.
  • C10S05 · Nick Duffy — Nick Duffy watched the two slow horses from the third floor of a derelict block, having lost and re-found them on the drive from the Barbican. He recalled Tearney’s briefing: he was to follow Donovan to his lair and ensure his paranoia led him no further, with no back-up, and he had accepted.
  • C10S06 · Roderick Ho — Ho tried to argue his way out of driving Lamb to High Wycombe, and Lamb asked whether Catherine Standish would help if it were Ho who had been kidnapped. Ho admitted that she probably would, and went down to fetch his car.
  • C10S07 · River Cartwright — River and Louisa learned from the Service intranet that the storage site was a thirties bomb shelter beneath the industrial estate, long since converted to Service use. They entered the factory, found their secret entrance was a dirt-packed drain cover, and River dropped through it into the dark.
  • C10S08 · Ingrid Tearney — Ingrid Tearney signed off the Limitations Committee minutes and reckoned that Judd’s tiger team had left him exposed while her own position had strengthened, with Duffy primed to kill Donovan once the files were taken. The thought that luck rather than judgement had produced this left her uncapping and recapping her pen.
  • C10S09 · Shirley Dander — Marcus drove west at speed, squeezing through a one-way alley and running a light, while Shirley reflected that he had stayed with her after they were both sacked. He told her the crash squad’s riddle about doors, and then a police car they had just passed lit up behind them.
  • C10S10 · Roderick Ho — Ho collected Lamb in his Ford Kia and Lamb rode in the back, mocking the car’s smell of cheese and smoking a cigarette he claimed was electronic. Guided by satnav, Ho drove them out of the city towards where they hoped Catherine was being held.
  • C10S11 · Ingrid Tearney — Tearney followed Taverner into her office and questioned her about the Data Removal invoices and then about Sean Donovan, getting only a vague recollection of a joint intelligence committee. Convinced that the brief had never covered files classed Virgil, she phoned Duffy and told him there had been a change of plan.

People

  • River Cartwright — Slow horse; meets Donovan, digs into the storage site, and goes down first.
  • Louisa Guy — Slow horse; drives them out, insists they were tailed, and negotiates with Donovan over Catherine.
  • Roderick Ho — Slow horse; lent his car and his driving to Lamb for the trip to High Wycombe.
  • Marcus Longridge — Sacked slow horse; drives west with Shirley on his own initiative after arguing for Donovan’s seriousness.
  • Shirley Dander — Sacked slow horse; admits her drug use to Marcus and agrees to follow him west.
  • Jackson Lamb — Runs Slough House; briefs River by phone and makes Ho drive him to High Wycombe.
  • Nick Duffy — Head Dog; tailed the slow horses and takes Tearney’s commission to run Donovan to earth alone.
  • Ingrid Tearney — Head of the Service; manages the fallout, questions Taverner, and changes the plan.
  • Diana Taverner — Head of Ops; fields Tearney’s questions about the invoices and about Donovan.
  • Sean Donovan — Ex-soldier turned Black Arrow operative; demands the Grey Books and promises Catherine’s release.
  • Ben Traynor — Donovan’s younger, balding partner; speaks only to vouch for their word.

Places

  • Slough House — Ho’s office, where Lamb collects him and his car keys.
  • Regent’s Park — Service headquarters; Tearney’s office and the briefing Duffy receives.

Lines worth keeping

“I think we were followed.” — Louisa Guy, arriving at the wasteland

“If you were kidnapped, would Standish help?” — Jackson Lamb, testing Ho’s loyalty

“When it’s a pile of fucking matchsticks” — Marcus Longridge, the crash-squad riddle

“There’s been a change of plan” — Ingrid Tearney, phoning Duffy at the close

Threads

  • Plants: Tearney’s instruction to Duffy: follow Donovan to his lair and ensure his paranoia takes him no further, acting without back-up.; Tearney realises the brief never covered files classed Virgil, where she has always hidden black secrets.; Marcus’s theory that Donovan may be after something genuinely damaging, and will not leave witnesses.; A police car lights up behind Marcus and Shirley on the drive west.; Ho’s parking permit is in the name of a ninety-three-year-old homebound neighbour.
  • Payoffs: Ho’s discovery of the High Wycombe rental becomes Lamb’s destination.; Donovan and Traynor make contact with the slow horses, as Lamb predicted.; Louisa’s belief that they were tailed is confirmed by Duffy’s account of following them from the Barbican.
  • Continuity: River and Louisa are unarmed; Donovan and Traynor send them in first to open the doors.; Donovan promises Catherine will be released unharmed once the Grey Books are in his hands.; Marcus and Shirley are acting without authority, having been sacked by Lamb.; The storage site is an underground complex beneath the industrial estate, entered through a drain cover.

Characters

Places

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