Chapter Text
People have finally begun to believe in the existence of the Opera Ghost. Le Figaro, Le Petit Journal, and Le Gaulois have all reported the shocking affair, each giving slightly different versions of what happened inside the Opéra Garnier. The story spread quickly through Paris, and for a few days it seemed like everyone was talking about it.
The Phantom of the Opera, long accused of horrifying murders within the opera house, was reportedly killed by Gérard Carrière, the former manager of the Opéra Garnier. The incident took place on the terrace of the grand building, though the exact sequence of events remains unclear. It was witnessed by Count Philippe de Chagny, the young singer Christine Daaé, Inspector Ledoux, and several police officers.
Afterwards, only Inspector Ledoux and Count de Chagny agreed to speak to the press. Both described it as “horrific,” but neither really explained what they saw in detail. The Count was said to have cried out, “He attempted to kill me!”: a line that was repeated everywhere, but never really expanded on.
Inspector Ledoux later said, “Monsieur Carrière was not out of his mind when he fired the shot. I had ordered all officers to hold their fire, as I intended to bring him in alive. I would not call it murder, only self-defence against a dangerously unstable man behind the mask.”
But after that, things start to become strange. No further details were released. The statements of Christine Daaé and Gérard Carrière were never published. In fact, both of them disappeared after the incident, along with the Phantom’s body. There is no official explanation for this, which only makes the whole case more confusing.
The upper class were left in shock by what had happened. The Opéra Garnier became an overnight sensation, not for its performances, but for the story itself. Life somehow continued. La Calotta replaced Christine Daaé and went on performing as Margarita in Faust, almost like nothing had changed.
But of course, something did not add up. Christine Daaé was gone, and there was no body of the Phantom. Rumours started immediately—some said he escaped, some said he died elsewhere, and some even said Christine had lost her mind and disappeared with him beneath the opera house. Nothing could be proven.
And the more I looked into it, the more I started to notice things that didn’t match the official story. The terrace itself felt… wrong, almost like something had been removed from it. Small details didn’t line up with what the police reported.
So I wrote my own report and published it in the newspaper, suggesting something different—that maybe the whole incident was not as simple as it looked, and that Count Philippe de Chagny might have had a role in it. I didn’t expect much to come from it, but people definitely noticed.
Not long after that, I received a letter signed only “E.C.” The handwriting was neat, almost careful.
Madame,
I have read your recent article in the journal with some interest. It is, I must admit, a bold interpretation of the events at the Opéra Garnier—imaginative, yet not without a certain intelligence in its reasoning. Few would have dared to suggest such conclusions so openly.
You are correct in one thing: the official account does not explain everything. The terrace does not tell a single story, and the marks upon it are not as simple as they have been described. There were, as you suggested, details that do not align with a single line of fire.
But you have not yet understood what that implies.
If what you suspect is true, then the event was not a confrontation between a man and the Phantom alone. There were others present in ways the official reports will never acknowledge. And some of them were not there by coincidence.
If you truly wish to understand what happened that night, then you are welcome to come to Rouen.
I will tell you what was not written in the newspapers.
E.C.
…
Here I will present the true story as it happened, filled with horror, hatred, jealousy, and love.