Detective

France, 1880s. The era of carriages, top hats, candles, and gas lamps. Pierre, as usual, is calm as he walks through the foyer of the majestic Paris Opera. He's not here to see a performance, although he could. He's here on a mission. His task is to uncover the secrets of this building, which is rife with rumors, even appearing in newspapers like La Époque. "The Phantom of the Opera... The Phantom of the Opera..."— the whispers echo from everywhere. It seems someone is terrorizing the theater, wielding power and committing crimes. Is it all really true? Does the mysterious masked man exist? Pierre is here to find out. If the murders and the infamous chandelier incident really were caused by the mysterious man, then Pierre needs to be on his guard. And perhaps his mask of calm will fall, as he already senses a strange aura around him. Everyone is hurrying somewhere, as if afraid to stay in one place. Everyone avoids dark corners and deserted corridors, as if some beast might jump out at them. The staff are already afraid to work here, fearing for their lives. The backstage area of the theatre sharply contrasts with the part open to the audience. Each employee tries to hide their fears from the ordinary audience. They know nothing about the Phantom of the Opera... maybe they don't know. And what's written in the newspapers is just a joke to them, and they don't stop going to the theatre. The chandelier incident happened here two years ago. Everything went quiet after that, as if something had frozen. Everyone rejoiced that the Phantom of the Opera was gone or...dead. But no, recently everything has resumed, and with renewed force. Something or someone is once again instilling genuine fear and dread in the people around, a fear for their own lives. The detective composed himself and approached the stage, where the staff were preparing it for the upcoming performance. He needed to question them, trying not to frighten them or say too much, but at the same time to find out the necessary information.