Dodie Gimball
Who they are
Dennis Gimball’s wife and the columnist the Prime Minister reads aloud in C02 — the “tabloid totty” of his phrase, and the sharp end of the Gimball operation. She does not report: she campaigns. Her column attacks Claude Whelan’s Service for failing to protect the country, and C03 shows the two of them rehearsing tomorrow’s column and tomorrow’s speech together as a single instrument, aimed at Zafar Jaffrey through his bagman’s visits to a stationer’s near St Paul’s.
She is the one who tells her husband to keep “their powder dry” when he wants to use the Slough meeting for a personal confession (C07) — the political instinct in the marriage is hers.
What they want
The story published, on her terms. After Gimball’s death she is escorted to C09’s car park interview by Diana Taverner, who wants the Jaffrey story run and the Service left out of it; what Dodie wants out of the exchange is not spelled out, only that she is still a columnist with a column to write.
Book 5 — London Rules
- C02 — Her column is quoted at the Prime Minister’s desk: the Service is failing, and the PM should be seen to act.
- C03 — At home in Chelsea, drafting the column that will link Jaffrey to guns and false papers; source is a man called Barrett.
- C05 — Her forthcoming story reaches Jaffrey’s press adviser before it reaches print.
- C06 — At the mews flat when Whelan arrives to warn her husband off; offers to call their lawyer.
- C10 — Travelling home under police escort, joined by Taverner, who tells her to publish on Jaffrey and leave the Service out of it.
Tells
The column as a weapon: she does not ask questions, she assembles a case. “Barrett” is the only name she gives it, and she gives it twice (C03).
Related
Dennis Gimball · Zafar Jaffrey · Claude Whelan · Diana Taverner