One

"All the world is a stage and the people, merely players," is a phrase, which was spoken by a very old man, or perhaps a very young man, or even perhaps a very young old man or possibly a woman depending on whether or not you think William is a feminine name. This man wrote several exhaustive plays or stories that have become widely popular and famous over the course of hundreds of years and to this day these words are remembered for their meaning. The phrase however, is poorly constructed because clearly the world is not a stage and the people are not players. A better phrase to use instead might be, "the world is a spherical object floating in space surrounded by other spheres of similar shape and size, although some are marginally larger that others; it is composed of water, land, air, and other materials too numerous to mention and people living on this planet can be actors, players, volunteers, seamstresses, firemen, policewomen, doctors, lawyers, pilots, co-pilots, samurais, computer specialists, wanderers, adventurers, dismal authors, and other professions that could take a lifetime to number." But this phrase would obviously take a lot longer to say and although more accurate, people would get tired of hearing it and would eventually start throwing fruit at you as if you were an actor on a stage. The phrase itself refers to how we often feel that in life others are watching us and we feel as if our entire life is like a theatrical production. For if our life were in fact one grand play, then we wouldn't have to worry about various things, such as death and tragedy since as soon as the curtain fell everything would be all right and we'd all get paid equally for our roles. Sadly life is not like a theatrical production even though often times it seems that way and people do tend to watch us.

The reason I am beginning this story with this phrase should be obvious enough to you by now, the world of the Baudelaires was not a stage and even though they were now members of V.F.D. thanks to their semi-stellar work in the past few weeks, a phrase which here means, "The children succeeded in revealing Mr. Dominic to be a wicked individual but were unable to capture him." And even though Violet, Sunny, Beatrice and Klaus would've preferred to be actors in a theatrical play, rather than miserable orphans who were now surrounded by mystery and deceit and wickedness at every corner; such was their lot in life and the Baudelaires realized that they had to make the most of their circumstances. So even though they weren't able to stay at the schoolhouse that V.F.D. had been using due to the fact that Mr. Dominic burned it down and even though they hadn't been able to discover a single thing about their parents or their parents' connection to Mr. Dominic or any secret at all whatsoever, even if it had simply been a secret recipe for something the Baudelaires realized that now they were in the back of a cab once again, driving to a location they were unfamiliar with about to perform tasks they didn't fully understand.

The man driving the taxi had only recently come into the children's lives and even though he claimed to be a noble individual they were still undecided about him, a phrase which here means, "Since Falo continuously referred to himself as Count Olaf's evil twin, the Baudelaires couldn't decide if he was helping them or not especially since he seemed to be rather forgetful." "Violet, I cannot wait for you to see where we are going, I bet you will remember it the most. You were either five or six when you were here last, before it was shut down," Falo was saying as they drove toward the city. "Before what was shut down?" Violet asked in confusion. "Now Klaus, I know you're an avid reader, so I am positive that you'll enjoy looking at the library. At least I think there's still a library there, I'm not entirely certain," Falo added cheerfully. "A library for what?" Klaus asked. "And Sunny, your expertise as a cook will come in handy once we can reopen. I am almost positive we can still use the kitchen," Falo commented. Sunny merely glanced at her siblings and all of them immediately realized that Falo was too busy talking to himself to be listening to them.

So the orphans had to sit quietly in the back of the cab as they drove closer to wherever it was that Falo was taking them and hoped that it was somewhere better than where they had been before. During their series of unfortunate events, the Baudelaires had lived at a variety of locations, such as a lumber mill, a penthouse apartment, a submarine and even had been part of a traveling circus. So they had grown accustomed to leaving one place and going to the next, although each time it seemed that they had gotten so very close to discovering something important, a phrase which here means "Count Olaf rudely ruined matters by showing up." But now that the villain was dead, and they were far far away from the island that had been their home for over a year and were members of V.F.D. they had thought things would get better. But their time at the Very Fine Dwelling had proved that wickedness still existed and was already messing things up for them again and although the Baudelaires had no clue what Mr. Dominic had planned for them they were positive that it wasn't going to pleasant. "We're here," Falo exclaimed as he pointed out the grimy window toward a building that was in between two streets.

From their view inside the taxi, it was impossible for the children to figure out exactly what type of building it was. It appeared to be rather large and took up the entire block, and seemed to have no windows except a few on the front near the entrance. From within the taxi, their view was distorted and so the Baudelaires presumed that once they stepped out of the vehicle; things would improve. Whenever you have a distorted view of something, the first reaction you may have is to buy glasses; and after that fails to work you may realize that buying the glasses wasn't actually the problem after all. Because a distorted view usually has nothing to do with our eyes, but with our mind and no amount of eyewear will change how our brain thinks and works. For example, some people have the distorted view that certain types of art are actually quite fantastic despite the fact that I could've done something similar whenever I was very very young. I am not saying this to brag, or to assume I was a genius whenever I was an infant (although perhaps that would explain certain things like how I remembered to sing the entire anthem of a certain secret organization while eating crackers) But what I am trying to convey is that these people presume the artwork of a five year old is in the same venue as a world renowned painter and so therefore a distorted view is created.

For the Baudelaires, they assumed that once they stepped out of the taxi their own view of the building would improve because they thought that what they saw thru the grimy window was surely a mistake. However when Falo stopped the car and got out and then opened the car door for the children, the Baudelaires realized that their distorted view was nothing in comparison to the real thing. The building appeared to be almost entirely boarded up, and the few windows near the entrance were broken and the paint appeared to be peeling off and the lights inside flickered and they realized that the entire place was in fact a theater. "Ah, what a marvelous sight this is to my old eyes. I haven't been here in ages," Falo exclaimed. The orphans looked at their new guardian in confusion and wondered if maybe he too had a distorted view of the theater and then Klaus asked, "What is this place?" "The Ned H. Rirger Theater, built well before you or I were born by a famous man who wrote plays for our organization. Can you guess who that man was?" the evil twin asked. "Ned H. Rirger?" Violet said.

"That's right! You must've heard your parents talk about him from time to time. He's responsible for bringing them together you know. Quite a star that one," Falo said trailing off as he grew thoughtful. "Our mother?" Violet asked. "Come along children, we have to get things ready for the grand reopening!" Falo exclaimed as he approached the door and got out a large amount of keys from his pocket and began to rummage thru them in search of the right one. Klaus, Violet, Sunny and Beatrice's eyes roamed the exterior of the building and they wondered if the inside would be any better looking then the outside. But from Falo's talk about it being closed for many many years, for once the orphans guessed correctly and presumed that the inside would be dusty, moldy, and rundown. But as the evil twin of Count Olaf led them inside the theater, they soon discovered that their guesses about its state paled in comparison to what it really looked like; a phrase which here means, "the theater had sticky carpet, peeling wallpaper, poor lighting, food strewn everywhere, and posters older than Violet." "Eww, all of this carpet is extremely sticky," Sunny exclaimed in disbelief. "There's butter all thru the carpet," Klaus explained as he felt the carpet squish against his shoes.

"Everything in here looks older than I am," Violet exclaimed as she peered at one poster about some sort of play that started with the words "One Last" but the rest was torn off by the passage of time or perhaps a criminal. "Rasana," Beatrice added, which probably meant, "I've never been to a theater before, but I'm sure they're supposed to look better than this." Or perhaps, "Why does Falo look so happy to be in this rundown place?" "Ah children, this place is so wonderful, it is here that every volunteer from our organization was able to learn all that they needed to know about theatrics, acting and playwrights. Why I remember one conversation I had when the-" Falo paused as his shoes stuck against the carpet and then he looked at the children in surprise as if it was there fault and said angrily, "Sticky carpet just won't do for our reopening, children. It looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us." "Shouldn't we wait for the other members of V.F.D. to get here?" Klaus asked tiredly, not wanting to have to clean the entire theater all on his own. "I understand that you are probably tired from the trip, Klaus. But this is not the time to slack off. Our fellow volunteers are counting on us and this theater must be ready for the grand reopening in three days," Falo explained as he walked thru the wide double doors into the main auditorium. The Baudelaires walked across the sticky carpet and followed their guardian inside the dank dark studio and they all gasped in awe. Perhaps they gasped in awe because of the sheer size of the theater, for surely the children had never seen one so large, in fact as they would soon find out, the entire place had well over two thousand seats. Or perhaps they gasped in awe of the massive chandelier that was held precariously above them and appeared to made of solid gold and stood out as the most impressive part of the theater.

Or maybe it was the ornate design of the stage that caught their attention and the children were stunned by how much craftsmanship had gone into creating it. But sadly, none of these were the reason that the Baudelaires gasped in awe, although all of these were very good reasons to gasp in awe but there was another more outstanding reason, and that was the unbelievable filthiness of the theater. On almost every seat, it appeared large amounts of bubble gum had been stuck under them, and drinks had been spilled and popcorn stuck onto the even stickier carpet. The chandelier was humongous in size and also appeared to be so old that it would fall at any given moment and I am sad to report at a certain given moment in this story that will happen. And the stage was extremely worn, the wooden floor appeared to be eaten by termites and Klaus and his siblings worried that if they stepped foot on it they might fall thru. "This place looks just like we left it," Falo complained, his words echoing thru the auditorium.

Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice looked at each other and no doubt wondered why the evil twin of Count Olaf has expected things to be different when they arrived. "I must say it looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us," Falo commented as he walked down the main aisle, his feet squishing with each step against the butter coated carpet and the Baudelaires followed cautiously after him, and wondered why their new guardian so ecstatic about saving the rundown theater. "It looks like renovating this place could take years, not a few days," Sunny remarked. "Or longer," Klaus added. "And what does this theater have to do with V.F.D. or stopping our enemies? How will refurbishing do that?" Violet wondered. "Dareq," Beatrice added, which probably meant, "Where is Falo heading to underneath the stage?" or perhaps, "This place smells extremely salty."

The three older Baudelaires saw what Beatrice was talking about as the evil twin of Count Olaf opened something in the floor and then seemed to disappear from view entirely. As they got closer, they realized it was a secret door that led down below the stage, and the children carefully followed after their guardian. The basement of the theater was probably the only place that didn't have sticky carpets. But that was only because there were no carpets, and everything was covered in dust. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, the children saw that there were little pockets of light coming from the trap doors in the stage floor above them, and on the far right wall they saw that there were levers for each trap door, each numbered for that spot in the floor. Falo was busily rummaging thru the various boxes as they got to the bottom of the steps and then he exclaimed, "Aha!" He turned to the Baudelaires and said, "Come over here children and see what I have found." The orphans approached him and looked in the dusty old box which was filled with clothes that looked vaguely familiar and Falo explained, "I believe during your stay at the Hotel Denouement you had the privilege of working as connoisseurs along side Frank or Ernest, isn't that right?" "Yes, we were trying to find out about J.S. and what Olaf and his hench-people were planning," Violet answered. "And we met Dewey and were unable to prevent his untimely death," Sunny added. "And we had to flee from the hotel whenever we helped Olaf burn it down," Klaus lamented. "Well, these disguises won't result in such a terrible tragedy as that, I assure you," Falo said as he took out each one and explained, "You're going to be working under my supervision as employees of the Ned H. Rirger Theater.

These costumes will make our patrons assume you are a part of the theater, and not in fact volunteers; do you understand?" "Why is there a need for disguises?" Klaus asked. "Because we need to lure our enemies here to find out about their dastardly plans," Falo explained. "You mean we'll use this theater as bait for Mr. Dominic?" Violet guessed. "And hopefully other wicked people will also take the bait," Falo said with a nod. "Why would they come here if they know that this place is owned by V.F.D.?" Sunny asked. "When we reopen the theater, I will claim ownership and also, Mr. Rirger is an old friend of your family I am quite certain he won't mind," the evil twin of Count Olaf assured them. "So how do we get them here?" Klaus asked and then added, "What do we use for bait?" "Well that's the most important part of my plan Baudelaires, I am going to use something Mr. Dominic and his cohorts can't possibly refuse," Falo leaned towards them with a wry smile and then whispered, "You."

Two

If you've ever gotten the chance to go out onto a body of water and spend time fishing, then I am sure you are aware if you hope to catch anything you have to cast your line out and use bait to lure the fish toward you. Sadly this process can take well over three hours or even longer and therefore fishing requires a lot of patience or laziness depending on what type of person you are and whether or not there is a reason you're sitting out on a body of water rather than engaging in more enjoyable social activities.

But on the off chance that you do find pleasure in sitting in a small easily sinkable dingy and casting your line out into the water in the vain hope of capturing an aquatic creature, then you should know that depending on what type of fish you want to catch you must use different types of bait. The reason I am using this analogy is for you to better understand the predicament that the Baudelaires were in whenever Falo explained that he planned on using them as bait to catch Mr. Dominic and his evil henchmen, none of which they even knew about. Because in this case, the Baudelaires were the bait, and they took no delight in the fact that Falo seemed unconcerned about using them to lure their enemies to the theater they were now inside. As their new guardian instructed them to put on their disguises, Violet worried that if Mr. Dominic did find them; he would only cause more problems and the destruction of this theater and I'm afraid she is right. As Klaus adjusted his cap in the broken mirror, he wondered if there were any clues hidden anywhere in the theater about their parents and whether or not they would find any of them and I'm afraid that he was right. And as Sunny tried to fit into the large costume and looked like a very short bellhop, she wondered if there was any chance that they would be getting a warm meal anytime soon and I'm afraid that she was wrong. Once they finished getting dressed they returned to where Falo was waiting for them and were surprised to see that the evil twin of Count Olaf had also changed his clothes and was now wearing a costume that made him appear to be an impresario, that is a man who runs a theater. "Ah I am glad that your costumes fit you so well, Baudelaires. Now, we should really to get to work on cleaning this place up," Falo said cheerfully.

Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice had a hundred questions or more they would've preferred to ask him, but sadly the man was too excited about the task at hand to allow them to even inquire about a single thing. For example, if Falo hadn't have been in a rush, Violet would've probably asked, "Did our parents work here in the theater too?" And if Falo hadn't shot right up the stairs, Klaus would've inquired, "Shouldn't we wait for our other volunteers to get here?" And had they not been standing alone, Sunny would've wondered, "Can I find a uniform in my size?" But once again, it seemed the answers to their questions evaded them and Sunny was watching Beatrice crawl as her brother commented, "Where are we supposed to sleep at night?" "How in the world are we supposed to clean this entire theater by ourselves?" Violet asked as she thought about all of the sticky carpet. "I don't know the first thing about cleaning carpet," Sunny commented. "So what are we going to do?" Klaus asked. "I think we're just going to have to give it our best shot," Violet decided. What Violet meant was not referring to using a hand weapon to hit a target in a sport, but this phrase of "giving it your best shot" commonly means that a person does all that they can to perform a certain task, and they are doing this even though they aren't positive that what they are doing will turn out all right. So whenever you are giving your best shot, the odds are against you and the best thing to do is give up since you have no chance of actually succeeding.

So when Violet said that she and her siblings should give it your best shot, she probably knew that there a one in a million chance of their succeeding in cleaning the entire theater and even though their attempt to give it their best shot would not succeed and there was a slim chance of them doing much of anything, the eldest Baudelaire had another reason for telling her siblings to give it their best shot. For while they were cleaning the theater, Violet told Klaus and Sunny, "We should search for clues about this place. I know Falo wants us to focus on the reopening of the theater, but we need to know how our parents were involved with Mr. Rirger and how V.F.D. was connected to all of this." Klaus and Sunny nodded in agreement and then the youngest Baudelaire said, "Dratien." Which probably meant, "What are we looking for?" or maybe, "Are we sure we want to be involved in this?" or even, "I wish we could get a good meal before we started our search." Violet picked up the infant and softly rocked her and then commented, "I'll take Beatrice with me, and we can meet up here at the end of the day, does that sound good?" Her younger siblings nodded in agreement and then she said, "All right, lets split up. I'll explore the upper levels. Klaus, clean the auditorium; Sunny check out the kitchen." Sunny headed off toward the entrance and Klaus gathered what cleaning supplies he could and Violet started toward the stairs that led to the upper levels of the theater.

As each Baudelaire attended to their task, they each knew that they were going to give it their best shot. Klaus was going to give it his best shot to clean the entire theater, despite the butter covered carpet and the unbelievable amount of soda pop on the chairs and in the process, search for anything he could learn about their past. Sunny went to the kitchen and gave it her best shot to clean the entire kitchen, despite the large amount of dirty dishes, food thrown all over the floor and attempt to search for clues about their past. Neither of their efforts proved successful and since I have now told you that neither of their efforts were successful, there is no need for me to explain how terrible it was for Klaus to use the few cleaning supplies he had to scrub the floors and to check under the seats and to slowly wash the chairs and there is no reason for me inform you how hard Sunny worked to wash all of the dishes that she could and also used a broom which was twice her size to sweep up the food. So since, their efforts to find anything were unsuccessful it is also pointless to let you know that they didn't finish their task of cleaning the theater.

Violet and Beatrice were also thinking that they were going to find nothing at all, as the eldest Baudelaire held the infant close to her she began to search the dressing rooms of the actors that used to work there. None of the names sounded familiar to her, and inside she found the usual make-up kits, clothes, mirrors and old playwrights. It wasn't until she arrived at the end of the hallway that she found something that made her stop dead in her tracks. The expression, "stop dead in your tracks" usually refers to an event that causes you to stop whatever it was that you were doing and to notice something that has your full attention. For example, if you were walking thru a zoo and suddenly a large ape escaped from a cage and came in front of you, I would presume you would stop dead in your tracks and run the other direction. What may stop you dead in your tracks however, is what stopped Violet dead in hers for there in front of the eldest Baudelaire was a large wooden door. Now, it goes without saying that it was not the door itself which caused Violet to stop in her tracks because if it had been then perhaps had you been there you would've chided her and told her this was foolish. After all, a mere wooden door could not possibly prove frightening to Violet, unless of course there did happen to be a large ape of some sort standing in front of it, in which case I would suggest you apologized to the eldest Baudelaire.

But it was not a large simian that caused Violet to stop in her tracks, or the door itself for that matter, but rather it was the inscription of two letters which was plainly read in the middle of a large gold star that caused her to stop dead in her tracks. It was her younger companion who chose to break the silence and said, "Kaqq!" which probably meant, "Violet, what're you staring at?" or perhaps, "Look! That inscription looks like it could be someone's initials!" This latter statement the youngest orphan made was actually quite accurate for in the middle of the golden star that adorned the door were the letters B.S. In bold black frames. Violet picked up her adopted sister and opened the door slowly, and for the second time, stopped dead in her tracks. On the other side of the wooden door was a dressing room, which appeared to have not been used in quite some time. There were cobwebs and dust covering almost every piece of furniture in the dark room, which made it even more difficult to see anything anyways. There were pieces of half-eatten apples and clutters of paper, torn, tattered and destroyed lying around the room as well. In the east part of the dressing room, Violet spotted a vanity with a mirror that had several cracks in it. If there hadn't been so much dust and mold on the vanity and the armoire close by, I'm sure Violet would've found them quite beautiful, but instead she commented to her adopted sibling, "What a mess!"

"Madango," Beatrice said, which probably meant "I'll get sick if we stay in here too long." or perhaps "Violet, look at all these costumes and dresses" the garments the young toddler was referencing hung in a closet on the south side of the dressing room, where also there were several thumbtacks and Violet presumed old posters had once hung in these spots. "If there were some way we could clean these garments, I'm certain I might fit into some of them," Violet stated. There were costumes for every sort of play imaginable, and even for some that were quite unimaginable, some that had fancy weavings for the part of a princess or a countess and others that looked drab, not by the course of time but because they were meant for the roles of a thief or a peasant. There were some that looked bulky, such as a piece of shining armor, although now the shine was all gone. And there were others that looked extravagant, for the role of perhaps a lion tamer or a circus performer. All of the costumes were far too large for Beatrice to wear although there were three or four Violet suspected she could wear, and she wished if she had the time, she would clean the dresses and try them on, for it had been quite some time since the oldest orphan had gotten new clothes. But Violet knew that neither she nor her siblings had time for such pleasantries, especially considering the daunting task Falo had given them to clean the entire theater in a matter of days, a feat which I must remind you, shall prove impossible for the children.

While she was examining the dresses, her younger adopted sister crawled over to the vanity and got onto the chair setting next to it and began to examine the variety of things on the counter. There were containers of makeup, eyeliner, and powder, a jewelry box which was half empty, mascara, false eyebrows, wigs, color tone, brushes and nail polish and Beatrice quickly guessed that these utensils were meant for the actress to look good while performing. Upon closer inspection, the toddler discovered that there was a small brouchure with fancy writing among all of these other things and quickly she called out to Violet, saying, "Jadana!" which was probably her way of saying, "Violet! Come and see what I found!" or perhaps, "You know I can't read as good as you can" Violet turned from the clothes she was skimming thru to approach her younger sibling and gazed at the pamphlet and for the third time, stopped dead in her tracks. By this time, every single thing that Violet had seen since her arrival at the Ned H. Rirger Theater had been shocking, but this was the most shocking of all. The pamphlet was for a play, of course, seeing as the eldest Baudelaire was in a theater currently; and on the front of it was the following message:

My Silence Knot

by L.S.

at the Ned H. Rirger Theater

to be performed with live animals

My silence knot is tied up in my hair,

as if to keep love out of my eyes.

I cannot speak to the one of whom I care,

a hatpin serves as part of my disguise.

In the play my role is a baticeer,

a word which here means 'a person who trains bats"

The audience may feel a prick of fear,

as if sharp pins are hidden in their hats.

My co-star lives on what we call a brae,

His solitude might not just be an act.

A piece of mail fails to arrive one day.

This poignant melodrama's based on fact.

and on the back was written,

Beatrice, you did fabulously on your part as the Baticeer, I knew you would play it just as a pro that you are. Pay no attention to Esmé's arrogance. I'm sure she will be gone before you know it.

The Baticeer….. B.S

The Braeman…..L.S.

P.S.

Meet me after Wednesday's show, we must discuss a private matter

With all Due Respect, LS

Violet turned to Beatrice, and then glanced at the pamphlet again to make sure she hadn't read it wrong and then said, "I think we should go find Klaus and Sunny." The infant allowed her older adoptive sister to pick her up and together they left the upper portion of the Ned H. Rirger Theater, eager to share their finding with their siblings.

If you, however, have presumed that this clue that Violet found regarding the play was the beginning of good fortune for the Baudelaires, let me reassure you that this was not the case. For in the very next chapter things would continue to get worse for the children whenever they met old acquaintances that they weren't particularly caring to meet again, and whenever Falo points out some facts the children already knew. But since these things are in the next chapter and not this one, I shall instead relate how tired the Baudelaires were whenever they gathered in the basement that night, and Violet and Beatrice chose to wait until the opportune moment to share their news with their siblings. Falo, their guardian, stopped by and stated, "Congratulations Baudelaires, it looks like you're making fine progress. Now I hope you are ready bright and early tomorrow for another day's activity."

"Where will we be staying?" Klaus wondered. "Why here at the theater, of course. I'll be staying in the impresario's quarters upstairs… an impresario, children, is a person who runs a theater. I know we do not actually own this theater, but for the sake of pretenses, I shall play my part," Falo explained and then added, "Remember, we must be prepared to reopen the theater in a few days." As their new guardian left, the children collapsed onto the basement floor to catch their breath from all the cleaning they had done and to plan for the future. Sunny opened up her knapsack and commented, "I found some food that might be edible from the concession stand, it's the best I could do." Klaus looked thru his commonplace notebook and found a photograph that he'd been holding onto since their departure from the Very Fine Dwelling and said, "I wish we could've found out more about this picture." Beatrice and Violet took this opportunity to pull out the pamphlet they'd found upstairs and the eldest orphan said, "Klaus, Sunny, we found a clue upstairs. Look at this."

They passed their discovery to their siblings and the others looked it over in shock and awe just as Violet and Beatrice had and Sunny proclaimed, "Who do you suppose this is?" "Isn't it obvious?" Klaus countered and then added, "Our mother was an actress here, before she got married!" "But who is L.S.?" Sunny wondered and then added, "And why did he write on the back here about her performance?" "I didn't see a dressing room with his name or initials on it, but I stopped exploring when I found this one," Violet commented. "I bet tomorrow while we're cleaning we can find even more clues about this," Klaus said excitedly and then added, "Maybe this is what being a noble volunteer is all about." "I don't particularly care what being a volunteer is all about… I'm just curious about our parents and what happened to them," Violet explained as she yawned and added, "I think we should all get some sleep." The other orphans nodded in agreement and looked around the dark basement and Klaus commented, "I'm guessing upstairs is no cleaner?" "Not really," his older sister admitted. "Then we'll have to give it our best shot to sleep here," Sunny decided.

The Baudelaires each found a spot comfortable to them considering the circumstances, and tried their best to fall asleep despite the myriad of mysteries on their young minds. Violet chose the one chair in the room and rocked Beatrice to sleep, and Sunny climbed inside a broken trunk and slept among the dirty clothes and Klaus slept against the stairs that led up to the stage, which was perhaps the most uncomfortable of all. But for the children, they were accustomed to being mistreated, even by noble people such as Falo claimed to be. They knew that if they hoped to uncover what had happened here at the Ned H. Rirger Theater years ago, they'd have to give it their best shot, even if their best shot would not amount to much.