Characters Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rupert Holmes

Dean Harbinger Harrow: The Master of McMasters

Overview

Dean Harbinger Harrow is the stern, paternalistic head of the McMasters Conservatory, a secret finishing school for would-be murderers. He oversees student theses, administers the Four Enquiries, and enforces the graduation-or-death policy. With a love for sherry and a theatrical flair, Harrow embodies the darkly comic moral calculus of the institution. He is both a mentor and a gatekeeper, ensuring that only the most committed and capable students graduate as deletists.

Plot Role

Harrow first appears in Chapter III when Cliff Iverson arrives at his office. He interviews Cliff about his past and his failed murder attempt, then tests his commitment by offering him poisoned sherry. After Cliff proves his resolve, Harrow reveals the ruthless stakes: students must graduate or be killed. Throughout the novel, Harrow guides Cliff personally, conducts the Four Enquiries (Chapter VII), and privately advises him to exploit his target’s vanity. He also handles disciplinary matters, such as confronting Jud Helkampf after his attack on Gemma (Chapter XXII). In the postscript, Harrow celebrates the publication of the guide despite board opposition and descends to a kiln room to view a bust of himself, leaving his fate ambiguous.

Motivations and Traits

Harrow’s primary motivation is to preserve and advance McMasters as a training ground for ethical deletion. He values clean, targeted murders that serve justice—what McMasters calls “deletions.” His actions reveal a calculating mind: he poisons sherry to test sincerity, fabricates an urn-making task for Helkampf, and uses psychology to guide students. Traits include:

  • Paternal yet ruthless: He expresses empathy for Cliff’s orphaned past but will kill failures without hesitation.
  • Intellectual: He maintains a vast office with diplomas and photos of notables, and he authors the guide’s preface.
  • Moral calculator: He believes some people deserve death and that McMasters provides the only ethical method.
  • Manipulative: He lies to Helkampf about Gemma’s request to create an urn, demonstrating cold strategy.
  • Ambitious: He pushes to publish the guide despite opposition from Assistant Dean Erma Daimler.

Chronological Arc

Harrow’s arc spans from confident dean to a figure of ambiguous legacy. In Chapter III, he establishes authority and the graduation-or-death rule. By Chapter VII, he administers the Four Enquiries and gains Cliff’s trust. In Chapter XXII, he presides over a faculty board, approves Dulcie’s thesis, and eliminates Helkampf through deception. In the postscript, he defends the publication, descends to the kiln with honour guard, and plans more volumes. The sudden cut-off leaves his survival uncertain, aligning with McMasters’ theme of hidden fates.

Relationships

  • Cliff Iverson: Harrow becomes Cliff’s supervisor and mentor, offering direct advice and a McMasters textbook with his own appendix. Despite Cliff’s initial rebellion, Harrow rewards his commitment by allowing him to graduate and later hiring him as a professor.
  • Dilys Enwright: Trusted associate who manages materials and observes the poisoned sherry test. She appears whenever glass breaks, showing her efficiency.
  • Erma Daimler: Assistant dean who opposes going public with the guide. Harrow respects her but overrules her, later noting she came to accept his decision.
  • Jud Helkampf: Harrow manipulates Helkampf into building an urn, effectively engineering his elimination. This shows Harrow’s cold willingness to discipline violent students.
  • Gemma Lindley: Harrow oversees her forced return to campus and later hires her mother. He values her talent but enforces the rules.

Key Decisions and Consequences

  • Accepting Cliff as a student: Despite Cliff’s botched attempt, Harrow sponsors his training. Consequence: Cliff becomes a successful deletist and later faculty member.
  • Administering the Four Enquiries: This cements Cliff’s commitment and determines he is worth the risk. Consequence: Cliff stays at McMasters and progresses.
  • Fabricating the urn task for Helkampf: Instead of executing Helkampf openly, Harrow uses psychological manipulation. Consequence: Helkampf disappears, upholding McMasters’ code without scandal.
  • Approving Dulcie’s thesis: Despite her previous failure, Harrow allows her to proceed. Consequence: She successfully deletes Kosta and resumes her Hollywood career.
  • Publishing the guide: Overrides board objections, believing the public needs McMasters philosophy. Consequence: The guide exists as this book; Harrow’s own fate remains sealed in the kiln scene.

Theme and Symbol Connections

  • Justified homicide and ethical deletion: Harrow embodies the novel’s central moral question—whether some people deserve to die. His actions repeatedly reinforce that deletion is a craft, not a crime.
  • Abuse of power and retribution: Harrow wields absolute power over students, yet he uses it to correct abusive employers. His own power mirrors the institutional secrecy of McMasters.
  • Deception and identity: Harrow’s poisoned sherry test, his lies to Helkampf, and his hidden agenda to publish the guide all reflect the theme that deception is necessary for survival.
  • The price of revenge: Harrow warns students about unintended consequences. His own ambiguous end—cut off mid-sentence—suggests even a dean may pay a price.
  • Institutional secrecy and loyalty: The climax shows Harrow prioritizing McMasters’ legacy over his own safety. The kiln implies transformation or death, echoing the school’s motto.

Symbols: The poisoned sherry decanter represents Harrow’s persona and McMasters’ hospitality of death. The cane in his office, which Cliff attempts to steal, symbolizes escape tools that Harrow has already accounted for. The bust in the kiln foreshadows Harrow’s possible end and ties to the founder, Guy McMaster. The Four Enquiries ritualises the moral check at the heart of every deletion.

Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Dean Harrow test Cliff Iverson with poisoned sherry in Chapter III? Harrow needs to verify Cliff’s commitment to killing his employer. He explains that if Cliff is unwilling to die for his cause, he cannot be trusted with McMasters’ secrets. The test also reaffirms the school’s policy: students may choose to leave (by death) or proceed. Cliff’s willingness to drink proves he is serious enough to train.

2. What are the Four Enquiries and why are they important? The Four Enquiries are four questions Harrow asks every student before their first assignment: Is this murder necessary? Have you tried all other remedies? Will no one mourn your victim? Will the world be better off without them? They serve as a moral screening tool, ensuring that deletions align with McMasters’ philosophy of righteous, clean killing.

3. How does Dean Harrow handle Jud Helkampf’s attack on Gemma? Harrow avoids direct execution. Instead, he fabricates a story that Gemma demanded Helkampf build an urn or coffin for Cliff Iverson. He sends Helkampf to the sub-basement workshop, where he is eliminated without public spectacle. This shows Harrow’s preference for quiet, behind-the-scenes discipline over violent expulsion.

4. Why does Harrow push to publish the McMasters guide despite board opposition? Harrow believes the public needs McMasters’ methodology to ethically remove dangerous individuals. He views the guide as a service to humanity, aligning with abolitionist undertones. His determination overrides Assistant Dean Daimler’s security concerns, and the guide becomes a chronicle of their work.

5. What does the postscript suggest about Harrow’s fate? The postscript ends abruptly as Harrow descends to the kiln room with his honour guard. The joke about meeting his maker and the cut-off sentence imply he may have been killed or transformed. The ambiguity aligns with McMasters’ ethos: even the dean is not above the rules of deletion. The bust in the kiln could symbolise his legacy or his death.

For a broader understanding of the novel’s core ideas, see our analysis of justified homicide and ethical deletion, abuse of power and retribution, deception and identity, the price of revenge, and institutional secrecy and loyalty. Also read the ending explained and browse our questions and answers. Return to the main book page.