"Of course, most people
know that there are opium dens in London, as in almost every other big
city, but the existence of these palatial establishments, conducted by
Mr. 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 have
failed to locate the site of the London branch."
"But surely," cried Denise Ryland, nostrils dilated indignantly, "some
of the... customers of this... disgusting place... can be followed?"...
"The difficulty is to identify them," explained Cumberly. "Opium smoking
is essentially a secret vice; a man does not visit an opium den openly
as he would visit his club; and the elaborate precautions adopted by
the women are illustrated in the case of Mrs. Vernon, and in the case of
Mrs. Leroux. It is a pathetic fact almost daily brought home to me, that
women who acquire a drug habit become more rapidly and more entirely
enslaved by it than does a man. It becomes the center of the woman's
existence; it becomes her god: all other claims, social and domestic,
are disregarded. Upon this knowledge, Mr. King has established his
undoubtedly extensive enterprise."...
Dr. Cumberly stood up.
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