In chapter one of Kingdom of the Blind, the protagonist of the novel, chief inspector Armand Gamache is summoned to an unfamiliar town near Québec. Armand had received a mysterious and intriguing letter from a woman he did not recognize and decided to pursue the mystery out of curiosity of the unknown. Once arriving in the town, Armand Gamache begins to suspect that there is more than meets the eye within the quaint setting that he now found himself in. The address listed on the letter led the inspector to a rundown building, the remnants having once been a bustling townhouse. The once bustling townhouse was now in shambles, a mere memory of what had once been years before. Gamache decides to further investigate the decrepit home, during which he is reminded of an old nursery rhyme. “There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile, He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile; He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse, And they all lived together in a little crooked house” (Penny 3). Based on the provided quote, is the nursery rhyme a means in which to further advance the plot, detailing how Gamache feels as he explores the house, or is the rhyme more so foreshadowing for whatever mystery he may find in the house?