They offer a chance
for crimes of the most fiendish nature--worse than with the gun or
the stiletto. They are worse because there is so little fear of
detection. That crime is the production of insanity!"
Horrible though the idea, and repulsive, I could not doubt it in
the face of Craig's investigations and what I had already seen
with my own eyes. In fact, it was necessary for me only to recall
the mild sensations I myself had experienced, in order to be
convinced of the possible effect intended by the insidious poison
contained in the many cigarettes which Whitney, for instance, had
smoked.
"But don't you suppose they know it?" I wondered. "Can't they tell
it?"
"I suppose they have gradually become accustomed to it," Craig
ventured. "If you have ever smoked one particular brand of
cigarette you must have noticed how the manufacturer can gradually
substitute a cheaper grade of tobacco without any large number of
his patrons knowing anything about it. I imagine it might have
been done in some way like that."
"But you would think they'd feel the effect and attribute it to
smoking."
"Perhaps they do feel the effect. But when it comes to tracing
causes, some people are loath to admit that tobacco and liquor can
be the root of the evil.
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