After being taken away from the horrible man Count Olaf (who tried to steal their fortune), the Baudelaire children are taken away to their new guardian, Dr.Montgomery Montgomery who lives on Lousy Lane, which smells like horseradish. According to Mr. Poe, Dr. Montgomery is the Baudelaire's "late father's cousin's wife's brother." He likes to be called "Uncle Monty." Uncle Monty is a short, chubby man with a round face. Uncle Monty is way more friendly than Olaf and lets the children roam around his house. Each child is given their own room. Monty tells the children that they will be going on an expedition to Peru, once his new assistant, Stephano, arrives. He says that his old assistant, Gustav, had quite suddenly resigned. Monty has a special room called The Reptile Room. The children are fascinated with how many snakes are in the room. They meet The Incredibly Deadly Viper, which Monty has recently discovered. The snake's name is a misnomer since it is harmless; Monty intends to use it to play a practical joke on the Herpetologist Society in revenge for their ridiculing his name, Montgomery Montgomery. The three children are each given jobs in the Reptile Room: Violet is given the job of inventing traps for new snakes found in Peru, Klaus is told to read books on snakes to help advise Uncle Monty and Sunny's job is to bite ropes into usable pieces. She also befriends the Incredibly Deadly Viper. When Stephano arrives, the children realize he is Count Olaf in a disguise. They try to warn Monty but the assistant foils their plans. Monty realizes Stephano is evil but, his theory is that he has come to steal The Incredibly Deadly Viper. Monty then explains his theory to the children and tears Stephano's ticket to Peru up, saying that Stephano will not be going on the trip with them. Stephano threatens the children privately later, hinting at a plot he has for them when they reach Peru. They tell him that Monty won't let him go with them and Stephano becomes furious. On the day they are to leave for Peru, they discover Monty's dead body in the Reptile Room. He has two tiny puncture holes under his left eye, and Stephano claims that he has been bitten by a snake. Stephano still wants to take the children to Peru where, he believes he can get his hands on the fortune easily. As they are leaving Monty's house, Stephano's car bumps into Mr.Poe's. They return to the house, where Poe and Stephano discuss what to do with the children. The Baudelaires try to prove that it was Stephano who killed Monty. Meanwhile, the children realize that they'll need evidence to expose Stephano's scheme. Klaus and Sunny stage a diversion (distraction) in which the Incredibly Deadly Viper pretends to attack Sunny to allow Violet time to find and open Stephano's suitcase. Stephano blows his cover when he informs Mr. Poe that Sunny is not in danger as the viper is harmless; he had previously claimed he knew nothing about snakes. Violet shows up and presents Mr. Poe with the evidence (among other things, a powder puff and the syringe used to inject snake venom into Monty). Mr. Poe asks Stephano to display his ankle, where the tattoo of an eye should be. However, the eye is not there. The Baudelaire's insist that he has covered it with makeup. Mr. Poe wipes the ankle with a handkerchief, revealing the eye. However, Olaf gets away before he is arrested.Soon, the Baudelaires will be assigned to yet another guardian. They watch as Monty's reptile collection is taken away by Bruce. They watch as the car containing the Incredibly Deadly Viper drives off into the night, and they hope to have a good guardian soon.Soon, the Baudelaire's will be assigned to yet another guardian. They watch as Monty's reptile collection is taken away by Bruce. They watch as the car containing the Incredibly Deadly Viper drives off into the night, and they hope to have a good guardian soon.