Phantom of the Opera Page #4

Madame, consider

what you're saying!

Madame, please,

compose yourself.

I demand Garron's arrest, and hers, too.

She had a hand in it.

I demand an investigation.

Please, madame.

Let me go!

Madame, consider

our position.

You were wonderful!

I assure you, monsieur,

the property man swears that

there was no opportunity for any human

being to tamper with the drinks.

Monsieur Inspector,

what are you waiting for?

I demand the arrest of Anatole Garron.

You know he did it.

I know nothing

of the sort, madame.

I am a police officer,

not a psychic.

It is my duty to collect

evidence, without prejudice.

Well, haven't you evidence enough?

Everyone knows...

Madame! Will you

be seated, please?

It is true,

Monsieur Garron,

that you had the

opportunity of placing

the drug in Madame

Biancarolli's glass.

Certainly,

Monsieur Inspector.

We all did.

It becomes, then,

a question of motive.

The motive is

very simple, monsieur.

He wanted to get

me out of the way

so he could make

room for that little...

- Are you referring to Mademoiselle DuBois?

- I am.

You heard, Monsieur Garron.

Madame is in good voice,

and most explicit.

Have you anything

to say, monsieur?

I deny madame's accusation.

Do you deny, monsieur, that you had

any motive in drugging madame?

I deny that I drugged her.

I don't understand

your reluctance

to make the arrest,

Monsieur Inspector.

You're not an

examining magistrate.

Can you substantiate

your charge that

Monsieur Garron had a

motive in drugging you,

and that the motive

was Mademoiselle DuBois?

Why, anybody with half an eye

would be able to tell you...

Hearsay is not

evidence, madame.

I'll go over your head,

Monsieur Daubert!

I have inuence

at the Sret.

I was drugged tonight

to the point of death,

and I insist upon the arrest of

the criminal and his accomplice.

And if you don't, I... One

moment, madame. Please.

You have heard Monsieur Garron

deny that he drugged you.

As the inspector says, there is

no evidence to warrant an arrest.

And remember... Are you

suggesting that I...

And remember, madame,

if you insist upon his arrest and

fail to obtain a conviction,

you will find yourself in a very,

very difficult predicament.

Quite right.

And no matter what

the outcome, don't forget

that your career is

bound to the Paris Opera.

Whatever scandal

injures us or any member

of the company will

injure you as well.

Precisely.

Are you suggesting that I

forget the whole affair?

Yes.

For your own sake

as well as ours,

and purely as a matter of business

expediency, if nothing else.

That is exactly what

we propose, madame.

Exactly.

Very well.

That is,

under certain conditions.

I want a new understudy.

Christine DuBois

goes back to the chorus

and stays there for the two

years my contract has to run.

I won't permit it. I'll not

stand for such an outrage.

If any such arrangement

is made, I'll...

My dear Anatole,

I have not finished.

You suggest I forget I was

drugged tonight, monsieur?

Madame. Very well, I'll

go a step further.

I suggest that you forget

anything happened afterwards.

For once, madame,

I do not understand.

Oh, Monsieur Lecours,

it's so simple.

Nothing happened tonight.

I wasn't drugged.

And Christine

DuBois didn't sing.

But...

Madame, there are always

critics in the house.

You'll send word to the paper that

no mention of her is to be made.

You'll do nothing of the sort.

It's ridiculous.

Besides, what about

the public, madame?

Shall we send word to

the public to forget

that Mademoiselle

DuBois was a sensation?

If you're willing to

ruin the opera for the

sake of Christine DuBois,

that's your affair.

But you'll either do

as I say, or I'll charge

both of them with

trying to murder me.

Do you understand that?

"Murder me."

Madame was

magnificent tonight.

I was good, wasn't I?

Monsieur Garron must

be biting his nails.

Let him.

He'll come crawling back to

me on his hands and knees,

confessing the whole thing

and begging my forgiveness.

Madame!

Who are you?

Christine DuBois will

sing tomorrow night.

Leave Paris.

This is your last warning.

Take off that prop room mask!

What was that?

I don't know.

What is it? What happened? Shh!

Monsieur?

Madame Biancarolli and her

maid have been murdered.

Murdered?

Are you hurt?

What happened?

What were you doing?

I was chasing him.

Chasing whom?

The murderer, of course.

Do you mean to imply there

was someone else up there?

Why, certainly.

Everyone must've seen...

You saw him yourself,

didn't you?

No, monsieur.

I was chasing you.

But how long will the Opera remain

closed, Monsieur Inspector?

Yes, how long?

I do not know.

Are there any suspects? Yes.

Whom do the police suspect?

There is no one.

What is your theory on

the motive, monsieur?

I am not a theorist.

All I can tell you is that as long

as the Opera House remains closed,

everyone in all Paris,

in all France,

will be thinking of

nothing but the murder

and hounding us

to make an arrest.

Inspector Daubert.

I came directly.

I got your message.

What has happened now?

Listen to this,

monsieur.

"Christine DuBois

must replace Biancarolli,

"who chose to

ignore my warning."

I found this mysteriously placed on my

desk after we got back from supper.

There is an excellent

suggestion in this, monsieur.

You must reopen

the Opera at once.

But, monsieur,

your orders...

I'll countermand it.

You must reopen.

With Mademoiselle DuBois,

monsieur?

Of course. That should

pacify this madman.

And if he doesn't

harm anybody,

his being in the

building doesn't matter.

Christine DuBois

must not sing, monsieur.

What?

And the murderer

must not be permitted to

remain in the

building indefinitely.

It is my duty

to apprehend him.

I don't understand.

If Christine DuBois sings,

that will satisfy

the murderer,

and he may never appear.

Soto lure him from his hiding

place, someone else must sing.

Are you suggesting

that we reopen the Opera

with a murder as

an added attraction?

Please, Lecours, the...

I shall post police

throughout the building,

even with the

chorus on the stage,

with a special

bodyguard for the singer.

But, monsieur,

our reputation...

I am reluctant to

do this, monsieur,

particularly on

Mademoiselle DuBois' account,

but I can see

no other way.

And whom do you suggest as

bait, Monsieur Inspector?

Whomever you decide.

Madame Morency. She has

nerve, that woman.

Too much.

Very well, then.

The Opera will reopen.

Yes, monsieur.

Oh.

Good morning, Christine.

Good morning, Christine.

Good morning.

May I come in, Christine?

May I come in, Christine?

Yes. Do.

Well?

Christine, I...

Christine, I...

If I might have a

word with you... Yes?

What is it?

After you, monsieur.

Christine, I...

Christine, I...

Well, now, one at

a time, please.

You first, Anatole, because

your name begins with an

They're going to reopen

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