The Mysterious Benedict Society: Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

Eventually, all the children decide to join the team. Kate joins immediately, though Constance is skeptical about following instructions. Reynie pauses to weigh his fear with his desire to be a part of something. He realizes that Mr. Benedict is asking the children to do something important, and “a strange sense of duty, not to mention a powerful curiosity, compel[s] him to join.” Sticky is nervous, but Mr. Benedict tells him the team needs him to succeed. Reynie tells Sticky that he wouldn’t blame him for leaving, but that Reynie would feel much better if Sticky did join the team. This finally persuades Sticky to join.

The children are given toothbrushes and pajamas and shown to their bedrooms. Reynie and Sticky share a room, and Reynie watches Sticky read half a book in only a few minutes. He marvels at Sticky’s intelligence, and wonders what Sticky ran away from. He feels like he has been friends with Sticky and Kate for ages, and he resolves that even if nothing else comes of Mr. Benedict’s team, at least Reynie has made friends.

After Sticky is asleep, Reynie creeps downstairs to Mr. Benedict’s study. Mr. Benedict is still awake, and he asks if Reynie is looking to call Miss Perumal. He compliments Reynie for being “polite yet steadfast” when Number Two refused to let him call Miss Perumal during the tests, revealing this to have been another aspect of the testing. Miss Perumal called earlier; she has had to take her mother to the hospital, but she is “proud but not surprised” with Reynie’s achievements. Mr. Benedict somberly tells Reynie that he won’t be able to contact Miss Perumal while the mission is in action because it demands secrecy, but once the mission is over he will be able to see her again. Reynie nods, hiding the tears that come to his eyes at the thought of not seeing his tutor again.

Mr. Benedict is stricken by Reynie’s sadness, and he falls asleep. Only a moment later, though, he wakes and requests Reynie stay a moment longer to discuss one of the questions on the test. The question showed a chessboard with only the black pawn out of its starting position and asked if the position is possible. Reynie is the first child to ever answer correctly. White pieces always move first, but Reynie tells Mr. Benedict that the white knight could have changed its mind and moved back to its starting point. Mr. Benedict asks if Reynie thinks that would be a good move, and Reynie says no. He asks why the white player might have done it, and Reynie answers that the player may have doubted himself. Mr. Benedict agrees and bids the boy good night.

The children rise early on a stormy day, and Milligan and Rhonda serve them breakfast. Constance is especially cranky since she’s hungry, and her face grows red enough to highlight her pale blue eyes. Rhonda compliments her eyes, and Constance is so upset by the compliment that she falls quiet. Milligan, who acts as the house’s guard, leaves for duty, and Rhonda tells the children never to leave the house without Milligan. Mr. Benedict and Number Two come in. Number Two sticks close to his side until he is seated, at which point she hurries to the food. Rhonda explains that Number Two never sleeps, so she requires a great deal of food to give her energy. Mr. Benedict laughs, remarking that he can’t stay awake and Number Two can’t stay asleep.

Mr. Benedict tells the children about the house’s alarm bell and instructs them to gather on the landing if they ever hear it. All the talk about danger is making the children nervous, so Mr. Benedict offers to answer their questions. Before anyone else can speak, Constance demands to know why she is not allowed to have candy for breakfast. Mr. Benedict calmly explains that candy has low nutritional value. After this, the others ask about the project and the danger they face. Mr. Benedict explains that he has discovered that coded messages are being embedded in human brains. These messages have a powerfully negative effect, and they are the source of the Emergency. He remarks that he has been unsuccessful in learning who sends the messages and why, but Number Two and Rhonda defensively say that he has uncovered much about the Sender.

Mr. Benedict admits that he has learned some things about the Sender, including the fact that they use children to deliver the messages. The children want to know more, so he brings them to a room full of electronics, including a television, a radio, and a computer. He turns on the television, and Reynie experiences the unease he feels whenever he watches television. Constance yawns and announces that she doesn’t hear anything unusual. Mr. Benedict asks Number Two to engage the Receiver; she types something into the computer, and the sounds of the television are replaced by a child’s voice reciting cryptic messages, such as, “The missing aren’t missing, they’re only departed.” Mr. Benedict tells the children that this voice is being transmitted on every television, radio, and cell phone in the world, in every language, so it is subconsciously absorbed by millions of minds.

Mr. Benedict explains that the Sender controls “the adhesive property of thoughts”––the way thoughts are attracted to signals and other thoughts. Children’s thoughts can be slipped into the mind without notice, and Constance comments that this makes sense, since grown-ups never think she is even capable of thought. She adds that she has never felt like she had thoughts that were not her own, and the other three children agree. Mr. Benedict tells them that this is because they have “an unusually powerful love of truth,” so their minds resist the hidden messages. Reynie recalls the test question asking if he liked television and radio.

Mr. Benedict continues that something terrible is approaching, but when Sticky asks what it is, he confesses he does not know. A frustrated Constance exclaims that they should call the government, but Mr. Benedict says that most governmental officials do not believe him, and the ones that did have gone missing. Reynie connects this to the television’s message that “the missing aren’t missing, they’re only departed,” which seems to have allowed the Sender to abduct people without anyone caring. Constance scoffs that the children themselves can’t really be in danger––but Reynie can tell Constance is becoming afraid. Mr. Benedict tells her that they are all in danger, and the alarm bell begins to clang.