S.Q. Pedalian, the bumbling, large-footed assistant of Mr. Curtain, is a sweetly dumb teenager whose main reason for lack of brainpower is Mr. Curtain's continuous use of the Whisperer on him. In the second book of the series, S.Q. is chained up by Mr. Benedict as the Mysterious Benedict Society tries to escape. Mr. Benedict tells S.Q. that "In a better world and time, I would gladly release you." He also says that he believes that he has damaged a good part of S.Q., and hopes that he hasn't utterly destroyed it.