Slough House

Joe Country / C08

Chapter 8

Book 6 Part Two 7157 words POV: River Cartwright, Richard Pynne, Diana Taverner

Summary

Emma Flyte wakes River Cartwright at six in the morning to say Louisa Guy has gone off the radar: the Fitbit she had traced and Louisa’s phone are both stationary in what appears to be a roadside ditch. At the Park, Richard Pynne learns from Terrance that the material on Lech Wicinski’s laptop cannot be shown to have been downloaded by him, and that a state actor may have planted it, though only with a twenty percent likelihood. River recruits Shirley Dander over coffee; J.K. Coe reports that two of the number plates from the Stevenage Travelodge have crossed into Wales. Diana Taverner takes Oliver Nash onto the Park roof and asks him to trigger the Fugue Protocol, but will not supply the grounds he requires and is refused. River, Shirley and Coe drive west on the M4 in Roddy Ho’s car, River recalling on the way Lamb’s reasoning that Harkness is after Harper’s boy rather than Louisa, and the going-away present Lamb pressed on him. Pynne meets Hannah at Embankment, reassures himself that Wicinski’s disgrace is genuine, and Hannah then reports to her handler Martin Kreutzmer, who decides Wicinski must be dealt with and that the roses must stop.

Beats

  • C08S01 · River Cartwright — River Cartwright was woken at six by his buzzer and found Emma Flyte at the door, having left the Park and come east to his flat. Louisa Guy, she said, had asked her to trace a Fitbit, had driven to Wales, and had not called back; the Fitbit belonged to Lucas Harper, whose name River recognised as Min Harper’s son. Emma had already woken Roddy Ho for a second trace. It showed the Fitbit and Louisa’s phone in the same place, which appeared to be a roadside ditch.
  • C08S02 · Richard Pynne — Richard Pynne was buttonholed in a Park corridor by Terrance, head of Tricks and Toys, who had finished with the rogue laptop. Her report said she could not state categorically that the material had been downloaded by the certified user, and that a state-level operator might have planted it, though with only a twenty percent chance. Pynne saw that this punched a hole in the case against Lech Wicinski. He told her not to mention the finding in her funding bid, then deleted her email in his office.
  • C08S03 · River Cartwright — River Cartwright sat at a café window near Slough House with Shirley Dander, who had come for a cappuccino and a sausage sandwich and stayed to be sceptical. She doubted a phone could be placed to the nearest inch and suggested Louisa had simply found the boy. J.K. Coe walked past, was thumped on the window, and came in to observe that everyone in Wales was technically missing, given the snow. He later told River that two of the number plates from Stevenage had been traced to Wales.
  • C08S04 · Diana Taverner — Diana Taverner led Oliver Nash along the narrow rooftop walkway at Regent’s Park and asked him to trigger the Fugue Protocol, a home-soil operation with no oversight. Nash looked the protocol up on his phone and read out its qualifying questions. Taverner answered no to a threat against the government and no to a threat against the royal household, and admitted her concern was reputational. Nash refused to authorise it, said he would minute the conversation, and went back inside.
  • C08S05 · River Cartwright — River Cartwright drove west on the M4 with Shirley Dander and J.K. Coe in Roddy Ho’s car, stuck behind a lorry that had shed its load. Earlier, at Slough House, he had told Lamb that Louisa was in Wales and that Harkness’s crew were there too; Lamb worked out that Frank was after Harper’s boy rather than Louisa, and that the funeral had given him a photograph of her. Lamb sent them off and pressed a going-away present on River.
  • C08S06 · Richard Pynne — Richard Pynne met Hannah behind Embankment Station to ask whether her BND handler Peter Kahlmann had noticed anything unusual. She said he had not, and laughed off the notion that she was valuable enough to protect; relieved, Pynne decided Wicinski’s fall was Wicinski’s own fault and recalled giving Taverner a truncated version of the laptop report. Hannah then walked to the park behind the Savoy, where Kahlmann, really Martin Kreutzmer, waited with roses, and told him everything she had learned.

People

  • River Cartwright — Slow horse woken by Emma Flyte and driven to go after Louisa; recalls Lamb’s reasoning about Frank.
  • Emma Flyte — Ex-Park officer who traced the Fitbit through Roddy Ho and comes to River when Louisa fails to call.
  • Louisa Guy — Slow horse in Wales, missing; her phone and the Fitbit are stationary in the same spot.
  • Lucas Harper — Min Harper’s son, owner of the Fitbit, and the person Louisa went to Wales to find.
  • Min Harper — Dead slow horse, Lucas’s father and Louisa’s former partner.
  • Roderick Ho — Slough House technician who runs the Fitbit trace and whose car is taken for the drive to Wales.
  • Richard Pynne — Park officer who suppresses the laptop finding, misleads the hearing, and meets his joe Hannah.
  • Lech Wicinski — Analyst whose laptop held illegal material; the case against him is weakened by Terrance’s report.
  • Shirley Dander — Slow horse recruited by River, who doubts the ditch theory and comes along for the drive.
  • JK Coe — Slow horse in a hoodie who ran the Stevenage plates through ANPR and joins the drive west.
  • Marcus Longridge — Dead colleague invoked by River when Shirley is dismissive about Louisa.
  • Frank Harkness — River’s father, whose crew’s cars crossed into Wales; Lamb argues he is after the boy.
  • Jackson Lamb — Slough House’s head, who deduces Frank’s target is Lucas Harper and sends the others west.
  • Catherine Standish — Slough House colleague who questions whether the Wales trip is wise and what happens if Louisa is dead.
  • Diana Taverner — First Desk, who tries and fails to trigger the Fugue Protocol on the Park roof.
  • Oliver Nash — Chair of the Committee, who reads out the protocol’s questions and refuses to authorise it.
  • Hannah Weiss — Pynne’s joe, supposedly a mole in the Civil Service, who reports everything to her handler.
  • Martin Kreutzmer — Hannah’s BND handler, believed by Pynne to be running a minor German spy.

Places

  • Slough House — MI5’s dumping ground for disgraced officers, where the slow horses gather.
  • Pegsea — Pembrokeshire location given for Lucas Harper’s Fitbit.
  • Regent’s Park — The Park’s headquarters, with a narrow rooftop walkway where Taverner meets Nash.

Lines worth keeping

“The Fitbit’s not moved in the last few hours. Nor has Louisa’s phone. And they’re both in the same place. Which appears to be a roadside ditch.” — Emma Flyte, Emma tells River what the second trace showed.

“I want to trigger the Fugue Protocol.” — Diana Taverner, On the Park roof, Taverner states what she wants from Nash.

“I can’t authorise you to go free range.” — Oliver Nash, Nash refuses, having found no grounds in her answers.

“If Frank was after Louisa, what stopped him taking her at the funeral?” — Jackson Lamb, Lamb dismantles River’s theory in his office.

“She’s probably okay. Going dark’s protocol in joe country.” — Jackson Lamb, Lamb answers Catherine’s question about Louisa already being dead.

“They’ll write their own story, and pay no attention to who we really are.” — Martin Kreutzmer, Kreutzmer on the roses he brings to a clandestine meeting.

Threads

  • Plants: Taverner’s Fugue Protocol attempt fails and Nash will minute it, leaving her without an oversight-free operation.; Terrance puts the chance of a state-level compromise of Wicinski’s laptop at twenty percent at most, and wants a firewall rebuild that requires an overspend.; Pynne truncates the report to Taverner, and Wicinski is kept at Slough House rather than sacked or reported to the Met, so that he stays quiet.; Lamb gives River a going-away present, which is in River’s pocket weighing his jacket down.; Lamb argues Frank was at the funeral to photograph Louisa, having kept tabs on Lucas’s mother, and that Frank is after the boy.; Kreutzmer resolves to bring Hannah into the adult world, to stop the roses, and to deal with Wicinski, having already crossed one boundary to compromise him.; Hannah tells Kreutzmer about Taverner’s budget fight and her fear that control will pass to a board.
  • Payoffs: River’s list of number plates from the Stevenage Travelodge is cashed in when Coe runs them through ANPR and finds two in Wales.; Roddy Ho’s Fitbit trace is repeated on request, and places Louisa’s phone and the Fitbit together.; The claim that Wicinski’s laptop was remotely compromised is supported by Terrance’s report, which Pynne then suppresses.
  • Continuity: Emma arrives at River’s flat at six in the morning; his buzzer has never buzzed before.; Louisa’s phone has not moved for around twelve hours and goes straight to voicemail.; Two of the Stevenage cars crossed the Severn Bridge on Wednesday evening.; River drives, Shirley sits behind him, and Coe takes the shotgun seat in Ho’s car; they are taking shifts.; The M4 is blocked not twenty miles clear of Hillingdon by a lorry’s shed load, with no fatalities reported.; Lamb tells Coe to try not to kill anyone, on their side.

Characters

Places