Chapter 73 Summary and Analysis

⚠️ 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

The chapter opens with Avery and Jameson having dug through the ground to reveal a hidden chamber beneath the maze—a part of the tunnels neither has seen before. Jameson drops in immediately while Avery descends more cautiously. The chamber is small and empty; there is no body.

Avery notices a torch mounted on the wall and discovers a hinge behind the sconce. Working together, she and Jameson twist the torch, which bursts into flame. As the flame touches the wall, words appear in Toby's handwriting. The messages read: I was never a Hawthorne, I will never be a Blake, So what does that make me?, and Complicit. Jameson directs Avery to check the floor, where a final message reads Try again, Father. The body was never here.

Mr. Laughlin appears above, shining a light down, and helps them out. He remains silent until Avery tries to step back into the maze, at which point he blocks her. He mentions hearing about Alisa's abduction and expresses contempt for the kind of man who would take a woman. He reveals that Nash came to him for help—significant because Nash rarely accepts help from anyone.

Avery realizes Laughlin knows where Will Blake's remains are. Laughlin insists some things are best left buried, but Avery refuses to accept that. She threatens to tear the maze apart, bring in cadaver dogs, and burn everything down to get Alisa back.

Rebecca arrives with Thea and Xander. She confronts her grandfather, noting that he always insisted on working one part of the maze alone. Rebecca refuses to leave when he asks, showing a quiet steel that mirrors his own. She reminds him that she used to love working with him in the summers, getting her hands dirty—something she was never allowed to do at home.

Under pressure, Laughlin reveals the truth. His daughter Mal was only sixteen when Will Blake—a grown man—came to the estate with something to prove. Blake manipulated Mal, using her to spy on Tobias Hawthorne, and got her pregnant. When Blake tried to leave, Mal threatened to tell his father about the baby. Blake lunged at her, and Mal fought back, picking up a brick and striking him repeatedly.

Laughlin arrived to find Tobias Hawthorne pulling Blake off his daughter. He took Mal away while Blake was still alive. His understanding is that Blake needed medical attention but never received it—Tobias Hawthorne let him die. Laughlin never asked what happened after he left, and Hawthorne never told him. When Toby later moved the body, Laughlin figured out what had been buried but never said a word.

The chapter ends with Laughlin telling Rebecca to show the others where to dig, but to protect her mother by claiming that he, Laughlin, was the one who killed Will Blake.

Key Events

Avery and Jameson discover a hidden chamber beneath the maze
Toby's wall messages reveal his identity crisis and complicity
The chamber contains no body—only messages
Mr. Laughlin blocks Avery and reveals he knows where the body is
Rebecca confronts her grandfather about the maze section he always worked alone
Laughlin reveals Mal's story: manipulation, pregnancy, and the brick
Tobias Hawthorne let Will Blake die without medical attention
Laughlin admits he never asked what happened and never revealed Toby's burial
Laughlin instructs Rebecca to protect her mother by claiming he killed Blake

Character Development

Avery shows fierce determination in this chapter. Her threat to raze the maze and bring in cadaver dogs demonstrates how far she is willing to go for Alisa. She also shows empathy for Laughlin even as she pushes him for the truth.

Rebecca emerges as a quietly formidable presence. Her refusal to leave when her grandfather asks, her memory of the maze section he always worked alone, and her gentle but persistent questioning reveal a character who has learned to make herself small at home but refuses to do so here. The resemblance between her and her grandfather becomes visible in this moment.

Mr. Laughlin is the emotional center of the chapter. His gruff exterior cracks as he recounts his daughter's trauma. He has carried this secret for over forty years, and the weight of it shows. His final instruction—that Rebecca should protect her mother by blaming him—reveals a man willing to sacrifice himself for his family.

Jameson continues to operate as a puzzle-solver, directing Avery to check the floor for the final message. His instinct to find hidden truths is on full display.

Thea shows protectiveness toward Rebecca, raising her voice when Laughlin grabs his granddaughter's arm.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Complicity is the dominant theme. Toby's message—simply Complicit—hangs over the entire chapter. Everyone involved in Will Blake's death is complicit in some way: Tobias Hawthorne for letting him die, Laughlin for never asking, Toby for burying the body, and Mal for the killing itself.

Buried secrets operate on multiple levels. The body is literally buried, but so are the truths about what happened. The maze itself becomes a symbol of these buried secrets—a physical structure designed to hide and conceal.

Intergenerational secrets are central. The secret has festered for over forty years, affecting two families and three generations. Laughlin's observation that everyone has done their share of forgetting captures how the secret has been maintained through silence.

Exploitation of a minor is the moral foundation of the chapter. Will Blake's manipulation of a sixteen-year-old girl reframes the entire conflict. The chapter forces readers to consider who the real villain is.

Self-defense versus murder is explored through Laughlin's blunt correction: when Jameson calls it self-defense, Laughlin says no. The moral ambiguity of Mal's actions—beating Blake repeatedly after he was already under control—complicates easy judgments.

The maze as keeper of secrets is a recurring motif. The hidden chamber, the torch-revealed messages, and the buried body all reinforce the maze's role as a repository for the family's darkest truths.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter resolves one of the book's central mysteries: what happened to Will Blake. The revelation that Tobias Hawthorne let a man die rather than call for help reframes the reader's understanding of the Hawthorne patriarch. It also explains Toby's role—he buried the body and left messages that reveal his guilt and confusion about his identity.

The chapter also raises the stakes for the rescue mission. Avery's threat to destroy the maze shows how desperate she is to save Alisa. The revelation that Nash sought Laughlin's help connects the groundskeeper to the current crisis in a new way.

Finally, the chapter sets up the confrontation with Vincent Blake. Laughlin's instruction to Rebecca—to protect her mother by claiming he killed Blake—positions the family to make a choice about who will bear the blame. The moral complexity of the situation means there are no clean answers.

Study Questions and Answers

1. What do Toby's wall messages reveal about his state of mind?

Toby's messages—I was never a Hawthorne, I will never be a Blake, So what does that make me?—reveal a man caught between two families, belonging to neither. The word Complicit suggests he feels guilty about his role in burying the body. Try again, Father is addressed to Tobias Hawthorne, implying Toby knew his father was responsible for Will Blake's death and was challenging him to do better.

2. Why does Laughlin insist that Rebecca protect her mother by claiming he killed Blake?

Laughlin's instruction reflects his lifelong pattern of protecting his daughter. He took Mal away from the scene, never asked what happened afterward, and kept the secret for decades. By telling Rebecca to blame him, he is continuing that pattern—willing to take the blame himself to shield Mal from the consequences of what she did, even though she was a manipulated teenager acting in self-defense.

3. How does this chapter reframe the reader's understanding of Tobias Hawthorne?

The revelation that Tobias Hawthorne let Will Blake die without medical attention complicates his legacy. He stepped in to protect Mal from Blake's violence, but then made the choice to let Blake die rather than call for help. This suggests a man willing to use lethal means to protect his family—but also one who created the conditions for decades of secrets and guilt. His earlier dismissal of Blake's behavior as boys being boys also shows a moral blind spot.