Raoul and the Persian were completely hidden behind a wooden partition.
Near them, a small staircase led to a little room in which the
commissary appeared to be walking up and down, asking questions. The
faint light was just enough to enable Raoul to distinguish the shape of
things around him. And he could not restrain a dull cry: there were
three corpses there.
The first lay on the narrow landing of the little staircase; the two
others had rolled to the bottom of the staircase. Raoul could have
touched one of the two poor wretches by passing his fingers through the
partition.
"Silence!" whispered the Persian.
He too had seen the bodies and he gave one word in explanation: "HE!"
The commissary's voice was now heard more distinctly. He was asking
for information about the system of lighting, which the stage-manager
supplied. The commissary therefore must be in the "organ" or its
immediate neighborhood.
Contrary to what one might think, especially in connection with an
opera-house, the "organ" is not a musical instrument. At that time,
electricity was employed only for a very few scenic effects and for the
bells. The immense building and the stage itself were still lit by
gas; hydrogen was used to regulate and modify the lighting of a scene;
and this was done by means of a special apparatus which, because of the
multiplicity of its pipes, was known as the "organ." A box beside the
prompter's box was reserved for the chief gas-man, who from there gave
his orders to his assistants and saw that they were executed. Mauclair
stayed in this box during all the performances.
But now Mauclair was not in his box and his assistants not in their
places.
"Mauclair! Mauclair!"
The stage-manager's voice echoed through the cellars. But Mauclair did
not reply.
I have said that a door opened on a little staircase that led to the
second cellar. The commissary pushed it, but it resisted.
"I say," he said to the stage-manager, "I can't open this door: is it
always so difficult?"
The stage-manager forced it open with his shoulder. He saw that, at
the same time, he was pushing a human body and he could not keep back
an exclamation, for he recognized the body at once: "Mauclair! Poor devil! He is dead!"
But Mr. Commissary Mifroid, whom nothing surprised, was stooping over
that big body.
"No," he said, "he is dead-drunk, which is not quite the same thing."
"It's the first time, if so," said the stage-manager "Then some one has given him a narcotic. That is quite possible."
Mifroid went down a few steps and said: "Look!"
By the light of a little red lantern, at the foot of the stairs, they
saw two other bodies. The stage-manager recognized Mauclair's
assistants. Mifroid went down and listened to their breathing.