The Harrowing Heist

Chapter Eight: Switcharoo

*Isadora's POV*

"Good luck, Sunny," I whispered to the little girl before she separated from us for her mission. Violet had left just before and Klaus wished her good luck.

"What should we do?" Klaus whispered to me, "We can't very well wander about."

I nodded in agreement. We hesitantly began walking anyway, ducking behind a hall as we heard somebody coming. Klaus peeked his head around the corner slightly. He could see who it was but I couldn't at the moment. They spoke but the voice wasn't familiar, although it was definitely a man's voice.

"Yes, of course I'll meet you there, Miss Esmé." The man said.
A static-sounding voice replied over what I assumed was a communication device. "Good. And make it snappy, Carl."

Carl's footsteps faded away and Klaus turned back to me, mortified. "That guy... Th-that's one of Olaf's henchmen..." He whispered .

"That's impossible. It didn't sound like the bald man, or the hook-handed man, or the henchperson of indeterminate gender. And definitely not either of the white faced women."

Klaus shook his head. "There were more. When my sisters and I were living at Count Olaf's he had the whole troupe over."

I held Klaus' hand. "It's okay... We'll be ok. Olaf is gone, right? We'll be ok, Klaus." I whispered, trying to calm him. "Remember the plan. C'mon. We're going to follow him."

"Follow??" He whisper-shouted, " Don't be daft, Izzie. "
"I'm being serious, Klaus. Take a deep breath. We have to finish this mission."

Klaus did as I asked and took a deep breath. He nodded once he was ready and we followed the echoey sound of the henchman's footsteps, always making sure we were at a good distance. We turned a corner and the henchman met up with the disgusting woman... At least that's what I saw for a split second before Klaus took the two of us out of their possible view. However, I don't think what ended up happening was quite what he imagined. I know he didn't mean to push me flush against the wall with not even a half a foot between us, but wow.

It's a desperate situation. It's a desperate situation. Am I blushing?? Stop breathing so goddamn fast!!! Maybe I'm just embarrassed- nope I'm not. Damn it, Isadora, keep this professional!!!

I noticed his breathing was abnormal too. I remembered from at Prufrock whenever he was upset or not feeling himself, holding his hand could calm him down. I gave him a reassuring smile and that seemed to calm him down much more. It calmed my nerves too.

"Go check the jewel room. The Blue Dolphin Crystal isn't safe." Esmé demanded.
" Yes, of course, Miss Esmé. Will that be all? "
"Watch out. The Baudelaire brats escaped."
"They've flown the coop?"

Esmé was hushed for a moment. "They can fly?" She asked, astounded.
"No, Miss Esmé. It's an express-"
"I don't care. Go do as I asked. Remember the clues."

We heard Esmé's footsteps leave before Carl's started again. We began following him the same way as before. He then stopped outside a door with an odd object on it. It was like a large, metal spider with wires spread out, hooking around the door's sides, but where the head of the spider would be, there was a typewriter keyboard.

"A Vernacularly Fastened Door..." Klaus said, almost too quiet for even himself to hear.

We hid behind a corner and waited for Carl to go in and check, then leave.

"Hmm... The clues. The clues for the door..." He mumbled somewhat loudly, and it sounded like he was leafing through something - maybe a notebook. "Ah! Here! 'What both sides of the schism want. ' Simple." He began typing something in. 'Sugar Bowl', I thought. " Next... 'What B. stole from E.'" There was silence, then he made a "Aha!" sort of noise and he started typing more. 'B.?'  I tried to remember going through An Incomplete History of Secret  to recall an event as unfortunate as thievery. 'Oh... The answer is Sugar Bowl. '

"How much you wanna bet the last one is Sugar Bowl?" Klaus whispered in my ear. I stifled a giggle and we listened in, hoping he'd share the last clue.

"Hmmm... Last clue... 'What Miss Esmé wants most. ' ... More blonde hair dye? No. That's not it... Oh! Nevermind..." Carl muttered, typing into the keyboard.

"Told you," Klaus added with a grin. I nodded and held one finger to my lips, telling him to stay quiet for now. We heard the door shut behind the henchman and stayed close to the corner. We waited there for a good few minutes in silence before hearing the door open and close again. Carl's footsteps faded away down the next hallway. I peeked around the corner to see if the coast was clear and we moved to the door, quickly typing in the code words. The door opened and we snuck inside, shutting the door behind us. I checked for security precautions, and seeing none, continued into the room. Klaus followed. I saw the Blue Dolphin Crystal sitting on a pedestal in the middle of the room.

"Looks sketchy," Klaus whispered.
"It's the Squalors; Nothing is sketchy about them." I stated sarcastically, advancing. I examined where the crystal sat and found nothing out of place about it. There was no weighted plate, no wires, no security measures at all. "For the city's sixth most important financial advisor, you'd think she could do better than this..."

"With all the crimes she was involved in, I'd be surprised if that title wasn't removed." Klaus said. "Plus these are tunnels. This is an improvised jewel room, so I doubt there'd be any well implemented security measures, other than a wandering henchman."
"Good point," I grinned, opening the satchel resting against my waist and pulled out the fake gem. "Lift the real one. I'll put the prop on the pillar."

Klaus did as I asked and I replaced it. "Izzie, about earlier, I'm so sorry about-"
"It's fine, Klaus. Chill." I smiled as he put the Blue Dolphin Crystal in the bag.
"Okay," he said, more relaxed.
I giggled. 'If you wanted to press me up against a wall, you could have just asked!'  I joked in my thoughts. I'd never say that out loud, especially in this situation and to someone who is so likely to faint there and then.

"Let's get moving," I said. Klaus nodded in agreement. We carefully made it back to the front of the hideout without running into Carl, Drizella, or Esmé. Closing the door behind us, we sighed in relief. "Thank God we're out of there," I smiled at Klaus.
"I know right?" He grinned back.

"Isadora, do you have it?" I heard a familiar voice from behind us.
"Ms. Lost!" I whipped around, seeing her and none other than the Duchess of Winnipeg herself, Jacqueline Scieszka. "Yes, I have it." I answered, patting the bag.

"Klaus Baudelaire, it's so good to see you." Jacqueline said, hugging him tightly.
"You too..." He said, hugging back.
"Are you okay? Hurt or anything? Where are your sisters?"
"Still inside. We split up; I trust them though." He answered.

"Good work, you two," Ornette told us, "The organization thanks you."
"Anything to make the world a little quieter." I replied.
"I hope you know we aren't going to join the organization." Klaus interjected. "Not after... All this."

"We never expected you to, but we were hopeful."

Isadora handed the bag to her chaperone and the two of them stepped away from us. We sat on the ground of the tunnel, leaning up against the wall and waited for the others...

...Maybe also holding hands but that's besides the point...