There is a supposed law, that I most certainly following on a regular basis in my day to day life, called Murphy's Law. It is the law stating that anything, anything at all, that could possibly go wrong will go wrong. It was named after Captain Edward A. Murphy, an engineer working on an Air Force project designed to see how much sudden deceleration a person can stand in a crash. One day, after finding all the transducer were wired wrong, Edward Murphy cursed the technician responsible for the mishap, saying, 'If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll find it.' The project manager kept a list of 'laws', and added Murphy's Law, immortalizing in human history.

Well, the Baudelaires, had they knew about Murphy's Law, would have most certainly agreed that it applied to them in every way, shape, and form. Form the fire that killed their parents, to the murder of Montgomery Montgomery and Josephine Anwhistle, the accidents at Lucky Smells Lumbermill, the terrible teaching at Prufrock Prep, the cruelty of Esme Squalor at 667 Dark Avenue, the absurdly strict rulings and attempted burning in the Village of Fowl Devotees, the near murder at Heimlich Hospital, death of Olivia Caliban, the separation of the Mortmain Mountains, and the poisonous Medusoid Mycelium in the Gorgonian Grotto, anything that could go wrong in the Baudelaires lives seemed to go wrong.

Well, as Violet Baudelaire and Duncan Quagmire went up to room 529 in the Hotel Denouement, they ran into one of the managers.

"Ah, hello concierges! We seem to have experienced an issue with the clock in the lobby." Said Ernest, or maybe it was Frank.

"Then why did we come all the way up to the fifth floor?" asked Duncan, disguising his voice in case it wasn't Frank, but perhaps it wasn't Ernest.

"Because this is where the clock is controlled from. You know what 529 is in the Dewey Decimal System, correct?" There a slight pause in either-Frank-or-Ernest's voice, before continuing. "Chronology, the study of time and history. It only makes sense to have the clock here."

Of course, it made very little sense to have a clock in the first floor lobby controlled and powered from the fifth floor, but of course, Violet and Duncan knew better than to argue.

"Do either of you have mechanical prowess?" asked either-Ernest-or-Frank, looking carefully at the two 'concierges'.

"I have a bit, sir." Violet piped up, although we both knew this was an understatement, a word that here means 'Violet Baudelaire was a remarkable inventor, and certainly had more than a 'bit' of mechanical prowess.'

"Lovely! Try and get this working so it goes off at eleven AM sharp." Said the Denouement, before pausing. "Goodbye, Duncan, Violet." said the twin, before leaving the room.

The two were frozen in place, but quickly the two started getting to work, Violet repairing the clock, Duncan assisting and writing down their discussion in his own commonplace book, which had been generously replaced by Kit Snicket during their brief encounter.

"Do you think that was Frank? Also, pipe wrench." Violet asked, before Duncan handed her a pipe wrench to work on the clock.

"He seemed to know our names, and Frank knows we're here." Duncan replied, jotting that down. "But that 'goodbye' seemed like a threat, so was it Ernest?"

"If it was Ernest, why didn't he attack us? Also, flat screwdriver." Violet said.

"Maybe he was told not to attack us. Of course, Frank wouldn't attack us either..."

"I'm already getting confused, and that's before this clock started going again. Also, I see the problem. This paper got stuck in the gears." Violet said, pulling the papers out.

The two looked at the sheets in from of them. They were marked with unmade inventions, and all of them were signed simply Denouement. Concepts for an underwater library, the clock behind them, a secret basement. All of them seemed interesting, and were written on Hotel Denouement marked papers.

"Should we keep this? Frank won't mind." Violet said.

"Ernest will mind." Duncan replied,

"Mind what?" said a voice, and both of them jumped.

"Frank? Or Ernest?" Violet asked the manager, startled.

"Precisely. So, how's the clock coming along?" asked Frank or Ernest.

"I think I've got it. It was jammed with papers." Said Violet. "Can we keep these papers?"

"If the clock works, sure." Said Ernest or Frank. "Also, I'd turn it on right now, it's almost eleven.

Violet quickly hit the button to make the gears of the clock spin, and it started ticking once more.

"So, can we keep these?" asked Duncan. At the manager nod, he smiled. "Thanks. They might come in handy."

Wrong!

Wrong!

Wrong!

I am sorry to say that the clock in the Hotel Denouement rewarded Violet and Duncan with its pessimist outlook on if the papers would be helpful or not.

Wrong!

Wrong!

Wrong!

Some simple disturbance might send our buildings toppling. Some minor ripple might cause disorder. I know that, but I truly have to say that it's my sworn duty to report these tragic events. That's why I am here to tell you that this was not what Violet had in mind when she agreed to see how she fix the clock in the lobby of the Hotel Denouement. And Duncan Quagmire wasn't ready for the peaceful story, or part thereof, to go away. Sadly, all peace eventually goes away, and as the clock starting ringing.

Wrong!

Despite all that, Violet and Duncan had hope. Hope that things would not painfully. Hope that this series of unfortunate events would come to an end.

Wrong!

A good old friend of mine named Charlie Green wrote and composed an original song called 'World of Grey', that told a story in which a victim of terrible science experiments tried to leave the testing facility. It was a dark ambient song explaining how the testing would bring them to insanity.

Wrong!

This song would explain one of the people in the Hotel Denouement, as the trial that was about to begin. A grating experiment that would drive them to insanity.

Wrong!

I wish I could say that the Baudelaires and Quagmires would be safe from this total insanity.

Wrong!

But that's not how the story goes.