“What news?”
“Good! Got him!”
Upstairs, Flash Donegan was grinning as he sat at the telephone. A half-emptied bottle of liquor stood beside him.
Flash had been drinking, but his faculties were keen. He prided himself on the quantity he could imbibe without feeling the effects.
“The ride’s next,” Flash spoke.
“O.K., chief,” said Jennings. “We’re goin’ right now!”
A buzz sounded in Burbank’s right ear The Shadow was giving an order. Burbank responded. His deft fingers changed the plugs.
But now the situation was different. Three men were on the wire. Flash Donegan, Marty Jennings, and The Shadow. Neither Flash nor Marty knew what had transpired. The conversation had taken a strange turn — one which did not surprise Marty, but which puzzled Flash immensely.
For Marty Jennings was still hearing the voice of Flash Donegan; but he did not hear what Flash was actually saying!
The answer to this paradox was simple. Marty was listening to another person — a man who simulated Flash Donegan’s voice so closely that Marty could not detect the difference. Marty Jennings was talking instructions from The Shadow!