Raoul sighed impatiently as he sat next to the Persian on the floor of the third cellar. "I'll listen to your story but only so you'll lead me to Christine."
The Persian nodded and began his tale. "I'd frequently asked Erik to show me his house on the lake, but he refused. Although I spied on him from the opposite shore, it was always too dark to see the entrance and how he opened it. One day, thinking I was alone, I stepped into the boat and began to row. The house itself was invisible from the lake because it was hidden behind the cellar wall. Immediately the silence was broken by soft singing that rose from the waters and surrounded me."
Raoul's eyes widened in fear. "The siren!"
The Persian nodded. "The voice followed me as I rowed, but it was so lovely that I wasn't alarmed. On the contrary, I wanted to discover the source of that sweet and enticing music. I leaned out of the boat and over the water—"
"Oh, no!" Raoul's hurry to find Christine was temporarily forgotten as he got caught up in the Persian's story.
"Although I was in the middle of the lake," the Persian continued, "I felt perfectly safe because the water was calm. I had no doubt that I was face-to-face with some new trick of Erik's. But this trick was so perfect that I didn't care how he'd created it. I only wanted to get closer to the music, so I leaned and leaned—"
"And the boat tipped over?" Raoul asked.
The Persian shook his head. "Suddenly two huge arms reached up and seized me by the neck. I was dragged underwater and would have drowned if I hadn't fought back. Gasping for air, I reached the surface and cried out. Fortunately, Erik recognized my voice, and instead of drowning me, he rescued me and laid me on the edge of the lake."
"Was he upset that you were trying to find his house?"
"Yes, he was very angry. He said, 'I never invited you! I don't want you here!' I tried to pacify him by asking how he'd created the siren. He laughed and showed me a long reed, which he used for breathing and singing underwater."
"It sounds like he was proud of his trick," Raoul said.
"Oh, he was. In some respects Erik is like a child who craves attention, but I scolded him severely. His trick had almost killed me, and I had no doubt that it had already been fatal to others. I reminded him that he'd promised me no more murders. 'Have I really committed murders?' he asked in a cheerful voice, trying to disarm me."
"And had he?" Raoul asked.
"Oh, yes, back when we both lived in Persia."
"Christine is with a murderer!" Raoul leaped up. "We must rescue her at once!"
"In a few minutes." The Persian motioned for Raoul to sit down. "Erik said he'd rather forget the past, but I reminded him that I'd saved his life years ago. I wanted him to promise again that there would be no more murders, but he refused. 'As you well know,' he said, 'I never keep my promises.'"
Raoul was shocked by what he was hearing. "A woman died when the chandelier fell during the opera. Was that another of Erik's fatal tricks?"
"I asked him about that," the Persian said. "He denied any involvement, saying that the chandelier was old and worn and fell on its own. But he laughed so horribly that I wasn't sure what to believe. He warned me not to try to enter his house again. Then he said he'd hate to have to dedicate his funeral mass to me, which I took as a death threat."
"So, that's why we're not entering the house from the lake," Raoul said.
The Persian nodded. "That entrance is obviously well-guarded, especially since Erik realized I knew about it. But I figured there was another entrance because I'd often seen him disappear in the third cellar."
"And that's where we are right now?"
"Exactly. Ever since I discovered Erik living at the opera house, I've feared that he might hurt someone. Whenever some accident happened, everyone blamed the ghost, but I suspected Erik," the Persian said. "Although people often laughed about the opera ghost, I wondered how they'd react if they knew the phantom was a real person."
"How did you learn about the revolving mirror in Christine's dressing room?"
"Erik told me that he was a changed person since he was loved for himself," the Persian said. "I didn't know what he meant, but I suspected that Christine might be involved. So I hid in the storage room next to her dressing room and listened while he gave her singing lessons. His voice could be as loud as thunder or as soft as an angel's, and it was always beautiful. But I couldn't understand how his voice, no matter how marvelous, could make her forget his frightening face. And then it dawned on me—"
"Christine had not yet seen him!" Raoul finished the Persian's sentence.
"Exactly. Later on I found the trapdoor that enabled Erik to go straight to the cellars from the stage. I also went into Christine's dressing room and discovered the hidden button that moved the mirror. Behind the mirror, I found the passage leading to the spring."
"Christine described to me how he took her through that passage and put her on a white horse," Raoul said.
"So you won't be surprised when I tell you I witnessed him bathing her temples with water at the spring. The white horse, which I'm sure he'd stolen from the opera stables, waited patiently nearby. When I revealed myself, it was terrible. Sparks flew from Erik's eyes, but before I could speak, I received a blow to the head that stunned me."
"You mean he knocked you out?"
"Yes, and when I came to, Erik, Christine, and the horse were gone. I felt sure that Erik had taken that poor girl prisoner and was keeping her in his house. Despite Erik's warnings and threats, I was determined to return to the edge of the lake. I hid there overnight, waiting for him to reappear."