How It All Goes Down
- When Amy and Dan get back to the hotel, Nellie is so not happy with them, because she's been stuck at the roach motel (gardon = cockroach). But then they tell her that they were almost killed, and Nellie steps up to their defense, "Nobody messes with my babysitees" (15.18). Oh yeah, it's on like Jean Valjean.
- Amy realizes that they have to explore the Catacombs, the intricate series of tunnels under Paris.
- Right before they get there, they run into Uncle Alistair, who was last seen stealing the Almanack and leaving the kids in a burning building. He's a real peach, that one.
- Nellie whacks him in the head with her backpack.
- Amy believes Alistair's excuses. Dan doesn't. Alistair offers to buy them lunch, so they join him.
- At lunch, Alistair shows the kids a print of a painting of Ben Franklin. In it, a clue is hidden: "Paris, 1785" (18.96).
- Amy acts like this is a big deal, even though they already knew this information.
- After lunch, Alistair offers to tell them information about their parents. It seems there are secrets surrounding them and their deaths.
- But before he can spill the beans, the Kabra siblings show up. To get Amy and Dan to trust him, Alistair offers to stay behind and delay them.
- Amy, Dan, and Nellie descend into the Catacombs.