the last book I ever read (Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera, excerpt nine)

from The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux:

But M. le Commissaire de Police Mifroid would not have been quite so satisfied with himself if he had known that the rush of his rapid emissary was stopped at the entrance to the very first corridor. A tall figure block Raoul’s way.

“Where are you going so fast, M. de Chagny?” asked a voice.

Raoul impatiently raised his eyes and recognized the astrakhan cap of an hour ago. He stopped:

“It’s you!” he cried, in a feverish voice. “You, who know Erik’s secrets and don’t want me to speak of them. Who are you?”

“You know who I am! . . . I am the Persian!”