Three
If you have ever searched for something because you needed to find it, or simply out of sport, or perhaps you actually weren't searching for something but were actually hiding and instead someone was searching for you in the effort to hunt you down to inform you that the books you authored were so horrendous that it led to many a sleepless night and even a visit to a clinic where such things are studied and the author fearing for his life used every means possible to remain hidden, even though most people presumed he was dead; then you would undoubtedly use the phrase "left no stone unturned."
This phrase means that if you are on such a search for a treasure, or a lost dog or a dismal writer, you would see to it that you searched everywhere and under everything and even could be taken literally if you actually have time to turn over every stone and see perhaps if there is a secret passageway underneath, which I am hoping you do not have the time seeing as I am currently hiding in the garden under a rock formation from certain people who feel that they must leave no stone unturned in confirming that I am dead and not living which in fact I am not. And should you happen to be one of these people and are using this manuscript to uncover clues as to my current whereabouts, I'm not there at all but rather somewhere else entirely.
And if you are a person who is searching for me for another reason entirely, perhaps as an assistant eager to relay some vital information in a case we are both working on, then I would inform you Beatrice; to send help immediately. However it is quite likely that you are neither of these, and therefore it would be far simpler for me to explain what this phrase means in connection to the Baudelaires which is what I was planning on doing either way.
The Baudelaires were not searching for a treasure or a writer in the Ned H. Rirger Theater, but rather were hunting for clues regarding their parents mysterious past a phrase which here means "Violet had uncovered an old movie pamphlet with their mother's name on it and now the Baudelaires felt certain that there must be other clues hidden within the theater, although the ones they found would prove most disturbing to them" and they were seeing to it that they left no stone unturned.
This did not mean that the children were turning over literal rocks, seeing as there were none within the theater, except perhaps a few backstage that turned out to be props. But rather it meant that Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice used the next day to search for more clues everywhere that their duties took them. Klaus returned to the humongous auditorium and began checking under every single chair for perhaps a loose piece of paper relating to an article, but instead found gobs of gum stuck to them and used his time to scrape it off.
Sunny returned to the kitchen and began to search the cabinets and the shelves for anything of importance perhaps relating to a special banquet that volunteers were involved with yet instead found more clutter and cobwebs within the compartments and she used rags and soap to clean them slowly and wearily. And Violet and Beatrice left no stone unturned by searching thoroughly thru the upper dressing rooms unlike they had the previous day and looked under cabinets and in drawers and closets for any sort of clue relating to their mother, or their father and probably would've been satisfied had they found a clue relating to a distant relative.
Instead, all three of the Baudelaires found nothing whatsoever throughout the day and when they rejoined one another that evening in the basement under the stage, Falo was nowhere to be seen, so the children took the extra time they had to think about things. "I've been thinking," Violet said as she examined the pamphlet again and then added, "Maybe this L.S. is the same person who played the braeman in the play, the one named Lemony." "I've been considering that too, and I remembered that was the name our mother was going to call you if you had happened to be a boy," Klaus commented.
"I've been wondering about that as well, because Kit told us that it was tradition to name a child after someone near and dear to the family who had died. Yet I don't remember our parents discussing anyone named Lemony," Sunny stated. Then the youngest member of their current family said something that caused the Baudelaires to stop and think about their more recent unpleasant activities. "Dominic," their adopted sister commented softly and her three older siblings didn't have to ask as to what she meant. The man she referenced was Mister Dominic a wicked instructor from the schoolhouse that V.F.D. had used some time ago, which the Baudelaires spent a short period of time in until this same wicked individual burned the Very Fine Dwelling to the ground along with all the clues it possibly contained. However, what Beatrice also was reminding her sisters and brother of, were the meager answers they had found. "Beatrice is right, Mister Dominic is the key to this whole enigma," Klaus commented in agreement and then stated, "Do you recall that article he wrote, on 'Why Starting Fires Is Better Than Stopping Them'?"
"It was in the Daily Punctilio," Sunny recalled and then exclaimed, "But the other articles we found were by someone named L.S." "But is it the same L.S.? There are a lot of people who have the same initials, Sunny," Violet pointed out and then added, "When we were at the Hotel Denouement trying to find out who J.S. was, we weren't sure it if was Justice Strauss, or Jerome Squalor or even Jacques Snicket, and didn't know for sure until Jerome Squalor and Justice Strauss arrived."
"So then L.S. who wrote in the newspaper could actually be someone else entirely?" Sunny asked in confusion. "Or the one who wrote on this pamphlet could be another person as well," Klaus added. "So then we really don't know who this Lemony is, except that he apparently knew our mother well enough that she felt it would be the proper thing to name her child after him if it happened to be a boy," Violet said, and probably thought of what a horrible name Lemony is, which by the way if you should ever have the task of naming a newborn child, I would recommend to never ever name your child Lemony seeing as it is a rather terrible name and even if you do have any relatives or friends with this name or perhaps know of a certain author with a similar name or perhaps the same name as the one the Baudelaires were searching for, I would still say to never name your child this and to instead name it something rather beautiful perhaps Abigail or Rebecca. "Maybe we should just ask Falo about all of this," Sunny recommended.
"But he's too busy reopening the theater," Violet argued. "But he was once associated with V.F.D. back in the heyday, maybe he knows who Lemony was," Klaus commented. "Or maybe he knows what our mother's maiden name was," Sunny added pointing to the pamphlet again. This was another mystery that disturbed the children, for other than their mother and father, they knew nothing of relatives, and Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice didn't know what family their mother had belonged to before her marriage and weren't certain of the significance of this as of yet. "Where is Falo anyways?" the eldest Baudelaire wondered, choosing to change the subject rather than dwell on the latest mystery they'd uncovered. As if that was the signal for him to arrive, the children heard footsteps above them and then Falo's voice called out, "Baudelaires! Where are you?"
The siblings cringed slightly not because they were frightened of their new guardian, but because his voice sounded exactly like that of his good twin Count Olaf and even thought they knew Falo was not his brother, but instead looked exactly like him; they hesitated before walking up the stairs to the stage. What happened next however, was something that didn't have time to prepare for. Unlike the Baudelaires, who experienced the next unfortunate event in their very unfortunate lives immediately, you as the reader have plenty of time to prepare ourselves for what happens, so I would recommend doing so, even though no amount of preparation would prove adequate.
But if you should think you have spent enough time preparing yourself, then I recommend you first go mountain climbing, cross the desert, skydiving, sunbathing, horseback riding, bug hunting, whale watching, and hourglass shopping before you might be slightly prepared for this very unfortunate event. For as the Baudelaires stepped out onto the stage and turned to where Falo was standing, they saw that he was not alone. There were six individuals standing there along side the Baudelaire's new guardian, and these personages were so recognizable to the Baudelaires that they didn't even have to have a second glance at them to know who they were.
And if you are familiar with the tragedies that have befallen the children then you also will be quite familiar with these people and so therefore, the only description I need to give is standing by Falo was a tall man with a long nose, a person that looked neither like a man nor a woman, two powder faced women, a tall man that was actually quite short and a short woman that was actually quite tall and an older man who looked mute. These individuals, although unnamed, were immediately recognizable to the orphans and perhaps are also to you, and since they are it should come as no surprise for Klaus to say, "Its Count Olaf's traveling troupe!"
And it would not shock you to hear Violet exclaim, "I thought we'd lost the powder faced women on Mt. Fraught!" And it wouldn't be unexpected at all for Sunny to comment, "There are new members of his troupe that I don't recognize." All of these statements were quite true, and as the Baudelaires looked at their old enemies and their enemies looked back at them, they turned to Falo for some explanation to all of this, and their new guardian looked quite pleased with himself.
"Of course it is my brother's traveling troupe! If we are going to reopen this theater, we're going to need more volunteers, especially ones with experience on the stage," the evil twin of Count Olaf exclaimed and the three orphans noted that he sounded especially like his brother when he said it. "I'm not sure I understand what is going on here, why are they here?" Violet wondered. "Children, it may surprise you to learn that wicked people may become noble just as noble people can become wicked," Falo answered.
This was actually something that the Baudelaires knew quite well and more recently had been brought to their attention by Mister Dominic whenever he'd showed them that perhaps their parents weren't as noble as the children presumed and perhaps he wasn't as wicked as they originally thought either. "We have agreed to help Falo in his scheme to stop wickedness," the tall man with the long nose explained with a wry smile. "Now that Count Olaf is dead, we no longer have to listen to his wicked commands," the one who looked neither like a man or a woman stated.
"And we are more than happy to return to this traveling troupe now that Olaf has been disposed of," the powder-faced women stated in unison. "I'm new to all of this, but I know that I am more than happy to take the place of that freak from Madam Lulu's House Of Freaks," the short woman who was actually tall explained. "
You mean Hugo?" Klaus asked. "No, Colette," the new troupe member answered. "And I'm unfamiliar with Count Olaf or his wickedness, but I am more than happy to also replace one of those treasonous freaks," the tall man who was actually short proclaimed.
"You mean Kevin?" Violet guessed. "No, Hugo," the newest troupe member replied. The mute didn't speak at all, but the Baudelaires presumed and I must add, correctly; that he too was pleased to be there and to replace a freak, particularly Kevin.
"But where are the others?" Sunny asked. "Those traitors haven't been seen since the fire destroyed Hotel Denouement," the tall man with the long nose stated. "That's not true, the last I heard someone had decided to adopt the trio, although I don't know who would want to raise a bunch of freaks," one of the powder faced women commented. "But they did survive the fire?" Violet asked in surprise. "Children," Falo said coughing softly and then remarking, "I believe we are getting sidetracked. We must remember that the most important thing right now is to prepare for the reopening of this theater, and my brother's traveling troupe has agreed to assist us with this task."
The orphans looked at their former enemies suspiciously and then Violet asked, "How can we be sure that they are trustworthy?" "Well, oftentimes to determine whether or not a person is trustworthy we must first trust them, which is what we'll do. After all, how else could we possibly finish cleaning this place in time for the grand reopening?" Falo pointed out and then added, "Now, children I have something very important to tell you. In order to be trusted by our adversaries I had to tell someone something that wasn't true, a little white lie if you will."
A white lie, does not imply that the lie is any particular color of course seeing as lying isn't associated with the shades of the rainbow, but rather with the manner in which we speak. So when Falo said that he was going to be telling a white lie, he was indicating that some people feel that the nature in which you don't tell the truth can differ depending on how severe the lie is. However, dear reader in this world we rely constantly on truths, and if someone were to lie to you, then you wouldn't be sure what was correct and what wasn't.
Of course the Baudelaires knew this all too well, since many times they had been faced with uncertainty and at times they also had to not tell the complete truth in order to survive. Falo's reason however was entirely different as he leaned toward the children and commented, "I am going to be pretending that I am my good twin, Count Olaf."
"Why would you be doing that Falo?" Violet asked. "Doesn't everyone know Olaf is dead already?" Klaus remarked. "How will this help bring our enemies here?" Sunny wondered. "Gefferi?" Beatrice pondered, which probably meant "If you're actually good then wouldn't Olaf be your evil twin?" or perhaps, "I would've loved to meet the freaks from the Caligari Carnival, and found out why Kevin believed being ambidextrous was freaky." "Well the reason is quite simple, Baudelaires," the tall man with the long nose explained. "Count Olaf was once an actor at this very theater," one of the powder-faced women commented.
"And now, not many people are aware that he has deceased, so Falo can pretend he is his wicked brother and claim ownership of the theater," the other powder-faced woman explained. "And then lure our enemies here to take part in the ultimate prize, disposing of the Baudelaires," the one who looked neither like a man or a woman proclaimed. The children felt unsettled by how excitedly the troupe member had made this statement and turned to Falo who merely said, "I just hope that both of these tactics lure our enemies here to the Ned H. Rirger Theater."
There was a sound from the front of the auditorium and the evil twin of Count Olaf proclaimed, "Now who could that be?" The Baudelaire's newest guardian trotted off down the aisle, leaving Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice alone with Count Olaf's former troupe. "How did you get off of Mt. Fraught?" Sunny asked one of the powder-faced women, to which her partner replied, "Silly orphan, we walked of course! Although it was especially difficult in the Valley of Four Drafts, but we made it out by following the Stricken Stream."
"And how did you evade the blaze at Hotel Denouement?" Klaus asked the tall man with the long nose. "Olaf told me of his plans to be there, so I chose wisely not to show up at all, if you'll recall correctly I wasn't present during your false trial," the troupe member answered. "So then we still don't know who survived that inferno and who didn't," Violet lamented. "The past can't be changed, children," the other powdered-faced woman proclaimed and then added solemnly, "I often wish we had left Count Olaf ages ago, but he continued to insist that if we stayed with them, we'd be benefiting from it… although we never did."
"How do you expect us to trust you?" Klaus asked. But before the troupe members got a chance to respond, they were interrupted by Beatrice proclaiming, "Pratanda!" which probably meant "Look at the finely dressed man walking along side Falo" or perhaps, "He looks oddly familiar." The individual in question was wearing a blue striped suit with gold cufflinks and had long white hair that went to his shoulders, he looked considerably aged and was holding a cane to keep his balance as he and Falo arrived.
But as the duo approached the stage, the Baudelaires felt their heartbeats race faster and their vigor diminish and as the two people walked onto the stage, Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice paled in horror as they realized the man standing in front of them was not a movie critic at all, but instead a well disguised person that they'd thought they might've seen the last of, but sadly, that wasn't about to the case for Baudelaires looked beyond the poor disguise the man was wearing and immediately recognized that it was Mister Dominic standing in front of them.
Bum bum bum! the villain arrives again! please read and review! I take back my original plan to post every 13 days, I simply will as soon as I possibly can, possibly. lol.