| “ | We'll ask the questions around here. We're the law in Stain'd-by-the-Sea. We're the ones who catch criminals and put them on the train back to the city to be locked up. From the outskirts of town in the hinterlands to the boundary of the Clusterous Forest, we know every single thing that happens in this town. So when strangers arrive, we feel it is our duty to welcome them and ask them what exactly it is that they're doing here. | ” |
— Mimi Mitchum, Who Could That Be at This Hour?
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Mimi Mitchum is one of the last two police officers in Stain'd-by-the-Sea and a reoccuring character in All the Wrong Questions.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Mimi lived in Stain'd-by-the-Sea with her husband, Harvey Mitchum, with whom she constantly argues. They have a son, Stew, whom they adore. She also has a sister.[1]
The couple are the only police officers left in town, and due to budget cuts, their police car is made of a station wagon with a flashlight taped onto its roof and their son making a siren noise. She believes that the bell that rings to signal the residents of Stain'd-by-the-Sea to put on their masks warns of the Bombinating Beast.
Mimi dislikes Dashiell Qwerty, as she does not trust anyone who doesn't spend time on their appearance.[1]
Who Could That Be at This Hour? []
After a streetlight is vandalized, Mimi and Harvey go to interrogate the newcomers to town- S. Theodora Markson and her apprentice, Lemony Snicket. However, once they meet, the couple starts arguing about whether or not they should refer to each other as husband and wife while at work. They finally get to the point, and Snicket claims that the him and his mentor are in town on business and to take in the sights of the town. They ask him about the streetlight, and he responds that he has an alibi, as he was in the library. He mentions Stew, and the Officers get angry at the impllication their son could be the culprit, as they see him as an angel. Her and Harvey get into another argument, and Snicket and Theodora leave.
That night, the Officers receive a call claiming there is a burglary happening in the Sallis Mansion, including the theft of a statue in the shape of the Bombinating Beast. They arrive and catch Theodora climbing into a window on a hauser, who won't explain what she's doing. However, she doesn't have any stolen items on her, so they release her. They find Snicket at Handkerchief Heights, where he claims to be visiting Ellington Feint and helping her mail packages. They search the house for the statue, finding nothing, and then drive the two children back into town to mail their packages.
Two days later, Theodora contacts the Mitchums, as her apprentice did not return home the night before. They find him and Ellington with the stolen item, which is to be returned to the Mallahans. The officers drive them to the lighthouse, bragging the whole way about their darling son.
When Did You See Her Last? []
The police car/station wagon.
Mimi and her husband are called to Partial Foods to investigate a theft; Polly Partial describes a young boy with a bowlcut who stole two honeydew melons. When they leave the store, they see Stew talking to Snicket. After he sasses them, they arrest him for the theft and take him to the station. Mimi drives Polly there, but is shocked and angered when she identifies Stew as the thief. She doesn't want to drive her back to the store and argues with Harvey about it until Polly leaves. Snicket then informs them that Polly was the only witness to Cleo Knight supposedly running away, and as she is unreliable, Cleo may be in danger. He suggests that they interrogate Dr. Flammarion, the Knight family apothecary.
When the Mitchums reach the Knight house, however, they find that the family has moved away. They meet up with Theodora and find Snicket and Ellingon at Black Cat Coffee. When Ellington confesses to pretending to be Cleo, Mimi and Harvey arrest her for fraud and hold her temporarily in the station's jail. The police are called about trespassers at the Colophon Clinic, and when they arrive, they find Cleo Knight, as well as Snicket, Jake Hix, Pip and Squeak Bellerophon and Moxie Mallahan, having managed to hold back Cleo's former captors, Flammarion and Nurse Dander. They argue about Harvey's rough driving until Nurse Dander asks them to please take them to jail.
File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents []
Bad Gang[]
On a Friday, Mimi and Harvey are called to one of the oldest neighborhoods in Stain'd-by-the-Sea, to investigate a broken window at Boards, owned by Bob Old. They find a note from a group that calls themselves the Big Bad Brick Gang; the note says that they are an anonymous group of vandals and other malcontents who strike with clever strategy and bricks, and that nobody will ever catch them. Both Officers believe the note, and they argue about the ending of a book until Snicket arrives. They explain the situation to him, and when he says the shouldn't believe everything they read, they begin arguing about each others' reading comprehension.
The next day, the officers investigate another vandalism from the Big Bad Brick Gang, this time at Swords, owned by Muriel Distinguished; they take Stew along with them. This time, the note says that they will never find out what makes the Big Bad Brick Gang choose a place to strike, and also that the officers can call them the BBBG if they want. Snicket guesses that they're attacking stores with rhyming names and suggest they investigate there.
Three Suspects.
On the next day, the Officers are called to a third place the BBBG have hit, this tiime Chrysanthemums, a store run by Delphinium Smith. They once again find a letter saying that they are helpless to bring the BBBG to justice, and then they argue about another book untli Snicket arrives. After talking with Delphinium and her daughter, Florence, he tells them that the BBBG is really two people, who will not strike again and hopefully clean up the windows and explain their behavior. However, he does not reveal their identities.
Three Suspects[]
Mimi and Harvey stayed up late watching two movies- one about zombies in the winter and one about giant bugs- and thus are tired the next morning when Polly Partial reports a blueberry pie theft. They arrest three suspects who match her description, but are too tired to figure out which one of them did it.
While waiting for Stew to arrive and help them, Harvey runs into Snicket, who volunteers to assist. They argue about who will explain things to him, which finally Mimi does. They then argue with each other while Snicket questions the suspects.
Shouldn't You Be in School? []
Stew convinces his parents to let him stop working as a police siren and transfer him to Wade Academy, claiming to want a top-drawer education.
The Officers Mitchum.
Harvey and Mimi are called to the scene of an arson; at 421 Ballpoint Avenue, the home of a new resident, Harold Limetta, has been burned down, killing his collection of moths. They argue about a movie they'd seen until Snicket and Theodora arrive, also looking for Harold Limetta. They say that they are going to ask for him at Birnbaum's Sheep Barn, where he gets wool to feed his moths, only for Theodora to inform them that the sheep barn has also burned down. Her and Harvey tell the two to keep out of the whole business, and then they argue until the pair leaves.
Later, Theodora and Sharon Haines decide that Dashiell Qwerty is the arsonist and send Mimi and Harvey to arrest him. They catch up to him at Black Cat Coffee and bicker as they load him into the car.
A while later, the officers are warned by Theodora that a fire is going to begin, and soon they hear the fire alarm at the library next door. They enter to find the sprinklers going off, and see Stew, Snicket and Ellington standing inside. Stew claims that Ellington destroyed the library, and so Mimi and Harvey arrest her.
Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?[]
Mimi and Harvey board the train with their son, Stew, to take Qwerty and Ellington into town to await trial. While there, Stew reveals his true colors by murdering Qwerty. Ellington trades her silence on the identity of the murderer for her freedom, and in order to protect their son, they agree. They awkwardly allow Stew to do what he wants, including framing Theodora for the crime and threatening three librarians into pretending to be witnesses.
After the Bombinating Beast attacks the train and kills Hangfire, the Officers Mitchum arrest Ellington for the death of Qwerty in order to avoid arresting Stew. They release Theodora and warn her to never return to Stain'd-by-the-Sea, to which Snicket warns them that with the fall of the Inhumane Society, Stew will be left alone.
Physical Appearance[]
Mimi is described as looking a lot like her husband. She has a pear-shaped body, with short, thick legs and grumpy-looking arms, and a small head.[1] She is described as having similar hair to Harvey, which Snicket describes as "a field of greasy, graying grass."[2] She also has unusually long fingers.[1]
Trivia[]
- Her surname could be a reference to noir actor Robert Mitchum.
- Mimi and her husband apparently watched Zombies in the Snow.[2]
Family[]
| Unknown | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Harvey Mitchum | Mimi Mitchum | Sister | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stew Mitchum | Children | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appearances[]
Gallery[]
