Chapter summaries Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rupert Holmes

Chapter 55: Postscript Summary and Analysis

Spoiler Warning: This page reveals key plot points from the final chapter of Murder Your Employer. If you haven't finished the book, proceed with caution.

Summary

Dean Harbinger Harrow writes a postscript reflecting on the publication of this very volume. He acknowledges that some board members, notably Assistant Dean Erma Daimler, opposed making McMasters public, but he notes that they have since reversed their objections. Harrow then describes his plans to descend with Sergeant Stedge, Coach Tarcott, and Daimler as an honour guard to view a bust created in his likeness. The ceremony will take place in Mr. Koniec’s kiln room, where the sculptor will remove the baked and glazed bust from the powerful oven. Harrow wryly quotes Koniec’s phrase, “We wish you to meet your maker,” implying a dark double meaning. After the ceremony, Harrow intends to begin work on future volumes covering other targets. The postscript ends abruptly mid-sentence as his honour guard arrives. An editor’s note indicates the text ends here.

Key Events

  • Dean Harrow confirms the book has been published for a wider audience, despite initial board opposition.
  • Erma Daimler reverses her stance, paraphrasing Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 to praise Harrow’s planned series.
  • Harrow prepares to view his own bust, which is being removed from a kiln in Mr. Koniec’s kiln room.
  • Harrow jokes about being “handed my head” and meeting his “maker,” hinting at possible danger.
  • The manuscript cuts off abruptly as Harrow’s honour guard arrives, leaving his fate uncertain.

Character Development

  • Dean Harbinger Harrow: Remains confident and proud of his decision to go public. His dark humor and literary references underscore his unrepentant nature. The abrupt ending suggests he may be walking into a trap.
  • Erma Daimler: Initially a dissenter, she now supports Harrow with a gracious Shakespeare quote, showing her ability to adapt and her respect for Harrow’s authority—or possibly her own hidden motives.
  • Mr. Koniec: The kiln room operator delivers a pun that foreshadows Harrow’s potential doom, playing the role of unwitting executioner.
  • Sergeant Stedge, Coach Tarcott, Dilys Enwright: Minor guard and administrative figures who appear only as part of the honour guard or as the manuscript’s courier.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Secrecy vs. Publicity: The tension between McMasters’ clandestine nature and Harrow’s decision to publish is a central conflict in this chapter. Daimler’s reversal suggests the debate has been resolved, but the abrupt ending leaves the cost of publicity ambiguous.
  • Maker and Mortality: The bust ceremony literalises the phrase “to meet your maker.” The kiln (oven) evokes cremation, and Harrow’s jokes about being handed his head reinforce an imminent death motif.
  • Dark Humour: Harrow’s playful puns (“die is cast,” “handed my head,” “meet your maker”) maintain the novel’s ironic tone even as the chapter hints at his possible demise.

Why This Chapter Matters

This postscript serves as the novel’s de facto conclusion, breaking the fourth wall and revealing the fictional origin of the guide itself. It reinforces the idea that McMasters is a living institution with internal politics, and it provides a meta-narrative twist: Dean Harrow, the author of the book we are reading, may himself have been “deleted” during the bust ceremony. The chapter also sets up potential sequels by teasing future volumes. Its abrupt ending leaves readers with an unsettling feeling that no one, not even the dean, is safe from the principles he teaches.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. What does Dean Harrow mean when he says he will “meet his maker”?
    It is a double entendre. Literally, he will meet the sculptor who made his bust. Figuratively, it suggests he may be about to die—the kiln room and the phrase imply a possible assassination disguised as a ceremony.

  2. Why does Erma Daimler change her mind about the book?
    She paraphrases Shakespeare’s “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see” to affirm that Harrow’s volumes will continue as long as he lives. This reversal may indicate genuine acceptance or strategic positioning, especially given the threatening context of the bust ceremony.

  3. What is the significance of the text ending abruptly mid-sentence?
    The editor’s note confirms that the manuscript stops when Harrow’s honour guard arrives. This leaves Harrow’s fate ambiguous, implying he may have been “deleted” right after writing the postscript—or that the rest of the text was suppressed by the board.

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