Chapter 9 (CHAPTER SIX): Nazi Links and the Orphan Rescue Plan
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Maisie enters Hawkin-Price’s house through the kitchen and searches the ground-floor rooms before finding a locked study between floors. She picks the lock with her tools. Inside, she examines photographs on the wall: several show Hawkin-Price with Nazi figures including Adolf Hitler, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and the German Duke of Coburg. Another photograph reveals a family resemblance to an older brother who was a major, confirming Maisie’s suspicion that the estate was partially sold off after the deaths of the parents and heir to pay death duties. She then discovers three annotated Marxist texts and a copy of Mein Kampf personally inscribed by Hitler, which so disturbs her she drops it and leaves without locking the door. In the kitchen, she meets head gardener Mr Chalmers, who mentions local orphans and evacuees as potential trespassers. Maisie and Billy leave, and she telephones Detective Chief Superintendent Caldwell. Caldwell admits that Robbie MacFarlane ordered him to stop investigating Hawkin-Price and to instead search for four missing orphans. Maisie decides to protect the children by placing them with Priscilla Evernden. Billy expresses anxiety about helping his war-traumatized son, and Maisie advises patience, love, and stability.
Key Events
- Maisie picks the lock to the hidden study on the half-landing.
- She examines photographs linking Hawkin-Price to Hitler, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and a German royal cousin.
- She discovers a family photograph suggesting the estate was sold due to death duties after the older brother’s death.
- Three annotated Marxist works and a Hitler-inscribed Mein Kampf are found on the shelves; Maisie is revolted by the inscribed copy.
- Maisie encounters gardener Chalmers and learns about local children from the orphanage.
- She calls Caldwell, who reveals MacFarlane’s order to drop the case and search for four runaway orphans.
- Maisie decides to shelter the orphans with Priscilla.
- Billy shares his fear of failing his war-traumatized son; Maisie advises time, love, and patience.
Character Development
- Maisie Dobbs: Her visceral reaction to the inscribed Mein Kampf shows the depth of her moral revulsion. Her quick thinking in using Priscilla as a safe haven highlights her protective instincts.
- Billy Beale: Opens up about his son’s war trauma, revealing his vulnerability and fear of repeating past failures. His humor at the chapter’s end underscores his coping mechanism.
- Detective Chief Superintendent Caldwell: Displays loyalty to his job by sharing MacFarlane’s involvement, while also showing respect for Maisie’s abilities.
- Priscilla Evernden (mentioned): Described as a nurturing figure who has rebuilt her life through caring for others, positioning her as a key ally.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Contamination by evil: Maisie feels physically sullied after handling the inscribed Mein Kampf, symbolizing how proximity to evil taints even the innocent.
- Protection of the vulnerable: The decision to shelter the orphans mirrors Maisie’s broader mission to safeguard those the system neglects.
- War trauma and the dragon: Priscilla’s metaphor of the “dragon” for inner war-wounds is invoked; Maisie and Billy agree that love and time can quiet it, though never kill it.
- Class and Nazi sympathies: The photographs reveal that British aristocracy mingled with Nazi leadership, exposing a vein of elite fascist sympathy during the war.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter solidifies the link between Hawkin-Price’s death and a wider Nazi network, introduces MacFarlane as an obstacle, and deepens Billy’s personal arc. It also sets up a direct conflict over the missing orphans, raising the stakes for the investigation and for the safety of innocent young people.
Study Questions and Answers
1. What do the photographs in Hawkin-Price’s study reveal about his political associations and the estate’s history?
The photographs show him with Hitler, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and a German duke, confirming his Nazi connections. Another picture with a major (likely his brother) and the sale of land support Maisie’s theory that death duties forced the family to sell part of the original estate.
2. Why does Maisie decide not to investigate the orphanage directly, and what alternative plan does she make?
Caldwell reveals that MacFarlane told him to search for the missing orphans, so Maisie fears that any visit would alert MacFarlane. Instead, she plans to secretly shelter the four runaways with Priscilla, who is a skilled caregiver.
3. How does Billy’s conversation about his son connect to the chapter’s theme of war trauma?
Billy admits he doesn’t know how to help his son, who suffered terrible experiences. Maisie’s advice—time, love, stability, and patience—echoes Priscilla’s dragon metaphor, suggesting that healing from war is a slow process of taming inner pain rather than erasing it.