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 point
is that Mrs. Leroux has not eloped with some unknown lover; she is in
one 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 that
she was an habitue of this place, as also was Mrs. Vernon. These
unhappy women, by means of elaborate plans, made on their behalf by the
syndicate, indulged in periodical opium orgies. It was a game well worth
the candle, as the saying goes, from the syndicate's standpoint; for
Mrs. Leroux, alone, has paid no less than a thousand pounds to the opium
group!"
"A thousand pounds!" cried Denise Ryland. "You don't mean to tell me
that that... silly fool... of a man, Harry Leroux... has allowed himself
to 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 been
absorbed by Mr. King!"
"It's almost incredible!" said Helen.
"I quite agree with you," replied her father.
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