Violet looked at the clock. It read 1:45. Violet got out of bed and went down the stairs to get a drink of water. She walked into the kitchen and got a glass out of the cabinet. "It's really not that bad here," she thought. "This wouldn't be THAT bad of a place to live." Then Violet thought, "What am I thinking? I don't want to live here! I'd much rather live in the hot air mobile home with the Quagmires and Hector."

Violet placed the glass under the faucet and filled it about three-fourths of the way up. She took a few sips and decided to look around the kitchen as she savored her water. She glanced around the kitchen and saw the telephone mounted on the wall. As Violet stepped up to it, she noticed that there was a red light on the phone that was labeled, "Phone in use." "I wonder who could be using the phone at this time of the night," Violet wondered aloud. An odd feeling rose inside of her. She sensed that something wasn't right; something was going on that she did not know about. What person in their right mind would be using the phone at this time of the night? Violet stared at the phone, terrified, yet wondering why. She gave it some more thought and realized that she must be paranoid. "Yes," she thought, "that must be it. I'm paranoid. Maybe they just prefer to talk on the phone at night." But that inky feeling kept returning into her mind. She finally compromised by deciding to briefly listen to a fragment of the phone call. Violet reluctantly reached out and picked up the phone. Ever so quietly, she listened to the conversation going on.

"Yes, we picked up the children," said Mrs. Smith in a hushed voice.

"When can you deliver them to me?" asked a familiar voice on the other end of the phone line. This was not just any voice. Violet would recognize it anywhere. Every time she heard this voice, it was like she froze to the spot. It was a deep, harsh voice that quite obviously belonged to a man. It was Count Olaf.

"I knew it," Violet thought. "I just KNEW that they would be working for Count Olaf somehow." She remembered her hesitant feelings to even give the Smith's a chance from yesterday. Violet had mixed feelings; she was angry and terrified and felt very betrayed. However, she stayed rooted to the spot and continued to listen to the phone call.

She heard Mrs. Smith say, "We could bring them to you next Tuesday. Is that convenient for you?"

"Actually, no, it's not. You must realize that I need these children as soon as possible. Is there any way that you bring them by sooner?"

"Well, yes, we could bring them the day after tomorrow."

"Yes, yes, that's much better," Violet heard Count Olaf reply. She heard greed in his voice. "Could you bring them by, say, about noon maybe?"

"Sure," Mrs. Smith replied. "And now, how are we going to be paid?"

"Oh yes, that is also something we need to discuss. Your payment. You shall receive 200 dollars for each child that you bring, which will quite obviously be three. I will have your check ready when you come by. Do you know what you will say to the devils to get them to come?"

"Of course. I am going to tell them tomorrow that we are going away on a business trip and that they will be staying with you as their babysitter."

"That should work. Well, I must be going now, and I look forward to seeing you in a few days. Goodbye."

"Goodbye," Mrs. Smith said before hanging up. After the line went dead, Violet quietly hung up. She noticed that her mouth went unusually dry. She took another sip of water, poured the rest down the drain, and walked out of the kitchen. She turned down the corridor to go back to where Klaus and Sunny were, but as she stepped into the corridor, she saw the master bedroom door open slowly, making slight creaking noises. Terrified, she ducked into the living room, snuck across the humongous room, and crouched down behind the couch. She peered out from behind the side of the couch and saw as short shadow cast on the wall in the hallway. She realized that Mrs. Smith must be doing the same thing she had been doing before she decided to eavesdrop on Mrs. Smith's conversation. Violet waited about five minutes and saw Mrs. Smith's shadow return, but going back down the hall. She heard the door creak open slowly and heard the sound of the door shutting slowly. Violet rose from behind the couch and walked to the doorway. She saw the small frame of light around the door leading to the master bedroom go dark and heard soft whispers emerging from the room. She snuck back into the guest bedroom and found both Klaus and Sunny awake waiting for her to return. Violet slipped back into the bed and whispered, "We need to talk."

"Why; what's up Violet?" Klaus asked, sounding concerned.

Violet began to tell her story immediately. "I was in the kitchen getting a glass of water when I noticed that the telephone line was in use. I found that kind of ironic at this time of night, so reluctantly I picked up the phone to eavesdrop. I overheard Mrs. Smith talking to Count Olaf about leaving us with him the day after tomorrow, claiming to be going away on a business trip. I started on my way back and nearly ran into Mrs. Smith." Violet paraphrased her whole story in about 15 seconds and was out of breath by the time she had finished. She looked at the petrified look on Klaus' face, understanding that they were obviously thinking the same thing. If they planned to get away, they had to do it SOON; there was no more time to waste messing around or else they would once again be stuck with Count Olaf, and who knew what he would do to them to get his hands on their deceased parents' fortune.

"I think that we should leave as soon as possible, preferably tonight," Klaus told his sisters.

"Agree," Sunny said in her baby talk. She had been speaking with very few words for a while, but usually they were nonsense. Just recently had she actually started using real words.

"Me too," Violet said. "Our stuff is still packed up, and we don't know what will happen tomorrow, so maybe we'd better leave right now."

"Let's all get dressed and try to leave in the next twenty minutes," Klaus announced, setting a time goal for him and both of his siblings. "Let's get out of here before we are back with Count Olaf."

"Good idea," both of his sisters agreed, and they started to get dressed for their escape.