294 The Diary of a Drug Fiend
Gretel appeared in the doorway. She was wearing a
worried look which was perfectly incomprehensible.
“Where is Lou? ” she said at once, her shrill voice
off pitch with agitation.
“Isn’t she with you?” I snapped back idiotically.
A sudden spasm of alarm set me shivering. What
the devil could have happened ?
Platt was more upset than any of us, of course. He
had pulled off a delicate and dangerous intrigue; and
at the moment of success he saw that his plan was in
some incomprehensible danger. His mind’s spy-glass
showed him a bird’s-eye view of the Old Bailey. The
fact that there was no tangible reason for alarm only
intensified the feeling of uneasiness.
“She must be hiding for a joke,’”’ said Gretel in a
hard, cold voice, mastering her anxiety by deliberate
violence.
We hunted over the apartment. There was no sign
of her ; and her fur coat and cap were missing from the
hall. I turned to Mrs. Webster.
‘““ What happened ?”’ I asked curtly.
The woman had resumed her mask. She threw a
defiant glance at Platt, whose eyes shot a venomous
question.
“‘T can’t understand it at all,’”’ she said slowly. ‘‘ She
seemed very uneasy all the time she was in the bed-
room. I thought she was missing her dope. If I had
had any on me, I’d have given her a big jolt. Dummer
Esel{ Tl never go out without it again so long as I
live. I forget what excuse she made. I thought it was
just camouflage to go and get her heroin.”
Silence fell between us. Platt was afraid to say what
he wanted tosay. I was honestly puzzled. The incident
had destroyed the effect of the cocaine I had taken.
(It’s extraordinary how easy it is to break the spell).
I went to the Tantalus and poured ont three brandies,
dropping a pinch of snow into mine to make sure of
getting back to where I was.
Mrs. Webster had recovered her equipoise.