An American Home

Confidences

Not entirely sure why he was there, Khan sat in the corner of the Rose Crown. He'd been there an hour, the chess set ready. He'd turned down offers of games from several less than sober men. He was on the verge of putting the pieces away when the door opened, banging in the wind. A flash of disappointment hit when it wasn't the grinning face of Pip that he saw, but a hooded woman.

Heaving a sigh, he picked up the first piece and placed it in its box. “I'll play you.”

He looked up at the woman's voice and found Michaela D'Arcy standing in front of him. “A poor choice to find refreshment,” he commented. “Hardly the establishment for a young lady of your quality.”

“Well, when one wishes to find someone specific, one goes where they are to be found,” Michaela responded, slipping into a seat. She kept her hood up. “If it makes you feel better, there's a footman waiting at the door for me. If I don't come out in ten minutes, he'll come in for me.”

“What is it you want, Miss D'Arcy?”

The woman leaned forward. “Why hasn't Raoul de Chagny done anything?” she asked. “He sent you for reason. Revenge. So, why hasn't he done anything yet?”

Khan shook his head. “First of all, you cannot expect me to know the mind of another man,” he responded. “And second, Raoul de Chagny knows nothing of my presence here. He was not the de Chagny to hire me to find your friend and her husband.”

Shocked, Michaela frowned at him. “It was Philippe? Why? He had no part in what happened at the Opera Populaire or Katherine.”

“He wished to put an end to his brother's obsessive search for the phantom that was draining the family coffers,” Khan explained. He felt no loyalty to his former employer and saw no reason not to be honest to the woman. “Though, I believe John Arden manipulated him into the decision. My services are not cheap.”

Michaela steepled her fingers, a thoughtful expression coming to her face. “So why would Arden stay away after hiring you?” she wondered aloud. “It makes no sense if he was behind it all.”

“Insane men are never consistent.”

That brought her out of her reverie. “So, if you knew he was insane, why did you accept the job?”

Sighing, Khan shook his head. “The description...appealed to me,” he responded honestly. “I believed that the bare details of the story were of a man who killed without mercy or reason, and such a man needed to be brought to justice.”

“First of all, there is never any justifiable reason to kill,” Michaela told him. “But why you? Why did you want to bring such a man to justice?”

“Because my wife and child were killed by such a man, and he has never been found.” Khan couldn't look at her as he told her. He ran his hand over the chess set that had been intended as a gift for Cyrus. “I have never forgiven myself for not avenging Shadi's killer, and so vowed to do so for others who have no one to bring justice for them.”

For a moment, there was only the low chatter of the other tavern patrons. “So, why give up on bringing Erik to justice?” Michaela asked. “Knowing what you do about him, how he's killed in the past and no one has punished him for it, why just give up?”

“He said a man who does not regret something in his past is a man who has the most to regret,” Khan answered. “That tells me he does regret what he's done, and I believe it is because of your friend. I realized that the comte isn't seeking justice, and Arden has a darker purpose in mind. I will not be party to more bloodshed.”