The old woman disguise was aided strongly by his expert acting skills, being a former professional actor and female impersonator. This same disguise also often raised Stanton above suspicion, and made him an expert in confidence trickery, infiltration, stealth, information gathering, and melting anonymously into crowds. Madame Fatal was also aided on occasion by his pet parrot, Hamlet, his only connection to his previous life. Hamlet was named so because he was intelligent enough to recite Shakespeare, and would inspire and help Stanton remember important information.