The following I found from the user iamlemonysnicket. Thank you for this it is a useful question:
I have a question, so here's the question, and the answer:
What is the Sugar Bowl secret?
"The sugar bowl secret could slip their minds entirely." (LSUA pg 41)
What is this sugar bowl secret that could so easily slip their minds? What I think is that the answer is amazingly simple. Let me give you the train of thought that led up to it. In the Various Finery Disguises, it's listed as an optional item to use. (LSUA, pg 103) When you look up Sugar Bowl in the index, it says "see hiding places" (LSUA pg 217) which all lead me to believe that the VFD-ers have a way of disguising themselves as Sugar Bowls (much the same way Lemony once disguised himself as a Chest of Drawers (Thanks Efogoto). Now, that would also explain why dinner at the Veritable French Diner would come with a sugar bowl, is it was a VFD-er in disguise. (It would work SO much better than sticking a microphone into the conversation and recording right out in the open, as on pages 134-137.
But wait a sec. What if the sugar bowl was there simply to hide the microphone? That would make it a lot easier, and would eliminate the need for a VFD-er to fit into the disguise, which would be stretching credulity anyway. So, perhaps the Sugar Bowl secret is something as simple as putting a microphone in it, and recording conversations. That would make a lot of sense. And what if the recording/playback mechanism was actually THE sugar bowl ITSELF? That would explain why Esme was so angry Beatrice stole her sugar bowl (or thinks she did--there's some debate about that-it's entirely possible it's Lemony who stole the sugar bowl from Esme--any information would be appreciated).
It's also an unobtrusive way to gather information/ take notes, isn't it? No one knows it's there, and if they think they are safe, they would say something more secretive than if someone is standing there holding a microphone in their face.
Unfortunately, Rick writes in to partially debunk this theory:
Captain Widdershins (TGG, p. 121) indicates "It's not the sugar bowl, it's what's inside it. Aye!" So it's unlikely the sugar bowl itself in a recording device. However, Widdershins never says what's in the sugar bowl. It could a be a document or a microphone, or something else that no one's thought of. So there it is. Email me, at cutiepie91_09@yahoo.com if you have any questions. Thank you for your time.
With all due respect,
Samantha Godwin | 
