What happen in chapter 4 of a series of unfortunate events The Ersatz Elevator?

Answer 1

The Baudelaire are sent to live with Esme and Jerome Squalor on 667 Dark Avenue. They live in the penthouse suite at the very top of a top of countless floors. The elevator's broken, so they have to walk up and down all the stairs, which takes hours. Esme Squalor is completely obsessed with fashion (which has been exaggerated in the book, to give a message that following trends closely is stupid). In fact, the only reason Esme adopted them was because orhans were "in" at the time. Esme refers to everything as "in" or "out". The Baudelaires are forced to follow fashion trends, too, because Esme can't abide having anything that isn't in. Thus, they have to wear pinstripe suits (which are too large, because those were the only ones left in the store), drink seltzer water, eat salmon, and walk up and down the stairs (one of the reasons the elevator hasn't been fixed is because elevators are "out"). Jerome is really nice, but he doesn't everything Esme says, so he's not much help to the Baudelaires. Olaf shows up as "Gunther", who is allegadly a stylish foreginer who barely speaks any English and who is helping Esme plan an auction of "in" stuff called 'The "In" Auction'. The Baudelaires think that they Quagmires must be somewhere nearby, because Olaf is here, so they search everywhere for them, and finally find them in the elevator shaft (the elevator was removed, and at the bottom of the shaft was a cage with the Quagmires in it). The Baudelaires had to climb down the shaft from the top of the building using one giant rope of neckties, ropes, extention cords, etc. They get to the bottom, discover the Quagmires, climb back up to get something to burn the bars of the cage with, so they can let the Quagmires out; and climb back down. All that climbing takes several hours, so by the time they reach the bottom with the molten-hot crow bars, the Quagmires are gone. The Quagmires told them that they were to be hidden in one of the items at the In Auction, bought by one of Olaf's henchmen, and then shipped somewhere else. So, they go back to the penthouse and flip through the In Auction Catalog. They find an item called "VFD", so they think the Quagmires must be in that. They find Esme and tell her everything; Gunther is Olaf, the Quagmires are hidden in VFD, etc. They go to show her the empty elevator shaft. She opens the elevator, laughs, and throws themdown the shaft. A net had been placed in the middle of the shaft after the Baudelaires had climbed back up, and the rope at been removed, so the Bauelaires would be stuck in the middle of the shaft. Esme tells them that she had been in cahoots with Olaf the whole time, that she knew everything already, and that the Baudelaires know too much so, they'll be kept in the shaft until after the auction, and then she'll give them to Olaf. She also says something about how she hates Beatrice and Beatrice stole her sugar bowl. The Baudelaires manage to get to the bottom of the shaft (I think that the rope was at the bottom, and Sunny, using her teeth, climbed to the bottom, dragged the rope back up to the net, they tied the rope to the net, and climbed down, but I might be remembering that wrong). They realize that the shaft is connected to an underground passage. They follow it, reach the end, pry open a trap door in the ceiling and emerge into the ashes of their old house. They realize the passage must have been used by their parents and whoever lived in the penthouse before the Squalors for VFD business. They walk to the place where the auction is being held, find Jerome, and convince him to buy them VFD. They find out that VFD stands for Very Fancy Doilies, that the Quagmires weren't hidden in VFD, but in a giant red herring statue, Olaf escapes with the Quags, Esme goes with Olaf (she leaves Jerome and becomes Olaf's girlfriend), and Jerome gives up the Baudelaires because he doesn't think he can raise them.

Answer 2

Olaf turns up, disguised as Gunther, an auctioneer. The Baudelaires try to tell Jerome and Esme that he is Count Olaf, but they don't believe them. The three orphans then leave the apartment and slide down the banisters, while worrying about Olaf's scheme.

Answer 3

The setting is a penthouse at the very top of 667 dark avenue.