Wild schemes came to Cliff. Should he call Flash Donegan, pretending that he was Dip Riker? Cliff knew the number, but realized that the plan was useless.
Harry Vincent — on his way to certain death — not knowing that danger lay in his path. How could he be saved?
Valuable minutes passed. Cliff, for the first time, realized that he had not informed The Shadow. That was the least he could do to save Harry, even though The Shadow, without knowledge of where Marty and Lance were, would be as handicapped as Cliff.
SCURRYING to the other room, Cliff seized the telephone and dialed a number. Despite his hurry, he was wise enough to close the door behind him.
A quiet voice came over the wire.
“M reporting,” announced Cliff, in a low tone.
“Burbank,” was the reply.
Burbank was The Shadow’s inactive agent, a man who seldom left his station, but one who handled the threads that connected The Shadow with such operatives as Cliff and Harry.
In tense words, Cliff gave his information. His voice was hopeless, for he knew that even when Burbank had relayed the message, it could be of no use, unless — a faint hope — The Shadow knew where Marty and Lance were located.
This was hardly likely. Cliff had been told to obtain all available information. Evidently The Shadow had not yet discovered the workings of the gang that Flash Donegan ruled.