The Baudelaires will kill someone in Book 12

[chexfan2000]

From LemonySnicket.com:

A notoriously unreliable playwright once said, “There are no secrets except the secrets that keep themselves,” but the secrets that keep themselves are so well-kept that their secrecy is more secret that the secrecy of all other secrets is as notoriously unreliable as the playwright who once said that there are no secrets except the secrets that keep themselves. The secrets of Mr. Snicket’s 12th volume in A Series Of Unfortunate Events were unable to keep themselves, and so Mr. Snicket has had to keep himself a secret as he collects the secrets that were unable to keep themselves in absolute secrecy, in absolute secrecy. Furthermore I have had to keep Mr. Snicket’s secret concerning his secret collecting of secrecy in absolute secrecy, in absolute secrecy, so that if I even breathed a word concerning this book -- its inhospitable setting, its fraught picnics, its sunbathing spy, its perilous title, its tense spa, its complicated restauranteur, its many bells, its morally ambiguous arson, its arsonous moral ambiguity, its interrupted justice, or even the name of the person killed by the Baudelaires -- I would no longer be able to keep Mr. Snicket’s secret secrecy regarding the secrecy of Mr. Snicket’s secrets, in absolute secrecy, and we could only hope that such unkept secrets could keep themselves in absolute secrecy. Also, this is not a book anyone would enjoy reading.

Read the entire article here:
www.lemonysnicket.com/event/bookblast.html#daniel

[Antenora]

The killing might be connected to the "morally ambiguous arson" and/or the "arsonous moral ambiguity"; perhaps the Baudelaires set fire to someplace intending to destroy information, but end up killing someone as well. I wonder if they'd really kill someone on purpose, or if the killing was accidental.

[Dante]

It could, at a stretch, refer to the Baudelaire parents, or even somebody who died in the arson of Caligari Carnival. However, it does sound more like the Baudelaires probably kill somebody accidentally, and possibly in a fire. Wow. And moral ambiguity. And arson.

Gods, I can't wait for B12.

Edit: The first thing which came to my mind - and which I subsequently forgot in the excitement - was the sabotaged lift, and the person getting into it. Could the disguised woman or the possibly undisguised man be the murdered person?

Edit Again: And I guess this explains where Lemony is. He's not - maybe - been captured by Olaf; rather, it seems that he's had to go into hiding so that nobody learns the terrible secrets that he uncovered while researching Book the Twelfth.

[Sugary Snicket]

I doubt the Bauds are the kind of kids to kill someone, although they did all that stuff before...... *shifty eyes*

[s]

Yes, I just received that e-mail. It's very intriguing...hmm. I really cannot wait until we get that book. Morally ambiguous arson? This is by far the most interesting news we have received regarding Book the Twelfth in a long time...

[Dear Dairy]

Thanks, chexfan2000, for pointing out the article. I never go to ls.com any more, unless some intrepid researcher (such as yourself) points out something new there. Good work!

[Hooky]

It would seem that the only thing anyone noticed was the

"person killed by the Baudelaires."

I am, surprising, more interested in the other details though.

Hmmmm.....So, there is a spy who likes to sunbathe...and a tense spa....

It would seem that in addition to having a restaurant, it also has a spa. Picnics? All I can say is that maybe they have picnic lunches every day. And that sounded a bit stupid. But I'm certainly glad that we have more information.

[chexfan2000]

I'm an intrepid researcher! Hooray!

As to picnic lunches... perhaps VFD gatherings? Coded picnics?!

A tense spa. Odd. Why would a spa be tense? Perhaps there's a climactic chase scene where Olaf has a long knife and is chasing Violet through a spa. Or perhaps I watch too many slasher flicks. Dang! I can't wait for this book!

[Antenora]

A tense spa would be ironic because one goes to a spa to relieve tension. And I love the phrase "fraught picnic".

I like the idea that the "Baudelaires" who killed someone are in fact the parents, and the killing happened long ago. Still, I don't deny that the orphans might end up committing murder. They've already done some villainous things in order to survive.

[SnicketFires]

Good interview. Informative.

An inhospitable setting at a hotel. How ironic. Would the "fraught picnics" be an Annual Code Breakers picnic, perhaps? The "sunbathing spy" sound mysterious. Perhaps he/she is the elevator man/woman? Does Hotel Denouement have a "tense spa"? Who is the "complicated restauranteur"? Is this restaurant owner complicated in a good or bad way? Do they have laissez-faire ideals or are they volatile? "Many bells": This could be a hint that Sebald Code will appear in TNN. There were two rings in TGG, but a de-Sebalding revealed nothing. And as for "interrupted justice," I'm glad to see he's sticking to the trend.

"The name of the person killed by the Baudelaires": Intriguing. I suppose that we can assume that the Baudelaire orphans would never intentionally kill anyone (the exception perhaps being Olaf, but even that's a stretch, as they're law-abiding citizens and all) so, logically, they would probably be the cause of someone's death (perhaps indirectly) but not actually kill them.

There was a thread here with the full article, and a brief outline of it here.

[Jacques the Environmentalist]

Whoa.. Interesting. I'm so checking my yahoo email now...
Killed by the parents is seeming more plausible than killed by the orphans... But the morally ambiguous arson.... I won't let this book out of my sight once I have it.
Sunbathing spy sounds interesting, so does the picnic, will Kit make her salad? Hmm, Sunny could then recognize the salad from when her mother made it... That could be cool.
Tense spa? Perhaps they were hiding in the spa, tense about the villains running amok nearby...

[PJ]

It will probably be an accident, almost certainly in a fire.
We've discussed WHY they've done it, but not WHO it will be done to?
Who will die?
Some random civillian, or will it be an important character, like, say, Fernald? If the Baudelaires accidentally kill him, it would lead to an interesting confrontation with Fiona. Hmmm.

[lauren]

Inhospitable setting- Hotel denouement of course
fraught picnics...I love picnics ;D especially when they are fraught
a sunbathing spy- I'm thinking tans are 'in' for Esme
its perilious title-
its tense spa- I love spas ;D especially when they are tense
a complicated restauranteur- an indian man speaking in indian... well it is an indian restaurant
It's many bells- will sebald make an appearance?
morally ambiguous arson- olaf??? baudelaires???
arsonous moral ambiguity
interrupted justice- a court scene in which sunny must be interpreted?? or the indian man speaking only indian interpreted ??
name of person killed- that's anyones guess, not a clue, I'm thinking if it was an accident, a Quagmire was killed, but if it wasn't an accident maybe the baudelaires were threatened or confused and under pressure so killed a villian

[Antenora]

philipjucker said:

We've discussed WHY they've done it, but not WHO it will be done to?
Who will die?
Some random civillian, or will it be an important character, like, say, Fernald? If the Baudelaires accidentally kill him, it would lead to an interesting confrontation with Fiona. Hmmm.

I think, assuming that the orphans are the killers, they'll kill one of the villains, possibly one of the Sinister Duo because they're the most dangerous and menacing. Perhaps they'll get into a fight with that person, and end up killing them.

"Interrupted justice" sounds like a trial is planned for the villains(or maybe the orphans) but canceled. Or maybe Justice Strauss tries to intervene in things somehow, but is prevented from doing so.

[Sixteen]

Has anyone forgotten that the Baudelaires have already been accused of muder?
Maybe it just means that Olaf will be revealed to be alive, and that it wasn't Omar that was killed.

I don't believe it myself (I think there will be an acidental death in Book the Twelfth) but I'm just saying it anyway.