Education of the Heart
Back to the Light
Dr. Benevole went to see the magistrate the next morning and gave him a detailed report what had happened in the previous night.
"Why didn't you even try to hold him back?" Clemenceau asked angrily, "Surely in his drunken state you could have locked him in your toilet and called for help?"
The doctor had to admit that he had not even thought about this possibility. "I'm a doctor, my first priority is the health of my patients," he replied carefully, "I'm no policeman."
Clemenceau accepted this statement. "Allright. He wants to come back. I can't promise anything. You can tell him that my answer is: Unconditional surrender. When he is in custody, my colleagues and I will decide if he gets one last chance. He has to accept, once and for all, that he is not the one who makes any rules. He has to obey, whether he likes it or not. If he accepts unconditional surrender and hands over everything he owns and is willing to fully cooperate with us, then he might have a tiny hope for mercy."
"He won't agree to that," the doctor answered, "Please understand what this man has been through in his life - he can't surrender unconditionally to you."
"I know he suffers from claustrophobia," Clemenceau replied, "And you have my word I won't be cruel. But I can't risk him running again."
"He came back," the doctor spoke in Erik's favor, "He made it to the port in Le Havre and planned to get himself a job on one of the ships - he could have left Europe by now but came back. Surely this has to be considered?"
"Of course," Clemenceau answered, "And I will take that into account. But without an unconditional surrender he will be hunted down. He can't take on the Republic of France."
Dr. Benevole considered this. His opinion was that Erik surely would challenge everyone, and if he had to challenge the Republic itself, he would certainly do so, but he could not tell that to Clemenceau. Instead he said: "Are you sure this is the best idea?"
"We can't have a criminal blackmail the Republic. Think of what others would do if this spreads... no. Impossible. Unconditional surrender and then it is our decision," Clemenceau told him, "And that is my final word in this."
When the doctor returned to his office, there was a letter on his table in Erik's handwriting.
"to Dr. Thomas Baron de Benevole," it read, "My dear doctor, I am deeply sorry for my awful behavior last night. Please accept my sincere apology. Now, as to Clemenceau's answer: Just place a newspaper advertisement in "le Figaro". It should start with the letters O.G. and then Clemenceaus answer in as few syllables as absolutely necessary. That will be enough. Thank you very much for your help." Instead of a signature there was a treble clef, but it was clearly Erik's handwriting in the letter.
The letter had been send by post, but the doctor assumed Erik had not risked going to a post office but asked some boy to do it for him, promising a few coins. There were always children playing in the streets and if someone asked them to bring a letter to the next post office and would pay them for this it was easy to find a boy willing to run a few errors to earn a few coins.
With a sigh the doctor went to the office of "Le Figaro". He asked them to place the advertisement: "OG: unconditional surrender" in the next day's newspaper. After that all he could do was waiting.
Clemenceau was busy in the meantime. He had policemen - dressed in normal everyday clothes so they would not be recognized as policemen - watch the opera house, discreetly guard the managers, Christine Daae, the Girys and even the garbage collection enterprise. Erik must be hiding somewhere and so he was sure Erik would eventually show up. Everyone simply had to show up sometimes - and his men would be there to arrest the masked man. A man with such a severe deformity or a mask would be easy to recognize for he could not simply be mistaken or disappear in the crowds. But even as he had policemen guard Dr. Benevole and the hospital, Erik did not show up.
Dr. Benevole got another letter the same day the advertisement had been printed in the newspaper. It read:
"Dear Dr. Benevole,
I am deeply sorry, but unconditional surrender is nothing I can do. Maybe you understand that I cannot afford to try my luck and trust Clemenceau's mercy - I have only one life. I have no intention to go back to my old ways, but I can only surrender if he promises that I can continue where I left. Of course I am willing to make concessions, I understand the magistrate needs to pretend to be a merciless man to scare the criminal community, but this does not mean he cannot - secretly - make a compromise with me.
My answer to him is: I am willing to give him a good publicity in the press, he can arrest me and I will give him every last Centime I own and leave it to his wisdom how to compensate the so-called "victims", if he allows me to continue where I left - I am even willing to allow myself to be imprisoned for some time, but not more than a week.
You know how to contact me."
Dr. Benevole showed the letter to Clemenceau. Clemenceau swore rather vulgarly. "What does this madman think he is? That he can blackmail the Republic of France? If he wants war, he can have it. Tell him the longer he waits until he surrenders the less mercy he can hope for. If he does not want to end his life in public execution he has two days to surrender unconditionally."
Erik's answer to the next advertisement that read "OG: unconditional surrender in two days or Madame G." was to have a parcel delivered to Clemenceau's office. It was a German book by Johann Wolfgang Goethe and a music score by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Clemenceau called Dr. Benevole and together they studied the book and the score, then asked for someone who spoke German and could translate it.
There was a secretary whose mother had been German and he looked at the book and the score and turned bright red. "I can't possibly translate that," he stammered, "It... no!"
"Why? What is it? It is really important, so please do translate!" Clemenceau ordered worriedly.
"The book is the German stage play by Goethe, the 'Goetz von Berlichingen' and the score is a composition by Mozart, the lyrics are... rather vulgar. It translates 'lick me in the arse'," the secretary answered, blushing with shame.
"What is the Goetz play about?" Dr. Benevole asked.
The secretary blushed again. "It is... about a robber knight who... is asked to surrender unconditionally to the king's forces, but he tells them to... um... kiss his back for he won't surrender. But he is captured and dies in prison in the end."
When the doctor and the magistrate were alone in the magistrate's office they discussed what Erik might be telling them with these books. "Maybe he just wants to show off how educated he is," the doctor suggested.
"As if," the magistrate snorted in contempt, "Only because Goethe and Mozart used very vulgar language does not make this madman an aesthete. We have to go to the opera to make sure he's not up to something bad."
The managers were not at all surprised to see the magistrate and the doctor.
"It seems our Phantom fellow is back," Firmin said and showed them a blueprint of the opera's cellars. There were red lines drawn and it read: "do not cross the red line - danger!" The managers were rather calm and seemed to be a bit amused.
Andre handed them another letter.
"My dear managers,
unfortunately the current circumstances, which aren't my fault, force me to take refuge in my opera house again. I assure you I do not intend to harm anyone, so please take the time to look at the blueprint. I marked the dangerous area in red.
As to my salary - I do not ask for 20.000 Franc or anything like that. No. Right now I will be contend with a bit of food from the buffet and some paper and pencils. As long as you do not try to remove me from my shelter I won't harm anyone. As for your compensation: I am still willing to make amends for what I have done. Right now I started with this:" A list of smaller repair works which had to be done followed.
"Instead of damaging things he's repairing things now," Andre chuckled, "I do not know what you did to him but it somehow worked."
Clemenceau studied the list. "He did some repair work at the roof? Improvement of the set for "Le Prophete"?"
"Yes, he did some repairs to the stage decoration," Andre confirmed, "I wish he had been so friendly from the first day we arrived. Actually right now he's not threatening anyone but a rather helpful ghost."
"Every morning we find something missing, like paper, ink, a blanket, candles, food from the buffet - but in return we find he had done some repair work or finished some decoration the stagehand hadn't finished the previous day. It is almost funny right now," Firmin confirmed, "He even repaired the sewer pipe from the ladies toilet."
Clemenceau and Dr. Benevole burst into laughter. It was too funny. The Opera Ghost repairing the toilets.
"I guess my therapy experiment was not a complete failure," Dr. Benevole gasped between his laughing fits, "He's back to playing ghost - but he's a rather helpful ghost right now and not a threatening one."
"A child," Clemenceau sighed, shaking his head, "He's a child. He might be a genius in intellect but his behavior is that of a child."
"Is it still unconditional surrender you ask of him?" Dr. Benevole asked.
Clemenceau nodded. "Like it or not - yes. But I might reconsider that the experiment has been a complete failure and he has to be sentenced to death. If he surrenders, he can hope for mercy. Now - I want to see the cellars!"
They went to the cellars, accompanied by heavily armed policemen. Exactly where Erik had marked the area with red lines in the blueprints they found red marks on the floor and the walls and even a wooden barrier aid with a warning sign, reading: "DANGER - no entry".
"He put up a warning sign!" Clemenceau laughed.
"A child," Dr. Benevole answered softly, shaking his head with a smile, "He's just a frightened boy in the body of a grown man. He needs help, not a prison cell, can't you see that?"
When Clemenceau and Dr. Benevole were back at the magistrate's office they further discussed how to proceed. Dr. Benevole thought it wouldn't hurt anyone to allow Erik to continue where he had left, that would be much better than having him at large - especially because they could not know how long Erik would be in good humor and play the helpful ghost and when he would relapse to threatening and hurting people in his rage. Clemenceau still thought he could not give Erik that much power - it would do no good to bargain with criminals. Of course, if he surrendered, then he could beg for mercy, but he could not demand a guarantee for a certain verdict.
The secretary announced that a woman wanted to talk to Clemenceau.
It was Madame Buquet. She wore a grey dress and brown shoes and a woolen cap.
"Monsieur Clemenceau, I am here on Monsieur Morriere's behalf," she said and the magistrate offered her a seat and tea. She reached into her pocket and took out a golden bracelet with diamonds and ruby which she placed on the table along with a letter. "He did send me this by post."
Clemenceau took the letter and read:
"Dear Madame,
please forgive me for the trouble I caused. I'm sorry your children missed a month in school, but they are clever and I am sure they will catch up with their schoolmates. Circumstances that I cannot control force me to temporarily go into hiding. I send you this bracelet as a token compensation and promise to care for you and your children in the future. It is worth more than 10.000 Franc, don't let anyone tell you different. I'm sure you will use the money wisely, it should be enough to sustain your family until I am able to send you more money.
Your obedient servant
Erik Morriere"
"He did sign with his name," Dr. Benevole, who had looked over the magistrate's shoulder, noticed. The handwriting was Erik's, but it looked like he had tried hard to do calligraphy and given much thought to the wording.
"I am here to ask for mercy for Monsieur Morriere," Madame Buquet said, her hands folded in her lap, "I am here as a mother who has no one else who cares for her children. With one crippled hand I can never earn enough to feed my children, he is the only one in the world who does really help me. If it were just me, I'd gladly give my life to see that murderer pay for his crimes with his life, but as a mother I have to consider my children's needs first. My children need a better school and a place to live where the walls are not covered with mould and the sewage does not run over the threshold every time it rains only a little bit. And as children from the slums they won't find an apprentice position in any respectable business. Monsieur Gontier and Monsieur Morriere plan to build up a new business in a better area - with me as shopkeeper. My children could attend to a normal school, not the one in the slums, and with a graduation from that other school they might find jobs. I beg you, Monsieur Clemenceau, not for myself, not for Monsieur Morriere, but for my children - put mercy before justice."
Clemenceau turned to Dr. Benevole. "Tell your masked friend that he can come back to continue where he left - but he has to surrender to me and I will lead him away in chains for everyone to see. This is the price he has to pay for his defiance."
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h+t+t+p+s+:+/+/+en+.+wikipedia+.+o+r+g+/+wiki+/G%C3%B6tz_von_Berlichingen_(Goethe)
h+t+t+p+s+:+/+/+en+.+wikipedia+.+o+r+g+/+wiki+/Leck_mich_im_Arsch
Every German speaking person knows what it means to quote Goetz (von Berlichingen) ;-) So Erik's message to the magistrate is quite clear. ;-)
