Then Phil, his own throat tingling, even though untouched, was voicing hoarse details of all that had occurred, hoping that Cranston could interpret the rest.
“I saw the thing last night,” stated Phil, “or maybe something like it. Only Yuble couldn’t have been expecting this. He thought he was going to get a message, a confidential message.”
Sounds like little “eeks” attracted Cranston to the window. He beckoned Phil there and together they looked up beneath the eaves. Hanging there was a row of tiny bats which couldn’t compare in size to the vampire killer. In fact the little bats were frightened by the oversized visitor; hence their complaint.
“Carrier bats,” stated Cranston, very calmly. “It’s not uncommon for bats to have the homing sense. At short distances they are perfect message bearers, particularly at night, since it is impossible to see them except against the light.”
Both Margo and Arlene could have testified to that last-named fact along with Phil. As for Cranston, he was learning something that he had sought while playing the role of The Shadow; how strange prowlers in the park had managed to get back word to the person who maneuvered them. Here was the answer, these carrier bats that Dom Yuble received and from the messages they bore was able to pass the word along.
“I get it,” armed Phil, tersely. “When Ronjan is out, he can send word back to Yuble. Tonight Ronjan must have seen me coming up here. He figured I was wise, so he sent the killer bat, hoping it would get me -”
Cranston interposed with a headshake.
“You were not expected,” he told Phil. “Yuble was intended as the victim.”
“But why?”
“Because he knew too much about a certain treasure long sought on a sunken brig called the Good Wind.”