#0438

there was a biiiiig thunderstorm that re-knocked-out our WiFi for a few minutes, I was worried I’d have to take a picture on my phone again! (I did update [yesterday’s] with the actual image btw)

Hi again, @rchlltz!

Olaf remains the #1 suspect for the Baudelaire mansion’s fire. Both “The Bad Beginning: Rare Edition” and “The Dismal Dinner” sprinkle clues pointing to Olaf’s involvement.

“Ha!” Count Olaf cried. “Pay attention, orphans, and I’ll teach you some of my best tricks.First, spread those dirty sheets all over the floor. Then, take those jugs of extremelyflammable chemicals and pour them all over the sheets.”[The Bad Beginning, Chapter Thirteen]

Here and there, the children could see traces of the home they had loved: fragments of their grand piano, an elegant bottle in which Mr. Baudelaire had kept brandy, the scorched cushion of the windowseat where their mother liked to sit and read. Curiously enough, Mr. Baudelaire’s brandy bottle was found on the remains of the dining table, with no coasters nearby. This would indicate that either the coasters were burned beyond recognition, or the Baudelaires had received a visitor who had no manners whatsoever.[The Bad Beginning: Rare Edition, pp.12-13]

But Count Olaf just sat there as calmly as if they were discussing the weather.Certain kinds of weather-severe rainstorms, for instance-have a dampening effect on fires, which is displeasing to arsonists. There have been reports of alleged arsonists so reportedly displeased with the weather that they have been rumored to pound their beverages on an unprotected wooden table.[The Bad Beginning: Rare Edition, p.98]

I don’t know whether the scene in the Hotel Denouement’s laundry room is supposed to parallel Olaf’s disregard for coasters. It relates to a different subplot: (Link). Basically the rings left on the wooden apparatus are evidence of Olaf’s presence on the scenes of his crimes, which would be helpful in arresting him for arson. Did Olaf use the alcohol in Bertrand’s brandy bottle to start the fire? Maybe, maybe not. All we know for almost certain is that he was inside the Baudelaire mansion on the morning of the fire, at the Baudelaire parents’ invitation.

It's just not going to happen buddy!