Strange events occur soon after, noticed by Suzy and loyal Neville (Like birds losing their song and their neighbor Mr. Passerby, the once great opera singer losing his voice) but which are oblivious to her mother, who is too charmed by Mr Accousticus to notice what's happening around her.

Neville likes eating, and soon grows far too big to live in the small cottage with Suzy and her mother, so he is told to sleep on the porch.

He tells Suzy and Neville that he now sleeps with an orange beneath his chin to keep his mouth shut to prevent it happening again.

Later, while mother is telling Suzy and Neville a scary ghost story, their new neighbor introduces himself as Constantine Accousticus.

Suzy and Neville leave him to convalesce and get him cough sweets, when they hear his voice at Mr. Accousticus' house, singing.

After this, Suzy and Neville devise a plan to sneak into the mansion and find out where Mr. Accousticus puts away all of his stolen voices.

To escape, the open every drawer in the cupboard, releasing all the stolen sounds and causing a racket intolerably loud for Mr. Accousticus.

She works all day at a biscuit shop to earn money for her family, and at night tells Suzy and Neville stories which she makes up herself.

She is an excellent cook and is promoted right after Suzy and Neville discover the new lock on the mansion's door, meaning much more money for the family.

He steals the sounds of almost everything that annoys him, including both of Mr. Passerby's voices, the bird's song and Neville's bark, which he locks away in a cupboard in his study.

Despite once being famous and very loved, his voice was stolen by Mr. Accousticus late at night, and was replaced by a haggard one which he couldn't possibly sing opera with.