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Hi, Sleuth! I've been rereading LS' 13 suspicious incidents, and in Sub file B, there seems to be a side B to every incident. I wonder what do you make of them? Do you think the various reptile mentions are references to the overlying plot that concerns the Bombinating Beast? Or do you think it could have something to do with Monty's reptiles? And what do you think the last, nine-lettered word would be? Thank you so much for your time, keep up the amazing work!
Hi, @illiteraven! So sorry to keep you waiting. My Ebook version of “File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents” doesn’t feature the “Side B solutions”, so I had to leave your question on the backburner for months. Now that I’ve got a copy in my hands, I’ll elaborate.
At first glance these “solutions” which don’t connect to any mysteries seem to be one of Daniel Handler’s literary experimentations. We are skipping to the endings of stories with no proper context. “All The Wrong Questions” is a series of mystery novels, so this could be a commentary on the temptation to skip ahead to the end in order to read the solution.
Then again, some of the Side-B snippets do seem to connect to the mystery of the Bombinating Beast somehow, and there are recurrent characters and themes from one snippet to the other. So maybe they’re remnants of subplots Daniel Handler considered for “All The Wrong Questions” even though they didn’t make it to the final draft.
Deep Mine:Dagwood is most likely a reference to Dagwood Bumstead, a character from famous comic-strip Blondie (Link), who gave his name to the Dagwood sandwich. As a gourmet, Handler would know that. Dagwood is also a pun on a character from its Side-A story Dagmar. The buzzing sound is reminiscent of the Bombinating Beast, as well as the ondulations of the Great Unknown. The Museum could also be a reference to the Museum of Objects.
Backseat:Please refer to my commentary on “Missing pets”.
Quiet Street:The V.F.D. reference is a reminder of the organization’s interest in Stain’d-by-the-Sea, as evidenced later by Lois Dressing’s observation of Lemony’s progress.
Beneath The Street:Secret underground passageways are a specialty of V.F.D. The mention of buzzing sounds also ties with the “Deep Mine” Side-B story.
Small Courtyard:Another mention of Violetta and Dagwood. Apparently their father feared Stain’d-by-the-Sea ‘s stone buildings would eventually get destroyed by “violent animal life”. It seems like he knew the Bombinating Beast was coming. According to Hangfire in the last ATWQ book, a lot of adults actually knew what he was dying but fled out in terror or were assassinated.
Missing Pets:These tanks were probably the same ones Hangfire used to raise/grow his experiments. It’s possible the reptiles were also used as genetic material to manufacture an imitation of the legendary Bombinating Beast. Mrs Flammarion is likely a member of Inhumane Society, just like her husband, and could have been tasked with providing the fish tanks and reptiles.
Large Meal:The salted meat recalls Qwerty’s and Hangfire’s interest in caviar, which also requires a great deal of salt. The local reptilian delicacies could have been a convenient way to explain the disappearance of reptiles in the area, in order to dispose of their bodies after Hangifre’s experiments.
Other Name:The initials are likely “I.S.” or “A.F.” as Inhumane Society and Armstrong Feint are known to steal honeydew melons from Partial Foods.
Sand And Shore:Apparently the abandonned boats in the empty sea are still good for something. Perhaps Cleo Knight could look into that to save her city from economic disaster.
Poor joke:Pretty much what it says on the tin.
Message recorded:Members of V.F.D. seem to carry evidence in their hats, which ties in with a shady adoption deal Arthur Poe is later guilty of in “A Series Of Unfortunate Events”.
Nervous Wreck:“Mother of Icarus” seems to be a parody of “Icarus’s Mother” by Sam Sherpard (1965). The play concerns two men trying to send a secret message during a picnic so their friends don’t realize they intend to crash a plane. So the fact that Lemony is pressing us not to look for a secret message is ironic.
Last Word:The word uttered by the mysterious figure in “Shouted Word” is commonly theorized to be “Ellington”, which has nine letters, so it would fit. Hangfire was probably looking for his daughter in the city, trying to convince her to follow his orders again in exchange for “sparing” her father’s life.