Northern Spy

As Tessa lies awake in bed, she considers the timeline of Marian’s recruitment and the lies that came with it—specifically, how she was a new trainee while Tessa was earning her master’s degree in history and politics. She had said then that she wasn’t interested in politics, when really she pays closer attention than Tessa, who works as a news editor for the BBC. Still, Tessa’s feelings are conflicted when it comes to her sister. Though she cannot forgive her for bringing Finn so close to a bomb, her sisterly instincts still tell her to take care of Marian in minute ways, like making mental notes to offer her her cold cream jar for her dry skin.

When Tessa arrives at work, she shares a coffee with Nicholas, and he confirms that she won’t be fired, because she is not her sister. Tessa, however, believes that she is. When she gets home that night, her mother calls her and informs her that Marian has come to see her. Tessa asks her mother how she isn’t angry with Marian for being in the IRA. Her mother reasons that she can forgive her because, while she might have been a terrorist in the past, she now works to achieve peace. Tessa isn’t able to do the same and cannot get over the lies of the past seven years.

When Tom returns with Finn in tow, Tessa tells him that she wants to leave Northern Ireland. Tom refuses, stating that she would only worry about something else in a different environment. He leaves Tessa to worry about her and Finn’s safety in Greyabbey, where her house is located. As she goes through Finn’s nightly routine, Tessa is suddenly struck with the knowledge that, with Tom’s refusal to leave Northern Ireland, there is no way for Finn to be safe unless the violence stops. She realizes that becoming an informer was never a decision she could or could not make, as she is far more frightened of something happening to Finn than anything happening to her person.

Tessa goes back to the lough and waits to meet Eamonn at the appointed time. When he arrives with his border collie, she asks him about his relationship with Marian, his own experience as an MI5 agent, and the level of danger she will be facing as an informer. He promises that she will never be asked to do something that makes her uncomfortable, then gives her a pre-loaded Visa gift card. He tells her he will monitor the balance, and should she wish to pass on information, she need only purchase something under 10 dollars. Should a meeting be needed immediately, she will have to purchase something above 10 dollars.

After Eamonn leaves, Tessa goes for a swim in the lough then collects Finn from her neighbor Sophie and her daughter Poppy. At work, she looks up MI5’s official website and is not reassured by its content. She is interrupted from her workflow when she is informed that DI Fenton is waiting for her in the lobby. She meets with him on the street, where he proceeds to question her on whether she’s met Marian recently, if she’s ever transported explosives, and if she knows what nitrobenzene smells like. She lies in answer to most of his questions, including the nitrobenzene question.

Marian finds Tessa on the top deck of the bus, and they discuss Marian’s standing in her unit. Though she has been interviewed again—this time about a trip to France she had made with Tessa—she is still on active duty. Tessa tells her about DI Fenton’s visit to her office and meeting Eamonn. Marian gives her information about a financier close to the prime minister that the IRA wants to blackmail to pass on to Eamonn. She then asks if she can see Finn, but Tessa staunchly refuses and leaves the bus.

Later, Tessa spends less than 10 dollars to meet Eamonn and tells him about the IRA’s blackmail plan. She asks him why MI5 is not working harder to convict Cillian Burke, but Eamonn maintains that it is for the greater good. As she goes for her routine swim, Eamonn watches on. Tessa then begins a new routine of withdrawing four hundred pounds each day after work and bundles necessities she may need should she and Finn need to run for safety. Though frightened, fearful, and stressed, Tessa notes how oddly easy it is to act out her normal self in the midst of everything.

Finn comes down with measles, and Tessa rushes him to the doctor, who informs her he’s simply having a normal reaction after having had his shot. The doctor senses something is wrong with Tessa, and she is tempted to confide in her about her struggles but ultimately decides to keep quiet. That night, she pays the babysitter, acutely aware that the latter finds her lacking compared to other two-parent households for whom she babysits. As she contemplates her sleeping son, Tessa reaches for him, seeking comfort and wondering how she came to make the decisions she’s made of late.

Tessa next meets Marian at a bus stop, where she informs her that she will be doing an arms drop in Armagh accompanied by two men in her unit, Damian Hughes and Niall O’Faolain. Tessa debates the morality of her actions and asks how Marian can justify her past decisions to stay in the IRA after all the violence. Marian explains that if a person does something terrible, it is necessary to win the battle—otherwise, the terrible thing was done for nothing. She then asks to see Finn. Tessa refuses and tells her to stop asking. She leaves and brings Finn home from daycare, feeling more conflicted feelings, specifically pity and guilt, for her sister. She meets Eamonn that night to tell him about the arms drop and then swims so hard, her body is left aching at every small movement.

The narrative pivots to the past when Marian explains why she was at Ballycastle. The IRA is bringing in a 45-ton gelignite shipment, and she was meant to scout a landing site on the north coast. She told Tessa that such an amount was enough to make thirty large bombs.

Days later, Tessa is having a hard time with Finn as he cannot fall asleep. Her mother is there to help her, and Tessa asks after her new uniform. Her mother is now working for a chain hotel, cleaning hotel rooms. Her work is more strenuous than it was, which only makes Tessa more confused as to how her mother can forgive her sister so easily, given what she’s lost. Yet, despite her anger, Tessa still cooperates with Marian when she next calls her for information to be relayed to Eamonn. When her sister asks to see pictures of Finn instead of asking to see him, Tessa grows too tired of remaining angry at her sister. She fetches Finn from where she’d left him with Tom and drives back to meet Marian, where she allows her sister to take her son and embrace him.