Chief Inspector Kerry thrust his hands into the pockets of his jacket.
“Now—Sir Lucien?”
Margaret tapped more rapidly with the paper-knife.
“Sir Lucien belonged to a set of which Rita had been a member during her stage career. I think—he admired her; in fact, I believe he had offered her marriage. But she did not care for him in the least—in that way.”
“Then in what way did she care for him?” rapped Kerry.
“Well—now we are coming to the point.” Momentarily she hesitated, then: “They were both addicted—”
“Yes?”
“—to drugs.”
“Eh?” Kerry’s eyes grew hard and fierce in a moment. “What drugs?”
“All sorts of drugs. Shortly after I became acquainted with Rita Irvin I learned that she was a victim of the drug habit, and I tried to cure her. I regret to say that I failed. At that time she had acquired a taste for opium.”