Captain Hollister

Captain Hollister is presented as a practiced commander who converts reports about a dangerous pursuit into an escalating response. His authority is clearest in the contrast between the ordinary routines of his office and his decision to take personal charge of the endgame and authorize an extreme sanction against Andy McGee.

Identity and Command

Captain Hollister works from an office at the back of the house, where a broad bay window looks over the lawn, barn, and partly alder-screened duckpond. When he arrives, Rich McKeon is mowing the lawn on a miniature tractor; Captain Hollister pours coffee into his U.S.N. cup and uses the intercom to reach Rachel. The domestic calm of the setting frames a command post in which decisions about the pursuit are made.

He has worked off and on with Albert Steinowitz for nearly eight years, and the two came over from the Navy together. When Albert is sent in, Captain Hollister tells him to take personal charge of the endgame. The instruction places Albert at the center of the operation while making clear that Captain Hollister retains authority over its direction.

Changing Assessment

Captain Hollister’s decisions respond to what the pursuit reveals. After hearing that the girl—not McGee—had emptied the phones, and that she had apparently burned a soldier’s shoes off, he revises his assessment of the situation. He has also been told that the search is spreading into nearby towns, including Oakville, Tremont, Messalonsett, Hastings Glen, and Looton. The new information changes the problem from a search for McGee alone into a response to the girl’s demonstrated ability.

Escalation and Significance

Captain Hollister tells Norville Bates that circumstances have changed and orders an extreme sanction against the big boy, apparently meaning Andy McGee. Bates accepts the order without elaboration. Captain Hollister then puts down the phone and waits for John Rainbird to come in, linking the authorization to the arrival of another senior operative. His role in these scenes is not defined by a personal confrontation with the fugitives, but by the decisions that widen the pursuit and raise its stakes.