Chapter 16

The first half of the play went without a hitch. Even Madame Giry had no bad remarks for her ballet rats, which almost never happens. Breaking for intermission, the cast runs off to take a breather and change into their other costumes. However, while everyone else is actually taking a break, Carlotta sneaks off to where the bridge is and ties a quick loop across the middle of the staircase on the left side. She figures that since they never used the actual prop bridge in rehearsal and always used a stand in then they'll just repeat their blocking on the old stairs onto the new ones.

When she comes back from planting the rope and gathers for any last minute announcements, she's surprised when Madame Giry tells her that she must use the left stairs if she wants to be seen because one of the curtain levers broke down. Not thinking about the implications of switching sides, she agrees. Not wanting to be upstaged by the disfigured freak, she makes sure to paint him in a bad light and make him mess up somehow. Unfortunately for her, Erik himself isn't being blinded by anger and makes sure to keep an eye on her since he still thinks that she's the one who killed Piangi in the first place. He couldn't be more happy that Anne used Carlotta's vanity against her and convinced her to switch sides with him.

Hearing the swell of the music, he looks over at Christine once more before going on stage and joining the toad. As appalling as her voice is, he has to admit that she has good acting skills, but then again, there's only so much that her vanity will let her escape before she has to take back the spotlight. Even now, he's amazed that she's letting the chorus girls actually be heard rather than yelling over them.

With little more than 30 minutes left in the play, 20 of which he doesn't need to be on stage for, Erik goes off in search of the managers because he wants to know why they've invited the police constable, and only for the second act. Sneaking through the service ladder that connects the backstage area with the private boxes, he walks around to Box #2 and knocks on the door.

"Gentlemen, might I join you for a bit? My ears can only take so long of that toad's attempt at passionately singing," Erik whispers into the box making Andre and Richard jump and the policeman behind them do a 180.

"Erik! What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Andre exclaims.

"Not for another 20 minutes. Thank God! Now, can I come in or no?"

"Yes yes! Now get in here before you're seen!" Richard commands.

"Gentlemen, I'm afraid that I actually have an ulterior motive for joining you up here. I wanted to ask, how come you only invited our dear police friends for only the second half of my show? Is that horrible that you're afraid that there might be another murder here tonight?"

Squirming, the two managers look at each other and seem to have a telepathic conversation between themselves for the next few minutes. "Gentlemen, I don't have all night," he urges them. Seeming to come to a hesitant decision, the two of them nod their heads and exhale heavily.

"Erik, I assume that none of this will come as a surprise to you, but we suspect-no- we know that Carlotta murdered Piangi. She had the proper motive and no valid alibi. In fact she was the only one who appeared much too happy to provide their alibi, which when checked turned out to be very much false. Anyway, we planned to talk to her tonight after the show and ask her once again with the police but after hearing about the missing tenor, we have a feeling that that won't be necessary. If anything, we believe that this finale will be much more dramatic than what you have written. But don't breathe a word to anyone but Madame Giry about our plan. Now off with you, we have some final details to iron out."

Glad that the managers caught on to the truth and not just the money for once, Erik concedingly bows and proceeds back down to the stage. It's almost the end of the play anyway. He can hear the chorus members singing about Passarino and Don Juan returning from drinking. Making it back to the curtains at the right side of the stage just in time, Erik saunters onto the stage and joins Passarino, his right hand man. Thanking him for laying the groundwork for the trickery and seduction but now it's time for them to switch their roles.

"Passarino, go away for the trap it is set and it waits for its prey" Erik sings the first line to the final song. Launching into the first verse of Past the Point of No Return, Erik walks about the stage and waits for Carlotta to dance out in time for her part. Never once did he imagine that he would be singing such a passionate duet with her and not Christine.

Finally hearing her nasal voice start singing, Erik desperately wishes for some ear plugs. But putting his auditory agony aside, he starts pacing back towards the bridge, being sure to stay to the right in order to entrap Carlotta in her own trap. After all, did she honestly think that she could outsmart him? After years of falling into his traps, he thinks while trying to keep on track and rhythm.

Following his lead for once, Carlotta goes off towards the left and as she starts climbing the stairs, she trips over her own rope at the bottom of the second step. Screaming, she trips and falls flat on her face. Trying to get up however, she steps into one of the ropes hanging from the rafters that are supporting the heavy wooden bridge and gets lifted up into the air which exposes her entire backside for the audience to see. She continues hanging 15 feet above the stage and wriggling and screaming for some to get her loose for the next five minutes until someone actually tries.

Not losing any time, Erik steps out of the way of the previous lead tenor as he rushes onto the stage followed by the managers, Anne, the fop, and the police constable. The managers rush to placate the audience saying that the show is over for tonight but should be back in a few weeks as a regular show seeing as the audience were enthralled up to the moment that Carlotta went up into the air. Promising to refund any tickets to any unsatisfied patron, they tell the audience to leave.

Meanwhile, the police attempt to get Carlotta down, however, before given a proper command, one of the stagehands on the rafters accidently pulls the lever too hard which causes the rope to snap. Carlotta starts falling through the air and screaming but because she was top heavy, she ended up rotating in the air and crashed on her head rather than her legs or torso. Everyone in the vicinity heard an audible pop and crack while she instantly went mute. Walking up to her, the police constable bends down and turns her over to see if she's breathing or has a pulse and finds nothing.

Pronouncing her dead, everyone shakes their heads but unlike Piangi's death no one sheds any tears. They knew that she deserved to die. Even Raoul seems glad to be rid of her. The lead tenor even seems happy because he reveals that he was hoping for such an ending after he woke up in a supply closet tied up. After finding out from Meg that Carlotta tried poisoning him just as she poisoned Piangi, even the police don't look remorseful for not taking her into the precinct.

Leaving them alone to sort out the mess of her body, Erik goes off in search of Christine to gently break the news to her and finds her in his dressing room.

"Christine, I have some news. You never have to worry about Carlotta ever again. She's dead. There was an accident and she fell 15 feet from the air and landed on her head. I'm sorry."

Stunned, she remains silent while processing what he just told her and then she bursts into laughter. Shocked as to why she started laughing, he runs over to her and hugs her while asking her what's going on.

"Oh Erik, I simply didn't know whether to laugh or cry because although I'm sad that another person died in this place, I'm thrilled that I'll never have to put up with her mean comments and won't have to hide from her so that she doesn't yell at me for trying to take her position. I decided that she doesn't deserve my tears and that's why I'm laughing. After all of the horrible things that she has done to us, we're finally free of her and karma got her," she explains while hugging him back.

"Well I guess now you're truly her replacement. The managers just have to make it official," he replies whilst tucking her head under his chin.

"Now what do you say we disappear ourselves and I'll take you out to dinner," he asks.

"That would be wonderful Erik. Let me just let my father know and I'll meet you down in the orchestra pit," she says already running off to her father.

Shaking his head, Erik laughs quietly and proceeds to walk down the hall to the front of the theatre. He can't wait to start the rest of their life for he knows that Christine will always be a part of it.