“No, nothing of the kind,” said Brady confidently. “I’m dead sure of that.”
“Have the police tried in each case to trace and identify the girl?”
“Yes, indeed, for all they were worth.”
“But with no success at all?”
“None whatever. If we could hit upon any motive for such a job, or see anything to have been gained by it, we might get on the track of the crooks. For the fact that all the girls told the same story, and plainly enough had been drugged or rendered insensible by some mysterious means, shows that there must have been trickery of some kind.”
“I agree with you, Brady, in that respect.”
“Strange to say, nevertheless, the victims appeared anxious only to leave the hospital as quickly as possible and to bury themselves in obscurity.”
“Have the newspapers reported the previous cases?”
“Yes, indeed, in display type.”
“They must have been read by these girls, then, and there must be some serious reason for their reticence,” said Nick. “Very evidently, Brady, there is something under the surface, something quite out of the ordinary. Gleason wants me to look into this last case?”