London Rules / C04

Chapter 4

Book 5 Part One 5129 words POV: Louisa Guy, Roderick Ho, Shirley Dander

Summary

River Cartwright, Louisa Guy and Shirley Dander follow Roddy Ho to a club in Stockwell, where he is buying drinks for a group that includes a woman called Kim, said to be his girlfriend. Ho leaves in a taxi with Kim, and the others follow in Louisa’s car, arguing about whether Kim is genuine or running a scam. Outside Ho’s house Kim has the driver take her on alone, kisses Ho goodbye and leaves him at his door; in the taxi she telephones someone to say that Ho is home and alone, and asks that it be made quick because he is harmless.

Louisa proposes shifts, parks the car and leaves Shirley at a bus stop on the corner for the first watch. Inside, Ho hears a floorboard creak, arms himself with a story about his own prowess, and finds Jackson Lamb in his den drinking champagne and proposing to sleep there. Shirley gets no relief at two. A man lets himself into Ho’s house with a key; Shirley moves to break a window, and upstairs Lamb squirts bleach in the intruder’s face and knocks him through the glass. The man is hauled into a waiting car, which fires at Shirley before driving off.

Beats

C04S01 · River Cartwright — River Cartwright and Louisa Guy watched Roddy Ho from a mezzanine booth in a Stockwell club, where Ho was buying drinks for a group that included a young woman called Kim. Shirley Dander arrived late from her anger management session and took in the view. The three of them debated whether Kim might be part of a plot against Ho, and then Shirley said he was leaving.
C04S02 · Roddy Ho — Roddy Ho rode home in a taxi beside Kim, pleased with how the evening had gone and planning mood music and a bottle of fizz. He asked who she was texting; she said no one. He put a hand on her shoulder and felt her tense, which he took for excitement. The taxi was about ten minutes from his house.
C04S03 · Louisa Guy — Louisa Guy followed the taxi through London while the three of them argued about how Roddy Ho had acquired a girlfriend. River Cartwright suggested Kim might be the one trying to kill Ho, or that she was using him for his hacking; Shirley Dander preferred the idea of a scam. Louisa reported that the taxi was slowing down.
C04S04 · Roddy Ho — Roddy Ho paid the fare outside his house, and Kim asked him to put twenty-five extra on the meter so the driver could take her home. She kissed him, told him he had been sexy while she danced, and said goodbye. Ho fumbled his keys out and let himself in, and Shirley Dander, watching from Louisa Guy’s car up the street, said there was a God.
C04S05 · Kim — Kim tapped on the dividing glass and gave the driver a new address, then made a call instead of texting. She reported that Ho was home and alone, then changed her mind before ringing off and asked that it be done quickly, because he was harmless. She put the phone away in her bag and let the taxi carry her off.
C04S06 · Louisa Guy — Louisa Guy, River Cartwright and Shirley Dander argued in the car about whether to keep watching Ho’s house. Louisa proposed shifts, with the bus stop on the corner as the observation point and reliefs at two and five. She then announced that she was moving the car and that Shirley, whose idea the stakeout had been, was first up. Shirley got out and slammed the door.
C04S07 · Roddy Ho — Roddy Ho let himself into his house, brooding about the taxis and drinks he had paid for and wishing Kim would stay the night. He sent her a text, put both phones on to charge and started upstairs, thinking about a few tunes in his glass-walled den. Above him a floorboard squeaked, then squeaked again. He understood that there was someone in the house.
C04S08 · Shirley Dander — Shirley Dander worked out that no night bus used the stop, and that Louisa Guy and River Cartwright had probably driven off. She fingered the wrap of cocaine in her pocket without taking it out. Midnight was coming, which would make sixty-three days. She walked down the road to keep Ho’s lit glass wall in view and saw nothing to suggest he was in danger.
C04S09 · Roddy Ho — Roddy Ho froze two steps below the landing, weighing whether to go up or down, and told himself that he was built for situations like this. He took a step, caught his foot on the riser and fell flat, then scrambled up and burst into the dark den with his hands raised. From the corner of the room Jackson Lamb told him not now, Cato.
C04S10 · Roddy Ho — Roddy Ho found Jackson Lamb in his den, drinking what Lamb had taken for sparkling water and Ho identified as champagne. Lamb said he had come to see whether Ho was dead, then admitted he was there to make sure somebody else was keeping watch, and nodded at the window. He demanded a hot pizza and a bed, and gave Ho five minutes to change the sheets.
C04S11 · Shirley Dander — Shirley Dander was still at the bus stop when two o’clock passed with no relief. She was thinking about Marcus when a man walked up to Ho’s door and let himself in with a key. She crossed the road, found she had left Marcus’s skeleton keys at home, and wrapped her jacket round her fist to punch a ground-floor window. Inside, somebody screamed.
C04S12 · Roddy Ho — Roddy Ho lay on a makeshift bed of clothes and cushions, his ear bleeding from broken glass, when a dark figure came into the room in a crouch. He asked whether it was Kim. The light went on and Jackson Lamb stood in the doorway in his boxers with a plastic bottle in his hand; he squirted bleach into the stranger’s face, punched him, and the man fell through the glass wall.
C04S13 · Shirley Dander — Shirley Dander’s punch was answered by a body crashing onto the pavement. Her jacket snagged on the broken window, a car pulled up, and someone leaned out and fired at her while she dropped behind a parked car. She saw a black shape hauled into the car and a blue bottle bounce off its roof. Lamb, bare-chested, told her she had earned nothing for getting the job done.

People

Roderick Ho — Slow horse; takes Kim to a club, goes home alone, and finds Lamb in his house before an intruder arrives.
Kim Park — Ho’s girlfriend; leaves him at his door, telephones to report that he is alone, and is later collected by armed men.
River Cartwright — Slow horse; watches Ho from the club and argues that Kim is a honeytrap.
Louisa Guy — Slow horse; drives the tail and organises the night’s shifts.
Shirley Dander — Slow horse; takes the first watch at the bus stop and is shot at.
Jackson Lamb — Head of Slough House; already waiting in Ho’s den, and repels the intruder with bleach.
Marcus Longridge — Shirley’s dead colleague, remembered while she stands watch.

Lines worth keeping

“Not now, Cato.” — Jackson Lamb, Ho bursts into his den in a fighting crouch and finds Lamb in the corner.

“That’s champagne.” — Roddy Ho, Lamb explains his detox and the sparkling water he found in Ho’s fridge.

“I’m here to make sure somebody else is.” — Jackson Lamb, Ho assumes Lamb has come to guard him.

“Make it quick? He’s harmless.” — Kim, Her call from the taxi after confirming that Ho is home and alone.

“He’s a brand ambassador for twattery. How come he’s pulled?” — Shirley Dander, Watching Ho with Kim in the club.

“But nul fucking points for getting the job done.” — Jackson Lamb, His verdict on Shirley, lying on the pavement after the shooting.

Threads

Plants: Kim’s phone call summons someone to Ho’s house and asks that it be quick.; Kim says tomorrow is a big day and tells Ho goodbye rather than goodnight.; Lamb is already inside Ho’s house when Ho comes home.; Shirley is left alone at the bus stop with the cocaine and no relief at two.; The intruder is driven off in a silver car and a shot is fired at Shirley.; Ho’s ear is cut by broken glass.
Payoffs: Kim’s call is answered by the man who lets himself into Ho’s house with a key.; Lamb’s remark about somebody else keeping watch is paid off by Shirley outside.; Ho’s fear that the morning’s car had been meant for him returns on the stairs.
Continuity: Shirley will have sixty-three days at midnight.; Shift reliefs are set for two and five.; Shirley’s jacket is snagged and her cheek is swelling.; Ho has two phones, both put on charge.; Ho gave Kim a key.; Ho had a bottle of fizz in the fridge for the occasion.