Slough House

London Rules / C12

Chapter 12

Book 5 Part Two 4706 words POV: Zafar Jaffrey, Roderick Ho, Claude Whelan

Summary

Zafar Jaffrey leaves a warren of City alleyways with the package he has collected from the fixer Dancer Blaine, relieved and ravenous, convinced that the mess around Dennis Gimball’s death need not ruin him. He sits at a pavement coffee shop, eats, rings his mother, and is approached by a man who introduces himself as Claude Whelan. At Regent’s Park, Diana Taverner confronts Emma Flyte over abandoning the Slough House lockdown and interrogating Roderick Ho without authorisation; Flyte says Ho claims the document was never classified, then reports the last item on the Watering Hole list, an attack staged where the cameras will see it, and both women settle on the Abbey and this afternoon’s Abbotsfield memorial service. Roderick Ho, held in a room and fed pizza, boasts to himself about his cool and avoids the question of what has happened to Kim. Whelan, summoned to Downing Street, tells the Prime Minister that Jaffrey was buying a false passport for his brother Karim, who survived an August 2016 drone strike and wants his old life back, and warns him of the Abbey threat; the PM demands prisoners taken alive, and Whelan privately concludes the show trial will not happen. Near their target, Danny accuses Shin of letting Kim go, and An shoots Danny in the face.

Beats

  • C12S01 · Zafar Jaffrey — Zafar Jaffrey walks out of the City alleyways past a glimpse of St Paul’s with the package Dancer Blaine has fixed for him in his pocket, relieved and ravenous. He sits at a pavement coffee shop, orders coffee and two croissants, and telephones his mother to talk of nothing. A shadow falls across his table and a voice asks twice for Mr Zafar Jaffrey; the man introduces himself as Claude Whelan, and Jaffrey keeps his eyes shut.
  • C12S02 · Emma Flyte — Emma Flyte meets Diana Taverner in the Park’s lift lobby and is taken to task for abandoning the lockdown and questioning Roderick Ho. She cites her authority as Head Dog, names Devon Welles as her substitute, and admits there was an interruption. In Taverner’s office she reports the final item on the Watering Hole list, seizing control of the media, meaning an attack staged where the press will see it. Taverner says the Abbey; Flyte confirms today’s Abbotsfield memorial service.
  • C12S03 · Roderick Ho — Roderick Ho, held in a room and fed a cheese-and-tomato pizza he did not order, scrapes the anchovies aside and congratulates himself on his feline cool and on how he handled the men who questioned him. He tells himself Kim is cleared because the document was never classified, then backs away from thinking what may have happened to her. In the next room the two men share a meat feast and ask who this guy is.
  • C12S04 · Claude Whelan — Claude Whelan waits in a Downing Street cubbyhole and briefs the Prime Minister, already dressed in a funeral suit, that Zafar Jaffrey is in custody. He explains why: Karim survived the 2016 drone strike, came back from France wanting his old life, and needed a false passport. Whelan passes on Taverner’s warning of an attack on the Abbey service; the PM orders the crowds held back, the military increased, and the killers taken alive. Whelan decides the show trial will not happen, and leaves to telephone his wife.
  • C12S05 · Danny — Danny, Shin, An and Chris park the van short of their destination and eat cold noodles. Danny judges Shin a coward for letting the girl live and resolves to kill him, and afterwards Kim. He accuses Shin of lying about the girl and of firing wild at Abbotsfield, and Shin insists he is in charge and speaks for the Supreme Leader. When Danny says the mission must go on without him, An takes his revolver and shoots Danny in the face, then tells Shin they go in four hours.

People

  • Zafar Jaffrey — candidate for West Midlands mayor whose election is now lost; he collects a package from a fixer and is taken into custody.
  • Reginald Blaine — underworld fixer with grey hair folded into a rope who supplied Jaffrey’s package.
  • Tyson Bowman — named by Jaffrey as having stepped into the mess surrounding Dennis Gimball’s death.
  • Dennis Gimball — the murdered MP, whose death Jaffrey hopes will not ruin everything.
  • Claude Whelan — First Desk of MI5; he approaches Jaffrey’s table and later briefs the Prime Minister.
  • Emma Flyte — Head Dog who abandoned the Slough House lockdown and brings Taverner the Watering Hole list’s final item.
  • Diana Taverner — Second Desk; she challenges Flyte in the lift lobby and hears her report in her office.
  • Devon Welles — the Dogs’ diversity appointment, named as Flyte’s substitute at Slough House.
  • Roderick Ho — slow horse held in a room; the document he gave his girlfriend is the centre of his case.
  • Kim Park — Roderick Ho’s girlfriend, whose fate has not been told to him.
  • Karim Jaffrey — Jaffrey’s younger brother, presumed killed by a drone strike in August 2016, who wants a new identity.
  • Danny — member of the Abbotsfield cell who accuses Shin of betraying the mission and is shot by An.
  • Shin — cell member nominally in command, accused of letting Kim go free.
  • An — cell member who shoots Danny for questioning Shin’s authority.
  • Chris — cell member travelling in the van.

Places

  • Regent’s Park — MI5 headquarters; the lift lobby, the hub and Taverner’s office.
  • Slough House — the lockdown Flyte abandoned, and the office Lamb is said to run.
  • Westminster Abbey — the Abbey, where the Abbotsfield memorial service is to be held that afternoon.
  • Abbotsfield — the village where the first attack took place.

Lines worth keeping

“My name’s Claude Whelan” — Claude Whelan, Whelan introduces himself to Jaffrey at the pavement table.

“That happens when Jackson Lamb’s involved” — Diana Taverner, Taverner on why the Slough House lockdown failed.

“He’s not so much a crowd, though, is he? More a road traffic accident.” — Emma Flyte, Flyte’s answer on whether she can control Lamb.

“Seize control of the media” — Emma Flyte, the final item on the Watering Hole list.

“So sure, they sent someone to take me out. And look where it got them. Next time, they’ll know to send two.” — Roderick Ho, Ho recounting the attempt on his life to the men guarding him.

“The Supreme Leader put you in charge. To question that is to question Him.” — An, An explains to Shin why he shot Danny.

Threads

  • Plants: Jaffrey collects a package from Dancer Blaine; Whelan later says his brother was the reason he needed a false passport.; The Watering Hole list’s final item, seizing control of the media, means an attack staged where the press will see it, somewhere public, soon.; Karim Jaffrey survived the August 2016 drone strike; a body was unaccounted for and his family thought he had died.; Whelan concludes the PM’s show trial will not happen.; Danny resolves to kill Shin, and afterwards to go looking for Kim.
  • Payoffs: Taverner’s suspicion of Flyte’s unauthorised movements is answered: Flyte was chasing the last item on the Watering Hole list.; Jaffrey’s need for an underworld fixer is explained: a false passport and new identity for his brother.
  • Continuity: Jaffrey is in custody by the time Whelan briefs the PM.; The Abbey service is that afternoon; the PM sits in Cabinet all morning in a funeral suit.; At least three thousand troops and shooters on the rooftops are planned for central London.; Ho’s document is stated by Flyte to be unclassified, a claim Taverner rejects.; An wears the same uniform he wore at Abbotsfield and now carries a revolver.; The cell is four strong before Danny is shot: Shin, An, Chris and Danny.

Characters

Places