“Well, that’s as may be,” replied Hanslet. “Now, Mr. Ludgrove, I am going to ask for further assistance on your part. You know as much about these counters as I do. They seem to have been sent, so far, to six men, all of whom have died shortly after they received them. Whyland tells me that he has utterly failed to establish any connection between these men. Except for the fact that Tovey and Copperdock were close friends, they all seem to be comparative strangers to one another, and have never been associated in any common enterprise. You see what I mean, of course?”

“I do, indeed. In fact, Inspector Whyland and I discussed the point, long ago. It might be possible to imagine a motive for the murder of a group of men who were inspired by a common motive or who belonged to some common society. The difficulty is, assuming that the agency which compassed their deaths was the same in each case, to imagine a motive for the actions of that agency.”