In a fading town, far from anyone he knew or trusted, a young Lemony Snicket began his apprenticeship in an organization nobody knows about. He started by asking questions that shouldn't have been on his mind. Now he has written an account that should not be published.

In the fading town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea, young apprentice Lemony Snicket has a new case to solve when he and his chaperone are hired to find a missing girl. Is the girl a runaway? Or was she kidnapped? Was she seen last at the grocery store? Or could she have stopped at the diner? Is it really any of your business? These are all the wrong questions.

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are taken in by a series of oddball relatives and others after their wealthy parents are killed in a fire. The first to take them in is the dastardly and cunning Count Olaf, who is only interested in their inheritance.

When their wealthy parents are killed in a fire, the three Baudelaire orphans, Klaus, Violet and Sunny, are sent to live with a distant relative, the evil Count Olaf. They soon find out that he is plotting to kill them and seize their fortune.