"Lemony Snicket, you're under arrest!" the guard said again. "Put your hands up."
The loud voices of the guards attracted the attention of the party guests. Among them was the Baron van der Wetering, a good friend of Lemony's from the old days, attending the ball in an oak tree costume.
"By Jove!" the Baron shouted to create a distraction. "There's a tiger under the buffet table! I hear it growling!"
Guests on the Baron's side of the room screamed and rushed away from the table. The guards turned to look for an instant. Beatrice took advantage of their confusion.
"Oh my, the man I was talking with was the notorious Lemony Snicket? Catch me, I feel faint!" She flopped into the guards, her large dragonfly wings half bowling them over.
This was enough to shake Lemony out of his funk. If he still had friends who cared enough to help him get away then life was not so hopeless after all. He launched himself over the veranda balcony and into the shadows of the bushes below.
They'd be after him in an minute; it was no good running off through the woods. He had to go back in and change costumes. He slipped into an open window and headed down the dark hallway away from the ballroom. He headed to the guest room he had stayed in once before, where the Duchess had said she would store his box of extra disguises.
Lemony's navy blue suit was at the top of the box. It was the only other clothing he had on hand; it would have to do. He quickly stripped out of the bullfighter costume and put on the suit. As he was folding up the bullfighter cape, he noticed a small piece of paper sticking out from under a book on the table. He was about to pick it up when he heard voices approaching. He stuffed the bullfighter suit into the box and ducked into the closet, just in time.
"In here," said a voice. "This is the room where we're supposed to get the note."
"Yes sir, Count Olaf," said the young man with him. "I see it! Under the book on the table."
"Get it for me, O. Lucafont," said Count Olaf.
There was a scraping sound as Lucafont struggled to pick up the note. "I'm not used to these blasted hooks yet. Okay, here."
Olaf unfolded the note, and read, "I just saw your worst enemy is here tonight in a red bullfighter costume. He was talking to your other worst enemy, a woman in a dragonfly costume."
"Heheeheehehha!" chuckled Olaf. "Lemony Snicket has been betrayed. By his own relative, too! I'll get Tocuna and Flo to follow the woman in the dragonfly costume when she leaves tonight. I want to know where she lives. You and the rest of the troupe will make sure Lemony is caught."
"What about the person who left the note? If they would betray their own kin, they may betray you too," said Lucafont.
"I'll wipe them out too, someday," said Olaf. For now they're more useful to me alive. Let's go."
After they were gone, Lemony came back out into the room. He had just received two bits of unpleasant news. First, that a relative had betrayed him. Second, that Beatrice was in danger. She had to be warned not to lead Olaf's troupe to her new home!
Lemony headed for the door. He might pass as a waiter in his navy blue suit... no, it was far to risky to go out with his face unmasked. He improvised a hasty costume by putting on the breastplate, helmet, and gauntlets from a suit of armor in the corner of the room. (Too bad he hadn't kept a diving suit from the Queequeg. It would have concealed his identity better, and been more useful as things turned out.)
Lemony saw that everything was in confusion in the ballroom. The police had been called in and they were questioning the guests and the staff. Suddenly he noticed several members of Olaf's troupe that he recognized from the Octopus. All were wearing navy blue suits, apparently trying to pass as waiters themselves. Lemony stepped out into the room, hoping to blend and then find Beatrice.
Count Olaf spotted him. He glanced down at Lemony's shoes with a triumphant grin. Lemony did also and realized his mistake. In his haste he had forgotten to change the bright red shoes with strange buckles, suitable for a bullfighter but not for a knight in a blue suit and armor. Olaf whispered to his troupe, and each one took a helmet from one of the suits of armor standing along the side of the wall.
Olaf shouted, "I'm Lemony Snicket, and you'll never take me alive, coppers!" (His uncanny resemblance to Lemony had enabled him to frame Lemony several times in the past).
Olaf put on the helmet and began running around, waving his arms. His troupe did the same. They all rushed past Lemony, who stood in shock as the eyes of every policeman in the room turned his way.
Lemony shouted, "Wait, no! It's a case of mistaken identity!" But it was no use. The police handcuffed him and began to drag him away.
"Beatrice, Count Olaf is going to have you followed!" he tried to shout, but the armored helmet muffled his voice and no-one could understand him.
The police car took Lemony away, sirens blaring. Before they got off the grounds, they hit a big pocket of water in the road and the car stalled. The police got out and tried to push the car. It was no good. The water was getting deeper, as if there was a sudden flood.
"Snicket, get out and help us push," demanded one of the cops.
The policeman prodded Lemony with billy club. Desperate to go back and warn Beatrice, Lemony exploded out of the car. The police, armed only with billy clubs, were no match for a desperate man in armor. He fought free and rushed off into the woods.
Lemony stumbled along in knee-deep water. It was dark and he had no sense of direction. He was lost in a forest that was slowly filling up with water.
He realized the Duchess must have opened the floodgates of the dam in a last-ditch attempt to help him. That would have been nice, except that he was handcuffed. Since he was handcuffed, he couldn't take off the armor. Since he couldn't take off the armor, he couldn't swim. And the water was rising fast.