The Director held up his hand in weary surrender.
"O.K.," he said. "Tell me all about it."
Lucifer told his story with an admirable lack of detail, and a certain intensity that compelled attention.
At a certain phase of his project, it was necessary to start re-evaluating cases he had previously re-evaluated. That phase had been reached two months ago. He had selected five hundred names from his card file, and had sent them form letters preparatory to arranging for tests.
When 480 came back marked "Address Unknown", or "No Forwarding Address", he was disturbed, but not unduly so. In an era of great population shifts, people could be lost and forgotten.
He mailed out another 500 forms. Four hundred and sixty-three came back unopened.
A third mailing brought similar results. Subsequent mailings added up to the startling statistic that some 3,000 people apparently had vanished.
Lucifer personally checked a score of names in the greater Los Angeles area. Five could not be located; seven seemed to have moved without leaving a forwarding address; one was reported drowned in the surf off Point Fermin; six were listed with the Missing Persons Bureau. Of the latter, two had briefly made headlines. They had kissed their wives goodby, driven off to work and had never been seen again.
Against his will, the FBI Director was impressed by Lucifer Brill's calm recital of these facts.
"But 3,000 people," he demurred. "Isn't it simply incredible that 3,000 people could disappear without causing a commotion?"