Character Analysis
Mr. Poe is the banker who handles the Baudelaire children's affairs. Too bad he seems more worried about protecting their money than he does keeping them safe. He also always has a cough:
The children remembered Mr. Poe because he always had a cold and was constantly excusing himself from the table to have a fit of coughing in the next room. (1.12)
Even though Mr. Poe offers the children a place to stay while he finds them a guardian, it's clear he doesn't much care for them. He's hardly home the entire time they stay with him and he's always describing himself as "very busy" (2.16)—even when the children have legitimate questions. You know, like about who the heck this Count Olaf dude is they're supposed to live with.
Mr. Poe shows himself to be almost completely incompetent in deciding what's best for the Baudelaires. He leaves them with Count Olaf even though he sees that the man's house is horribly filthy and that the Count has an unhealthy interest in the Baudelaire fortune. When the children go to visit him to tell him about their concerns and that Count Olaf is a madman, Mr. Poe half ignores them the entire time they're with him. And then, he brushes off all their worries:
"Now that you are in his care, the Count may raise you using any methods he sees fit. I'm sorry if your parents did not make you do any household chores, or if you never saw them drink any wine, or if you like their friends better than Count Olaf's friends, but these are things that you must get used to, as Count Olaf is acting in loco parentis. Understand?" (5.38)
Thanks for nothing, dude. In the end, Mr. Poe won't let the children stay with Justice Strauss even though she's offered an extremely suitable and loving home—in his defense, their parents' will stipulates that the children have to stay with a relative, so he's technically following orders. That said, at this point we kind of think Mr. Poe could make an exception in order to make sure the kids are well taken care of, but alas, it isn't so.