Why did the taxi driver abandon the Baudelaires?

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Assuming this was Lemony (and I'm not entirely convinced of it, but I have to admit I'm almost convinced of it), you'll need to agree that Lemony knew about the fragmented plan that was going on at the hotel. The plan involved luring the villains to the hotel for some trap. But I think the plan was going wrong, and it was interrupted in the middle. If this was Lemony, he got back the sugar bowl he had thrown through the VFD HQ window himself. If the plan was going wrong, everyone was improvising. Lemony Snicket had to think quickly whether or not to spoil the taxi driver disguise. Insisting too much would ruin the disguise, and endanger the woman in the trunk, as well as the sugar bowl itself. And if that woman is who I think she is, Lemony would never intentionally endanger her.

[Dante]

He may not even have been sure that they were who he thought they were.

[Foxy]

Convincing children who don't know you to get in your vehicle is what some people might call "child abduction." So I can see why the driver wouldn't want to push them into making this choice.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Sept 4, 2019 11:36:11 GMT -5 Foxy said:

Convincing children who don't know you to get in your vehicle is what some people might call "child abduction." So I can see why the driver wouldn't want to push them into making this choice.

Interestingly, child abduction does not appear to be a taboo in VFD.