Did Kit get Lemony's message inside TSS?

[Dante]

Dec 10, 2009 18:06:20 GMT -5 Hermes said:

I thought he said 'I will never retrieve the pickle from the refrigerator where I left it.'

Okay, yeah, you're right; in that case I'd probably take the lemonade as being a sign that he's reserved the pickle, in the way one might label one's carton of milk in a communal fridge.

Yes - as 'JS' indicates the recipient, I would take the lemon to indicate the sender.

To be honest, I always read them as two distinct messages, since the pickle doesn't seem to have much to do with anything in the fridge, but presumably would make sense in the context of a coded sandwich.

It's quite likely, I think, that it's no one in particular; just 'the person who leaves messages signed JS'.

Paradoxically, however, I don't see Justice Strauss and Jerome Squalor signing their messages J.S. until having received a message they believe to be for them addressed to a J.S., which would indicate that they had a predecessor - but that could be allocated to Jacques, or even a Julio Sham, or some unknown figure. After the first time it's fair game, though. We don't know the circumstances under which they found these messages. The J.S. issue as a whole is left pretty vague and confused.

[Hermes]

Dec 11, 2009 3:16:14 GMT -5 Dante said:

To be honest, I always read them as two distinct messages, since the pickle doesn't seem to have much to do with anything in the fridge, but presumably would make sense in the context of a coded sandwich.

Well, it isn't unreasonable to think that the Baudelaires aren't in a position to decipher everything, in which case someone who knew the whole code might be able to see a connection between the pickle and the other items. And even if the pickle was just there for safe-keeping, it still seems to mean Lemony had been there, which, if we aren't to multiply mountain-wandering volunteers unnecessarily, suggests he may have been the source of the message to JS as well. (I see that last time I raised this issue the machine ate your reply.)

Paradoxically, however, I don't see Justice Strauss and Jerome Squalor signing their messages J.S. until having received a message they believe to be for them addressed to a J.S., which would indicate that they had a predecessor - but that could be allocated to Jacques, or even a Julio Sham, or some unknown figure.

Oh yes, I certainly agree with this. I think the first messages probably were meant for Jacques, being sent while he was still alive, or just after his death, before the news had spread.