"And you believe what HE says, too?"
There was a silence.
"What is it?" I asked, tapping the box lightly.
"A vocaphone," replied Kennedy. "The little box that hears and talks."
"Can they hear us?" I asked, in an awestruck whisper.
"Not unless I want them to hear," he replied, indicating a switch. "You remember, of course, the various mechanical and electrical ears, such as the detectaphone, which we have used for eavesdropping in other cases?"
I nodded.
"Well, this is a new application which has been made of the detectaphone. When I was using that disc from the compartment there, I had really a detectaphone. But this is even better. You see how neat it all is? This is the detective service, and more. We can 'listen in' and we don't have to use ear-pieces, either, for this is a regular loud-speaking telephone—it talks right out in meeting. Those square holes with the converging sides act as a sort of megaphone to the receivers, those little circles back there inside magnifying the sound and throwing it out here in the room, so that we can hear just as well as if we were up there in the room where they are talking. Listen—I think they are talking again."
"I suppose you know that Whitney and I have placed detectives on the trail of Norton," we could hear Lockwood say.
"You have?" came back the answer in a voice which for the first time sounded cold.