Olaf fleeing

[vfds321s]

What I don't understand is that every time Count Olaf is caught in his schemes, he flees the scene to escape being jailed. But I don't see why he couldn't just allow himself to be arrested? There are several reasons why I think he should.:

1. There are some VFD villains in the justice system's ranks that can bail him out.

2. The Sinister Duo are on the high court which is a benefit to him.

3. The authorities in the series are incompetent and/or corrupt, or at least enough for them to believe the lie that the Baudelaires killed Count Omar, so he likely wouldn't be in that much trouble with the law. 

4. The orphans always knew that he would be long gone by the time any action against him was taken, so they should know by now that Olaf can find a way to escape punishment anyways.


I think the only time fleeing was justified was in Book 5 and 6 because he is holding the Quagmires prisoner. But the times beforehand, I don't see why.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

I think it is necessary to think to what extent Count Olaf had an up-to-date and reliable contact network in the early books. This statement holds for both the doyolistic explanation and the whatsonlistic explanation. (I don't know if that's how you spell it).

[Dante]

Doylist and Watsonian, but yes. I would also argue that Olaf's superiors would quickly grow tired of him if he relied on them to bail him out all the time; furthermore, the man has his pride. I suspect that being a fugitive from justice might have suited him, too; it was no longer necessary for him to disguise his criminal intentions.