The Mysterious Benedict Society: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

Mr. Benedict falls asleep, startled by the emergency bell. Abruptly, the bell stops ringing and the lights turn off. Kate manages to get her flashlight, but when she turns it on, Constance is gone. The remaining children run to the landing, where Milligan is waiting, but Constance is not there. Milligan needs to search the maze to see if Constance ran there. But he refuses to leave the children alone, so he brings them down to the maze with him. He wants Kate to turn off her flashlight, since it will only help the intruders find them. They have come for the children.

The group moves through the maze in darkness, until they see two flashlight beams moving through the maze. They hear Constance cry out in pain, and then a man whispers that he has her. Milligan leads the children in that direction, but when they arrive, the intruders corner them. Reynie is surprised to see the two men are handsome and well-dressed with friendly smiles. He is almost charmed by them before he sees Constance’s tiny feet poking out from one of their bags.

Milligan obeys the men’s command to raise his hands above his head, only to suddenly run from the room. The intruders laugh at the protector who only protects himself, and one remarks that Milligan seems familiar. The men extend their hands to the children, and Reynie notices that each one wears two watches. The taller of the men smiles and promises that they won’t hurt the children, but the shorter man suggests they tell the truth. The tall man adjusts his watches and admits that what is about to happen will hurt a lot. Reynie hears an electrical hum, but the noise is cut short when Milligan shoots both men with tranquilizer darts. Milligan tells the children, “For every exit, there is also an entrance.”

The residents of the house reconvene in the dining room. Constance is still stunned; she got lost on the way to the landing and wound up in the maze, where the intruders shocked her with wire that flicked from their watches. Mr. Benedict tells the children that the Sender hires kidnappers to capture vulnerable children to send his messages. The kidnappers were going to take the children to the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened. Reynie recalls that Mr. Rutger never let students from the orphanage attend that school, and Mr. Benedict says that Mr. Rutger is paid per student at the orphanage academy. Reynie is indignant, realizing that Mr. Rutger refused to send him to an advanced school simply out of greed.

Mr. Benedict explains that the Institute largely admits orphans and runaways, and sometimes children are taken there against their will. Reynie correctly guesses that the hidden messages come from the Institute, and Rhonda tells the children that one of the repeated coded messages tells listeners not to defy the Institute. Kate is appalled that children can go missing, and Mr. Benedict reminds her that “The missing aren’t missing, they’re only departed.” A terrified Sticky says that he would hate to go to the Institute, and Mr. Benedict awkwardly reveals that he must go. The children are to go to the Institute as spies.