Count Olaf never revealed it to anyone, but after the Baudelaire orphans had foiled his plan for the fifth time, at Prufrock Prep, he began to be very depressed.

He had killed off their guardians, but it seemed that even after all of the misfortune that they had undergone, they still had a strength that Count Olaf had never encountered before. He couldn't comprehend it!

He needed a plan…

One day while Esme Squalor was sitting on her very 'in' new couch reading the Daily Punctillio, the innest newspaper in town, she saw a very interesting advertisement:

Come one, Come all to some Amazing Acting Lessons!

Held at 898 Dark Avenue.

A Word from the teacher: I was taught by Al Funcoot who is a very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very reliable and kind man. He is smart and also very intelligent.

So that is why you should come to my acting lessons!

Hopefully someone as wonderful as the cities sixth most important financial advisor might show up…

Al Funcoot's Apprentice!

"Jerome!" called Esme.

"Yes, Esme dear!" he called back. He hoped that she wasn't asking to spend more money. Jerome liked to be very frugal with the money that he had. Not that he was planning on running out anytime soon or anything, but Jerome still thought that they might want to save for retirement or something…

"What would you think of me taking some acting lessons? They sound very in! And the advertisement seems to be pointed right at me! Isn't that odd…" Jerome didn't know what his wife was talking about, but he supposed that acting lessons might be all right… as long as they weren't too expensive.

"I think it sounds like a wonderful experience for you!" he called to her in a very cheerful voice. Jerome always tried to be cheerful. But inwardly let out a sigh. His wife was never interested in anything that wasn't 'in'. At one point Jerome had been very interested in bird-watching, which is a rather odd hobby where people sit around and watch birds… but Esme had told him that bird-watching was in fact the least smashing that that she had ever heard of. So Jerome had let the idea of bird-watching go. But he still thought about it sometimes.

Jerome didn't like to argue…

Esme walked to her first acting lesson, because after all, walking was in. She was also trying to work off that three pound chocolate bar that she had just eaten. Chocolate was in, and the bigger the better, but so was being bone thin. Sometimes the things that were in would conflict with one another. But Esme tried to cope the best she could.

When she rang the doorbell she was taken aback. The doorbell was shaped like an eye… eyes were not in.

The man who opened the door however was very in. He was wearing a tall velvet back hat. Velvet was very in. He was also wearing a pinstripe suit, which complimented his long, lean frame. But the innest thing about him was a thing that sat above his eyes, and below his forehead. His eyebrows were VERY in. Or should I say… eyebrow.