Dewey navigated the bathyscaphe and pointed out undersea sights which normally would have fascinated Klaus and Sunny, but they were still pondering the terrible truth they had learned about their parents.
"The Sargasso Swatch is a large clump of seaweed in the middle of the Neptune Sea," said Dewey. "There's a V.F.D. rendezvous diving platform to the south of it. We're almost there."
Suddenly, there was a knock at one of the portholes and a woman in a diving suit waved to them.
"That must be the Duchess now!" said Dewey. He went to the airlock and let her in.
"I saw you coming and I couldn't wait," said the Duchess briskly.
"Welcome, Your Grace," said Dewey. "These are Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire. Children, this is the Duchess of Winnipeg."
"Call me R," said the Duchess. "I know we've only just met, but I've heard so much about you that I feel you are all my friends."
"Pleased to meet you, R," said Klaus.
"Too," said Sunny.
"I've seen pictures of you in the newspaper," said Dewey, "And I must say that's an excellent disguise."
"I'm disguised as the youngest Snicket sibling disguised as me," said the Duchess proudly. "By the way, I have disturbing news to report. There's a water-ski with the V.F.D. eye symbol floating in the water near the diving platform. A volunteer who came here by water-skis may have met with foul play."
"Oh no! That's what Kit was going to do. What could have happened to her?" cried Dewey. "She was supposed to meet Captain Widdershins here and help with a mission against the Octopus submarine, though it may have been a message from an impostor."
"Now Carmelita," said Sunny, remembering that Count Olaf had rechristened the stolen submarine.
"Maybe not any more," said Klaus, "Count Olaf said Fernald and Fiona stole it from him, so they may have renamed it again."
"What's happening with Count Olaf and the trial?" asked the Duchess. "I've been out at sea and haven't heard the latest.
"He was killed," said Dewey.
"Oh really?" said R. "That's good news. Who killed him?"
"I did," said Klaus. "I pushed him off a building in a boat."
"Self defense," said Sunny.
"Very good," said the Duchess. "One less enemy the V.F.D. has to worry about, though the man with a beard and no hair and the woman with hair and no beard are far more dangerous."
"There's a good chance they're dead, too," said Klaus. "I locked them in room with the Medusoid Mycelium."
"My, my," said the Duchess. "You're proving a very capable V.F.D. agent. Your parents would be proud."
Klaus and Sunny shuddered. Life was getting a bit too morally ambiguous.
"But what about Kit?" asked Dewey. "How are we going to find her? She's in no condition to fight villains."
"I have a hunch," said Klaus. "The self-sustaining hot-air mobile home is under attack by eagles. Quigley was going to net them using a helicopter."
"That's right," said Dewey. "Kit and I plotted Quigley's course together. But how does that help?"
"The impostor's telegram mentioned the attack. Suppose the impostor was actually on the other side, wanting the Deus Ex Machina brought down. After capturing Kit they might have returned to that fight."
"Long shot," said Sunny.
"Even if they didn't," said Klaus, "The people running the eagle attack may know something about who has Kit and where they went."
"I'm convinced," said the Duchess. "That's probably our best chance. Dewey, set a course to find the Deus Ex Machina."