by Sax Rohmer
XXIV
OPIUM
Denise Ryland was lunching that day with Dr. Cumberly and his daughterat Palace Mansions; and as was usually the case when this trio met, theconversation turned upon the mystery.
"I have just seen Leroux," said the physician, as he took his seat, "andI have told him that he must go for a drive to-morrow. I have releasedhim from his room, and given him the run of the place again, butuntil he can get right away, complete recovery is impossible. A littlecheerful company might be useful, though. You might look in and see himfor a while, Helen?"
Helen met her father's eyes, gravely, and replied, with perfectcomposure, "I will do so with pleasure. Miss Ryland will come with me."
"Suppose," said Denise Ryland, assuming her most truculent air, "youleave off... talking in that... frigid manner... my dear. Consideringthat Mira... Leroux and I were... old friends, and that you... are oldfriends of hers, too, and considering that I spend... my life amongst...people who very sensibly call... one another... by their Christiannames, forget that my name is Ryland, and call me... Denise!"
"I should love to!" cried Helen Cumberly; "in fact, I wanted to doso the very first time I saw you; perhaps because Mira Leroux alwaysreferred to you as Denise"...
"May I also avail myself of the privilege?" inquired Dr. Cumberly withgravity, "and may I hope that you will return the compliment?"
"I cannot... do it!" declared Denise Ryland, firmly. "A doctor ...should never be known by any other name than... Doctor. If I heard anyone refer to my own... physician as Jack or... Bill, or Dick... I shouldlose ALL faith in him at once!"
As the lunch proceeded, Dr. Cumberly gradually grew more silent, seemingto be employed with his own thoughts; and although his daughter andDenise Ryland were discussing the very matter that engaged his ownattention, he took no part in the conversation for some time. Then:
"I agree with you!" he said, suddenly, interrupting Helen; "the greatestblow of all to Leroux was the knowledge that his wife had been deceivinghim."
"He invited... deceit!" proclaimed Denise Ryland, "by his... criminalneglect."
"Oh! how can you say so!" cried Helen, turning her gray eyes upon thespeaker reproachfully; "he deserves--"
"He certainly deserves to know the real truth," concluded Dr. Cumberly;"but would it relieve his mind or otherwise?"
Denise Ryland and Helen looked at him in silent surprise.
"The truth?" began the latter--"Do you mean that you know--where sheis"...
"If I knew that," replied Dr. Cumberly, "I should know everything; themystery of the Palace Mansions murder would be a mystery no longer. ButI know one thing: Mrs. Leroux's absence has nothing to do with any loveaffair."
"What!" exclaimed Denise Ryland. "There isn't another man... in thecase? You can't tell me"...
"But I DO tell you!" said Dr. Cumberly; "I ASSURE you."
"And you have not told--Mr. Leroux?" said Helen incredulously. "You haveNOT told him--although you know that the thought--of THAT is?"...
"Is practically killing him? No, I have not told him yet. For--would mynews act as a palliative or as an irritant?"
"That depends," pronounced Denise Ryland, "on the nature of... yournews."
"I suppose I have no right to conceal it from him. Therefore, we willtell him to-day. But although, beyond doubt, his mind will be relievedupon one point, the real facts are almost, if not quite, as bad."
"I learnt, this morning," he continued, lighting a cigarette, "certainfacts which, had I been half as clever as I supposed myself, I shouldhave deduced from the data already in my possession. I was aware, ofcourse, that the unhappy victim--Mrs. Vernon--was addicted to the use ofopium, and if a tangible link were necessary, it existed in the form ofthe written fragment which I myself took from the dead woman's hand."...
"A link!" said Denise Ryland.
"A link between Mrs. Vernon and Mrs. Leroux," explained the physician."You see, it had never occurred to me that they knew one another."...
"And did they?" questioned his daughter, eagerly.
"It is almost certain that they were acquainted, at any rate; and inview of certain symptoms, which, without giving them much consideration,I nevertheless had detected in Mrs. Leroux, I am disposed to think thatthe bond of sympathy which existed between them was"...
He seemed to hesitate, looking at his daughter, whose gray eyes werefixed upon him intently, and then at Denise Ryland, who, with her chinresting upon her hands, and her elbows propped upon the table, wasliterally glaring at him.
"Opium!" he said.
A look of horror began slowly to steal over Helen Cumberly's face;Denise Ryland's head commenced to sway from side to side. But neitherwoman spoke.
"By the courtesy of Inspector Dunbar," continued Dr. Cumberly, "I havebeen enabled to keep in touch with the developments of the case, as youknow; and he had noted as a significant fact that the late Mrs. Vernon'speriodical visits to Scotland corresponded, curiously, with those ofMrs. Leroux to Paris. I don't mean in regard to date; although in one ortwo instances (notably Mrs. Vernon's last journey to Scotland, and thatof Mrs. Leroux to Paris), there was similarity even in this particular.A certain Mr. Debnam--the late Horace Vernon's solicitor--placed anabsurd construction upon this"...
"Do you mean," interrupted Helen in a strained voice, "that heinsinuated that Mrs. Vernon"...
"He had an idea that she visited Leroux--yes," replied her fatherhastily. "It was one of those absurd and irritating theories, which,instinctively, we know to be wrong, but which, if asked for evidence, wecannot hope to PROVE to be wrong."
"It is outrageous!" cried Helen, her eyes flashing indignantly; "Mr.Debnam should be ashamed of himself!"
Dr. Cumberly smiled rather sadly.
"In this world," he said, "we have to count with the Debnams. One's ownprivate knowledge of a man's character is not worth a brass farthing aslegal evidence. But I am happy to say that Dunbar completely pooh-poohedthe idea."
"I like Inspector Dunbar!" declared Helen; "he is so strong--a splendidman!"
Denise Ryland stared at her cynically, but made no remark.
"The inspector and myself," continued Dr. Cumberly, "attached altogethera different significance to the circumstances. I am pleased to tell youthat Debnam's unpleasant theories are already proved fallacious; thecase goes deeper, far deeper, than a mere intrigue of that kind. Inshort, I am now assured--I cannot, unfortunately, name the source ofmy new information--but I am assured, that Mrs. Leroux, as well as Mrs.Vernon, was addicted to the opium vice."...
"Oh, my God! how horrible!" whispered Helen.
"A certain notorious character," resumed Dr. Cumberly...
"Soames!" snapped Denise Ryland. "Since I heard... that man's name Iknew him for... a villain... of the worst possible... description...imaginable."
"Soames," replied Dr. Cumberly, smiling slightly, "was one of the group,beyond doubt--for I may as well explain that we are dealing with anelaborate organization; but the chief member, to whom I have referred,is a greater one than Soames. He is a certain shadowy being, known asMr. King."
"The name on the paper!" said Helen, quickly. "But of course the policehave been looking for Mr. King all along?"
"In a general way--yes; but as we have thousands of Kings in Londonalone, the task is a stupendous one. The information which I receivedthis morning narrows down the search immensely; for it points to Mr.King being the chief, or president, of a sort of opium syndicate, and,furthermore, it points to his being a Chinaman."
"A Chinaman!" cried Denise and Helen together.
"It is not absolutely certain, but it is more than probable. The pointis that Mrs. Leroux has not eloped with some unknown lover; she is inone of the opium establishments of Mr. King."
"Do you mean that she is detained there?" asked Helen.
"It appears to me, now, to be certain that she is. My hypothesis is thatshe was an habitue of this place, as also was Mrs. Vernon. Theseunhappy women, by means of elaborate plans, made
on their behalf by thesyndicate, indulged in periodical opium orgies. It was a game well worththe candle, as the saying goes, from the syndicate's standpoint; forMrs. Leroux, alone, has paid no less than a thousand pounds to the opiumgroup!"
"A thousand pounds!" cried Denise Ryland. "You don't mean to tell methat that... silly fool... of a man, Harry Leroux... has allowed himselfto be swindled of... all that money?"
"There is not the slightest doubt about it," Dr. Cumberly assured her;"he opened a credit to that amount in Paris, and the entire sum has beenabsorbed by Mr. King!"
"It's almost incredible!" said Helen.
"I quite agree with you," replied her father. "Of course, most peopleknow that there are opium dens in London, as in almost every other bigcity, but the existence of these palatial establishments, conducted byMr. King, although undoubtedly a fact, is a fact difficult to accept.It doesn't seem possible that such a place can be conducted secretly;whereas I am assured that all the efforts of Scotland Yard thus far havefailed to locate the site of the London branch."
"But surely," cried Denise Ryland, nostrils dilated indignantly, "someof the... customers of this... disgusting place... can be followed?"...
"The difficulty is to identify them," explained Cumberly. "Opium smokingis essentially a secret vice; a man does not visit an opium den openlyas he would visit his club; and the elaborate precautions adopted bythe women are illustrated in the case of Mrs. Vernon, and in the case ofMrs. Leroux. It is a pathetic fact almost daily brought home to me, thatwomen who acquire a drug habit become more rapidly and more entirelyenslaved by it than does a man. It becomes the center of the woman'sexistence; it becomes her god: all other claims, social and domestic,are disregarded. Upon this knowledge, Mr. King has established hisundoubtedly extensive enterprise."...
Dr. Cumberly stood up.
"I will go down and see Leroux," he announced quietly. "His sorrowhitherto has been secondary to his indignation. Possibly ignorance inthis case is preferable to the truth, but nevertheless I am determinedto tell him what I know. Give me ten minutes or so, and then join me.Are you agreeable?"
"Quite," said Helen.
Dr. Cumberly departed upon his self-imposed mission.
