Slough House

Real Tigers / C11

Chapter 11

Book 3 Part Two 6543 words POV: River Cartwright, Catherine Standish, Jackson Lamb, Louisa Guy, Nick Duffy, Shirley Dander, Roderick Ho, Marcus Longridge

Summary

Underground beneath a derelict factory on the western fringe of London, River Cartwright and Louisa Guy drop through a hatch into a cable-lined chamber and find a rotary-dial phone hidden in a fuse box; it rings before River can lift the receiver. A disguised voice checks their service cards and their knowledge of Slough House, then releases the hatch into an air-conditioned records facility, where Douglas, the lone and unvetted caretaker, lets them in and — once Louisa has talked him round — agrees to admit the two men waiting above. Those men are Sean Donovan and Ben Traynor. Meanwhile Catherine Standish, locked in a hot attic room for a full day, breaks the seal on the bottle of wine left with her food. Jackson Lamb, driven into the countryside by Roderick Ho, walks off alone towards the farmhouse where she is held, carrying a polystyrene cup of coins. Nick Duffy, watching from a third-floor window, sets Black Arrow’s amateur squad onto the wasteground and confirms with Dame Ingrid Tearney that the Slough House crew may be killed. Shirley, stuck at the kerb while Marcus argues with a policeman, learns from Service records that Traynor was engaged to Alison Dunn. Lamb knocks at the farmhouse door and sings a carol.

Beats

  • C11S01 · River Cartwright — River Cartwright dropped through a hatch into a concrete chamber beneath a factory, landing hard enough to remind him of Nick Duffy, and Louisa Guy followed with more grace. Searching the walls, they found a fuse box holding a pristine rotary-dial phone, and as River reached for the receiver it rang.
  • C11S02 · Catherine Standish — Alone in the hot attic room, mildly delirious after a full day, Catherine Standish weighed the bottle of wine against her resolve and thought of Charles Partner’s death and of Lamb’s unwillingness to act. Almost involuntarily, she twisted the cap and broke the seal.
  • C11S03 · River Cartwright — The electronically treated voice on the phone made River hold up his service card, then had Louisa show hers, and recited both their numbers. It refused to open the way down without written authorisation until River and Louisa bluffed about protocol and a Scott-level mission, and then the wheel-shaped handle on the concrete block shifted.
  • C11S04 · Jackson Lamb — Lamb rode towards the countryside in a car driven by Roderick Ho, complaining about fields, isolated houses and people who had never seen a taxi, and lit another cigarette. Ho reported that the satnav put their exit after the next one, and Lamb admitted he had no plan.
  • C11S05 · Louisa Guy — Below ground, River and Louisa met Douglas, the solitary and unvetted caretaker of the records facility, who described three years alone with his computer and mentioned a pair of men he had seen on the wasteground above. Louisa talked him into treating them as colleagues, and he agreed to let the pair in without passes.
  • C11S06 · Nick Duffy — From a third-floor window, Nick Duffy set his operation running, calling in Black Arrow’s amateur squad to flood the wasteground and flush the intruders towards the hatchway. He confirmed with Dame Ingrid Tearney that the Slough House crew were included in the sanction, and accepted that there would be bodies.
  • C11S07 · Shirley — Waiting in the car while Marcus argued with a policeman, Shirley found her Service password still worked and pulled up Sean Donovan’s file. Following its links, she found a connection of Donovan’s that Cartwright had plainly missed.
  • C11S08 · Roderick Ho — Ho stopped the car in a lay-by half a mile from the farmhouse and, at Lamb’s instruction, killed the engine. Lamb emptied his ashtray cup, had Ho drop coins into it, told him to do something if he was not back in twenty minutes, and walked off into the dusk alone.
  • C11S09 · River Cartwright — Douglas, bitter, worked the hatch control and watched on the monitors as Donovan and Traynor came down the ladder, then was told to sit quietly and touch nothing. Traynor showed his gun, and Donovan pushed through the swing doors towards the files, leaving Traynor on guard.
  • C11S10 · Marcus Longridge — Marcus got back into the car still furious about the policeman, and Shirley told him that Benjamin Traynor had served with Donovan and was discharged around the time Donovan left prison. Asked about Alison Dunn, she said that Dunn had been Traynor’s fiancée.
  • C11S11 · Jackson Lamb — Lamb studied the stone farmhouse, its brick wing and the incongruous open-topped tour bus on the forecourt, and noted that no dogs barked. When a stocky, shaven-headed man answered his hammering, Lamb sang him a Christmas carol and rattled a cup of coins for the kiddies and orphans.

People

  • River Cartwright — Slow horse; enters the underground facility with Louisa and bluffs his way past the voice on the phone.
  • Louisa Guy — Slow horse; charms and bullies Douglas into cooperation, her changed hair colour noted twice.
  • Catherine Standish — Held in an attic room; alone with the wine bottle and breaking under the strain.
  • Jackson Lamb — Drives into the countryside to fetch Standish, then poses as a carol-singing collector at the farmhouse door.
  • Roderick Ho — Drives Lamb to the farmhouse and is left in the car with instructions to do something.
  • Nick Duffy — Runs the operation from a third-floor window; hires Black Arrow and plans to kill everyone who emerges.
  • Shirley Dander — Stuck in the car with Marcus; uses the Service intranet to dig into Donovan’s records.
  • Marcus Longridge — Arguing with a policeman over a traffic stop; drives the pair towards the facility.
  • Sean Donovan — Ex-soldier turned Black Arrow; descends into the facility and goes looking for the Grey Books.
  • Ben Traynor — Donovan’s lieutenant; guards River and Louisa and carries a gun.
  • Ingrid Tearney — Off-page; telephones Duffy with a change of plan and authorises killing the Slough House crew.
  • Alison Dunn — Dead; the passenger killed when Donovan crashed his jeep, and Traynor’s fiancée.

Places

  • The archive — Industrial wasteland where the Slough House pair enter the underground complex; Duffy watches it from a third-floor window.
  • The farmhouse — Stone house with a brick wing and an open-topped tour bus on the forecourt, where Standish is held.

Lines worth keeping

“If you’ve dragged me into this godforsaken wilderness on a fancy goose chase, you can say goodbye to your annual bonus.” — Jackson Lamb, threatening Ho on the drive

“The Slough House crew too.” — Dame Ingrid Tearney, sanctioning the slow horses’ deaths

“She was Traynor’s fiancée” — Shirley, revealing Dunn’s connection

“Getting shot’s like falling off a log. It doesn’t take practice.” — Jackson Lamb, reassuring Ho about gunfire

Threads

  • Plants: The phone in the chamber rings before River touches it, implying someone was already expecting a call.; Lamb’s cup of coins and carol-singer routine, set up before he reaches the farmhouse door.; Shirley’s discovery that Traynor was engaged to Alison Dunn, the woman Donovan killed.; Duffy’s Black Arrow plan to flush the intruders towards the hatchway and shoot them as they emerge.; Douglas mentions a weekly visit from his boss, who turns out to be a woman.; Louisa’s ‘Scott-level’ bluff, and the voice’s claim that he ‘did a course’.
  • Payoffs: Catherine’s long struggle with the bottle ends with her breaking the seal.; The pair of men Douglas saw on the wasteground are identified as Donovan and Traynor and admitted.
  • Continuity: Catherine Standish has been locked in the attic a full day and has barely eaten.; Louisa Guy’s hair colour has been deliberately changed, which the Service records flag.; Donovan and Traynor are ex-soldiers now working for Black Arrow.; Lamb carries no gun; he keeps an illegal one at Slough House but did not bring it.; River is still sore from an injury inflicted by Nick Duffy.; Tearney has authorised the killing of the entire Slough House crew, not only Donovan’s party.

Characters

Places

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