Confident that now that the authorities had been officially notified of Christine's disappearance the search for her would begin in earnest, Raoul returned to the theatre, wanting to continue his own search for her. He was sure that since he had left the theatre the night before the managers would have had the opportunity to think about the situation and had surely realised that it was in everyone's best interests to locate Christine as quickly as possible. Today they would be able to conduct a proper search of the theatre.

He climbed the stairs at the front of the opera house two at a time and nodded briefly at the doorman. "Be careful Monsieur le Vicomte," the doorman warned, "It's a madhouse in there."

Raoul stopped to look at the man, who looked almost relieved that his posting was outside. "What do you mean?"

"After last night, nobody knows what's going on or what to do." He explained.

"Thank you." Raoul acknowledged, before making his way into the main foyer of the theatre. It looked like the cleaning staff hadn't had the opportunity to clean the foyer after the events of last night, but otherwise it was quiet and empty. He walked further into the theatre, heading towards the stage. As he got closer he could hear noises coming from the main part of the theatre but the noises didn't sound like those he would normally associate with a rehearsal. As he opened the door to let himself in he could see what the doorman had meant by a madhouse.

It seemed that every person employed by the theatre, from the lowliest cleaner right up to La Carlotta was either on the stage or in the stalls. As he surveyed the scene Raoul even noted that there was a group of what looked like stagehands drinking up in one of the boxes. The managers were on the stage arguing with each other, whilst Carlotta seemed to be shouting at anyone who would listen to her. A cluster of ballet rats had draped themselves over the plush velvet seats, something they normally wouldn't dream of doing. Some of the younger boys who were part of the chorus were having sword fights with the props and Raoul heard one of them shout out "No-one can defeat the Phantom of the Opera!" Not wanting to hear any more of that conversation he quickly turned his attention elsewhere.

"Excuse me," he said, snagging the arm of one of the seamstresses as she rushed by and hoping that she had retain some modicum of sensibility as it seemed that most people here had lost their minds, "What has happened here?"

She was about to pull away and chastise him for harassing her when she realised who he was, "Monsieur le Vicomte. Nobody knows what is happening. The managers," she waved her hand in the direction of the stage, "They didn't plan for what would happen after last night's performance. We don't have a new production to rehearse and the performers don't need to rest for tonight. There is nothing to do. And the excitement of last night...nobody would be able to concentrate at any rate." With a quick curtsey she hurried off.

Had the managers really not planned for another production after Don Juan Triumphant? Raoul knew that all his attention had been focused on Christine and capturing the Phantom but surely the managers were thinking ahead? As he looked at them bickering on stage however he wondered if he were perhaps giving them too much credit. Still whether the theatre had another production ready to be performed was not his concern. He wanted to conduct a proper search of the theatre before the authorities arrived later this afternoon and any performances or rehearsals would only hinder the process.

"How long do you think Messieurs Andre and Firmin will allow this to continue Maman?" Meg asked as they stood on the very edge of the stage in between the curtains that lead to the wings.

"Far longer than they should." Madame Giry said grimly, "They should have made an announcement first thing this morning and explained what was happening next. Most people do not even know that Monsieur Piangi has survived. If they allow everyone to keep behaving like this they'll never regain enough control to put on another production."

She suddenly noticed that a large number of her dancers were sitting in the stalls. Walking out onto the stage she brought her cane down with a large bang, immediately attracting the attention of her girls, "Remove yourselves from those chairs this instant." She thundered. The girls quickly jumped to their feet and smoothed out any invisible wrinkles they had left on the cushions. "Back to the dormitories," she instructed, "I will fetch you when there is work to be done."

Meg watched as the other dancers scurried to comply with her mother's instructions. With the dancers gone the noise level had dropped slightly in the theatre. "Unless the managers stop arguing with each other there isn't going to be work for any of us to do." She said as Madame Giry returned to her side. "And you can't keep the girls in the dormitories all day."

"I know, but for the moment I want them all in the one place, where I can find them and where they aren't going to do further damage to this theatre." Madame Giry said. "If nothing has been decided by lunch time I will hold a practise session for all the dancers. We don't want anyone's skills to deteriorate because there are no rehearsals to attend."

Meg personally believed that nobody's skills were going to deteriorate that quickly, but kept quiet in case her mother decided that she should return to the dormitories as well.

"Madame Giry, Mademoiselle Giry?" the Vicomte said, having caught sight of them as he had been making his way to talk with the managers.

"What do you want?" Meg said warily, taking a step forward so she was in front of her mother.

"Meg!" Madame Giry scolded her daughter for her obvious lack of respect and manners.

"Has Christine been found yet?" he asked anxiously.

"She hasn't." Meg answered, looking as though she expected a repeat performance of the previous night's accusations.

"Oh." He replied numbly. He hadn't expected that she would have been found but it was still disappointing to hear. He started rubbing at the brim of his hat, feeling slightly sheepish that he needed to have this conversation but knowing that it was necessary

"Please Mademoiselle Giry," he said, looking at Meg, "I promise that I will not conduct myself as I did last night. I only wish to apologise."

She studied him for a moment, before deciding that he was sincere and stepping back to stand next to Madame Giry before motioning for him to continue.

"My behaviour last night was inexcusable. I should not have spoken to you in that manner nor should I have accused you of withholding information about Christine." He started, "I realise now that whilst your relationship with...the Phantom, is complicated..."

"Vicomte..." Meg warned.

"No Meg, he is right." Meg looked at her mother in surprise whilst Madame Giry realised that she would need to have a conversation with her daughter very soon about just how much she knew about the Opera Ghost.

"Right. So although you have a complicated relationship with this...man, I also know that Christine thinks of you as a mother and that you would never do anything to harm her. If you thought that she was in any danger you would do whatever was necessary to make sure that she was safe, just as you would do for your daughter." Raoul continued. "I apologise for any distress that I may have caused you last night. I know that you were worried about what had happened to Christine, and you had the rest of your girls to worry about, and I should not have added to your problems by accusing you of withholding information."

"No you should not have." She agreed, "Monsieur le Vicomte, I have known Christine since she was a child and in many ways I have been like a mother to her, just like I have been a mother to many of the girls who come here to dance, although I must admit that I have probably been more attentive to Christine because of her father. And I would never put her in any danger. That's why I told you to go into the cellars last night and you must believe that if I knew anything about where she was now I would tell you. But," she continued, allowing some of the sternness to leave her expression, "I can understand why you may have thought that I knew something after I told you how to get into the cellars and how to approach him. If you are able to say that you believe me when I say that I do not know where Christine is then I will accept you apology."

"Of course Madame Giry. I promise that I do believe you and that I will make no more accusations. My only concern now is of course finding Christine and I hope that you will be willing to help in any way you can." Now that Madame Giry had accepted his apology he stopped worrying at the brim of his hat, instead clutching it tightly.

"Certainly. Has there been news since last night?" she enquired.

"No. I was hoping that something may have occurred here during my absence but it looks as though the managers are not in a fit state to do anything at this stage." He said, looking to where Messieurs Firmin and Andre were still arguing, although Carlotta had now joined them. "I spoke to one of the seamstresses on my way in; she said that there are no productions planned at this stage?"

"No announcements have been made by the managers at this stage," Madame Giry said smoothly, still aware that she was talking to a significant patron of the Opera Populaire.

"Everybody has been talking about what happened last night," Meg said, joining the conversation, "But nobody has said anything about seeing Christine, or the Phantom, since last night."

"I lodged a report with the authorities first thing this morning," the Vicomte informed them, "They were of course aware of what occurred here last night, in fact many of them were here assisting in the effort to capture the Phantom, however no-one had informed them that Christine was missing. It seems that in the chaos of last night none of the officers in attendance bothered to report that fact to their superiors. They have advised me that they will be asking some preliminary questions of people who attended the opera this morning and will come here to look for any evidence this afternoon."

Meg thought that it would have made more sense to visit the theatre first and then start questioning people but she assumed that the police were proceeding in this order for a reason.

"What do you intend to do in the mean time?" Madame Giry asked.

"I was hoping to speak to the managers again about organising search parties..."

"We looked all through the cellars last night, and up here. If she were in the theatre we would have found her by now Vicomte. She would have realised that we are searching for her." Meg interrupted.

"What if she's hurt, or unconscious? She might never have heard us last night," Raoul suddenly realised, "We could have left her there for hours."

"We spent hours searching for her last night. I don't think there were many places were didn't look. Even if she were hurt I think that we would have found her." She pointed out.

"I suppose," he said sadly, "But we still need to try. I realise that finding Christine is not going to be an easy task but even if we don't find her perhaps we could find some clue as to where he might have taken her, a letter or a receipt for a train ticket, something. Maybe then we can present the evidence to the police and they'll be able to find Christine sooner."

"That is a good idea Monsieur le Vicomte," Madame Giry said encouragingly, "But I think it may be wiser to form your own search parties, rather than relying on the managers at this time."

"I'll fetch the ballet rats," Meg offered, "I'm sure they'd rather help find Christine than be stuck in the dormitories for the rest of the day."

"Good. Thank you, Mademoiselle Giry." Raoul said, grateful that she appeared to have also accepted his apology.

As Meg ran off to the dorms to tell the other dancers what was happening, Madame Giry and the Vicomte decided that he would arrange volunteers in the theatre, whilst she would go backstage to see who else she could find to assist in the search. Once they had arranged the search parties then they would inform the managers.