Slough House

London Rules / C09

Chapter 9

Book 5 Part Two 7408 words POV: Claude Whelan, Zafar Jaffrey, Jackson Lamb

Summary

At Regent’s Park, Claude Whelan is called back from an evening out and learns from Diana Taverner that Dennis Gimball has been killed in a Slough alley, apparently by a falling tin of paint. He admits he met Gimball that afternoon, with Dodie present, to persuade him not to attack Zafar Jaffrey in public. Taverner points out how that will look, raises the possibility that the killing is connected to Abbotsfield and the zoo bombing, and proposes steering Dodie Gimball towards Jaffrey’s dirt to occupy the press. She takes the approach to Dodie herself.

Zafar Jaffrey, home from the library meeting, summons Tyson Bowman and learns that his aide had a scuffle with Gimball but did not touch him. Jaffrey decides Tyson must disappear, and that he will finish what Tyson began. At Slough House, Catherine Standish gets the truth of the paint tin out of River Cartwright and J.K. Coe, and Coe refuses to let anyone report it. Lamb takes Welles down to Molly Doran, keeper of the Service’s older records, who says an original version of the Watering Hole Paper may survive and agrees to look for it; she also tells him she is being let go. Emma Flyte arrives. In River’s room the team concludes that the crew are racing a clock because they have no backup, and that finding Kim is the way in. River suggests Ho’s flat.

Beats

  • C09S01 · Claude Whelan — Claude Whelan was leaving Regent’s Park for dinner when his beeper called him back, and met Diana Taverner on the way to the hub. She told him Dennis Gimball had been killed in a Slough alley, apparently by a tin of paint. Whelan admitted he had spoken to Gimball that afternoon, with Dodie present, to warn him off attacking Zafar Jaffrey in public. Taverner said it would look as though the Service had done it, and proposed feeding the press Jaffrey’s dirt and steering Dodie Gimball.
  • C09S02 · Zafar Jaffrey — Zafar Jaffrey came home from the library meeting and phoned Tyson Bowman, who claimed to be in the car and would not say where he had been. Jaffrey drank gin and thought about his mother’s questions and about his brother Karim. When Tyson arrived he admitted to a bit of argy with Gimball but insisted he had not touched him. Jaffrey, seeing the encounter projected on his wall, decided Tyson would have to disappear and that he would finish what Tyson had started.
  • C09S03 · Catherine Standish — Catherine Standish, left in charge once Lamb departed with Welles, gathered the slow horses in River’s room and asked what had happened in Slough. She pressed River and Coe on Coe’s volunteered “we only saw one”, and the room worked out that the tin of paint had been knocked off the scaffolding. Coe threw his phone at Louisa and dared her to call the police, then argued the operation was authorised and reportable only to Lamb. Catherine told them to wait for Lamb and watch the news.
  • C09S04 · Jackson Lamb — Jackson Lamb talked his way past the Park’s car park with Devon Welles, who signed him in as Lindsay Lohan, and went down to Molly Doran’s floor to ask about the Watering Hole Paper. Molly, who was being let go, told him the original would have been shredded unless an updated copy had been made from it, and agreed to look. She said Taverner had signed off on her departure. Then Emma Flyte appeared in the doorway, seriously pissed off.
  • C09S05 · River Cartwright — River Cartwright stayed in his room with J.K. Coe, who argued that an official version of events would bury anything inconvenient and that their only defence was the narrative that they had been trying to stop Jaffrey’s man. Shirley Dander told them to find Kim. The others joined, and Kim’s number, listed in Ho’s broken phone, led nowhere. Louisa Guy argued the crew were hurrying because they had no backup. Catherine asked where a clever woman would hide; River said Ho’s place.

People

  • Claude Whelan — First Desk; called back to the Park and forced to admit he had met Gimball hours before the killing.
  • Claire — Whelan’s partner; the dinner he had been leaving for and did not get.
  • Diana Taverner — Head of Ops; lays out the political damage, proposes feeding Jaffrey to the press, and takes over Dodie Gimball.
  • Dennis Gimball — The MP killed in a Slough alley, apparently by a tin of paint.
  • Dodie Gimball — Gimball’s widow, a journalist; Taverner means to steer her towards Jaffrey rather than the Service.
  • Zafar Jaffrey — Politician; spends the evening waiting for his aide and deciding to bury what happened.
  • Emma Flyte — Head Dog; at Slough House and out of reach, then arriving at Molly Doran’s door in search of Lamb.
  • Jackson Lamb — Head of Slough House; goes into the Park with Welles to trace where the document really came from.
  • Roderick Ho — Slow horse; the honeytrap and the stolen document are the thread Lamb pulls at the Park.
  • Tyson Bowman — Jaffrey’s tattooed aide; admits to a scuffle with Gimball in the alley but says he never touched him.
  • Karim Jaffrey — Jaffrey’s younger brother, killed in Syria; the death that started Jaffrey’s public life.
  • Reginald Blaine — A piece of business Jaffrey still has to wrap up before he can cover his tracks.
  • Catherine Standish — Office manager; gets the truth of the paint tin out of River and Coe and holds the team together.
  • River Cartwright — Slow horse; admits he was fighting the tattooed man while the tin came down.
  • JK Coe — Slow horse who knocked the paint tin; refuses to report it and dares Louisa to call the police.
  • Louisa Guy — Slow horse; rounds on Coe, then works out that the crew are racing because they have no backup.
  • Shirley Dander — Slow horse; insists the real crew were the ones in the van, and that Kim is too smart to be dead.
  • Devon Welles — A Dog; walks Lamb into the Park and gives him ten minutes with Molly Doran.
  • Molly Doran — Keeper of the Service’s older records; being let go after decades, and agrees to hunt for the original document.
  • David Cartwright — River’s grandfather; spoken of as having entered the twilight.

Places

  • Regent’s Park — Service headquarters: the steps, the hub, Taverner’s frosted-glass office and Molly Doran’s floor of records.
  • Slough House — In lockdown; River’s room, where the team argues out what happened, and the office where Ho is held.
  • Abbotsfield — The Derbyshire village shot up by the crew, now the obvious suspect for a political killing.
  • Birmingham — Where Shirley insists the van full of bad guys was parked.

Lines worth keeping

“He’s dead, Claude.” — Diana Taverner, Taverner, in the corridor, on Dennis Gimball.

“It was just a bit of argy. I didn’t touch him.” — Tyson Bowman, Tyson, in Jaffrey’s sitting room, on the encounter in the alley.

“You killed him?” — Catherine Standish, Catherine, in River’s room, once the penny drops.

“I’m being let go.” — Molly Doran, Molly, telling Lamb her post has been abolished.

“You’re a sitting target.” — Jackson Lamb, Lamb, on what Molly might do with her retirement.

Threads

  • Plants: Taverner takes over the approach to Dodie Gimball, and the plan to occupy the press with Jaffrey’s dirt.; An original version of the Watering Hole Paper may survive outside the databases; Molly Doran agrees to look for it.; Molly Doran is being let go, with Taverner’s signature on it, and is pondering how to end things.; Jaffrey decides Tyson must disappear, cancels tomorrow’s meetings and means to finish what Tyson started.; Coe argues they report only to Lamb and the Secrets Act, not to the Park or the police.; Kim’s phone number leads nowhere, and Shirley insists she is too clever to have been killed.; Louisa’s deduction that the crew are racing a clock because nobody will finish the plan for them.; River’s suggestion that a clever woman hiding would go to Ho’s place.; Welles signs Lamb into the Park as Lindsay Lohan, putting a false entry on the record.
  • Payoffs: The tin of paint that killed Gimball is confirmed to the Park, along with the absence of any other hostiles.; Welles’s question about the gun is answered by Catherine: it is in Lamb’s desk drawer.; The honeytrap is spelled out — the pills, the feigned night of confession, the document a week later.; Ho’s habit of keeping a second, broken phone pays off when the team goes looking for Kim’s number.; Catherine’s earlier research on Jaffrey’s tattooed aide reaches Welles as a photograph he recognises.; Coe’s volunteered “we only saw one” is what gives the pair away.
  • Continuity: Timeline: the night of Gimball’s death, running into the small hours; Ho has been at the Park all afternoon and evening.; The attacks so far: the penguin compound at the zoo, a bomb on a train, Abbotsfield, and now Gimball.; The train device was built from an internet recipe and the pipe bomb was homemade; automatic weapons imply backing.; Whelan was leaving for dinner with Claire when the news broke.; Slough House remains in lockdown and Lamb does not yet know about the paint tin.; Molly Doran has lost both legs below the knee and works among the Service’s older paper records.; David Cartwright has entered what Molly calls the twilight.

Characters

Places