The Baudelaire orphans,
Violet,
Klaus and
Sunny are travelling with
pregnant V.F.D. member Kit Snicket to Hotel Denouement, the last safe place for the noble side of V.F.D to gather. She tells them that, prior to V.F.D.’s gathering in two days, they will be disguised as
concierges to observe the mysterious 'J.S.,’ in order to identify him as a volunteer or a villain of V.F.D. The hotel's managers are identical triplets
Frank, Dewey and Ernest—Frank is a volunteer, while Ernest is on the opposing side as a villain, and Dewey is someone of legend who many do not believe exists. He has created a book cataloging all information of the V.F.D. During their first day of disguised employment, the Baudelaires split up to assist the hotel's guests—Violet assists
Esmé Squalor and
Carmelita Spats by bringing them a
harpoon gun with the help of a manager, Klaus assists
Charles and
Sir (the owners of the Lucky Smells Lumbermill) by escorting them to the
sauna while also hanging "
birdpaper" outside a window for one of the managers, and Sunny assists
Hal (an employee at Heimlich Hospital) and another manager in locking a V.F.D device onto a door of the laundry room, converting it into a Vernacularly Fastened Door, while meeting with
Vice-Principal Nero,
Ms. Bass and
Mr. Remora (teachers at Prufrock Preparatory School)—all the guests discuss the mysterious J.S., and it was later revealed that
Hugo,
Collette, and
Kevin (the "freaks" from Caligari Carnival) spied on them during these events. Together the siblings discuss which manager asked for what, as each of them ran into a separate manager. Remembering a
favorite poem of their father’s, Klaus concludes that Carmelita Spats requested the harpoon gun to shoot down a bird carrying the sugar bowl, as Sunny mentioned that Hal and a manager were discussing the sugar bowl (an object both volunteers and villains are seeking for unknown reasons) and the Medusoid Mycelium (a deadly fungus parasite they encounter in the previous book)—the bird's body would then land on the paper, and the sugar bowl would fall into a chute leading the laundry room, which is where the Vernacularly Fastened Door led too. Shortly after his proposal, one of the managers encounters them and reveals himself as
Dewey Denouement, the third of the secretly three brothers and the one who helped Sunny (Frank helped Violet and Ernest helped Klaus). He also tells them that a pool reflection of the hotel is the actual safe place, as the hotel's words and structure were designed backward to reflect the actual words onto the pool—beneath the pool is an underwater catalog containing crucial information concerning V.F.D. They are then encountered by
Jerome Squalor and
Justice Strauss, who have joined V.F.D. after believing messages being sent to J.S. were being addressed to them. While the four re-enter the hotel,
Count Olaf intercepts them, and threatens Dewey with a harpoon gun for the code needed to access the door. While the children attempt to prevent the killing,
Mr. Poe suddenly enters, causing Olaf to shove the weapon into the Baudelaires' hands—surprised, they drop the gun, causing it to discharge and kill Dewey. As a crowd arrives, a man in a taxi implied to be
Lemony Snicket offers to take the Baudelaires away, but they decline. The next morning, the orphans and Olaf are sent to court; however, everyone except for the judges must be
blindfolded for it to be legal. The audience was also almost everyone the orphans met since their parents died including
Mr. Lesko and
Mrs. Morrow (two villagers from the Village of Fowl Devotees), as well as Daily Punctilio reporter,
Geraldine Julienne. However, the other two judges are actually
the Man with a Beard But No Hair and
the Woman With Hair But No Beard, who are the villans of V.F.D. During the hearing, the Baudelaires realize that it was a trick for Olaf to kidnap Justice Strauss, pursue the sugar bowl, and burn the hotel and its inhabitants. Klaus, realizing that the chute the sugar bowl fell into actually led to underneath the pool, reveals the door code to Olaf, as the lock was just a diversion. Violet gains access to a boat for all of them to escape the authorities, while Sunny assists in burning the hotel as a signal to V.F.D. that the gathering has been canceled due to the invasion of enemies. The Baudelaires, along with Justice Strauss, attempt to alert everyone about the fire; it is unknown who managed to escape and who did not. Shortly after the authorities arrive, the orphans, along with Olaf, are about to disembark by sea. When Justice Strauss attempts to intervene, Sunny apologetically bites her hand, and the four sail away from the area, and out to sea. ==Foreshadowing==