THE SONG OF THE OPERA GHOST

Chapter Five

Andre stared at the body of Joseph Buquet silently as he felt a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had warned the fool not to go after the Opera Ghost and not only had he ended up dead, but this time it had been in full view of the public. The manager dreaded what the newspapers would say about this in the morning. He wondered if he and Firmin should leave the city now before they were forced to leave in disgrace.

“Excuse me.”

Andre turned around and saw a man and a woman standing behind him. He stared at them in confusion while the man reached into the pocket of his tuxedo and pulled out a wallet.

“John Smith,” he said opening the wallet and flashing it at him. “I’m a gendarme.”

Andre groaned. The police were investigating it already. Once again, he cursed Joseph’s stupidity.

“What is your name, Monsieur?” the Doctor asked.

“My name is Gilles Andre. I am one of the managers of the Paris Opera House.”

The Doctor nodded.

“Monsieur, there is no need to make an inquiry into this,” Andre said quickly. “Monsieur Buquet was distraught and committed suicide out of despair, nothing more.”

The Doctor raised his eyebrow.

“You seem very sure of that,” he said. “Who exactly is he?”

“He was a crewmember, Monsieur,” Andre said. “He recently lost his wife and he was very upset. He had talked about suicide for months.”

“And you didn’t have anyone watching him?” the Doctor said incredulously.

“Of…of course we had people watching him, Monsieur, but he was a free man, we could not follow him around everywhere he went.”

Andre swallowed hard at the Doctor’s penetrating gaze. He forced himself to look away and looked at Rose standing behind him. He glared at her.

“Excuse me, Mademoiselle, but I believe this is none of your affair!” he said coldly.

“She’s with me, she’s my assistant.”

Andre gave him a shocked look.

“A woman…is your assistant?” he said.

“Yes, our gendarmerie is very progressive,” the Doctor said hurriedly. “Now back to Joseph Buquet. Is it possible that this wasn’t a suicide, but murder instead?”

He narrowed his eyes when Andre turned as white as a sheet.

“Murder, Monsieur?” he said trying to keep his voice steady. “Who would want to murder Joseph? He had no known enemies, he was just a simple man.”

“Nevertheless, my assistant and I would like to take a look at the body before it goes to the morgue,” the Doctor said pointing to it.

Andre swallowed hard. He wished that Firmin was there with him, but he had the night off. He tried to think of a reason why the man could not examine the body, but he could think of nothing that would arouse suspicion. His spirits sinking, Andre nodded.

“Of course, Monsieur,” he said to him. “Just let me know what you find before you tell others?”

The Doctor nodded and looked back at Rose.

“Come on, let’s get a look at Joseph,” he told her.

Rose nodded and they walked past Andre. Andre watched them walk towards the stairs and lowered his head to his hands.

“Mon dieu, we are ruined,” he moaned.

“Doctor,” Rose said as she followed him up the steps. “Do you think Andre was telling the truth?”

“No,” the Doctor said. “I can see it in his eyes. He was lying to me and not doing a very good job of it.”

“Do you think he did this then?”

“No, I don’t think so. I think he lied because he’s afraid what Joseph’s death will do to the Opera House. He’s lying to protect his business investment, not cover up a murder.”

They reached the second level and found the door to box five. The Doctor opened it and peeked inside.

“All clear,” he said to Rose.

They stepped inside and the Doctor closed the door. Rose looked around at the interior of the box while they walked up to the front.

“Very posh,” she said.

The Doctor nodded.

“This Opera House is world famous, one of the best there is,” he said walking up to the front. “This explains why the manager wants to protect its reputation at any cost.”

He looked around and noticed that the end of the rope had been tied to one of the chair legs. He followed the rope up and out and looked down at the body of Joseph Buquet.

“Oh, you poor bastard,” the Doctor muttered.

He glanced back at Rose.

“Help me pull him up,” he said.

Rose nodded and both of them tried to reach over to grab his arms, but he was out of reach. The Doctor sighed and cursed under his breath.

“Damn, I’ll have to pull him up by his neck,” he said.

He gestured for Rose to stand back. As he turned his head back around, he saw Andre was still standing on the stage staring up at him nervously. Ignoring him, he pulled on the rope and hoisted the dead body up until he could grab under his arms. Rose walked over and helped him and when he did, he glanced at Andre and saw him shaking his head while he stared at Rose. They pulled the body inside and laid it gently in a chair. The Doctor sat down beside him while Rose stood by and watched. The Doctor loosened the noose and examined his neck.

“He was murdered, Rose,” he said after a moment.

“How can you tell?”

“I can see bruises from where someone put their hands on him. He was strangled to death before he was hanged.”

He beckoned to her and pointed out the bruises.

“See, there’s where they applied the pressure,” he said pointing. “And whoever did it was strong; the noose didn’t leave as clear a mark as their fingers did.”

He glanced out at the stage and saw Andre was still there.

“Monsieur Andre is going to tell us the truth this time, because if the murderer is anywhere around here, then they need to be caught before this happens to someone else.” he said to her.

He paused a moment and closed Joseph’s eyes.

“I’m not going to walk away from here without doing something. This man deserves better than that,” he said to her.

He sighed and stood up.

“Come on, Rose, I’m afraid we’re going to be staying a bit longer at the opera.”

He took her hand and they walked out of the room.

“Monsieur Andre,” the Doctor said as he and Rose stepped onto the stage. “I have finished my examination and Joseph Buquet did not commit suicide. He was, in fact, murdered.”

He walked up to him and gave him a piercing look.

“And you know it too, so don’t lie to me,” he said. “Now, what’s been going on here? Because I have a funny feeling this isn’t the first murder that’s happened here.”

“Monsieur, please understand, no one has told the gendarmes what has been going on because we are afraid we will be ruined if people hear what has been going on.”

“I assure you, whatever you say will stay between the three of us,” the Doctor said. “We just want to see justice done so Joseph didn't die in vain.”

Andre nodded.

“Then, follow me, and I will take you back to my office. We can talk in private there.”

It took about an hour for Andre to explain everything. Finally, he finished up and folded his hands on his desk.

“And that’s all that I know, Monsieur,” he said to the Doctor. “I assure you we warned Joseph not to bother the Opera Ghost and as you can see, he didn’t listen.”

The Doctor and Rose were sitting on the other side of the desk. They looked at each other and then the Doctor cleared his throat.

“Wait, you really believe that a ghost is responsible for all this?” he said to him.

Andre sighed.

“I know it sounds ludicrous, Monsieur, but how else is the man doing it? He seems to know everything that goes on here and every word that is spoken. He moves freely about the Opera House and no one can find him. Those few that have tried have ended up like poor Joseph.”

“Yes, I understand that, but ghosts do not need money. What is he spending it on? Not to mention this need to have box five all to himself. Why box five?”

“I don’t know, Monsieur, my partner and I have asked myself those questions since we acquired the Opera House three months ago. I know that it is silly to think of this man as a ghost since he is demanding material things, but that’s what he calls himself so everyone else calls him that as well. So far no one has seen him and lived.”

The Doctor thought for a moment.

“Do you have the letters he sent to you?”

“Yes, Monsieur.”

“Can I see them?”

Andre nodded. He opened the top drawer of his desk, pulled out a small stack of letters and gave them to the Doctor. The Doctor silently read them and when he was finished, he laid the stack back on the desk.

“This “ghost” claims that this is his house and all of you are intruding here so he demands rent must be paid in order to use it. And he demands that no one sit in box five lest someone see him.”

“Yes, Monsieur,”

The Doctor scratched his chin thoughtfully.

“If memory serves me right, this structure is built on top of an underground lake?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Is there a way down to this lake?”

“Yes, but no one dares go. They are too frightened.”

“Hmmm, but Monsieur Andre, what if that’s where this so-called ghost is hiding?”

Andre frowned.

“There is nothing down there but the lake, Monsieur,” he said.

“Are you sure? I mean, if everyone is scared to go down and check, how do you know this man hasn’t set up living quarters down there?”

“We don’t, Monsieur, but even if he has, we can’t go down there to check because he will kill anyone he finds disturbing him. No one is brave enough to do that except possibly Joseph and you saw what happened to him.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m here then, because I laugh in the face of death.”

Andre stared at him.

“You wish to go down there and risk dying?” he said in disbelief.

“Yup, we both do,” the Doctor said gesturing to Rose.

Andre eyes bugged out as he stared at her.

“And don’t start on how I’m some frail waif who has no business investigating a murder, cause I can tell that’s what you’re about to say,” Rose said glaring at him.

Andre looked at the Doctor.

“Don’t let the dress fool ya, the woman can kick your arse in two seconds flat,” he said to him. “She can more than handle herself, I assure you of that.”

Andre shook his head.

“If you say so, Monsieur, I do not approve of a woman being allowed anywhere near murders, but you are the one who is in charge of the investigation so I will trust your judgment.”

“Excellent. Then, if you don’t mind, we would like to be shown the way down to the underground lake so we can stop this murdering ghost once and for all.”

“Now?”

“Yes, now. Time is of the essence here if we want to catch him. Now can you please show Rose and me down to the underground lake?”

Andre nodded.

“Of course, Monsieur, follow me.”

The Doctor and Rose stood with Andre. They waited until he passed them before turning and following him out the door.

“So, Monsieur Andre has enlisted the help of two fools now,” Erik muttered to himself when he heard the door close. “Very well, if this gendarme and his lady friend are so eager to die, I will certainly oblige them.”

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