Lois Dressing

Lois Dressing
Physical Description
Gender	Female
Affiliation
Profession	VFD Agent
Loyalty	VFD
Behind the Scenes
Appearances	File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents

“	If you are receiving this postcard it means Mr. Snicket has passed the test and is therefore progressing nicely as an apprentice in our organization. Please note the dated postmark for our records and make a note in the Snicket file.	”
	— Lois Dressing's message, File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents

Lois Dressing is an unseen VFD member featured in File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents, in the eleventh incident, "Vanished Message."

Biography

Lois Dressing was an agent of the Volunteer Fire Department, who was sent to Stain'd-by-the-Sea to test how well Lemony Snicket's apprenticeship was going. She left a message for VFD Headquarters on a postcard in a Stain'd-by-the-Sea library book on the Yamgraz, before sending a note to Snicket himself.

In her message, Lois says she was recently studying the Yamgraz in Stain'd-by-the-Sea, and while enjoying a tangerine soda at the Swinster Pharmacy, writing postcards to various acquaintances in the city, and wrote one with a very important message, and when she went to mail the cards at Stain'd Station, the important card was gone, and the Swinster Pharmacy wouldn't answer the phone. She implores Snicket to help her- explaining that "implore" means "beg" in case he didn't know- and asks that he only look at the picture side of the card, which shows Blotto the Octopus, and not read the message.

Snicket later finds out that she realized late she was about to leave town with a library book, and rushed to return it to the library, leaving the postcard inside. He also discovered easily that the message was a test.

Appearances

Books
A Series of Unfortunate Events (Books)
1. The Bad Beginning (1999):	Absent	7. The Vile Village (2001):	Absent
2. The Reptile Room (1999):	Absent	8. The Hostile Hospital (2001):	Absent
3. The Wide Window (2000):	Absent	9. The Carnivorous Carnival (2002):	Absent
4. The Miserable Mill (2000):	Absent	10. The Slippery Slope (2003):	Absent
5. The Austere Academy (2000):	Absent	11. The Grim Grotto (2004):	Absent
6. The Ersatz Elevator (2001):	Absent	12. The Penultimate Peril (2005):	Absent
13. The End (2006):		Absent
All the Wrong Questions
Who Could That Be at This Hour? (2012):	Absent	Shouldn't You Be in School? (2014):	Absent
When Did You See Her Last? (2013):	Absent	Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights? (2015):	Absent
File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents (2014):		Debut
Snicketverse
Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography (2002):		Absent
The Dismal Dinner (2004):		Absent
The Beatrice Letters (2006):		Absent
29 Myths on the Swinster Pharmacy (2014):		Absent
The Hero of the Story (2017):		Absent
Poison for Breakfast (2021):		Absent
Other Snicket Books
The Baby in the Manger (2002):		Absent
The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming (2007):		Absent
The Lump of Coal (2008):		Absent
The Composer Is Dead (2009):		Absent
13 Words (2010):		Absent
The Dark (2013):		Absent
Goldfish Ghost (2017):		Absent

Trivia

• In her note to headquarters, she requested that they make a note in the Snicket File on his progress; said Snicket File was important in A Series of Unfortunate Events, though its full contents were never revealed.
• Her name is an anagram of the British author Doris Lessing.