"...or even spotted the person who was using one of the passageways now, and probably for the last time as she made her difficult and dark way toward the Queequeg..."
TGG, pg 127
So, who is this woman?
We don't have a whole lot of information. She came in after the Baud's left, and when they got back, Phil and Widdershins were gone. So when she left, they went with her.
There were no signs of a struggle, so I would be led to believe that they went willingly, so it was probably someone they knew. Now, Widdershins knew Jacques and Lemony (TGG pg 42-43), so it stands to reason he might have known Kit, so she's a candidate, but it could also be Esmé.
Now, why Esmé? Because Esmé is the front runner for the "horrible woman who turned out to be a spy" mentioned on Page 43 of TGG. Granted, the WWHBNB could be the Horrible Woman, but I actually am of the opinion it's Esmé.
Widdershins, it is later implied, knew Olaf and Esmé, and indeed, might actually have been one of the evil VFDers. I have no proof for that, other then Esmé and Olaf's implications, on pg 286.
So, the two front runners are Esmé and Kit, and as of right now, I'm leaning toward Esmé. You might say that Esmé couldn't be her because she doesn't know where Widdershins is, but reread the passage- she never says she doesn't know. She and Olaf tell Fiona they'll HELP HER FIND her stepfather, but never say they don't know where he is. If they were to take her and throw her in the brig with her stepfather, that'd be helping her find him, wouldn't it?
Rick writes in with some other possibilities:
We know from TGG p.310 that the swimming woman said something to Captain Widdershins that caused he and Phil to abandon the Queequeg. It must have been a woman he trusted. On the same page, Lemony reveals that Captain Widdershins was also "wrong about his wife' death , because ... Mrs. Widdershins did not die in a Manatee accident." It could well be that Mrs. Widdershins was also involved with the Captain and Fernald in destroyingAnwhistle Aquatics, that they thought she died in the fire -- but she survived, and is the swimming woman. Moreover, the woman had just left the grotto, and one of the things left behind was a deck of playing cards. Fiona mentioned her brother liked playing cards when he had a long period of time to wait -- it may have been a family characteristic.
There is another possibility as well. When Captain Widdershins lists the members of the crew, the last member of the crew changed from Fiona's mother, to Jacques Snicket, to Jacques' brother (Lemony), to a dreadful woman who turned out to be a spy, and finally to Phil. In Lemony's summary near the end of Chapter 13, he says it was wrong for Capt. Widdershins to abandon the Queequeg no matter what the woman told him -- if she told him something wrong, it may have been this spy. We just don't have much information about the spy. (Thanks Rick)
Another interesting possibility, which I had not considered is this: Aunt Josephine. Lightningrave44 explains:
TWW, pg 192- "The boat ws already quite a ways away from Aunt Josephine, and th eorphans could only see the white of her hands as she waved them over the dark water.
"She has a chance," Violet said quietly to Klaus as the sailed toward the dock. "She has those life jackets, and she's a strong swimmer."
"That's true," Klaus said, his voice shaky and sad. "She's lived by the lake her whole life. Maybe she knows of an escape route."
Pg 194 states that Aunt Josephine faded from view.
Pg 211: "...we can never know exactly what happened to Aunt Josephine, but I will say that eventually- about the time when the Baudelaire orphans were forced to attend a miserable boarding school- two fishermen found both of Aunt Josephine's life jackets, all in tatters and floating alone in the murky waters of Lake Lachrymose."
It's never specifically said that Josephine died. we've all been assuming it, but look at the text- she could still be alive. Aunt Josephine was well versed in the lake lachrymose area, so she could have conceivably escaped the leeches. (Thanks lightningrave!)
TGG, pg 127
So, who is this woman?
We don't have a whole lot of information. She came in after the Baud's left, and when they got back, Phil and Widdershins were gone. So when she left, they went with her.
There were no signs of a struggle, so I would be led to believe that they went willingly, so it was probably someone they knew. Now, Widdershins knew Jacques and Lemony (TGG pg 42-43), so it stands to reason he might have known Kit, so she's a candidate, but it could also be Esmé.
Now, why Esmé? Because Esmé is the front runner for the "horrible woman who turned out to be a spy" mentioned on Page 43 of TGG. Granted, the WWHBNB could be the Horrible Woman, but I actually am of the opinion it's Esmé.
Widdershins, it is later implied, knew Olaf and Esmé, and indeed, might actually have been one of the evil VFDers. I have no proof for that, other then Esmé and Olaf's implications, on pg 286.
So, the two front runners are Esmé and Kit, and as of right now, I'm leaning toward Esmé. You might say that Esmé couldn't be her because she doesn't know where Widdershins is, but reread the passage- she never says she doesn't know. She and Olaf tell Fiona they'll HELP HER FIND her stepfather, but never say they don't know where he is. If they were to take her and throw her in the brig with her stepfather, that'd be helping her find him, wouldn't it?
Rick writes in with some other possibilities:
We know from TGG p.310 that the swimming woman said something to Captain Widdershins that caused he and Phil to abandon the Queequeg. It must have been a woman he trusted. On the same page, Lemony reveals that Captain Widdershins was also "wrong about his wife' death , because ... Mrs. Widdershins did not die in a Manatee accident." It could well be that Mrs. Widdershins was also involved with the Captain and Fernald in destroyingAnwhistle Aquatics, that they thought she died in the fire -- but she survived, and is the swimming woman. Moreover, the woman had just left the grotto, and one of the things left behind was a deck of playing cards. Fiona mentioned her brother liked playing cards when he had a long period of time to wait -- it may have been a family characteristic.
There is another possibility as well. When Captain Widdershins lists the members of the crew, the last member of the crew changed from Fiona's mother, to Jacques Snicket, to Jacques' brother (Lemony), to a dreadful woman who turned out to be a spy, and finally to Phil. In Lemony's summary near the end of Chapter 13, he says it was wrong for Capt. Widdershins to abandon the Queequeg no matter what the woman told him -- if she told him something wrong, it may have been this spy. We just don't have much information about the spy. (Thanks Rick)
Another interesting possibility, which I had not considered is this: Aunt Josephine. Lightningrave44 explains:
TWW, pg 192- "The boat ws already quite a ways away from Aunt Josephine, and th eorphans could only see the white of her hands as she waved them over the dark water.
"She has a chance," Violet said quietly to Klaus as the sailed toward the dock. "She has those life jackets, and she's a strong swimmer."
"That's true," Klaus said, his voice shaky and sad. "She's lived by the lake her whole life. Maybe she knows of an escape route."
Pg 194 states that Aunt Josephine faded from view.
Pg 211: "...we can never know exactly what happened to Aunt Josephine, but I will say that eventually- about the time when the Baudelaire orphans were forced to attend a miserable boarding school- two fishermen found both of Aunt Josephine's life jackets, all in tatters and floating alone in the murky waters of Lake Lachrymose."
It's never specifically said that Josephine died. we've all been assuming it, but look at the text- she could still be alive. Aunt Josephine was well versed in the lake lachrymose area, so she could have conceivably escaped the leeches. (Thanks lightningrave!)