Disclaimer: I am entirely devoid of any proprietary interest in A Series of Unfortunate Events, a phrase which here means "it belongs to Daniel Handler and HarperCollins Children's Books".
Count Olaf grinned an evil grin as he walked up to the man in the wide-brimmed hat and trenchcoat who was tied to one leg of the mah-jongg table.
"Well, Snickeroo," he said, "looks like you won't be chronicling the fate of those three brats much longer. Dear me, sometimes I amaze even myself with my brilliance."
Lemony Snicket smiled beneath the brim of his hat. He had, in fact, already released a boxful of trained termites to eat away the leg of the table, and expected to be able to make his escape within the next two minutes, but he saw no reason to let Count Olaf know this. "Yes, you were quite ingenious," he said. "However did you manage to locate me?"
"Quite simple, Lemon-Juice," said Count Olaf. "One of my associates in the Sports and Games Department informed me that you would probably try to hide in Gaprindashvili Gymnasium at some point in the month of August, so I had one of my associates hide an electronic bugging device into one of the mah-jongg tiles. The instant we heard the sound of that loathsome typewriter of yours, we rushed over here to capture you."
"Fascinating," said Snicket, speaking rather more loudly than necessary so as to drown out the sound of the termites' jaws. "Which tile was it, incidentally?"
Count Olaf's grin became even wider. "Why, this one, of course," he said, grabbing an ivory, domino-shaped object off the tabletop and dangling it in front of Snicket's face.
When Snicket saw the tile, which showed a shape vaguely resembling a house over the Chinese character for "ten thousand", his heart sank, an expression that here means "he realized that he had made an elementary mistake, totally unworthy of a long-standing V.F.D. member". Count Olaf had used a strategy that should have been obvious to any well-read person: he had sent a Six Characters in search of an author.