“And the a propos of all this?” asked Garstin

“You are beginning to see the morphia maniac, the drunkard, the cocaine fiend, the prostitute, the—”

“Blackmailer?”

“Yes, the blackmailer, if you like, in everyone you meet. You live in a sort of bad dream, Dick. You paint in a bad dream. If you go on like this you will lose all sense of the true values.”

“But I honestly do believe the man you want me to pick up and then introduce to you to be a successful blackmailer.”

“Why? Do you know anything about him?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

“Then your supposition about him is absurd and rather disgusting.”

“It isn’t a supposition.”

“What is it then?”