Chapter 18: A Bizarre Disappearance
When Madame Giry arrived at the police station, she was pleasantly surprised to see both Monsieurs Firmin and Andre there as well. What completely shocked the ballet matron was who was with them—Christine Daae! Christine rushed forward and hugged Madame Giry. "My dear," the older woman said, "how did you escape Raoul?" Christine's eyes grew confused. "Escape Raoul? Madame Giry, he is in jail, have you forgotten?" Madame Giry shook her head. "No, Christine, he escaped a few days ago. Where have you been?" Christine replied, "I left a note saying I went to go to visit some old family friends for a few days. But I guess none of you got it, so you thought I was kidnapped by Raoul."
"We didn't know where you were, your apartment was messed up, and a note was found by Estella telling us you were kidnapped," Madame Giry said. "Well, I wasn't," Christine replied, "and the note is false." Madame Giry agreed and then remembered something important. She rushed out of the station to find her daughter.
Meg rode as fast as she could through the streets of Paris and beyond. She had to catch up to Erik and Caroline before they made it to Ville de Sainte. With Christine's reappearance and the revelation she had never been kidnapped everything changed. This put the small band of friends back at Square One. Meg urged her horse to run faster as she could see Caroline and her horse up ahead. They weren't hard to miss, considering Erik and Caroline "borrowed" two of the Opera's white horses. Meg did catch up to the two and breathlessly told her story. Surprised and upset, the two rode back to the capital city with Meg. Along the way, the three rode in complete silence, each thinking about why Raoul would lie about kidnapping Christine.
Madame Giry and Christine met them outside L'Opera Populaire, as well as Carly and Tymara. Caroline dismounted and greeted her two friends. "Myrcel unexpectedly closed Le Cirque Boheme," Tymara said. "For good or for the night?" Caroline asked. "Apparently for the night," Carly replied. "We got worried when you, Pierre and Jean didn't show up," Tymara said. "Pierre and Jean didn't show up?" Caroline asked. "Let's go down and ask Guilliame if he saw them."
The lair was a horrific sight to them, especially Erik. His organ had been knocked over and musical composition littered the floor. Caroline rushed in as Christine picked up the small music box with the monkey attached. She set it down and it began to play its mesmerizing tune. A small cry followed the beginning of the music. "Estella!" Caroline called out. "Guilliame! Estella!" A small cry answered Caroline's call. The woman rushed forward and took her in her arms. "Estella, what happened?" The little girl sniffed and began to explain.
"Papa and I were busy playing on the organ together when we heard someone come in. It was just Uncle Jean and Uncle Christophe. Papa told them your message and we thought they'd leave. They didn't. Instead they hadn't come for you, Maman, but rather for Papa.
"Uncle Jean and Uncle Pierre put a piece of cloth to Papa's face. Or tried to, anyway. Papa put up a good fight. That's why the place is a mess. Papa told me to crawl behind the organ. I watched as Uncle Jean wrestled Papa to the ground while Uncle Christophe placed the pieced of cloth over Papa's mouth. He passed out and the two tied him up and left."
Carly, Tymara, and Caroline were stunned to learn of the treachery of two of their most trusted friends. "But where did they bring him?" Christine asked. Estella sniffed and shook her head. Caroline kissed Estella's forehead and handed the girl to Erik. She turned to the two other dancers and motioned for them to follow her.
Caroline was upset. IT was bad enough that the Admiral and his moronic son had nearly killed Guilliame, now her jerk of a former lover was trying to. Added to that pleasant news was the fact that four of the main men in her life were behind this whole thing! 'How long had Raoul kept Jean, Christophe, Pierre and Robert in his money purse?' she wondered. Except Pierre and Robert weren't Raoul's henchmen after all. The two men stood outside of Le Cirque Boheme, just as confused as all performers had been. Tymara, Carly and Caroline informed their two friends about Jean and Christophe. "I thought you were going with Jean," she asked Pierre. "I was, but Christophe volunteered to instead."
Robert and Pierre easily broke down the boarded door of Le Cirque Boheme. This was another curiosity—Myrcel never boarded up the doors when closing Le Cirque Boheme. Now, the five were concerned about Myrcel's role in the scheme, concocted by Caroline's crazed former lover. Myrcel greeted his five suspicious employees as they entered the main foyer. He was tied to a chair and gagged. Tymara undid Myrcel's gag. "they went to the roof. Raoul said it would be safe there," Myrcel said, breathlessly. Caroline and Carly went running to the roof, followed by Robert.
"Why the roof?" Robert asked. "Why would it be safer there?" Carly answered with his questions with an "I don't know" while Caroline thought. She remembered an old conversation she and Christine had the day they plotted revenge on Raoul.
"Then Erik killed Buquet. Raoul, being all heroic, came down to save me," Christine said, taking a sip of her wine. "I told him to bring me to the roof; we would be safe there."
"The Phantom of the Opera, commonly known as the Opera Ghost, does not extend his reign of terror to the Opera's roof?" Caroline asked. "I wasn't thinking straight. Or maybe I was." A strange look crossed Christine's face. "Maybe when I said 'we'll be safe' I meant that 'he'll be safe,'" she said. She seemed to be remembering something she didn't want to. "Raoul killed Buquet and Piangi, and he set it up to blame Erik. He told me that day on the roof it was Erik, even though my mind said him. I guess I didn't want Raoul, whom I thought I was falling in love with, to be a murderer." Christine finished off her wine. "Why did Raoul kill them?" Caroline asked. "I remember Raoul mentioning the both of them giving me 'inappropriate' looks. But Buquet was always drunk, so any look he gave seemed inappropriate to anybody," Christine explained. "But Piangi was completely devoted to La Carlotta." There was a brief pause. "But I took him to the roof, to keep him safe from the police and to give them the suspicion that it was Erik. I was condemning my own teacher."
'So now every time he gets in trouble, Raoul believes that the roof is the safest place for him!' Caroline concluded. Raoul had always been short of a full barrel. He killed two men, blamed it on the Opera Ghost and seemed to be scot-free. His fiancée was completely devoted to him and wasn't going to be squealing anytime soon. His one mistake, Caroline realized, was her. He came back to her and plotted Christine's death. And his roving eye landed him in deeper trouble. Now that Caroline and Christine had sent the man to jail, he needed to end anybody who might know about his murder spree before the court does. Starting with Guilliame, Erik's new protégé. It all made sense to Caroline now. She sent Carly back down to fetch an inspector.
Caroline and Robert burst on to the roof to find a sickening sight. Guilliame was tied to a wooden board, leaning against the roof railing. By his feet were the blood soaked bodies of Jean and Christophe. Raoul was cleaning his gun and reloading it. "Raoul, what HAVE you done now?" Caroline asked. Raoul turned around and faced her. "My dear Caroline! You have returned to my side because of our deep love!" Caroline crinkled her nose in disgust. "No, Raoul," she said, "my love for Guilliame has brought me to rescue him and my disgust for you makes it easier." She heard Robert snicker behind her.
Raoul's face distorted in anger. "Don't test me Caroline," he said, warningly. Caroline looked defiantly at Raoul, daring him to do something. Guilliame, though weak from blood loss, was able to knock Raoul's gun off the roof. Caroline advanced towards Raoul, thinking he was now unarmed. Robert drew her back away from Raoul. He had seen Raoul's knife hanging from the belt. He pointed that out to Caroline, and the two noticed Guilliame's gashes. "Raoul, take that knife off!" Caroline said. "No, I won't. And you can't make me," he mocked in return, brandishing the knife.
Caroline realized that Raoul wasn't going to listen to any reason. She signaled to Robert to head back downstairs. Raoul was focusing mostly on her, so Caroline knew Robert would be safe to flee. He seemed to be reluctant, but Caroline pushed him towards the door. He made his escape. Caroline turned and faced the knife-wielding Raoul. "It is just you and me, Raoul," said Caroline. "Just put the knife down and let's try talking." Raoul didn't move. "Fine, Raoul, we'll do this the hard way!"
Another person was heard coming up the stairs, cutting off Caroline's hard way. Raoul readied to toss Guilliame of the roof, while Caroline was prepared to sprint forward. The door burst open, revealing Christine. Raoul placed Guilliame down, but Caroline didn't relax.
Raoul stepped away from Guilliame and headed towards the two blondes. He took both their hands in his and smiled. "You're both here for me. That makes me so happy. We could all live together in happiness," Raoul said. 'Oh yeah, he snapped,' Caroline thought. She went to take her hand from Raoul's grip but stopped at a look from Christine. "Oh, yes, Raoul. Caroline and I were terrible miserable without you," she said, emphasizing her words so Caroline could catch on. She did. 'I'm going to throw up after this, but I guess this is the only way to save Guilliame,' she thought. "Yes," she said aloud to Raoul, "we decided it was better to share you rather than lose you." Raoul's smile grew bigger and he started babbling. "I know of a place in America where this practice is perfectly acceptable. We can live there!" he gushed.
Meanwhile, Erik grabbed Carly's arm and brought her over to Guilliame. They had been hiding behind the door, waiting for Christine to engage Raoul's attention. Carly had met up with Erik before. They undid Guilliame's binds, and supported him when he was free. They helped him to the door, sneaking past Raoul. Luckily for them, he was still going on and on about living with both Caroline and Christine as husband and wives.
Mid-rant, Raoul turned around and was upset to find Guilliame was gone. "Where did he go?" he shouted. "Who did you have help him?"
"Where did who go, Raoul?" Christine asked. Raoul's face grew even redder. "Don't humor him, Christine," Caroline warned her friend. "It's the only way to get him calm," Christine replied. As if to contradict her statement, Raoul threw his knife at the two, who ducked just in time. "Alright, so onto Plan B," Christine said. "Which would be?" Caroline asked. "Rush at him and try to overpower him."
"Are you insane? You're suggesting that the two of us storm a raving lunatic with a knife?" Caroline asked Christine. Christine nodded. "Two of us versus one of him," Caroline sighed. "Raving lunatic with a knife, remember?" she asked. Christine looked over at Raoul. "Well, right now, he seems to be distracted. And unarmed." Caroline looked to where Christine was staring at and saw Raoul trying to pull his knife from where it was embedded in the wall. She reached into her pocket and felt a Punjab lasso there. "Alright," she said, "I surprise him with this while you get the knife." Christine smiled and nodded.
Caroline carefully snuck up to Raoul as he tried to get his knife out. She managed to pull his arms back when he let go of the knife to rest for a minute. She tied them up and left him there. Christine, upon seeing that Caroline had full control of the situation, went for the knife and took it out. "All right, Raoul, you are going to stand up and walk down those steps. No funny business," she ordered. "Christine, you lead him and I'll follow with the knife," Caroline said. Christine handed the singer the knife and grabbed her ex-husband's binds.
The three arrived downstairs just as Robert returned with the police. Caroline handed them Raoul's knife as they took him into custody. Erik also turned over the madman's gun, found in the alleyway. Christine began to give her account to the police as Carly rushed forward. "Belle de l'Amour!" she called. Caroline collapsed in Carly's arms. "Where is he?" she asked. Carly leaned back to see Caroline and said, "They took Guilliame back to the hospital." Caroline broke free from Carly's grasp. "I need to see him!" she said, hysterically. "You need to rest," Carly argued back, careful not to make her statement sound like an order. "No, he's alone and needs me," Caroline cried. "Madame Giry is with him. What he needs if for you to get some rest," Carly assured her friend. Caroline gave up her fight and Carly took her back to the lair.
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A/N: Wow, this has to be one of my longest chapters so far! Anyway, thanks again to all who reviewed. School is out for the next two weeks, much to the joy of many! Hopefully, I will have my other two chapters up within the next week, especially since Chapter 20 is focused around Christmas. ~*Mac*~