Investigating the Ghost

The Doctor and Rose were lying on the floor of the TARDIS, books littered all around them, trying to find out about the alleged Opera Ghost.

"Rose, what's the musical about?" the Doctor asked, pushing his glasses back up his nose. Rose looked up at the Doctor.

"Well, the Phantom is obsessed with Christine Daae and …" she began when the Doctor cut in.

"Christine Daae? The girl that was singing last night?" he asked. Rose nodded. "I wonder if we should go and have a word with her."

"Yes, maybe we should. Or maybe we should wait until tonight and have a look around the Opera house. There could be some clues. And you know me. I'm the Doctor and I'm a curious one at that," he said and Rose rolled her eyes.

"Let's keep looking for some information just now. Will I have to put a horrible dress on again?" Rose asked. But the Doctor ignored her for something in his book seemed to have caught his eye.

"Rose, this Phantom has a real name," he said. Rose looked confused.

"Really?" she asked. The Doctor nodded and peered over the top of his glasses.

"Erik," he said. "But he is always known as the Phantom of the Opera. No one uses his proper name." Rose was confused.

"So what are we going to do?" she asked. The Doctor took off his glasses and pocketed them.

"We are going to the dressing room of Christine Daae … tonight," he said.

xxxxxx

"So who is this Doctor?" an elderly woman asked the managers.

"Madam Giry, if we knew, we would tell you. He is here with his mistress, Mademoiselle Tyler. But none of them are French. They are from England I think," Monsieur Andre said.

"What do they want?" she asked, growing impatient.

"They asked about The Opera Ghost," Firmin said. Madam Giry raised her eyebrows. She gave a small smile.

"Did they now?" she asked in her sharp, French accent. She tapped her cane on the ground irritably. Then she bowed her head to the managers.

"If you will excuse me messieurs, I must be getting to the ballet rehearsals, good day," she said, and then she left the room.

"We have to see who this Doctor is, Andre," Firmin said.

"Maybe he was sent to get rid of the Opera Ghost for us. Next time we see him we should ask for his credentials. They may be important if we are to know who he is," Andre said.

"But his mistress looked genuine enough, if you know what I mean. She is a very beautiful lady," Firmin replied. Andre nodded in agreement. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Enter," Firmin called. The door swung open and a handsome young man in his twenties walked in. He smiled at the managers.

"Vicomte, it's wonderful to see you again. I hope the Opera was good enough for you last night," Andre said. The Vicomte nodded.

"Yes it was, gentlemen. Tonight, I am planning to visit Mademoiselle Daae. We were old childhood friends and I think a bit of reminiscence is in order," he said, with a small chuckle.

"So we will see you soon then Vicomte?" Firmin asked.

"Yes, I will be back in the Opera house tonight so I will see you then, messieurs. Good day!" he said, and left.

"Now back to the matter of this Doctor …" Andre said and Firmin nodded.

xxxxxx

The Doctor and Rose left the TARDIS at nine o'clock and headed to the Opera Populaire. They went in through a side door. They roamed all the corridors until they found what they were looking for. The dressing rooms! They looked around until, at last, they found the dressing room of Mademoiselle Christine Daae. The Doctor whistled and Rose came over as she was looking at other dressing room doors.

"Is anyone inside?" she asked. The Doctor didn't answer. He took hold of the door handle and turned it. Locked. He took out the sonic screwdriver and he pointed it at the lock. It glowed blue and the lock clicked. He peered round the door and, thankfully, no one was in, at the moment anyway. He pulled Rose in with him and locked it with the sonic screwdriver again. They began to look around. Suddenly something caught Rose's attention.

"Who do you think left her that?" Rose asked pointing at a blood red rose with a black ribbon tied around the stem. The Doctor put on his glasses and picked it up. He put the black ribbon up to his nose and sniffed.

"It has some sort of men's cologne on it," he said. Rose watched on as he continued his investigation of the room. Suddenly a noise made them both stand still. A key was in the door and someone was entering. They hid behind a curtain.

"Good night Meg," said the voice of Christine Daae. The door was closed behind her and she walked to her dressing table. Suddenly Madam Giry came in.

"Madam Giry, how can I help?" Christine asked. But Madam Giry shook her head.

"Here," she said, picking up the rose. "He is pleased with you." Christine took the rose and smiled at Madam Giry who turned on her heel and left. The Doctor peeked out from behind the curtain. He knew it would be a while. Christine was sitting at her dressing table. Suddenly another knock came at the door.

"Come in," Christine called in a curious voice. The door opened and in strutted the man they had seen sitting in the manager's box. He had a huge bouquet of flowers.

"Little Lotte, it's been a long time," he said. Christine smiled at the man.

"Raoul!" she said and they embraced.

It had been almost forty-five minutes since Raoul came in and the Doctor and Rose, who were now slumped on the floor behind the curtain which was hiding them, heard the door close and knew Raoul had left. The Doctor stood up quietly. He looked around the curtain. Christine had gone behind her changing divider, no doubt changing into her evening wear.

"So are we waiting for the Phantom then?" Rose whispered. The Doctor rolled his eyes and grinned cheekily.

"Rose, there is no Phantom," he whispered back. But as those words came out of his mouth, candles everywhere in the room went out.

"Angel …" they heard Christine say.

"Christine, you are late," a man's voice said. The Doctor looked out from behind the curtain to see Christine kneeling before her full length mirror.

"I am sorry, Angel. But the Vicomte …" she began but his voice boomed above hers.

"I know what I saw Christine. You and the Vicomte reminiscing when you are meant to be doing a lesson with me," he said.

"Christine, I am going to reveal myself to you," he said and Christine's head shot up. She smiled slightly.

"You are?" she asked. There was no reply. Then the Doctor got the fright of his life. A man, dressed in the same sort of eveningwear that he had worn to the Opera the night before. Then he noticed it. The one thing that made this man stand out. The white mask on the right side of his face.

"Rose, it's the Phantom," the Doctor said. Rose stood up and peered round too. She gasped. Then the Phantom motioned with his hand and the mirror opened. Christine took his hand and stepped over the threshold into the Phantom's world.

The Doctor and Rose had no choice but to follow and investigate.


The Phantom has now entered!I hope you all like this chapter. I am getting them up as fast as I can while I am on study leave! Please R&R. I need them! xxx