Real Tigers / C15

Chapter 15

Book 3 Part Two 4174 words POV: Catherine Standish, River Cartwright, Marcus Longridge, Jackson Lamb, Shirley Dander

Summary

In the car on the motorway, Catherine Standish argues that Donovan’s crew want proof Alison Dunn was murdered rather than the Grey Books, and Lamb answers that Tearney was too much a committee animal to have run a wet operation six years earlier, so someone else must be directing the soldiers; he asks how they learned about Slough House and orders a stop at the services. In the storage room, Donovan is too badly hurt to move and refuses to be carried, insisting the folder go to Catherine with his apology; Louisa leaves him his gun. A falling klieg light smashes the van’s windscreen and Marcus kicks Duffy out of the back, and Shirley arrives with the gun she found. Louisa and River scramble out through the crates, and Louisa bluffs an Arrow with a possibly empty pistol. Marcus and Shirley reunite and split, Marcus hunting Duffy. At the services, Lamb tells Catherine that Charles Partner was a Russian spy who kept her close because she was too drunk to notice, and she quits and walks off along the motorway. Shirley shoots her way to the factory wall and finds Louisa and River; Marcus is nearly killed by Duffy until River knocks him out with a length of piping.

Beats

C15S01 · Catherine Standish — Catherine Standish argued in the car that Donovan’s crew were after proof that Alison Dunn was murdered, not the Grey Books. Lamb answered that Tearney was a committee animal who could not have run a wet operation six years earlier, so someone else must be directing the soldiers. He asked how they had learned about Slough House, and told Ho to stop at the next services.
C15S02 · River Cartwright — River Cartwright and Louisa Guy came through the flash bomb’s afterglow to find Donovan too badly wounded to walk. Donovan refused to be carried, insisted they take the folder out and give it to Catherine with his apology, and asked for his gun to be left behind with him. Louisa, warned that they would not get far carrying him, told River to leave it.
C15S03 · Marcus Longridge — A falling klieg light smashed the van’s windscreen and Marcus Longridge kicked Nick Duffy out through the back doors. Marcus was still trussed and struggling when a figure with a gun came through them. It was Shirley Dander, holding the gun she had found, and she laughed at the state of him.
C15S04 · River Cartwright — Louisa Guy and River Cartwright scrambled over the collapsed shelving towards the far doors, leaving Donovan upright with his gun behind them. Louisa dived through the doors and found a Black Arrow standing over her, and pointed a gun she was not sure was loaded at his face. He dropped his truncheon and left, and River came through the doors behind them.
C15S05 · Marcus Longridge — Shirley Dander cut Marcus free and he took his revolver back, and the two of them ran for the skip without drawing fire. Marcus named Nick Duffy as the man behind the ambush, which meant either a rogue Head Dog or a Service mop-up. They agreed the Arrows were part-time and mostly unarmed, bumped fists and split, Marcus going after Duffy.
C15S06 · Jackson Lamb — At the services, Lamb needled Catherine Standish about the bottle left in her room and about her drinking, and she answered that Craig Dunn had left it out of kindness. When she credited Charles Partner with keeping her sober, Lamb told her that Partner had sold secrets to the Russians for money and had kept her close because she was too drunk to notice. Catherine told him to fuck himself, quit, and walked off over the motorway bridge.
C15S07 · Shirley Dander — Shirley Dander took fire crossing the wasteground and answered it from beneath the surviving klieg light, driving her attacker off. She reached the tear in the factory wall and found Louisa Guy and River Cartwright coming out of it. She told them Marcus was chasing Nick Duffy, and River ran.
C15S08 · Marcus Longridge — Marcus Longridge hunted Nick Duffy between the pillars, calling out that he would beat him but not shoot him. Duffy answered with thrown bricks and a tackle, and the fight went to the ground until Duffy recovered the revolver and stood over Marcus. River Cartwright arrived and hit Duffy across the head with a length of piping, and the two men walked back to the others.

People

Catherine Standish — Argues the revenge theory, then quits after Lamb’s revelation.
Roderick Ho — Drives the car and listens without understanding the Slough House question.
Jackson Lamb — Works out a third party is directing the soldiers; destroys Catherine with the truth about Partner.
River Cartwright — Escapes the storage room, then saves Marcus by knocking Duffy out.
Louisa Guy — Escapes with the folder, bluffs an Arrow with a possibly empty gun.
Sean Donovan — Refuses evacuation, stays behind with his gun and the rearguard.
Marcus Longridge — Escapes the van, hunts Duffy, is badly beaten and saved.
Shirley Dander — Frees Marcus, shoots her way across the wasteground, meets the others.
Nick Duffy — Knocked out of the van, then knocked down by River.

Places

The archive — Shirley’s firefight and Marcus’s hunt for Duffy.

Lines worth keeping

“Charles Partner, your old boss and mine, spent the last ten years of his life passing secrets to the Russians.” — Jackson Lamb, destroying Catherine’s hero

“Fuck you, Jackson Lamb. I quit.” — Catherine Standish, resigning on the motorway

“And when you do, tell her I’m sorry.” — Sean Donovan, message for Catherine

“They’re not really after the Grey Books. That was a ruse.” — Catherine Standish, correcting Ho’s theory

Threads

Plants: Someone inside the Service told the soldiers about Slough House.; Donovan is left behind wounded with a gun and a rearguard to hold.; The folder is to be given to Catherine, with Donovan’s apology.; Charles Partner’s treason, revealed and unverifiable here.
Payoffs: The Grey Books are confirmed as a decoy; the real target is documentation of Alison Dunn’s murder.; Marcus’s hidden revolver and Shirley’s CD both pay off.; Lamb’s earlier sackings are shown to have worked as motivation.
Continuity: Catherine Standish has quit and walked away from the car.; Donovan is still alive and armed in the storage room.; Ben Traynor is dead.; Duffy is unconscious on the wasteground.

Characters

Places

The archive