The ghost of the opera house.

The man wore a strange Fox mask, and the corners of the face on the mask rose in an eerie arc. After the phantom appeared, the audience fell silent for a moment - it was not the first time that the people in the opera house had seen the ghost of the opera house, they had already relaxed and forgotten about him, and then he appeared again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce myself. ”

Suddenly a man's voice came from the stereo of the opera house, whose voice was it? It couldn't be anyone but the 'ghost' in front of him.

"Maybe you think I'm a clown, a pathetic negativist. But in essence I am just a masked man, and before your eyes I am a stupid donkey played by fate to applaud, revealing what they fear to the domesticated people. I don't want to argue, I don't want to explain where I came from, I'm just the mind of a dead corpse, I'm just a "ghost". ”

With that, the ghost wandered towards Christina.

"You—" Christina took a step back in fright.

"Just in time, 'The Ghost of the Opera'. ”

Sherlock stood up and ripped off his mask. She stomped on the back chair to keep her eye level with the 'ghost' on stage. The ghost's pace was halted by the sudden interference, and he came face to face with Sherlock.

"Oh, isn't this the legendary Miss Holmes, and I can't believe that this lord deigned to come to this sour theatre when I heard Lady Gilly talk to you, for I thought that only the Royal Opera House could satisfy your worthless vanity. Ah, messenger of justice, order in the English detective world, what an enviable title—"

The irritating smile on Fawkes' mask seemed to be genuinely laughing. The ghost bent down slightly, one hand resting on his chest.

"—I don't even recognize it as if I'm going to throw it up. ”

“......”

"My Christina, you are so beautiful, you should shine with a more beautiful light, but this man, he wants you to live an ordinary life with him," the ghost no longer looked at Sherlock, but spoke to Christina, "He wants to take you out of the world of art! I can't stand it! You belong to the stage, you belong to mine! No one can take you away, no one can take you!"

With a wave of his hand, the ghost lifted his cloak, and in the blink of an eye, his figure was in front of Christina, and no one present could react. Was he really a ghost? If not, what about the speed beyond human comprehension? He grabbed Christina's right hand, the mask close to her face.

"What are you going to do!"

Christina's agent on the side, Raoult, saw this scene and rushed to the ghost in a hurry, but before he could take two steps, the ghost's figure disappeared again. Suddenly, the ghost had returned to its original position.

"I've got the script ready for the show and I hope to see it tomorrow. ”

The ghost was on stage, with his back to everyone in the audience, and he had the script he had spoken in his hand. The ghost slowly placed the script on the ground, took one last look at a trembling Christina, and then slowly walked behind the scenes.

During this period, no one dared to raise their voices.

They are afraid, afraid that if they anger the ghost, they will be the next victim.

Except for her.

"You're not a 'ghost of the opera'. ”

It was not Sherlock who said this, but Yuebai, who had been trembling in the audience. She took off her mask, revealing a face that was not very beautiful, and she somehow gained great courage to stand up, the sky blue dress looked a little ill-fitting and not quite suitable for this unglaring girl.

Her words brought the ghost's footsteps to a halt, and the man turned, his eyes under the mask staring at the girl.

“... The ghost of the opera house is dead," Yuebai said as if with all her might, clenching her fists, "you're just a clumsy pretender. ”

"Oh?"

"Before coming here, I received such a letter," Yuebai swallowed, the ghost's gaze made her very uncomfortable, "There are some words of unknown meaning written on black cardboard, so I came to investigate the ghost's affairs." But... The behavior you have shown is far from the legend of the 'ghost'... I don't know what to say, but you're certainly not a "ghost of the opera"..."

"That's enough! Yuebai, shut up. Sherlock immediately interrupted her.

"Oh, that's an interesting idea, miss," the ghost spread his arms, "then, let's expose my 'true identity,' I, looking forward to it." ”

The ghost's figure finally disappeared from the background.

When the ghost disappeared completely, the once-stagnant air finally began to flow. Sherlock exhaled, and she immediately ran to Yuebai's side, looked at the still nervous girl, grabbed her hand and ran towards the theater.

"Are you an idiot, jump out and confront her in that situation?" the detective scolds Yuebai for her stupidity.

"But... Wait, 'she'?'" Yuebai looked at Sherlock with a serious expression in amazement.

"Ah, if my reasoning is correct. ”

She dragged Yuebai to the sound room, where the door was closed, and there seemed to be no sign of anyone coming. Sherlock tugged at the handle, and the door opened. Sure enough, many of the machines in the sound room are still functioning, including microphones. Sherlock pulled a small packet of white powder out of his jacket pocket and poured it into his hand.

"What is this?" Moonwhite looked at Sherlock's strange movements.

"Flour. ”

Sherlock blew on the buttons, and the flour scattered and stuck to the buttons of the machine, but fortunately the theater staff hadn't caught up, and no one objected to her possible destruction of the equipment. Then she took out a flashlight, lay on the floor and shone the flashlight on the floor, and carefully observed it for a long time before she sighed and stood up.

“... No fingerprints," Sherlock sighed, "just glove prints." And shoe prints..."

"Shoe prints? It's a wooden floor. ”

"I know, the ghost must have thought I didn't do anything," Sherlock began to explain, putting everything back in his jacket pocket and bag, "and during the day when we visited, I sprinkled some 'garbage' on the door and behind the curtain of the sound room. People who come to the prom don't wear these shoes, so this is the best chance. ”

With that, Sherlock took Moonwhite to the back of the stage again, carefully examining the footprints where the phantom had disappeared just now.

"The size of the shoe prints is not much different from mine, which means that the ghost is actually a woman of about the same height and weight as me or a younger man, but when I was on stage just now, the ghost looked a little taller than Christina as an actress, so I can assume that the other person is a taller woman. The footprints at the door of the sound room are completely different from the footprints in front of the stage, and the footprints in front of the sound room are much larger than the footprints in front of the stage. ”

"Is it possible..."

"That's right, there are two or more people in this "Ghost of the Opera House" right now. ”

Sherlock exhaled, and the first thing that came to her mind was of course Dior, but Dior was a little shorter than her, and it would be difficult to maintain balance if she wore heightened shoes, but if it wasn't for Dior... What's the deal with the ghost's strange way of moving? the incomprehensible way of moving, and the ghost's strange behavior...

Why did she deliberately get close to Christina? Why did she leave a script?

Wait, the script?

“... Yuebai, the ghost of the opera house gave the script to the people of the opera house, in that opera "Phantom of the Opera", is there such a passage?"

"Yes, but... There are a lot of questions, which is why I question the ghost," Yue Bai frowned, "It's not that simple to appear in an opera, tomorrow is the time for the performance, but the script is only now in the hands of the actors, they don't have time to rehearse at all, if the Phantom really likes opera, then he won't make such a mistake." He certainly wouldn't tolerate such desecration of his script. ”

Not enough time... Is it?

In other words, the script was only taken out in order to get into the hands of the people at the opera house.

“... Oops. ”

Sherlock held his forehead helplessly.

"I shouldn't have checked the footprints in the first place, but I should have gotten the script in my hands. ”

"Why do you say that?"

"Didn't you just say that? There is more than one 'ghost' in the theater, and the ghost deliberately walked to the edge of the stage and put the script on the ground, for what? In addition to the helper in the sound room, the ghost has other accomplices, and in order not to arouse suspicion, this is the best way for the ghost and his helper to communicate. ”

"You're saying there's a good chance there's a code in the script?"

"Yes, maybe the ghost didn't notice my setup at all, but used my confidence to pretend not to notice it at all, so that the script could be safely handed over to that person. It was a demonstration, and she knew I was going to meddle in it. The nasty things he said to me at the beginning were also directed at me. ”