Slough House

London Rules / C03

Chapter 3

Book 5 Part One 6039 words POV: Dodie Gimball, Shirley Dander, River Cartwright

Summary

Dodie and Dennis Gimball spend the evening in their Chelsea apartment, rehearsing the speech Dennis will give at a constituency meeting in Slough and the column Dodie will publish the following morning. Their target is Zafar Jaffrey, the Prime Minister’s favoured Muslim politician and independent candidate for Mayor of the West Midlands; the material is his bagman Tyson Bowman’s visits to a stationer’s shop near St Paul’s run by Reginald Blaine, who is rumoured to sell guns and false identities. Dennis will also announce his return to his old party.

At Slough House, Shirley Dander waits out the half hour before her anger management session, then goes up to Jackson Lamb’s room instead of leaving. She asks for the gun Marcus kept; Lamb refuses. River Cartwright and Louisa Guy, meanwhile, follow Roddy Ho from his house. At Regent’s Park, Diana Taverner orders Emma Flyte to check Jaffrey’s reliability, and Devon Welles briefs her on two vetting reports, on Jaffrey’s brother Karim, and on Dodie Gimball’s forthcoming story. Catherine Standish takes Lamb tea, learns that he believes Shirley’s account of the attempt on Ho, and hears him invoke London Rules rule one before a coughing fit doubles him over.

Beats

  • C03S01 · Dodie Gimball — Dodie Gimball sat in the sitting room of the Chelsea apartment she shared with her husband Dennis Gimball, going over the speech he would give and the column she would write. Dennis recited the details of Tyson Bowman, Zafar Jaffrey’s bagman, and of Bowman’s meetings with a stationer called Reginald Blaine. Dodie corrected his phrasing, settled that the announcement would be made to a home crowd, and refilled his glass.
  • C03S02 · Shirley Dander — Shirley Dander kicked her heels in her office in Slough House, waiting out the half hour before her anger management session. River Cartwright and Louisa Guy were already tailing Roddy Ho, and the wrap of cocaine in her pocket kept suggesting itself. Rather than count minutes, she decided to settle something that had been on her mind for a while, left her office and took the stairs upwards instead of down.
  • C03S03 · River Cartwright — River Cartwright sat in Louisa Guy’s car outside Roddy Ho’s house, eating a burger and wondering how Ho could afford a house. Louisa asked about River’s grandfather’s house, and River admitted he had been inside it alone and felt like a stranger in it. Then Ho came out and stepped into an Uber, and Louisa pulled away to follow.
  • C03S04 · Shirley Dander — Shirley Dander told Jackson Lamb that Marcus had kept a gun, and asked whether she could have it. Lamb, sprawled in his chair with his eyes shut, refused: she was a junkie with a short fuse, and arming her would mean paperwork. He offered her a stapler instead and closed his eyes again. Shirley left without the gun, her anger management session still ahead of her.
  • C03S05 · Emma Flyte — Emma Flyte was handed the Jaffrey brief by Diana Taverner at Regent’s Park and told to get moving. She took Devon Welles to the canteen, where he ran through two full vetting reports, the radicalisation and death in Syria of Jaffrey’s brother Karim, and Jaffrey’s habit of staffing his office with former radicals. Welles also reported that Dodie Gimball had filed a piece linking Jaffrey to guns and false paperwork. Flyte went to find Taverner.
  • C03S06 · Catherine Standish — Catherine Standish carried two cups of tea up to Jackson Lamb’s room and asked him about the attempt on Roddy Ho. Lamb said he believed Shirley Dander but had let her think otherwise, and explained that Service Standing Rule twenty-seven three was overridden by London Rules rule one, cover your arse. Then a coughing fit doubled him over. Catherine fetched water and tissues, told him to see a doctor, and left him in the dark.

People

  • Dodie Gimball — Newspaper columnist and Dennis Gimball’s wife; plans the column that will accuse Zafar Jaffrey.
  • Dennis Gimball — MP and Dodie’s husband; rehearsing a constituency speech and a return to his old party.
  • Zafar Jaffrey — The Prime Minister’s favoured Muslim politician, independent candidate for Mayor of the West Midlands, and the target of the Gimballs’ story.
  • Tyson Bowman — Jaffrey’s bagman; an ex-convict with two assault convictions and a face tattoo, filmed visiting a stationer’s shop.
  • Reginald Blaine — Proprietor of a stationer’s shop near St Paul’s, known as “Dancer”; rumoured to supply guns and false identities.
  • Claude Whelan — First Desk of the Service, described by Dodie Gimball as a common little man.
  • Shirley Dander — Slow horse; due at an anger management session and carrying a wrap of cocaine she does not use.
  • River Cartwright — Slow horse; tailing Roddy Ho with Louisa Guy.
  • Louisa Guy — Slow horse; drives the tail and questions River about his grandfather’s house.
  • Roderick Ho — Slow horse; followed from his house to an Uber by River and Louisa.
  • Jackson Lamb — Head of Slough House; refuses Shirley a gun and dismisses the report of the attempt on Ho.
  • Catherine Standish — Lamb’s assistant at Slough House; brings him tea and presses him about his health.
  • Marcus Longridge — Dead colleague of Shirley’s; the gun she asks Lamb for was his.
  • Diana Taverner — Senior Park officer, known as Lady Di; orders the check on Jaffrey.
  • Emma Flyte — Head Dog, chief of the Service’s internal police; given the Jaffrey brief.
  • Devon Welles — Flyte’s colleague, former police; compiles the Jaffrey background and speaks to a journalist.
  • Karim Jaffrey — Zafar’s younger brother, radicalised online and killed in Syria.
  • David Cartwright — River’s grandfather; River has visited his house alone and expects to inherit it.

Places

  • Slough House — MI5’s dumping ground for disgraced officers, where Shirley, Lamb and Catherine are.
  • Regent’s Park — The Park, MI5 headquarters, where Flyte and Taverner work.

Lines worth keeping

“Oh, make no mistake. It’s Dennis wears the trousers in our house.” — Dodie Gimball, Her stock answer when interviewers ask who runs the marriage.

“He used to be a policeman, I think. Or gives that impression.” — Dodie Gimball, Describing Barrett, the freelance who supplies the paper’s backdoor material.

“Cover your arse.” — Catherine Standish, Naming London Rules rule one when Lamb asks her to complete the sentence.

“My body is a temple” — Jackson Lamb, His answer when Catherine lists his smoking, drinking and sleeping habits.

“So any time they get an opportunity to start writing memos about us, it’s in our interests to squash such opportunity before it comes to fruition.” — Jackson Lamb, Explaining why the attack on Ho will not be reported to the Park.

Threads

  • Plants: Barrett has film of Tyson Bowman visiting Reginald Blaine’s shop, to appear alongside Dodie Gimball’s column.; Dennis Gimball will make his announcement and his accusation at a constituency meeting in Slough.; Dodie Gimball’s column is due the morning after the speech.; Shirley Dander is carrying a wrap of cocaine and counting her days.; Marcus’s gun, which Shirley asks Lamb for and is refused.; Karim Jaffrey’s radicalisation and death in Syria, raised in the vetting summary.; Lamb’s refusal to report the Ho incident upwards, on London Rules grounds.; Lamb’s coughing fit and Catherine’s alarm about his health.; River’s grandfather’s house, which River expects to inherit.
  • Payoffs: Lamb confirms to Catherine that he believes Shirley’s account of the attempt on Ho, though he told the meeting it never happened.
  • Continuity: Shirley has twenty-eight minutes left before her six o’clock session when she climbs the stairs.; Service Standing Rule twenty-seven (three) is cited and overridden by London Rules rule one.; Dennis Gimball publicly gave up smoking.; Three deaths previously occurred inside Slough House, one of them a murder by J.K. Coe.; Ho has been in his house an hour before River and Louisa see him leave.; Jaffrey’s brother is twelve years younger than him.

Characters

Places