A Series of Unfortunate Events RP

The Quagmires attached the couplet to the crows' feet every morning, which fell off in the Nevermore Tree when the paper was dry. They tell the Baudelaires that the man who died was Jacques Snicket. The mob catches up to them and they run again. They reach the outskirts of town and Hector arrives in his hot-air mobile home. He throws down a rope ladder and the Quagmires start to climb. As the villagers catch up to them Officer Luciana shoots at the rope ladder with a harpoon gun, breaking the rope while the Baudelaires are still climbing, in violation of the village's "no mechanical devices" law as stated by Mrs. Morrow. Saddened they must climb back down or risk falling to their deaths if the ladder breaks, they jump down to earth, saying goodbye to the Quagmires, who throw their notebooks down to the Baudelaires to reveal their discoveries. Detective Dupin arrives on a motorcycle as he can't be busted for violating the same rule due to not living in the Village of Fowl Devotees. He shows the Baudelaires the latest paper from The Daily Punctilio stating that the Baudelaires have murdered "Count Omar." A final harpoon pierces the Quagmires' notebooks and scatters them as the hot-air mobile home heads towards the horizon. One villager notices Dupin's single eyebrow without his sunglasses, causing the Council of Elders to see if there is a tattoo on his ankle, and Count Olaf's identity is exposed. One crow is injured in the process of Luciana shooting Hector's mobile home, causing the villagers to get angry with them. Count Olaf and Officer Luciana, now revealed to be Esmé Squalor, escape on a motorcycle. As the crowd goes to the crow, one Council of Elder member tells the Baudelaires to stay put as they'll still be burned at the stake for the crimes when they are done taking the crow to the V.F.D. veterinarian. The Baudelaires flee rather than waiting for the villagers to return. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire have been walking for miles for hours in the hinterlands, on the run from the police and residents of the Village of Fowl Devotees, due to being falsely accused of murdering "Count Olaf" (Jacques Snicket) at the end of the previous book. They have no money, are exhausted, hungry, thirsty, lost and confused about where they should go. Fortunately, they eventually arrive at the Last Chance General Store, a convenience store in the middle of nowhere. There, they find a shopkeeper who offers them breakfast and lets them send a telegram from the store to Mr. Poe seeking help. Unfortunately, the shopkeeper's deliveryman comes in with a copy of The Daily Punctilio which claims the Baudelaires are murderers. They flee and spot a van with V.F.D. on the side. A bearded man welcomes them, lets them enter, and says they just finished getting gas and are about to get going. Inside the van, the Baudelaires learn they were picked up by Volunteers Fighting Disease, a group of enthusiasts that visit Heimlich Hospital to increase the morale of patients but never offer anything physically helpful, like medicine. They believe that 'No News Is Good News' and therefore have never read The Daily Punctilio and don't recognize the Baudelaires. One of the members suggests the Baudelaires seek a Library of Records to find their V.F.D. The children ask them if they knew a Jacques because Volunteers Fighting Disease's initials are V.F.D. They tell the children that they don't know him and add that they don't know each other's real names, but only call each other brother and sister. They reach Heimlich Hospital and get jobs with Hal in the Library of Records. Hal explains to them that they look familiar. He then says that he remembers them in a file about Snicket fires. At night, they secretly sleep in the unfinished half of the hospital where it's cold and damp, as they can not be found. Reviewing the few pages of the commonplace book they received from Duncan and Isadora Quagmire, they discover the existence of the Snicket File. They play a trick on Hal to try to get it, but only succeed in retrieving the 13th page, which reads: Due to the evidence discussed on page 9, experts now suspect that there may in fact be one survivor of the fire, but the survivor's whereabouts are unknown. It also says the rest was taken by the authorities. At this point, Esmé Squalor picks the lock on the door and chases them for the file. Klaus and Sunny escape up a chute, but Violet is too big and gets caught. Mattathias (who is actually Count Olaf posing as the Human Resources Manager at the hospital) informs the hospital on the intercom that Klaus and Sunny are in the building. They hide with the volunteers the next day and then they hear on the intercom system that their sister will be receiving an unwanted "craniectomy." They hide in a supply closet and find out by using anagrams and alphabet soup where the villains are hiding their sister, using the name "Laura V. Bleediotie." They disguise themselves as two "very short" doctors with robes and surgical masks to cover their faces so they can get through the hospital. On their way, they come across Esmé who is carrying the long sharp knife that Count Olaf threatened them within The Reptile Room. She believes that they are the two white-faced women (regular associates of Count Olaf). She leads them to the hook-handed man and the bald man, who leads them to Violet. They take Violet to the operating theater to begin the operation. Although they briefly stall the operation by telling the history of the knife, Hal walks in accusing them of setting fire to the hospital. Esmé walks in along with the real white-faced women and "exposes" them. They are rounded up and Violet wakes up. Esmé has set fire to the Library and the fire is spreading. The person of indeterminate gender tries to catch them as they run through the hospital with Violet still laying on a gurney. The three children hide in another closet which looks exactly like the other supply closet that Klaus and Sunny used. They then divert the crowd of escapees outside to the unfinished half of the hospital by acting like the intercom system and telling them that the Baudelaires have been spotted there. They must hurry for the person of intermediate gender is outside in the hallway trying to bust down the door to the closet. They use tied rubber bands and bungee to jump out of the building. They hear Count Olaf yelling to his associates to put the disguises in the trunk and get in his long black car. Before the trunk is shut, the Baudelaires hide in the trunk of the car while he escapes with most of his assistants, but the person of intermediate gender is left in the hospital (possibly killed by the fire). They can breathe in the trunk for there are bullet holes in it probably from high-speed chases with policemen. The three Baudelaires are still hiding in the trunk of Count Olaf's car listening to Count Olaf and his troupe discuss their plans. They talk about a woman named Madame Lulu who has told Count Olaf where the Baudelaires are hidden each time they move. Count Olaf and his troupe depart the car and the Baudelaires then make it out of the trunk thanks to some clever lockpicking on the part of Violet. They realize they are outside Caligari Carnival. Noticing a phone booth at the carnival, Violet calls a phone operator to let them contact Mr. Poe. The operator asks for money, but Violet tells the operator that they are in an emergency and they lack money. The operator asks what the emergency is and Violet can't help but cry a little while telling the operator her story, but the operator hangs up on her. The Baudelaires are confused what to do, stranded with no money, and everyone thinks they are murderous criminals as a result of The Daily Punctilio. Hearing nearby laughing, the orphans spy on Madame Lulu's caravan in Caligari Carnival and hear her explaining to Olaf that her carnival needs more customers otherwise they may close. They also recognize Lulu's accent as that used by Olaf when he was disguised as Gunther in The Ersatz Elevator. Madame Lulu is Count Olaf's bartender and it is also implied that Madame Lulu and Count Olaf likely had a romantic relationship in the past. They use Count Olaf's disguises stored in the trunk of his car to disguise themselves so they can be in the carnival's House of Freaks. Sunny Baudelaire wraps herself in a beard to disguise herself as Chabo the Wolf Baby. Violet and Klaus Baudelaire squeeze into one large shirt as a two-headed person with highly differing voices, 'Beverly' and 'Elliot.' Violet and Klaus also put scars on their face and sprinkle talcum powder in their hair to further disguise their appearance. They are hired by Madame Lulu after Violet and Klaus eat an ear of corn as a two-headed person and Sunny acts menacingly by showing off her sharp teeth and biting things. Madame Lulu leads them to the caravan where the other freaks live. Hugo is a hunchback, Colette is a contortionist and Kevin ambidextrous (and very pessimistic). Sunny also discovers her talent in cooking when she comes up with an idea to add cinnamon to the hot chocolate Hugo made. The next morning they discover that when Olaf asked Madame Lulu, "Is one Baudelaire parent still alive?" she consulted the crystal ball and answered, "Yes, one is up in the Mortmain Mountains." The children performed in a humiliating freak show, then encouraged the other freaks to not just settle for being sideshow freaks and instead embrace their potentials and lead a better life. Afterwards, Olaf arrived with a pack of lions as a gift to Madame Lulu and announced that a lion pit will be dug so that one of the freaks will be thrown in the next day so they can draw a large audience. The orphans go back to Lulu's tent to search for clues. They first discover the V.F.D. symbol on the outside and inside find a secret archival library under the table hidden by a tablecloth that she uses to aid her in her predictions. The mysterious effects behind her fortune telling tricks turn out to be no more than ropes and pulleys. They accidentally break Lulu's crystal ball when trying to lift the tablecloth higher to get a better glimpse of the archival library and they are discovered when Lulu comes in. Lulu breaks down and throws off her disguise, revealing herself as a woman named Olivia who just wants to give people what they want. She is a member of V.F.D. and tells them about the V.F.D. disguise kit and a schism which happened in the organization. Olivia discovers that the children are actually the Baudelaires in disguise when Klaus lets slip that Olivia made a prediction regarding the Baudelaires' parent. The Baudelaires admit to their identity and plan to travel with Olivia to the Mortmain Mountains to determine if one of their parents is really alive. Though Olivia did say to Count Olaf that one of the Baudelaires' parents is alive, she is not actually sure and only suggested the Mortmain Mountains as their possible location as that is one of the few remaining V.F.D. headquarters. Violet plans to invent a vehicle made from the cars from the nearby roller coaster and the fan belt from the lightening effects Olivia used in her fortune telling that would enable them to escape from the carnival and travel up the Mortmain Mountains. That night, Esmé Squalor, who is jealous of Olaf's attention to Madame Lulu, comes to the caravan of the freaks in an outfit that says "I Love Freaks." It also has a sack on one shoulder to mimic Hugo's hunchback and a hat with something sticking out of it to imitate Beverly and Elliot's two heads. She tries to convince them that whoever is picked to be thrown into the pit of ravenous lions the next day should throw Madame Lulu in instead. If they do that, they will be made part of Count Olaf's theater troupe and have an exciting career as a criminal. She also bribes them by giving them gifts that disguise their deformities. Esmé gives Hugo the large coat the hook-handed man wore when he was the doorman in The Ersatz Elevator which completely disguises his hunchback. She gives Colette a large robe that would allow her to contort her body into any shape she wanted without people being aware. She gives Kevin a rope that would allow him to tie one hand behind his back so that he can have a dominant hand like regular people. Esmé gives Beverly and Elliot a sack that would allow them to hide one of their heads. She gives Chabo the Wolf Baby one of Olaf's razors. Hugo, Colette, and Kevin are completely fooled by Esmé, feeling happy that for once a normal person likes them and gives them an opportunity to do something other than be in a freak show. They agree to do exactly what she suggested. The Baudelaires, however, are not fooled by Esmé and decline the offer, much to Esmé's chagrin. The next morning the orphans go and get the coaster carts ready. A noisy, large and rude audience shows up to see the lions devour someone. Among the audience is the female reporter who broke the story that the Baudelaires murdered "Count Omar" (Olaf). Olaf dramatically unfolds a paper that will show who is to be devoured by lions and Beverly and Elliot are picked. They manage to stall and eventually create a chaotic scene in which Madame Lulu and The Bald Man with the Long Nose fall into the pit and get devoured. The Baudelaires are deeply depressed after not keeping their side of the promise with Madame Lulu. After escaping to Madame Lulu's tent with tears in their eyes, the orphans find a map of the mountains with a coffee stain on it. Olaf appears, apparently still not recognizing the Baudelaires in their disguises and states the stain indicates V.F.D.'s secret base in the Mortmain Mountains. The orphans are recruited into Olaf's troupe, as are the other freaks. The carnival is burned to destroy the evidence and the lions, trapped in the pit and unable to escape, are burned to death. Their blackened bodies are later found by Lemony Snicket. Together Olaf, his employees, and the children depart for the mountains. Beverly and Elliot are in the travel trailer caravan behind Olaf's car while Chabo is in the automobile car. Olaf then reveals that Lulu told him that they are the Baudelaires and the newly recruited freaks cut the caravan off the car while on a steep slope. Klaus and Violet are rolling down a steep mountainside in an out-of-control caravan while Sunny is in the clutches of Count Olaf and his henchmen. Violet manages to devise a method to slow and eventually stop the caravan by using hammocks as a drag chute, spreading sticky stuff on the wheels and using the table as a brake. They pull out miscellaneous items from the careening caravan for supplies and immediately after they escape the caravan it tips over the mountainside. The two siblings travel up the mountain and are attacked by snow gnats. They find shelter from the vicious snow gnats in a cave which is also being occupied by a group of children called Snow Scouts. Carmelita Spats, a spoiled girl who made her initial appearance in The Austere Academy, is one of the Snow Scouts along with her uncle Bruce and a boy wearing a sweater. The boy in the sweater seems to know about V.F.D. and gives hints to them in the form of V.F.D. phrases, such as "very foul day." He then takes them up the Vertical Flame Diversion in the back of the cave to the V.F.D. headquarters. Meanwhile back on the ranch, Sunny is being ordered around under threat of violence by Count Olaf on the peak of Mount Fraught, the tallest mountain in the region. He makes her sleep out in the cold. The next morning he forces her to cook breakfast. She makes a great effort to produce a delicious meal but Olaf thinks it is disgusting and he tells the Hook-Handed Man to fetch salmon from the waterfall. Two ominous figures within an "an aura of menace" arrive and announce that they have successfully burnt down the V.F.D. headquarters. One is a Woman With Hair But No Beard and the other is a Man With a Beard But No Hair. They give Count Olaf the rest of the Snicket File. The man gives Esmé Squalor a green cigarette which is actually a Verdant Flammable Device. Sunny sees the Verdant Flammable Device and has the idea to use one to signal her siblings under the pretense of needing its heat to cook lox for Olaf and his henchman. Meanwhile back at the ranch, the siblings and the boy come to the V.F.D. headquarters and find it burnt. The boy reveals himself to be Quigley Quagmire, who the Baudelaires believed to be dead. Violet, Klaus, and Quigley see the plume of green smoke rising from the cliff so Violet invents a special shoes to help herself and Quigley climb up the steep cliff to find out who signaled them. During a rest on a ledge of the cliff, Quigley appears to express romantic interest in Violet. At this point, Lemony Snicket explains to the reader that the Baudelaires have had little privacy in their life and that he will allow Violet to keep some things to herself. Violet tells Quigley it's a lovely view, but Snicket tells the reader that Quigley is looking at her while agreeing that the view is "very lovely indeed." Quigley and Violet finish their climb and meet Sunny at the top. Violet wants Sunny to return with them but she refuses, telling her sister that she can spy on Olaf and learn useful information. Violet reluctantly agrees, realizing that Sunny is no longer a baby and is now a maturing toddler. Upon meeting again, Violet, Quigley, and Klaus hatch a plan to lure Esmé to them, trap her, and use her to bait Olaf into giving Sunny back. They dig a pit and light a Verdant Flammable Device next to it. Esmé sees some green smoke at the bottom of the slope. She goes down it, thinking the smoke is coming from the "in" cigarettes that she has now run out of. When she reaches the bottom, she runs into three masked strangers and they help her climb back up the slope hoping to get Sunny as their reward. As they reach the top, the Snow Scouts reach the same peak of the same slope. However, Olaf has sprung a trap to capture all of the scouts in a huge net. Klaus, Violet, and Quigley take off their masks to convince the scouts to run. Olaf orders the two White-Faced Women to grab them and throw Sunny off the mountain but they refuse and formally quit Olaf's troupe. The Baudelaires and Quigley are too late, as the Freaks, the scouts (except for Carmelita), and the Hook-Handed Man are taken up into the net and carried off by eagles. Carmelita is convinced to join Olaf and Esmé in their evil schemes while the Baudelaires and Quigley grab a sled and slide down the slope. The Man with a Beard But No Hair and the Woman with Hair But No Beard escape on some eagles stating to Count Olaf that they will meet him at Hotel Denouement. When they reach the bottom the entire side of the slope breaks open, causing a waterfall. The Baudelaires and Quigley are separated. Quigley tries to tell them to meet him somewhere but he cannot be heard over the rush of water. The Baudelaires are traveling on a collapsing toboggan down the stream of the Mortmain Mountains. The fire that they helped Count Olaf begin at Caligari Carnival is spreading through the hinterlands, and the children have trouble avoiding it, even on the stream. Just as hope seems lost, they are caught on a submarine which rises from the waters. Climbing over to the hatch a voice within asks if the orphans are friends or foes. They declare that they are friends. The same voice asks for the password, and Violet guesses correctly the V.F.D. motto: The world is quiet here. The children descend into the submarine, which they discover is the Queequeg captained by Captain Widdershins, a V.F.D. member and old friend of the Baudelaire parents. Also on board is Widdershins' stepdaughter Fiona and the ship's cook, Phil, (or Cookie) the optimist, who met the children while working at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill in Paltryville. The Baudelaires are welcomed on board, where they discover that the crew wears uniforms with a picture of Herman Melville on them - are searching for the mysterious sugar bowl that was thrown downstream. They have less than a week before the meeting at the Hotel Denouement which contains certain people that could destroy the V.F.D. forever. Widdershins runs on the moral. He who hesitates is lost and Fiona, an expert mycologist, begins to fall for Klaus, who returns the favor. Sunny, meanwhile, helps Phil cook dinner for everyone. Violet also learns that Fiona and Widdershins have learned of the Baudelaires' plight via their telegram device, which is now broken. Although she tries to fix it, she realizes that someone - likely Olaf - is disrupting V.F.D. communications, explaining why the Baudelaires' telegram to Mr. Poe in The Hostile Hospital went unread. (The story of this is explained in Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography.) Klaus, meanwhile, has examined the tidal charts to estimate the location of the sugar bowl given the water cycle. He suspects it to be in the Gorgonian Grotto, located near Anwhistle Aquatics. Widdershins explains that that aquatics center was founded by Aunt Josephine's brother-in-law, Gregor Anwhistle. At this time, the group are interrupted by an approaching submarine vessel on the sonar. It is a ship in the shape of a giant octopus with many tentacles, and inside they can see Count Olaf. Luckily, due to quick thinking, all the engines on the Queequeg are turned off and Olaf does not notice them. Before long, however, a third shape appears on the sonar, a mysterious object shaped like a question mark that the crew do not see, but which clearly scares off Olaf's vessel. Over dinner, Widdershins attempts to match make Klaus and Fiona, to everyone's discomfort. Fiona explains her family situation - her brother Fernald has been missing for many years. Her real father left when Fiona was small and Widdershins claims her mother died in a manatee accident, although this may be untrue. Widdershins mentions the Snicket siblings, who fought on the noble side of V.F.D.: Jacques Snicket, whom the children saw murdered in the Village of Fowl Devotees, was a researcher similar to Klaus; Kit Snicket, who helped build the Queequeg; and briefly mentions the third sibling before being cut off by Fiona. Fiona asks about the message Violet and Klaus found for the mysterious J.S. at the former V.F.D. headquarters. Widdershins doubts it would be for Jacques, who is dead, which gets the group wondering about whose initials J.S. stands for. Fiona then looks in her mycological textbooks to discover information about the Gorgonian Grotto. It is a cone-shaped cave which houses a rare species of poisonous mushroom, the Medusoid Mycelium. They wax and wane periodically, but when waxing - as a poet says in her text - A single spore has such grim power/That you may die within the hour. Because the Grotto is so remote, it acts as a quarantine for the Medusoid Mycelium which would otherwise be unstoppable, although Fiona suspects there is an antidote. Widdershins sends the children off to get some sleep, but steadfastly refuses to tell them about the sugar bowl's purpose in the plot. Later, the children wake to find the submarine has arrived abruptly at the Grotto, and has been damaged on the journey. Widdershins and Phil are too tall to fit into the smaller areas of the grotto so Fiona, Klaus, Violet and Sunny (who cannot fit into a diving suit but instead floats in a diving helmet) are sent in. Inside the grotto, the children find an area without water, an undersea cave that appears to have belonged to someone in V.F.D. It is filled with items, mostly junk and various food items, but is also - as Fiona discovers - the breeding ground of the Medusoid Mycelium, which send the children scurrying into the far corner where they are safe while the mushrooms rise out of the earth. The children start fighting over what to do next, which gets the Baudelaires remembering their parents again. At last, Klaus finds a poetry book - Versed Furtive Disclosure - and begins going through it to see if it relates to V.F.D. As the three older children begin researching while they wait for the mushrooms to die down, Sunny cooks a meal–pesto lo mein. Later, over dinner, they discuss their findings. Klaus has found partial information of a code used by V.F.D. but not enough to figure it out. Violet has found a letter to the now deceased Gregor Anwhistle from Kit Snicket. It seems Gregor was going to use the mushroom to poison the enemies of V.F.D. Kit was working on a way to dilute the poison, in a factory in Lousy Lane, but Gregor insisted on cultivating them as they were in the Grotto. The mushrooms apparently poisoned the entire Aquatics center. The children contemplate for a while how everything links together. But when Fiona asks Violet about the newspaper article, Violet pretends it is too blurred to read. She can read it perfectly, and whatever is on it concerns her. On returning to the submarine, the children find Phil and Widdershins gone. In their place are three balloons tied to chairs, with the letters "V", "F" and "D" on them. But this is little horror compared to what happens next, as the children discover a spore of the mushroom has infiltrated Sunny's helmet and she is trapped within it. Fiona stops Klaus from opening the helmet, as in order to keep themselves from being affected themselves, for the moment they must keep Sunny quarantined. She goes to work on an antidote while asking the others to fire up the engines. Violet is suspicious but Klaus obeys orders. Just as the ship starts up, Olaf's submarine returns and engulfs the Queequeg in its "jaw". Olaf comes down to the children and tells them that he has been at the Hotel Denouement preparing for his final scheme, but had to return to search for the sugar bowl himself, which is the only thing he needs to complete his nefarious plans. He is overjoyed to find he has also captured Fiona, and shows little concern for Sunny's condition. He is also working on perfecting a villainous laugh. As he leads the children through to the brig, he marvels at the octopus submarine, which he stole, which can apparently be used to destroy all of V.F.D.'s armies. As the children enter the next room they see how the ship is powered, by dozens of children rowing the "tentacles". Among them are children from Prufrock Preparatory School, the Snow Scouts, and other children the Baudelaires do not recognize. Esmé Squalor, wearing an octopus costume, is in charge of the children. She is stunned to see the Baudelaires alive, but happy to have another chance to celebrate their deaths. Olaf's group wear uniforms bearing images of Edgar Guest, whom Lemony Snicket disparages in his narration, and Klaus earlier stated he hates. It is here that we learn the ship is named the Carmelita, after Carmelita Spats who is also onboard and being spoiled by Esmé. The children are taken to the brig where they are to be interrogated by The Hook-Handed Man, until Fiona drops a surprise on them all; he is her brother Fernald. Fiona is stunned that her brother is working as a villain, but Fernald defends his work saying that Olaf isn't all evil, that no one is entirely evil. Violet confesses that the newspaper article - by Jacques Snicket - proved that Fernald burnt down Anwhistle Aquatics, and that Gregor died in the fire. Klaus realizes that one half of the V.F.D. schism wanted to put out fires, while the other started them. Fernald hints that there is a good reason for why he now has two hooks instead of hands, and that there are few differences between the Baudelaires and Olaf. Fiona begs him to help them get back to the Queequeg, for Sunny's sake, and Fernald finally agrees, but asks for them to take him with them. Violet is firmly against Fernald's involvement but Fiona defends him, asking if Violet would ever abandon a sibling. So, the Baudelaires, Fiona and Fernald plot their escape, aided unwittingly by Carmelita, who is doing a song and dance routine that distracts Esmé and the rowing children. The Baudelaires return to the Queequeg, but Carmelita spots Fiona and Fernald trying to leave. Fernald, whom Esmé calls "Hooky", pretends that Fiona has joined the team, and they need to borrow Esmé's "tagliatelle grande" - the giant wet noodle she uses to whip the children - to torture the Baudelaires in The Carnivorous Carnival. Esmé gives in, but changes Fiona's name to "Triangle Eyes" because of her glasses shape. Back on the Queequeg, Sunny is close to death. Klaus and Violet read Fiona's texts, and Kit's letter, and realize that the antidote being made on Lousy Lane was horseradish. Although they have none, they discover a surprise Sunny and Phil had made - a birthday cake for Violet who turned fifteen without even realizing it. The balloons stood for "Violet's Fifteenth Date". Violet breaks down but Sunny saves her own life when she manages to blurt out one word, the culinary equivalent of horseradish: wasabi, which she still has from their trip into the underwater cavern. While Sunny recovers, Klaus and Violet are stunned when the telegram machine starts back up again. The Voluntary Factual Dispatch they receive is from Quigley Quagmire, which touches Violet as she remembers their romantic involvement. The letter is also sent to the mysterious J.S. Quigley needs the Baudelaires at a certain coded location by Tuesday, the very next day and just two days before the meeting at the Hotel. The Verse Fluctuations Declarations code is similar to the one Klaus discovered in the grotto and references poems by T.S. Eliot and Lewis Carroll. Although they haven't read the poems, Klaus and Violet discover the secret poetry books that Widdershins has hidden away, which he used to read with Fernald. They also find a photo of the family, when Fiona's mother was alive and when Fernald had hands. Violet suggests that answering the code and finding Widdershins are more important than freeing Fiona, who likely might not do the same kindness to them, and Klaus reluctantly agrees. Sunny, recuperated, joins her siblings. Klaus is first to solve the riddle, when he learns that the code in the Carroll poem asks the Baudelaires to meet Quigley at Briny Beach. As Violet begins decoding the Eliot poem, they are interrupted by Olaf, Esmé and Carmelita, who have found them. Olaf announces triumphantly that they are just minutes from the Hotel Denouement and, even worse, Fiona has joined their team. The girl herself enters, with Fernald, in the uniform of the Carmelita and tells the Baudelaires that it is true. Olaf triumphantly tells the Baudelaires that, once they arrive at Hotel Denouement, he will finally have won. While he, Esmé and Carmelita search the Queequeg for things to pilfer, Violet and Klaus attempt to reason with Fiona. They offer her the mushroom sample still inside the helmet, which she could use to research. She is clearly tempted but Olaf returns and takes it, overjoyed with the people he could extort and murder. Fiona is horrified. Esmé finds a ruby ring that belonged to Fiona's mother, whom she went to school with, and decides to keep it for herself. Suddenly, on the radar, the mysterious question mark appears again. Olaf clearly knows what it is, as he orders everyone to battle stations to get away from it. He tells Carmelita not to tap dance so that the octopus submarine will not show up on "their sonar" Fiona, knowing that she is wrong, allows the Baudelaires free access to the Queequeg to escape. But she cannot go with them, out of loyalty to her brother. Before she rejoins Olaf, however, she kisses Klaus. Violet powers up the Queequeg, as Klaus navigates her out of the Carmelita. Sunny, using the chewing gum Phil brought with him from Paltryville repairs a porthole Olaf broke, and the Queequeg is freed from Olaf's clutches. As the Queequeg escapes, Lemony Snicket himself provides a few more questions: he states that Fiona was right in her suspicions that her mother did not die in a manatee incident. He states that Widdershins believed a certain article in the Daily Punctilio that was false, which he showed to the Baudelaire parents, the Snicket family, and Beatrice - which was possibly the reason Beatrice refused to marry Snicket himself. He explains that, in the darkness, the Baudelaires could scarcely see the giant monster, which was shaped like a long eyebrow, and which vanished back into the depths of the sea as quickly as it appeared. The children sit and eat Violet's cake as the long Monday night passes. When Tuesday comes, they find themselves at Briny Beach - back where all of their troubles began. Surprisingly, from the fog, comes Mr. Poe. He received a message from J.S. - whom he naïvely assumes is The Daily Punctilio reporter Geraldine Julienne - that he had to meet them at the beach. He tells the children to come with him to the police station to resolve all of their troubles. Violet, however, has decoded the Eliot message, which states: "violet" "taxi" "waiting" and has concluded that a taxi will be at the beach for them. The children say goodbye to the startled Mr. Poe and walk up the beach where they find the waiting taxi. Inside is a woman they have never seen before. Even though the children remember being instructed not to get into cars with strangers, they decide that taxi cab drivers are different - and as the car starts off, the driver introduces herself as Kit Snicket, and begins driving them to the Hotel Denouement. The Baudelaires are riding Kit Snicket's taxi, the situation at the end of The Grim Grotto. A distraught and pregnant Kit drives them to the Hotel Denouement, where she leaves them with concierge uniforms and tells them to give her a signal that she can see in the sky if the meeting on Thursday is canceled. She also says that Quigley Quagmire, of whom Violet is very fond, is out at sea saving his siblings. They are also to be wary of the managers of the Hotel, identical brothers Frank, a volunteer, and Ernest, a villain. The hotel is designed like a giant library, with rooms cataloged by the Dewey Decimal System. The Baudelaires are expected to serve and help the people of the Hotel, as a front so they can be flâneurs, and in particular learn whether the mysterious "J.S." is helping V.F.D. or its enemies. When the Baudelaires enter the lobby from the entrance in the white fog that is emitted from the funnel, the see a lot of things like a line at the receptionists' desk, bellboys and bellgirls are rolling different luggage to the elevators, waiters and waitresses were bringing food and drinks to people who are sitting in the lobby, taxi drivers ushering their passengers in to join the line, dogs dragging their owners out for a walk, confused tourists looking quizzically at maps, rambunctious children were playing hide and seek amongst the potted plants, a man in a tuxedo playing tunes on the Grand Piano for anyone who cared to listen, members of the cleaning staff were polishing the green wooden floors, an enormous fountain in one corner of the room, and a woman standing in the opposite corner shouting a man's name over and over again in a crazed annoyed voice. The Baudelaires meet either Frank or Ernest who states that they are short-handed and must figure out the hotel system. He informs them that they are to answer to the summons of the hotel guests. One bellboy appears telling Frank or Ernest that a taxi driver dropped off some luggage where he said that the guests will not arrive until Thursday. Frank or Ernest left with the bellboy to take care of the situation leaving the Baudelaires near a large wooden bench. The other manager that might be Frank or Ernest appears nearby with a bunch of newspapers where he reads the article from The Daily Punctilio about the Baudelaires being sighted in The City. After getting the opinion of the article from the disguised Baudelaires, Frank or Ernest escort a bellgirl to the Newsstand in Room 168. After a discussion of them growing up, the Baudelaires are encountered by either Frank or Ernest as they ask how the hotel is organized. Frank or Ernest explains that the Hotel Denouement is organized by the Dewey decimal system similar to the way that books are organized in many libraries where he uses Room 831 where German poets are gathered as an example and even a description of the social sciences as well as the bells that ring being associated with each room. Three bells ring simultaneously, and the three orphans are forced to separate on Frank or Ernest's suggestion, in order to carry out various errands. Frank or Ernest leave to go talk to a banker on the phone when told about it by a bellboy. Violet goes up to the rooftop sunbathing salon where she finds Esmé Squalor and Carmelita Spats. Carmelita is patrolling the rooftop pool in a large boat, complete with sails, which was given to her as a gift from Esmé and Count Olaf. Geraldine Julienne, the reporter for the The Daily Punctilio who wrote that the Baudelaires killed Count Olaf, was also present on the rooftop sunbathing salon. Geraldine was interviewing Esmé about the Baudelaires. Violet overhears about a cocktail party on Thursday. Carmelita wants her to bring a harpoon gun, which Violet gets from Frank without knowing it. He asks her if she is who he thinks she is. Violet replies that she is a concierge and brings the gun to Carmelita. Klaus goes to a room for people in the sawmill industry, where he finds Sir and Charles (from The Miserable Mill). They have him take them to the sauna, which is just down the hall. He props the door open to listen in, and overhears them talk about a party on Thursday, and someone with the initials of J.S. However, Frank or Ernest enters and has Sir and Charles vacate the sauna and arranges for a chemist outside to take them to Room 547 where Organic Chemistry is in order to satisfy Sir's claim of liking the burning wood smell. Then Frank or Ernest he has Klaus hang a flypaper-like roll of sticky paper called birdpaper outside the window, in order to catch and trap any falling birds. He asks the same question of Klaus as Frank or Ernest asked of Violet and he gets the same response. Sunny goes to a room for educational people, where she sees Vice Principal Nero, Mrs. Bass and Mr. Remora, all from The Austere Academy. Mrs. Bass has in the room several bags of money from Mulctuary Money Management. Nero was practicing for his performance on Thursday. They ask when they are going to stop for their lunch break as Nero is surprised that Esmé invited them to the party on Thursday. She takes them to an Indian restaurant in Room 954 which is run by Hal from The Hostile Hospital who is now wearing a turban. When Hal quoted "I didn't know this was a sad occasion," Mr. Remora quoted "it won't be a sad occasion if you don't feed us." When she is sent to fetch a napkin by Nero, Sunny hides in the kitchen and listens to a conversation by Hal and someone that might be Frank or Ernest, also about J.S., and then they see her. Dewey gives her a Vernacularly Fastened Door and has her put it on the lock of a laundry room. The laundry room has a vent through which something can fall and - if the lock is on the door - that something will be protected. The Baudelaires get together after a long day and try to put together their stories, and wonder how the two managers can be in three places at once. Finally, Klaus deduces that a crow will bring the Sugar Bowl to the Hotel; it will be shot down by the harpoon gun, fall onto the flypaper, and the sugar bowl will fall into the laundry room vent. All of a sudden, they see a man descending from the ceiling of the Hotel from its clock. They think it is Ernest or Frank, but it turns out to be their third brother Dewey Denouement, also explaining how three different identical men talked to the Baudelaires at the same time. He is helpful and tells them that there is a duplicate of the Hotel at the bottom of the pond, containing a catalogue of all the secrets of V.F.D, which he has spent his entire life collecting. Then Justice Strauss and Jerome Squalor, who both believe that they are the J.S. being contacted, arrive by taxi where they have been helping Dewey. Justice Strauss has been communicating with the High Court on helping the Baudelaires, and Jerome - who also felt bad about how he abandoned the orphans - has written a book on the matter. The High Court justices are coming to put Count Olaf and the other evil people of V.F.D. on trial and so - on Thursday - all of the noble people will arrive to give evidence. Re-entering the hotel at 1:00 AM, they encounter Count Olaf who says that the Hook-Handed Man and Fiona stole the Carmelita (a submarine from The Grim Grotto named after Carmelita). Esmé, Carmelita, and Hugo (who posed as the Rooftop Sunbathing Salon attendant), Colette (who posed as a passing chemist that went passed Klaus near the sauna), and Kevin (who posed as a washerwoman in the laundry room), the three carnival freaks who joined Olaf in The Carnivorous Carnival, all arrive. While Jerome tries to get back with Esmé to no avail as she also wants the Sugar Bowl that Beatrice Baudelaire stole from her, Olaf also hints that the Baudelaire's own parents were not noble and that they had something to do with a box of poison darts. While Olaf states to the Baudelaires that Geraldine, Sir, and Nero dislike them, the Baudelaires claim that Charles and Hal don't. Dewey tells Olaf of the catalogue he has made, which prompts Esmé to comment that he must already know what is inside the sugar bowl and why it is so important. Olaf takes the harpoon gun from Carmelita and threatens Dewey. The Baudelaires shield him and approach Olaf as he counts to ten. However, he is interrupted by the coughing of Arthur Poe, who has come from his room to see what is happening. Count Olaf quickly shoves the gun into the Baudelaire's hands. The Baudelaire's accidentally drop the gun to the ground. It discharges and a harpoon hits Dewey, inflicting a fatal wound. He screamed loudly as the clock struck 2:00 AM. Dewey stumbles backwards out of the hotel and the Baudelaires watch as he sinks into the pond as the Baudelaires run after him. They then hear the shutters of the windows open up as they hear all of the hotel's guests having woken up from what happened in the lobby as one of the guests tells a man named Bruce to come back to bed. One person admitted that he couldn't sleep because of the Indian food that he ate. When they Baudelaires stated that Dewey was killed, the guests have never heard of Dewey as he was considered a legendary figure. Geraldine is heard stating that they should all go downstairs and investigate the death. Justice Strauss's taxi driver - an enigmatic man smoking a cigarette - (possibly Lemony Snicket) talks to them, but they cannot tell if he is a volunteer or a villain, and they realize they cannot leave the scene of the crime. When Mr. Poe confronted the children, they tell him that Dewey is dead and that they don't know what happened. As the entire hotel is awakened, the Baudelaires walk back into the hotel with Mr. Poe behind them and the taxi driver drives away. Lemony Snicket suggests that he has the sugar bowl in the passenger seat and a woman in his trunk, possibly The Duchess of Winnipeg. The following quote may explain where it was hidden: "and even the small item that sat on the passenger seat, still damp from its hiding place..." meaning that it was probably hidden either in the pond or in the laundry room. Many of the awoken guests have gathered in the lobby and a scene of confusion follows as each one comments about the Baudelaires: Geraldine claims that the Baudelaire children are no ordinary murderers. Sir remembers the Baudelaires claiming that they caused accidents at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill while Charles stated that the accidents weren't their fault and were the fault of Count Olaf. Mrs. Morrow claims that Count Olaf was the Baudelaires' victim where they claimed that he was "murdered" by the Baudelaires in the Village of Fowl Devotees. Mr. Lesko thought that the man who was killed was "Count Omar." Jerome claims that the Baudelaires aren't murderers and found them polite and kind. Mr. Remora claims that they are good students of his. Vice-Principal Nero mocked what Mr. Remora said and claimed that Violet and Klaus flunked all the tests and Sunny was the worst administrative assistant he's ever seen. Mrs. Bass states that they are criminals that should be punished which Hugo agreed with her on as they are too freakish to be allowed to move freely anywhere. Hal firmly says that the Baudelaire children are not criminals. Esmé retorted and stated that the Baudelaire children are guilty as sin as her fingers rested on Carmelita's shoulder as Carmelita glares at them as they are pushed passed her by Mr. Poe. A hotel bellboy claims that they are guiltier than that as another bellboy claimed that he thinks that they are guiltier than the other one thinks. A person the Baudelaire children did not recognize claims that they are nice kids while another person claims that they are vicious criminals and another thinks that they are noble volunteers. Mr. Poe escorts the Baudelaire children to the far corner of the lobby where Frank or Ernest was standing next to the door that is marked 121. Justice Strauss breaks it up by saying to the assembled people that their decision for the their guilt or innocence is not for them to decide on as this is the matter of the High Court. As Justice Strauss states that the authorities have been notified while the other judges from the High Court are on their way, she states that they will begin the trial in a matter of hours. A woman in a nightgown with dancing clowns on it thought that the trial will be on Thursday. Justice Strauss claims that showing up early is the sign of a noble person where she and the other noble judges will decide on this matter and the other matters once and for all. Justice Strauss did give the Baudelaire children a gentle smile while the Baudelaires smiled back. Jerome tells the children that they don't have to wait until tomorrow for justice to be served while Justice Strauss states that she trusts her fellow judges. Justice Strauss then claims that she spoke to the managers to place them in Room 121 just to keep them safe until the trial begins. Frank or Ernest unlocked the door which showed the closet where Violet found the harpoon gun. The murmuring crowd then parted to reveal Count Olaf who walked towards the Baudelaires where he claims that they should be locked up to keep treacherous people from wandering the hotel which Colette and Kevin agreed on. Justice Strauss tells Count Olaf that he has also been accused of a great deal of treachery and that the high court is very interested in his case as well where Count Olaf will be locked in Room 165 until the trial begins. Count Olaf reluctantly agreed to Justice Strauss' suggestion as Frank or Ernest took Count Olaf's arm and escorted him to Room 165. As the Baudelaire children go into Room 121, Jerome and Justice Strauss gave them a little wave and Mr. Poe gave them a cough while Frank or Ernest closed the door to Room 121. It is early Wednesday morning when the Baudelaires go to sleep, and they wake in the afternoon where they are returned to the lobby for the trial by Frank and Ernest. Due to a literal reading of the phrase "justice is blind", everyone except the judges is blindfolded. Even Frank and Ernest are blindfolded. The blindfolded people had a hard time finding their seats where even Charles had a hard time finding Sir. Anyone who peaks will be found guilty of contempt of court. The trial begins and Justice Strauss states that they had to the trial today instead of Thursday in light of the death of Dewey and that the guilty parties will be handed to the authorities who are waiting outside. Count Olaf and Esmé Squalor state that there will be a cocktail party after the trial to which Justice Strauss states that they are out of order. Olaf gives a brief speech where he states his innocence. The Baudelaires, however, are beginning to question their own nobility and morality and so they answer that they are "comparatively innocent". Justice Strauss then asks for people to submit evidence to the judges as the blindfolded people kept stumbling over another: Geraldine submits the newspaper articles. Sir submits the employment records. Charles submits the environmental studies. Mr. Remora submits the grade books. Mrs. Bass submits the blueprints of banks. Vice-Principal Nero submits the administrative records. Hal submits some paperwork. Mr. Poe submits some financial records while coughing. Mr. Lesko submits some rulebooks while Mrs. Morrow submits some constitutions. Hugo submits some carnival posters. Colette submits some drawings. Kevin submits some books with both his left and right hands. Esmé Squalor submits some ruby-encrusted blank pages. Carmelita submits a book that tells how wonderful she is. Frank and/or Ernest submit a commonplace book. An unknown person submits their mother. All other unknown attendees submit various items. Jerome Squalor submits his history of injustice where the lobby filled with a mix of applause and hissing. Each accused is given an opportunity to say their side of the story as Count Olaf claims that he is innocent claiming that the evidence will prove their innocence. The Baudelaires find themselves having a hard time claiming their side of the story like they did with Mr. Poe and the Quagmire triplets. Violet starts to tell their story starting at Briny Beach where they heard that their parents have perished in the fire. When Justice Strauss stops commenting in sentences and just commented "Hmmmm" and the other two judges started speaking, the Baudelaires get suspicious and had no choice to remove their blindfolds to discover that the other judges are the Man with a Beard but No Hair and the Woman with Hair but No Beard who have been working with Olaf. Both of them claim that the Baudelaires are guilty of contempt of court as Sunny begs for everyone to peak. When both villains tell the crowd not to do that, the Baudelaires tell everyone else to take off their blindfolds. Though the Man With a Beard But No Hair and the Woman With Hair But No Beard claim that the Baudelaires are tricking them and that Justice Strauss is enjoying saltwater taffy. While Jerome claims that they might be right, Esmé claims that the Baudelaires are liars. While Charles, Frank or Ernest, Mr. Remora, and Hal believe them and think they are innocent, Sir, Frank or Ernest, Vice-Principal Nero, Hugo, Colette, Kevin, and Geraldine don't and believe they're guilty. Mrs. Bass claims that they are bank robbers as Mr. Poe asks "Who said that?" Olaf flees with the gagged Justice Strauss and the Baudelaires chase them to the elevator. Realizing that they need to follow Olaf, both to stop him from getting away and because there are authorities at the door of the hotel, the Baudelaires go with him and Justice Strauss in the elevator. He goes first to the laundry room, believing the sugar bowl to be inside. Using three clues - a literary clue, a clue about the Baudelaire's health (their allergy to peppermints mentioned in The Wide Window), and a clue about his own family: interestingly enough that his parents were killed with poison darts, suggesting the involvement of the Baudelaire parents - they break inside. The sugar bowl is not inside. Angered, Olaf declares that he is going to the roof to get the specimen of Medusoid Mycelium which he will spread through the hotel, killing everyone. He will then escape in a boat which he will jump in off the roof. Violet, realizing his plan is foolish, agrees to help. Klaus is surprised that she would do this, but Violet knows that they need a way out as well and going with Olaf may be the only way. Then, Sunny abruptly suggests that they burn down the Hotel and Olaf agrees. Using some laundry sheets and Jerome Squalor's book Odious Lusting After Finance from Justice Strauss' hands as kindling, Count Olaf starts a fire in the laundry room and suggest that they leave before the fire reaches the chemicals. When it comes to getting to the roof, Count Olaf ignores the "In case of fire, use stairs. Do not use elevator!" sign as he summons an elevator. Violet warns everyone on the first floor of the fire where the Man With a Beard But No Hair had his hand on Jerome Squalor's shoulder. As the Man With a Beard But No Hair secretly praises Count Olaf for the fire which brings a frown to Jerome's face, he starts directing people towards the elevator when Jerome asks how arson is a good thing. Frank or Ernest ask if Olaf is here as the other one asks where the Baudelaires are as the Woman With Hair But No Beard directs them towards the elevator. When Violet shouts to call the fire department as the elevator doors started to close, they could not tell if it was Frank or Ernest that said "Which one?" While Olaf was angered that the Man With a Beard But No Hair and the Woman With Hair But No Beard had failed him, the Baudelaires were unable to point out that he failed them for trying to double-cross them. As the elevator goes up, the Baudelaires use a trick their parents taught them and press all of the buttons so the elevator stops on every floor. This gives them and Justice Strauss an opportunity to warn all of the guests of the fire. However, the guests are still blindfolded from the trial and Olaf shouts that the fire warning is fake. Esmé Squalor and Carmelita Spats were on the second floor. They do not know who to believe and state that they can find their own way. It is also mentioned that the Baudelaires will never encounter Esmé or Carmelita again. On the third floor, Mr. Poe hears Sunny's voice as Justice Strauss tries to tell him that there is a fire. As Mr. Poe claims that he is still in charge of the Baudelaires' affairs, the elevator door closes before they can finish hearing what he has to say. Mrs. Bass was seen on the third story still wearing her blonde wig with her blindfold still stretched over her small narrow mask as she muttered something about a getaway car. Mr. Remora was wandering around the seventh story with Vice-Principal Nero as Mr. Remora was wondering about fried bananas while Vice-Principal Nero worries about his violin case. The Baudelaires saw glimpses of Geraldine Julienne using her microphone as a cane while squealing about headlines. Charles and Sir are holding hands so that they won't lose one another as the bicker over the fact about fires being good for the lumber industry or not. Hugo, Colette, and Kevin were holding the bird paper that Klaus hung on the outside of the sauna. Hugo asked if the plan for the hors d’œuvres is still in operation, Colette talking about plucking off the feathers of crows, and Kevin wondering if he should hold the bird paper in his left hand or his right hand. Mrs. Morrow was seen arguing with Mr. Lesko. A bearded man with a guitar was seen making friends with a woman in a crow-shaped hat as he sings her a song. An unidentified man calls for someone named Bruce and an unidentified woman calls for her mother. Other unidentified people are still wandering the halls of the hotel trying to capture anyone who is suspicious. The narrative does not reveal which guests believed the Baudelaires, which guests believed Count Olaf, and which guests believed Justice Strauss. Though Lemony Snicket hints that some of them died in the fire. On the roof, Klaus reveals that the sugar bowl fell into the pond and not into the laundry room. Here, Violet deduces that Sunny suggested they set the Hotel on fire as a signal so that noble people like Kit, Hector, and the Quagmires would cancel the meeting. As Sunny says "the last safe place is safe no more." Violet makes a chute for the boat to safely make it off the building and they use the giant spatulas used for flipping sunbathers as oars. Justice Strauss attempts to stop the Baudelaires leaving on the boat, but Sunny bites her hand and makes her let go. The boat floats safely down to the ocean, and the Baudelaires are left "in the same boat" as Count Olaf. Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire, and Count Olaf are trapped on a boat heading away from the Hotel Denouement and to the sea. The Baudelaires are forced to listen to Count Olaf brag about how he has triumphed, how successful he is, and how rich he will be with his hands almost on the Baudelaire fortune. Olaf orders the Baudelaires to sail to the nearest luxury car dealership, which they know is ridiculous because they are stranded in the middle of the ocean. After a storm, the Baudelaires and Count Olaf become shipwrecked on an island. However they are welcomed onto the island by a girl named Friday Caliban, while Count Olaf is shunned(Having tried to force Friday to call him king, even pointing the harpoon gun at her). The island facilitator, Ishmael, introduces the Baudelaires to the Islanders and their customs. Although Ishmael (He prefers Ish) always tells the islanders "I won't force you," it soon becomes apparent that his decisions go largely unquestioned and his suggestions are obeyed like orders. Ishmael is chair-ridden and claims his feet are injured. After the Baudelaires introduce themselves, Friday suggests a toast to the Baudelaires which her mother, Miranda Caliban, agrees to. Ishmael says, "Let's drink a toast to the Baudelaire orphans!" despite them not mentioning their lost parents, foreshadowing he knows more about the Baudelaires than he's letting on. They toast with the coconut cordial which everybody carries, but which the Baudelaires dislike. Ishmael repeatedly keeps offering the cordial to the Baudelaires, despite that they repeatedly decline because they think it tastes strange. After another storm, more objects wash up including a giant pile of books tied together in the shape of a cube, an unconscious and pregnant Kit Snicket, and the Incredibly Deadly Viper from Uncle Monty's collection. The island people arrive and Count Olaf tries to fool them with a bad Kit Snicket disguise (with the diving helmet containing the Medusoid Mycelium tucked under his dress as his supposed baby). Strangely, the islanders immediately see through Olaf's flimsy disguise and cage him. The Islanders then debate whether the Baudelaires should be expelled from the colony when Count Olaf yells out from the cage that they are carrying banned items in their pockets. Ishmael decides that the children, Kit, and Olaf should all be abandoned unless they agree to abide by the colony's rules. After everyone leaves, Olaf tries to tempt the children to let him out of the cage by promising to explain the many mysteries and secrets which they have been surrounded by since The Bad Beginning, but they ignore him. That night, two of the islanders (Finn and Erewhon) sneak out to feed the children and ask them a favor. A group of discontented colonists are planning a mutiny against Ishmael in the morning because they are annoyed by his all of his rules. They ask the Baudelaires to go over to the arboretum where all the contraband items are collected and find or make some weapons to use in the rebellion. Further, the mutineers refuse to help Kit unless the Baudelaires help them. The children agree and set off for the arboretum. The Baudelaires discover a well-appointed living area before they are discovered by Ishmael. They learn that their parents were once the island's leaders and were responsible for many improvements meant to make island-life easier and more pleasant, but they were eventually overthrown by Ishmael, who believed that a strictly-enforced simple life (combined with the opiate of the coconut cordial) was the best way to avoid conflict. The Baudelaires find an enormous history of the island, a commonplace book entitled A Series of Unfortunate Events, written by the many different people who had served as island leaders, including their parents and Ishmael. Ishmael also makes references to many other people, including a girl with only one eyebrow and ear (the mother of Isaac Anwhistle) and Gregor Anwhistle. The Baudelaires and Ishmael go back to the other side of the island, where the mutiny is already underway. Count Olaf returns, still in disguise. After a brief exchange, Ishmael harpoons Olaf in the stomach, which shatters the helmet containing the Medusoid Mycelium, infecting the island's entire population at once. With Count Olaf slowly bleeding to death, the Baudelaires run back to the arboretum to try to find some horseradish to cure everyone. They learn that their parents had hybridized an apple tree with horseradish, allowing the fruit to cure the effects of the Medusoid Mycelium. The Incredibly Deadly Viper offers them an apple. After sharing the apple and curing themselves, they then gather more apples for the island's inhabitants, only to discover that the island people have abandoned the mutiny and boarded their outrigger canoe, ready to set sail. Ishmael refuses to allow the apples onboard, though it is clear that he himself has already eaten one to cure himself, and the boat sails away to a horseradish factory to save everyone (It is hinted that one apple might have been sneaked on board by the Incredibly Deadly Viper to tide them over until they reach the factory). Kit tells the Baudelaires the fate of the Quagmires, Hector, Captain Widdershins and his two stepchildren Fernald and Fiona. After reuniting on Hector's float, they are attacked by trained eagles, who pop the balloons supporting the float and send them hurtling back to the ruins of the Queequeg. There, they are taken by the mysterious object shaped like a question mark (called "The Great Unknown" by the author). In turn, the Baudelaires confess their own crimes committed at the Hotel Denouement. At this point, Kit is about to go into labor. She seems to be dying of the fungus, but cannot eat the bitter apple due to the hybrid's unhealthy effects on unborn babies. She is still trapped on top of the cube of books (her Vaporetto of Favorite Detritus) but when the critically-injured and fungus-choked Olaf hears that she is still alive, he takes a bite of an apple and manages to get her safely down onto the beach, giving her a single soft kiss as he lays her on the sand and collapses, still conscious, beside her. Kit recites the poem "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" by Francis William Bourdillon, answered by Olaf reciting the final stanza of Philip Larkin's "This Be The Verse". Count Olaf then dies. The Baudelaires help Kit give birth to a baby girl. Kit Snicket then dies due to the Medusoid Mycelium, after asking the Baudelaires to name the baby after their Mother. The book ends with an epilogue in the form of a short book titled "Chapter Fourteen" that begins one year later. Kit's baby and the Baudelaires sail away from the island on the boat they arrived to the island on to immerse themselves in the world once more. As they board the ship, Kit's baby says the boat's actual name, Beatrice, which is also her own name. In the last illustration of the book, the ocean's wave contains an outline of a question mark or The Great Unknown. It means that it is unknown if the Baudelaires survive the journey back to the mainland or not.