I Love The Idea Of Lemony Becoming An Even More Popular Topic Of Gossip After He Leaves Stain'd.

I love the idea of Lemony becoming an even more popular topic of gossip after he leaves Stain'd.

People talked about him since he came to town -- the way the crime rate shot up the day he arrived, how he was seen all beaten, how no one knows anything about his past.

After the night on the train, this increases tenfold. There are rumors that he summoned the Bombinating Beast. There are rumors that he killed a man.

The residents of Stain'd were more than happy to share their gossip with the newcomers after the town rose again from Cleo's formula, and their misinterpretations led to several theories.

Some people believe Lemony and Hangfire were the same person. The crime did stop almost completely the day Lemony left, and Hangfire was supposed to be some guy in disguise, right??

Others believe Lemony never existed to begin with, that he was just a story made up by some disobedient kids to explain why they were sneaking out of school and hanging around abandoned buildings.

A few people, Pip and Squeak mostly, swear up and down on his nobility and get into lengthy debates where they share even more outlandish stories?? That he jumped onto a moving train? broke into the Colophon Clinic??? saved Dame Sally Murphy somehow? No one knows what to believe.

When Stain'd got the first editions of ATWQ, people were waiting literal months to get their hands on a copy. Still there were those who believed that the stories were fake, or written by someone else. (The name "Daniel Handler" is passed around pretty frequently, though no one knows what it means.)

By asoue era, most people have forgotten about him entirely. Still, "Snicket" is another way of saying "unlucky" in Stain'd-by-the-Sea.

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Esmé page.

Cleo Knight might not be as innocent as she seems. Through the course of All The Wrong Questions, she has some very questionable moments, and her relationships with other characters is sometimes peculiar.

If Ink Inc. was struggling severely, why would Cleo's parents spend so much of their already depleting money on getting their daughter a new car? The book even says that it wouldn't make sense for Dr. Flammarion to drug them for money, because it's almost all gone. While on the subject of her parents; what were they even being treated for? Is Dr. Flammarion really responsible for why the Knights left Stain’d-by-the-sea? With them no longer receiving laudanum wouldn’t they return? From what Cleo says, it seems they were already getting ready to leave.

?2, Page 261-262: “I love them, but my parents have already given up on making things better.”

Perhaps she had them under the influence of laudanum so she could stay and finish her formula, another possible reason comes from Jake.

?2, Page 204: “Well, Mr. and Mrs. Knight put up such a fuss that Cleo and I had to keep things a secret. But now that the Knights have left town, there’s no reason to keep sneaking around.”

Either or both of these reasons are very possible for why Cleo would want her parents out of the picture.

Now onto Dr. Flammarion. I know it’s a huge accusation to think Cleo was working with him, but answer a few questions for me. Why was she so quick to trust Dr. Flammarion? He is obviously a suspicious man, and Cleo is smart enough to not trust him. Are we made to believe that Dr. Flammarion stabbed the tire of the Dilemma, left his needle, convinced Cleo into his car, drove her to Colophon Clinic, removed everything to get to the secret basement, and she is completely compliant this whole time?

It is implied that Flammarion was involved in the explosion, perfect blackmail material. It wouldn’t be hard for her to use that information to get Dr. Flammarion to drug her parents.

How was Dr. Flammarion able to puncture her tire anyhow? It was left behind, a block away from Hungry’s. But Cleo parked her Dilemma just outside of Hungry’s. Again, it was a needle, so he couldn’t have just left it on the street waiting for the car to come, he’d have to stab it while the car was stationary.

Let’s quickly look at the scene in the basement.

Cleo Knight, the kidnapped person, is free and is making her kidnapper beg for help. But Dr. Flammarion’s attitude changes when more people come? Is it because there are now witnesses meaning Cleo can’t do what she intended? Speaking of witnesses; there is this passage.

?2, Page 248: “In two quick steps she tipped over the laboratory table and sent everything crashing to the floor.”

Her work. The thing that could save Stain’d-by-the-sea. All destroyed. Isn’t it curious how she only did this after seeing Lemony? She wasn’t in a blind rage, the book makes it very clear that she was calm the whole time, so why would she destroy it? Was it a cover up for some other, much more sinister project?

Cleo then goes on to monologue about what Dr. Flammarion has done, even though everyone in the room is already caught up on it.

There is also this rather curious line, after questioned by Officer Mimi.

?2, Page 252: “Of course it’s true”…”Nobody would make up something like that.”

The way she says it; it just sounds off.

Let’s quickly workout when Cleo met Ellington.

?2, Page 143: “I only met her a few weeks ago, at Black Cat Coffee.”

Earlier in the same book, it said the events of ?1 was a few weeks ago. I think they met between Chapter 10 and Chapter 11. I also think Cleo was using Dr. Flammarion’s name to receive packages.

?1, Page 197: “There was a small box marked Medical Supplies addressed to Dr. Flammarion. There was a long tube marked Electrical Equipment addressed to nothing more than a pair of initials that were unfamiliar.”

A few hours later in the story, this passage is given.

?1, Page 221: “Had I been paying attention, I would have noticed that most of the mail was now gone from the big room at the top of the stairs.”

?2 tries to suggest Nurse Dander took these packages, but this isn’t correct.

?2, Page 148: “There had been quite a few packages the last time I was in that attic. I hadn’t thought of them as clues.”

First off, the label from the first book had Initials written on it, but the one told here is clearly labeled Armstrong Feint C/P The Inhumane Society. Either this is a different package from the first book, or Lemony is just really awful at reading.

Now that we know Cleo is most certainly not a kidnappee and is even using Dr. Flammarion; what could this more sinister project be? There isn’t enough to go off of, but let’s see who would be interested in invisible ink. Secret organizations for starters, Lemony makes a point to say VFD would be interested. Would it be too far off to suggest Cleo could be making chemical weapons? VFD is known to deal with them, Medusoid Mycelium. "But, come on," you might be asking, "would Cleo even want to get involved with VFD?"

?3, Page 209: “”Can we join?” Cleo asked finally.”

Her very first thought after learning about VFD. She may have even been working with the Inhumane Society. There are some blatant lies about why Cleo was at Colophon Clinic.

?2, Page 246: “I was chained up in the basement and forced to continue my experiments.”

But then we also have this.

?4, Page 169: “He’s done everything he could to stop Cleo Knight from finishing her formula for invisible ink, a formula that might save Stain’d-by-the-Sea once and for all.”

I’m not trying to say Cleo Knight is secretly evil the whole time, or something. She is certainly concerned for her friends, as shown several times in ?3. Maybe Cleo is so focused on saving Stain’d-by-the-sea that, like the person she once allied with, she would do anything and everything to reach her goal.