Slough House

Real Tigers / C13

Chapter 13

Book 3 Part Two 4646 words POV: Diana Taverner, Catherine Standish, Shirley Dander, Louisa Guy, Ingrid Tearney

Summary

Diana Taverner drinks Johnnie Walker in a pub off Great Portland Street, betting her career on Sean Donovan’s search of the relocated archives for evidence against Ingrid Tearney; she does not notice the sleek man in the corner watching her. At the farmhouse, Roddy Ho’s bus has punched a hole through the front door, and while Catherine Standish pours water into the unconscious intruder’s mouth, Lamb goes through his pockets and identifies him from his licence as Craig Dunn. On the wasteground outside the archive facility, Shirley Dander counts Black Arrow mercenaries and works out that two unlit klieg lights are aimed at a hole in the factory wall, making a killing ground; she and Marcus Longridge are jumped before they can act on it. Inside, Louisa Guy and River Cartwright find Ben Traynor behind a barricade and Donovan rifling files, and the doors are blown in: Traynor is cuffed, Louisa fights the men pouring through, and River is Tasered. Shirley fights free and runs, leaving Marcus to be carried to the black van. Alone under her standard lamp, Tearney works out that Taverner has spent years aiming Donovan and Traynor at her, and waits to hear whether her own attempt to eliminate them has worked.

Beats

  • C13S01 · Diana Taverner — Diana Taverner drank Johnnie Walker in a pub off Great Portland Street, weighing whether Ingrid Tearney had already seen through her scheme. She was counting on Sean Donovan finding evidence of Tearney’s corruption among the relocated archives, so that she could appear merely horrified when it surfaced. She did not notice the sleek man in the corner who was watching her.
  • C13S02 · Catherine Standish — Roddy Ho’s bus had punched a hole through the farmhouse door, and Lamb berated him while Catherine Standish knelt over the unconscious intruder. Catherine sent Ho for water and poured it into the boy’s mouth, and Lamb went through his pockets, took two ten-pound notes as petrol money and read his driving licence. The licence named him Craig Dunn, and the boy opened his eyes.
  • C13S03 · Shirley Dander — Shirley Dander and Marcus Longridge scouted the wasteground and counted Black Arrow men in the shadows. Shirley worked out that the two unlit klieg lights were aimed at a hole in the factory wall, making a killing ground for anyone flushed out of the facility. A sentry came up behind Marcus and felled him with a truncheon, and a second man took Shirley’s legs from under her.
  • C13S04 · Louisa Guy — Louisa Guy followed River Cartwright into the archive room, where Ben Traynor guarded a barricade and Sean Donovan emptied box files. Donovan admitted taking Catherine but blamed Monteith for the photograph, and the doors were blown in before Louisa could press him further. Traynor was overpowered and cuffed, Louisa fought off the men pouring through the breach, and River was Tasered as he shouted for retreat.
  • C13S05 · Shirley Dander — Shirley Dander butted and punched her first assailant, then faced a second who slapped his truncheon and invited her on. Hearing more men coming, she broke away and ran into the darkness instead of finishing the fight. She did not see Marcus Longridge carried to the black van.
  • C13S06 · Ingrid Tearney — Ingrid Tearney sat alone under her standard lamp and reviewed what half an hour’s research had told her. She pieced together Alison Dunn’s death, Donovan’s ruined career and Traynor’s engagement to Dunn, and concluded that Taverner had recruited both men by blaming her. She recognised the Grey Books as a decoy she had accepted too readily, and could only wait to learn whether her own attempt to eliminate them had worked.

People

  • Diana Taverner — Second Desk officer drinking in a pub, betting Donovan will bring Tearney down.
  • Catherine Standish — Tends the injured intruder at the farmhouse and sends Ho for water.
  • Roderick Ho — Drove the bus through the farmhouse door; sent to fetch water.
  • Jackson Lamb — Takes charge at the farmhouse, pockets the boy’s cash, reads his licence.
  • Craig Dunn — Young intruder knocked unconscious by the bus; identified from his licence.
  • Shirley Dander — Scouts the wasteground, counts Arrows, fights and then runs.
  • Marcus Longridge — Counts seven Arrows, is knocked down and dragged to the van.
  • Louisa Guy — Runs into the archive, questions Donovan, fights at the breach.
  • River Cartwright — Confronts Traynor and Donovan, then is Tasered.
  • Sean Donovan — Rifling archive files; admits taking Catherine.
  • Ben Traynor — Guarding the barricaded archive door; cuffed after the blast.
  • Ingrid Tearney — Alone at home, deduces Taverner’s long-running scheme.

Places

  • The farmhouse — House outside London whose front door Ho’s bus destroys; Craig Dunn is held here.
  • The archive — Derelict factory site where the Black Arrows set their ambush.

Lines worth keeping

“Thanks, Roddy. That was a good plan. Now go and fetch some water, would you?” — Catherine Standish, praising Ho’s bus crash

“Yeah. Because crashing a bus would have been a big fucking help if I had been.” — Jackson Lamb, on Ho’s rescue attempt

“They’re gonna flush River and the others out of the facility. They come up, the lights go on—blam blam blam.” — Shirley Dander, reading the ambush plan

“But it was Monteith sent you the photo.” — Sean Donovan, shifting blame for the photo

Threads

  • Plants: The sleek man watching Taverner in the pub, unidentified.; Donovan’s interest in a particular folder in the archive.; The boy at the farmhouse is Craig Dunn, a name with Service significance.; Two klieg lights aimed at a hole in the factory wall, meant to light a killing ground.
  • Continuity: Marcus Longridge is taken alive to the black van; Shirley Dander escapes.; River Cartwright has been Tasered.; Donovan claims Monteith sent the photograph of Catherine.; Ingrid Tearney has launched her own attempt to eliminate the tiger team.

Characters

Places

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