There's a secret passageway from The Squalor's penthouse to the Baudelaire mansion, but why is that? What purpose did it serve? And why did Esmé want to gain control of it?
Well, let's take a look at it.
Why is there a secret passageway?
It must exist for some reason, right? I would propose to you that the reason the secret passageway exists is so that VFD members could sneak from one member's house, to another. You'll recall that Quigley, in TSS, was in a secret passageway from his house to Uncle Monty's, and the Baudelaire's had one connecting their house with the penthouse as 667 Dark Avenue.
My guess is that there are more secret passageways between headquarters and members's houses, but we haven't heard any of them yet. These passages would allow VFD-ers to slip unnoticed from one place to another without being followed by enemies; or they coudl serve as escape routes, in case of fire or attack by enemies.
Why did Esmé want to gain control of it?
Esmé married Jerome the day after they met. She moved into the penthouse, and there, she could control the secret passageway that connected the penthouse to the Baud's house. But why would she want control?
The prevailing theory is that she wanted control so that she could slip Olaf down the secret pasageway, and he could burn the Baudelaire mansion, or steal whatever he needed.
Here, the theory would have rested, but sharp-eyed Anoriel brought up the point that this couldn't possible be the case.
Read Jacques letter to Jerome in LSUA. In it, Jacques mentions two things to Jerome. the first is that he is part of a secret organization (implying that JEROME IS NOT A MEMBER OF VFD (so quit emailing that to me)) and the second is that Jacques had just investigated a grisly murder at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill.
Which murder? Well, there have only been two- Foreman Firstein, who was done away with so Foreman Flacutono could come in; and Dr Georgina Orwell.
Firstein was never openly killed though. He was probably dragged off somewhere quiet and done away with, as everyone says he just disappeared. That leaves Georgina Orwell, who we all know was killed quite violently at the end of TMM.
Now, in this same letter in which Georgina Orwell's death is mentioned, Jacques begs Jerome NOT to marry Esmé and to never ever sell the penthouse. So, by the time Orwell dies, and the Bauds leave the Miserable Mill, Jerome and EsmŽ have just met.
The burning of the Baudelaire mansion happened weeks before that, so that particular reason couldn't possibly be it.
Esmé must have married Jerome to gain control of the penthouse so that she could have access to the room above the penthouse, which, as we know from LSUA does exist, and used to be a VFD Headquarters.
Well, let's take a look at it.
Why is there a secret passageway?
It must exist for some reason, right? I would propose to you that the reason the secret passageway exists is so that VFD members could sneak from one member's house, to another. You'll recall that Quigley, in TSS, was in a secret passageway from his house to Uncle Monty's, and the Baudelaire's had one connecting their house with the penthouse as 667 Dark Avenue.
My guess is that there are more secret passageways between headquarters and members's houses, but we haven't heard any of them yet. These passages would allow VFD-ers to slip unnoticed from one place to another without being followed by enemies; or they coudl serve as escape routes, in case of fire or attack by enemies.
Why did Esmé want to gain control of it?
Esmé married Jerome the day after they met. She moved into the penthouse, and there, she could control the secret passageway that connected the penthouse to the Baud's house. But why would she want control?
The prevailing theory is that she wanted control so that she could slip Olaf down the secret pasageway, and he could burn the Baudelaire mansion, or steal whatever he needed.
Here, the theory would have rested, but sharp-eyed Anoriel brought up the point that this couldn't possible be the case.
Read Jacques letter to Jerome in LSUA. In it, Jacques mentions two things to Jerome. the first is that he is part of a secret organization (implying that JEROME IS NOT A MEMBER OF VFD (so quit emailing that to me)) and the second is that Jacques had just investigated a grisly murder at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill.
Which murder? Well, there have only been two- Foreman Firstein, who was done away with so Foreman Flacutono could come in; and Dr Georgina Orwell.
Firstein was never openly killed though. He was probably dragged off somewhere quiet and done away with, as everyone says he just disappeared. That leaves Georgina Orwell, who we all know was killed quite violently at the end of TMM.
Now, in this same letter in which Georgina Orwell's death is mentioned, Jacques begs Jerome NOT to marry Esmé and to never ever sell the penthouse. So, by the time Orwell dies, and the Bauds leave the Miserable Mill, Jerome and EsmŽ have just met.
The burning of the Baudelaire mansion happened weeks before that, so that particular reason couldn't possibly be it.
Esmé must have married Jerome to gain control of the penthouse so that she could have access to the room above the penthouse, which, as we know from LSUA does exist, and used to be a VFD Headquarters.