A/N: This chapter was hard work! It's taken me two days to get right and I still think it's lacking, oh well, it will do until my mind block vanishes.

Thank you for the reviews, appreciated as always!

Chapter 22- Investigation

In the coolness of the morning someone had obviously forgotten their manners, thought Antoinette Giry as she lifted herself carefully to her feet and struggled towards the front door. As she reached it Meg ran down the stairs and chastised her for having even considered answering it. Antoinette merely smiled and lifted the catch to open it, as Meg poked her head around to see who was there.

As it opened Meg was more than a little surprised to find a uniformed police officer removing his hat.

'Can I help you?' Meg asked as Antoinette headed back into the living room where she settled herself in to her seat by the fire and listened to the conversation at the door.

'Yes, ma'am. Are you Miss Giry?' he asked and she nodded slowly in response. 'I'm sorry to bother you at such an early hour. It's about your friend, Christine De Chagny.' His voice was low and sounded like feet on gravel, not at all pleasant to listen to, she noted as she gestured him inside and gently clicked the door shut behind him.

'What's wrong?' Meg asked as she offered him the seat opposite her mother, choosing to stay standing herself. He looked grave and retold the story to her as she listened intently. Tears stung her and her heart shuddered in her chest as she finally collapsed into the spare seat.

'Do you have any idea if she is alive?' she asked and was shocked by another banging at the door. The uniformed officer stood, suggesting that Meg stay seated while he answered the door. Meg had lost the will to argue and fear for her friend made her stomach heavy enough to pin her to her seat.

When he returned he was accompanied by two faces she knew well and she leapt up, throwing herself at Paul Sanders so hard she nearly knocked him from his feet. He held her tiny body close to his and stroked her hair softly, unprofessional he realised but what else could he do? When she finally let go of his body tears were streaked along her cheek and she fell back into the chair, glancing once at Thomas Fellows and then returning her gaze to the uniformed officer.

'If I could pick up where I left off?' he said and Paul nodded at him slowly. Meg watched him as he played with the seam of his hat, it was obvious he was easily made nervous and it was trait she despised in men. 'I think it is a question we must ask you, Miss, whether she is alive or not.'

Meg's brow crinkled into a frown and her face was covered with confusion, noticing this, the officer continued to speak, trying to explain why she might be able to help them.

'We have reason to believe that she and the Count,' he paused and Meg grimaced at the English phrase. 'Have been abducted by the man known as Phantom of the Opera. We were wondering if you could lend us any insight. Do you think he has killed Mrs de Chagny?'

Meg's face turned from confusion to shock at the bluntness of his question and the revelation of the suspicion falling on the man she once knew as the Opera Ghost.

She somehow mustered the composure to shake her head slowly from side to side.

'N-no,' She stuttered out.

'And do you think he has killed Mr de Changy?' the officer asked and Meg's eyes flashed to her mother who had been silent throughout the whole experience.

'You haven't said that it was even the ghost!' Meg said, her disbelief finally forming itself into a rage she rarely used. 'I don't think it's him!' She insisted her voice fierce with emotion 'He won't kill Raoul if it is! He could have done that so long ago!'

Meg Giry's face was red with a concoction of emotions, she was furious at the insensitivity of the young officer and she was worried to her soul for her friend. Her blue eyes were stinging from the crying she had not realised she was doing and her mind could not control her anger as she stared at the officer.

'He let them go!' she insisted, starting to calm herself and settled into her seat, brushing the front of her dress down gently. 'Why officer, would he let them go if he wanted them dead?'

Antoinette Giry finally stirred in her seat and glanced at her daughter, who had done her proud with her assertiveness. She smiled inside at the thought of her daughter's strength as she had grown.

'I think we are done here gentlemen.' She said and turned her stare to Paul who was standing in the corner, face showing dismay at the actions of the younger officer. She shifted from him to Thomas who was trying not to look at Meg and she smiled at him. He returned her smile and stepped into the centre of the room.

'Mrs Giry,' he said as gently as his hard voice could muster. 'We know that you were friends with this man. I hate to ask you this, but you know how it is.'

She smiled wryly and nodded her head, she knew how it was.

'Have you seen him since he's been here?' he continued.

'We don't know he is here.' She replied with a nonchalant shrug of her frail shoulders.

'Would you tell me if he was Ma'am?'

'No.' she said simply and looked over at Paul who was rubbing his forehead firmly.

'Have you helped him escape?' asked Thomas, undeterred.

'If he were here and if he was a fugitive from you and if I had aided him.' She said, 'I would not tell you that either.'

Thomas turned to look at Paul who had walked to stand by his side and Paul shrugged at him.

'Do you think he has kidnapped Christine de Chagny?' asked Paul as he gestured for the officer and Thomas to make their way out. It was obvious that they were no longer welcome and something about Antoinette Giry's face told him that she had said all she was willing to say on the subject.

'If she is with him monsieur,' she said softly. 'Then she is the safest she has been in years.'