Slough House

Joe Country / C10

Chapter 10

Book 6 Part Two 6657 words POV: River Cartwright, Louisa Guy, Diana Taverner

Summary

Catherine Standish walks to Slough House on Saturday morning, thinking about Lamb’s cough and the blood on his handkerchief, and hears a groan from the green wheelie bin in the backyard. Inside is Lech Wicinski, filthy and injured, his face marked. Roddy Ho arrives behind her, and she makes him help haul Wicinski out; Lamb then carries him inside and lays him on Roddy’s office floor. Catherine wipes his face and finds letters scored into his cheeks, P-A-E on one side and D-O on the other. River Cartwright, Shirley Dander and J.K. Coe dig Ho’s car out after the snow plough passes, and Coe, who has Louisa’s phone coordinates near Pegsea, drives them on. Louisa wakes with Lucas in a shed by the estuary, where the three sheltered after fleeing the town; Emma Flyte has lost her phone, and Lucas agrees to tell them what he saw. Anton and Lars, a mile from Caerwyss Hall, are joined by Frank Harkness, who sets them searching barns and boathouses. Diana Taverner, at the Park, is handed a delayed go-dark notice from a civilian mobile in Pembrokeshire and tells Josie to file it under forget. River’s group find Louisa’s car empty, its tyres flat and the wrench gone, and split up to search barns.

Beats

  • C10S01 · Catherine Standish — Catherine Standish walks to Slough House on Saturday morning, thinking about Lamb’s cough, the blood on his handkerchief and whether his bills are falling due, and finds footprints leading in and out of the alley. A groan comes from the green wheelie bin. Inside is Lech Wicinski, filthy, injured, his eyes wide. Roddy Ho arrives behind her with music leaking from his headphones, and Catherine, after poking him, makes him help.
  • C10S02 · River Cartwright — River Cartwright and J.K. Coe scrape the plough’s leavings off Ho’s car with the cardboard that served as bedding while Shirley Dander shouts at the lorry driver. Coe reports that Louisa’s phone is on this side of Pegsea and plots a course in silence. Shirley and River bicker about the night before, and Coe says he has a plan he will not share in case they find Louisa’s body. They set off.
  • C10S03 · Louisa Guy — Louisa Guy wakes in a shed by the estuary where she, Emma Flyte and Lucas Harper sheltered after running through the town. She recalls Lucas falling, Emma taking the rear, and the argument about going to the police. In the morning Emma admits her phone was lost when she threw her coat over the wall, and Lucas, pressed, begins to explain why he wanted money for his silence. He then tells them what he saw.
  • C10S04 · Anton — Anton, his face sore from being stamped on, drives with Lars a mile outside the village near Caerwyss Hall, arguing that the blonde woman cannot have been the Park’s response, because the Park would have sent guns. He thinks back over eight years in the BND after six in the military and expects a second encounter to go differently. Lars tells him Frank Harkness is arriving, so he can repeat it all.
  • C10S05 · Diana Taverner — Diana Taverner works in her office on Saturday morning, reviewing the Fugue Protocol she applied for knowing it would be refused, so that her application is minuted. Josie brings her a delayed go-dark notice, decoded to hostile contact and sent from a civilian mobile in Pembrokeshire; Taverner tells her to file it under forget. She resumes her circuit of the Hub, prepared for a certain amount of collateral damage.
  • C10S06 · Roddy Ho — Roddy Ho describes hauling Lech Wicinski out of the bin while Catherine Standish held the lid, and Lamb arriving to carry Wicinski inside like a rolled-up carpet. In Roddy’s office Wicinski lies on the floor while Catherine wipes his face, and Lamb sits in Roddy’s chair using the keyboard as an ashtray. Catherine finds marks that will not come off: letters scored into his cheeks, P-A-E and D-O.
  • C10S07 · River Cartwright — River Cartwright, Shirley Dander and J.K. Coe find Louisa’s car on a verge, empty, its tyres flat and the monkey wrench gone from the boot. River concludes Louisa dumped her phone deliberately and is going dark, which raises the question of why she never called it in. Coe proposes searching the barns marked on his phone map, and they split: Shirley takes the car, the two men walk.
  • C10S08 · Frank Harkness — Frank Harkness makes Anton repeat his reasoning, then argues the fugitives are still local and will run once they accept no back-up is coming. He refuses more men, sends Lars to the estuary boathouses and Anton to the barns inland from the pickup point, and takes the coast himself. Left alone, he reflects that hired doorkickers always think they should be giving the orders, and drives off.

People

  • Catherine Standish — Slough House’s administrator; finds Wicinski in the bin and cleans his face.
  • Lech Wicinski — Slow horse found beaten and carved in the wheelie bin; carried inside.
  • Roderick Ho — Slow horse who helps get Wicinski out of the bin and narrates it.
  • Jackson Lamb — Carries Wicinski indoors and smokes in Roddy’s office; has a cough he calls a chest infection.
  • River Cartwright — Leads the search for Louisa; has the only gun.
  • Shirley Dander — With River and Coe; abuses the lorry driver and takes the car alone.
  • JK Coe — Has Louisa’s phone coordinates and a plan for searching barns.
  • Louisa Guy — Hiding in a shed by the estuary with Lucas and Emma; arm still injured.
  • Lucas Harper — The boy they are protecting; agrees to tell what he saw.
  • Emma Flyte — With Louisa and Lucas; lost her phone climbing the wall.
  • Anton Moser — Frank’s operative, face sore from Louisa; sent to search barns.
  • Lars Becker — Team medic with Anton; sent to the estuary.
  • Frank Harkness — Directs the search for the three fugitives and takes the coast road.
  • Cyril Dupont — Still at the barn with concussion; told to get up.
  • Diana Taverner — Park executive; suppresses the go-dark notice from Pembrokeshire.
  • Josie — Hub analyst who brings Taverner the decoded printout.
  • Oliver Nash — Chairs Limitations and refused the Fugue Protocol.
  • Peter Judd — Named as having warned Taverner what Harkness’s presence meant.
  • Min Harper — Louisa’s late husband, whom Lucas reminds her of.

Places

  • Slough House — Where Wicinski is brought in and laid on Roddy’s office floor.
  • Pegsea — Town Louisa’s phone signal is traced to the near side of.
  • Caerwyss Hall — Place Frank scouts all night; Anton and Lars are a mile from it.
  • Regent’s Park — MI5 headquarters, where Taverner works on Saturday morning.

Lines worth keeping

“What happy timing. Perhaps you’d help Mr. Wicinski out of the bin.” — Catherine Standish, Catherine greeting Roddy Ho in the backyard.

“That wasn’t a suggestion. Do it now.” — Catherine Standish, Catherine poking Roddy when he fails to move.

“If she’s gone dark, she’ll have looked for shelter. Uninhabited shelter. There are farm buildings marked on here. Barns.” — J.K. Coe, Coe explaining to River and Shirley how he means to find Louisa.

“It’s the Secret Service, Oliver. There’s always something going on.” — Diana Taverner, Taverner recalling her answer to Oliver Nash’s suspicions.

“Someone’s playing cowboys and indians without permission, that’s all. You can file it under forget.” — Diana Taverner, Taverner dismissing the go-dark notice Josie brought her.

“They’ve written on him.” — Catherine Standish, Catherine looking up from Wicinski’s face at Lamb.

Threads

  • Plants: The letters P-A-E and D-O carved into Wicinski’s cheeks are unexplained.; Taverner suppresses the go-dark notice and expects to use her minuted Fugue application later.; Coe has not yet said what his plan is; they split at the next junction.; Frank’s own plan, to hand over cash with a tagged bag, was overruled by his clients.; Frank expects sooner or later to meet a man who does more than shake his tree.; Lucas’s account of what he saw is promised but not given here.
  • Payoffs: Louisa’s phone, ditched in the previous chapter, is what Coe uses to locate her.; The monkey wrench Louisa used on the road is missing from her car, so she still has it.; Catherine’s discovery answers what the marks on Wicinski’s face are.
  • Continuity: It is Saturday morning; Wicinski spent the night in the bin.; Lamb claims a chest infection and antibiotics; Catherine doubts it.; Louisa’s car has four flat tyres and is unlocked.; Emma has no phone; Louisa’s was dumped with Lucas’s Fitbit.; Three men are hunting them; Anton’s face is injured from Louisa’s knee and boot.; The only gun with the slow horses is in River’s pocket.; River’s group spent the night in Ho’s car without food.

Characters

Places