"Edwards! I thought we agreed!" Nadir spit. "We leave him here in this room, not in a cell!"
Edwards scoffed, taking advantage of Erik having frozen stock still to slide the cuffs over his wrists.
"He doesn't get special treatment just because he's a friend of yours."
He grabbed Erik roughly to his feet, and Erik shook himself out of his stupor.
"Nadir, what is he talking about... Nadir, what does he mean-"
Erik's eyes darted back and forth between the two men.
"What does he mean, cell?!"
"No, no," Nadir groaned. "Edwards, you don't understand - do not put Erik in a cell!"
Erik pulled back from him, wild with fear.
"Nadir, please! Don't let him- don't let him do it!" he practically sobbed the request, and Nadir's heart broke for him. "Don't let him put me in a cage again!"
Edwards called out for backup, two burly men entering the room and grabbing Erik, who fell to his knees.
"Stop this! Unhand him right now!" Nadir shouted, but it made no difference.
Erik's cries and desperate struggles only grew as they dragged him to the cell and pushed him inside, locking the bars.
Nadir followed Edwards as he walked back to his office.
"What the hell was that, Edwards?" Nadir was fuming. "Get him out of there! This is beyond cruel-"
"It's standard procedure, it's not cruel-"
"Standard procedure! You want to talk to me about standard procedure! None of this is standard procedure!" he huffed, shaken by what his friend had been put through and still peeved that Edwards had asked to remove his mask.
Edwards stopped short and glared at him.
"Are you saying I don't know how to do my job?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
Nadir threw up his hands and sighed in defeat.
"I'm not saying that, Edwards," he conceded wearily.
He had spent enough time around Erik to know when to stop pushing someone, and Edwards had a dangerous glint in his eye. This whole thing was feeling stranger and stranger, but he wasn't going to get anywhere by needling the man.
"Could I see the photos?" he asked quietly, looking down.
"Photos of what?" Edwards snapped.
"Well, the crime scene photos," Nadir raised an eyebrow.
Edwards paused a long moment.
"What on earth would you want to see that for?"
Nadir shrugged.
"I just- I feel I owe it to him, in a way. He was an acquaintance of sorts, and it was my friend who killed him... I just want to pay my respects, I suppose..."
"There weren't any photos," Edwards stated.
Nadir didn't comment. Standard procedure, indeed.
"Then do you know which morgue he's at?"
Edwards grew agitated.
"I don't know, for goodness's sake - I have more than one case going on, you know!"
Nadir nodded and ran a hand through his hair.
"I really am sorry about all this trouble," Nadir said, using that tone he had employed so often in Persia while trying to soothe a raging Erik. "I was... I overstepped my boundaries, I'm sorry. If there's any updates, you have my number."
Edwards waved him away with an annoyed look on his face.
Nadir walked back to the cab in a daze. There was nothing else he could do for Erik here, and he needed to talk to Christine. Murderer or no, the pitiful sounds of Erik screaming and pleading still echoed in his ears and Nadir feared that they always would. He placed a hand over his eyes and bit back tears. He had promised Erik that he was only taking him in to question him. He truly had never intended to force him into reliving his childhood trauma by putting him behind bars - Nadir knew from previous visits to jail cells as investigators how uneasy he was just to be around the cells, usually preferring to stay outside while Nadir went in to see the suspects, trying hard to hide the tremble in his hands that even the mere proximity to the cages caused. Had Nadir known of Edwards' intention to lock him up in such a manner, he never would have brought Erik in.
Something else kept replying in his mind as well - how Erik had struggled to resist being locked away. What struck him was how even the midst of that panicking struggle Erik had been holding back. Handcuffed or no, he knew Erik would have been capable of inflicting severe damage on every man in that room if he wanted to.
And yet he had refrained.
Was he supposed to believe that a man who had murdered someone not even a day ago would give up so easily? His heart ached anew at the implications - he had thought, feared, that Erik had slipped back into his old ways, but it appeared to not be the case. An Erik who would let himself be dragged to a cage instead of taking a swing at an officer was not an Erik who would murder the boy and carelessly leave the body in the park, not in Nadir's experience. He was in control of himself, very far from the feral being he had been in Persia.
Erik had upheld his end of the deal - no more murder, changed behavior, no more violence - and Nadir had so easily assumed that his vow had meant nothing and, in his rush to do the right thing, had led his old friend into a traumatic incident like a lamb to the slaughter.
He took off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes, a sad smile twitching across his face as he recalled what Erik always called him. Erik had been quite right, it seemed. He really was a foolish old booby.
He had to set this right, and the first step was talking to Christine.
Back at the office, Giry was starting to get a headache from thinking of the enormity of it all.
They'd never had a case go cold before, and she hadn't mentioned it to anyone else, but the lack of evidence and leads on what had happened to Raoul had worried her. The only person clever enough to hide their trail from her and Erik was... well, Erik himself.
It made sense in way, but it also didn't - or perhaps she just wanted to pretend that it didn't. Erik's reports and notes about what had happened weren't lining up with what few reports she had received from Edwards. Was Erik covering his tracks? But if Erik was telling her the truth, then that meant-
Nadir entered the office quietly, noticing the two women on the couch. They both looked to have been crying, although only Christine was still sniffling.
"Please tell me he didn't do it, Nadir," Antoinette said wearily.
Nadir merely shrugged and shook his head.
"Christine," he said gently. "I need to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?"
She looked up from Antoinette's arms and nodded. Nadir settled himself on the couch next to them and thought for a few moments and about how to word his question.
"Could you tell me about where you've been all week?"
Christine's brow furrowed, but she nodded again. Her voice wavered, and a few more tears were shed, but she started with the previous days working upwards to the present. Antoinette gave her arms a soft squeeze every now and then as she told her story, encouraging her. When she got to the part about the masquerade, she stopped and scrubbed her hands across her eyes. She didn't care if they thought her foolish or were upset with her for sneaking out - there were more important things now.
"I snuck out to the masquerade that night," she admitted. "I only wanted to help him look for Raoul. And I did - I saw Philippe there, and I heard what he said. Erik didn't mind me going, not really - well, he was mad at first, but he said I actually helped the investigation, so-"
"Investigation? Christine, what do you mean? What masquerade was this?"
Her lips parted and her brow furrowed. She glanced at Antoinette.
"Didn't Edwards tell you? It was in the case file, wasn't it?"
"I haven't heard anything about this... What was the masquerade?"
"Was it really not in the case file we gave you?" Antoinette asked, suddenly concerned.
Nadir shook his head.
"This is the first I've become aware of a masquerade."
"Oh, well, it was a gambling den, you see. Edwards was there. Erik mentioned that he must have seen the note about Philippe's invitation to the party in the case file we had on Raoul," Christine said, and then recounted what all she had seen and heard during the party and then it's aftermath.
Antoinette tensed just slightly as she listened. Edwards was at the masquerade but hadn't been told about it by Erik or herself... It was possible, she supposed, that Edwards already knew about the masquerade and had gone to stake it out - but since they were both investigating the same case, he was supposed to be keeping them updated on any leads. At best he was withholding information from them, at worst-
She felt a sharp stab of regret, not for the first time and certainly not for the last, for violating his room in her panic. That was going to be a hell of a thing to have to explain to him when came back... assuming he came back. She pushed that last thought from her mind.
Christine explained about Edwards calling Giry who had called the opera house.
"You were there for part of that. Those two men he arrested in the tunnels, two men that Erik and I incapacitated - I mean it was mostly Erik, but I did help a little. They were involved in... in- kidnapping... At least, we thought they were. That's what Edwards told Erik, even back at the masquerade - that he needed to follow that man - that's why we went down there."
Nadir and Antoinette exchanged a look but sat quietly as Christine wiped away a few more tears.
"We went up above, and we brought Edwards to arrest the men. Erik dropped me off at Madame's house."
She fidgeted before continuing in a softer voice.
"And then last night- last night I was here. With him."
Nadir glanced at Antoinette.
"Did you know about this?"
Antoinette nodded.
"Was Christine with Erik the entire night?" he asked.
Antoinette shrugged a little.
"She was here last I knew, and she was here when I arrived this morning."
"Why did you come back here?" he turned to Christine again. "Why not simply stay at Madame Giry's?"
"I felt badly that he had to be alone... After. So I went to the cafe down the street and ordered some food to be boxed up, and I came over. It had been a very trying day, for both of us."
"Both of you?" Nadir prompted.
She nodded.
"For Erik and myself. When we followed the men under the Opera House, and he- well, his mask got torn off in the scuffle."
"Oh, dear," murmured Nadir.
"His mask got knocked off, and I saw his face," she looked down at the floor. "And he was very upset."
"You saw-" Nadir asked.
She nodded.
"And, uh, forgive me, but- could you... Describe..."
Nadir knew there was the slightest possibility that Erik might have coached Christine on what to say, but he never would have willingly shown or even told her what was under the mask.
She looked up again, ashamed and frightened.
"It's alright, Christine, I've seen him before," he offered gently.
She frowned, and, unable to say the words, she pointed up and traced her fingers over where the scars on his face lay, finally pointing, embarrassed, at her nose.
Nadir closed his eyes and nodded slowly. He was sorry to have make her relive it, sorry that Antoinette was likely hearing what was under the mask for the first time, but hearing it confirmed without a doubt that she was telling the truth - she had seen his face. She was clearly infatuated with him, and she would surely repeat any story he had asked of her, but there was no way that they would concoct a story like this.
"And then what?" Nadir asked.
"I stayed here with him... The entire night."
"Did you go anywhere, did he? What time did you fall asleep?" Nadir pressed.
She shook her head slowly.
"We both stayed here, all night. Neither of us fell asleep. We were awake all night."
"You're quite certain, Christine?"
"Yes, we saw the sun come up."
She sighed, the good memories of the previous night now tainted by the thought of what he was accused of doing.
"What time did you bring the boxed food over?"
She considered this.
"It was still fairly early. It was still light out. I didn't spend much time at all at Madame Giry's before we left to go get the food and come over here."
Nadir took a deep breath and sighed, leaning back on the couch.
"Edwards said that Raoul was killed last night, but Erik was with you just as he told me..."
Christine gasped at Raoul's name.
"Where?" she asked in a trembling voice. "Where was he found? What had happened to him?"
"The park, but he said- I'm so sorry Christine- he said he was found with Erik's red lasso around his neck..."
Christine burst into tears once more.
"Erik would never!" she cried. "He wouldn't kill anyone, he couldn't!"
Nadir glanced at Antoinette, ashamed. Neither one said what they were both thinking - Erik was currently being framed for murder, but his past had proved him was very capable of killing. Suddenly, something clicked in his mind and he cursed aloud.
"He is being framed!" he cried, snapping his fingers. "Back then, back in Persia - he never left his ropes behind."
"W-what?" Christine sniffed. "What was in Persia?"
"When he, ah- well you see, when he was a young man... younger than you are now, Erik was- he was an assassin for the Shah," Nadir explained awkwardly, realizing Christine didn't know this part of Erik's past.
Her eyes widened, but she said nothing.
"It was a dark time for him, and he's left all that behind him, but this - I feared he had relapsed into old ways, but I don't think he has, not now. You see, back then when he would- use his lasso... He never left any rope behind. Ever. If red silk rope was found in the park last night... It was because someone was trying to pin blame on Erik."
Nadir should have realized it sooner. He recalled with great horror an incident where Erik had nearly gotten the both of them caught and killed due to his insistence that he retrieve the red rope of his lasso from its latest victim. They had managed to escape in the nick of time, of course, but in all those years he had never seen Erik leave even a bit of rope behind. He saw no reason why Erik would start now. Edwards was framing him, without a doubt.
He swallowed. Edwards. Edwards would probably push for Erik's execution, and with the amount of "evidence" they had on him... It was only a matter of time.
"He's being framed, and they have enough phony evidence to have him executed, and soon."
Christine gave a high pitched wail, and Antoinette sucked in a sharp breath.
"You have to take me to him, Nadir. Please, I have to see him," Christine begged.
Nadir thought of the state Erik was in when he left.
"Christine... I don't think that's a very good idea..."
"No," she shook her head fervently. "I have to see him. I have to let him know that I know he didn't do it."
"Christine, he's... not well, at the moment," Nadir hesitated.
"That's all the more reason I need to see him!" her eyes welled with tears but her voice was firm.
"After they close," he conceded. "Erik was insistent that I keep you safe from Edwards, I'm not taking you to the station while he's there."
Christine put a hand over her racing heart. In the midst of his being framed for murder and facing the possibility of execution, Erik was still thinking of her. She couldn't leave him to rot in a cell - not seeing him was not an option.