Page 72 - Phantom of the Opera

"So you know that house too?" "Why would he? He doesn't know that we are coming."
"If he is not there, he may be here, in this wall, in this floor, in "He suspects it, I'm sure. He knows that I understand the
this ceiling! Come!" system."
Raoul followed the Persian up and down stairs that he had "It's not turning! ... And Christine, sir, Christine?" Raoul
never seen before. They came to a door which the Persian asked nervously in a trembling voice.
opened with a key. There, they were met by a stranger with dark "We will do all that is humanly possible. But he commands
skin and a cap like the Persian's. He gave a box to the Persian. the walls, the doors, and the trap doors. In my country, he was
"Thank you, Darius. Did anyone see you?" known as 'the trap door lover!'"
"No, master." "But why do these walls obey only him? He did not build
"Let no one see you go out." them!"
The Persian's servant quickly disappeared down the passageway. "Yes, sir, that is just what he did!" The Persian pulled
The Persian opened the box and inside there were two guns. Raoul close to him and said, "And now, look out! And be ready
"When Christine disappeared, I asked my servant to bring me to shoot!"
these guns. Here, take this one. Hold it up, ready to shoot at all They raised their guns opposite the glass; it turned on its
times. Hold it up in front of your face. We must be prepared for center like the door to a restaurant or store. As it turned, it
anything because we shall be fighting the most terrible rival that carried Raoul and the Persian with it and suddenly threw them
you can imagine." from the full, blinding light into the deepest darkness.
"You must hate Erik!" "Follow me and do all that I do," said the Persian, who took a
"No, sir," said the Persian sadly, "I do not hate him. If I had small light from his pocket and turned it on.
ever hated him, he would have long ago stopped doing harm." They were in a passage made of wood and went on their
"Has he done you harm?" knees until they came to an opening. The Persian dropped down
"I have forgiven him for the harm he has done to me." The first, then Raoul. The faint light was just enough to let Raoul see
Persian spoke with great pity in his voice, just as Christine had. the shape of things around him. And he could not hold back a
He took Raoul to Christine's dressing room and went straight to small cry when he saw three dead bodies.
the mirror. Suddenly, there were voices. One voice was police detective
"Are we going out by the mirror?" Raoul asked. Mifroid's and he was talking to the stage manager. They, too, saw
"So you knew that Christine went out by that mirror?" the bodies. Raoul and the Persian kept back in the dark and
"I watched her. I was hidden behind the curtain of the inner listened to the discussion. The bodies were those of Mauclair, the
room and I watched her disappear." chief gas man in charge of lighting (as electricity was not yet used
The Persian pressed his hands against the glass. He was trying to much), and his two assistants. The stage manager thought they
move it. Raoul watched. The Persian explained the complicated were dead, but Mifroid quickly realized that they were not, but
system, but he was having trouble making it work. "Maybe he cut were drugged and in a deep sleep. He told the stage manager to
the cord so that we couldn't turn it," said the Persian. call a doctor, then he asked the managers, "What do you say to all

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