“Why all the fuss then?”
“Macklin,” said Palermo suavely, “you have one failing. You cannot see beyond facts that are extremely obvious. You realize, of course, that Burke has escaped through the aid of a friend, or protector. Yet you have no idea who his protector may be.”
“Yeah,” admitted Macklin, “you’re right there, Doc. Maybe I have got a one-track mind. I told the boys to get Burke. I didn’t think much about this other guy. If he—”
“If he were out of the way,” put in Palermo, as Macklin hesitated, “it would be easy to get Burke, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah. I hadn’t thought of it until now.”
“All right. Put him out of the way.”
“That would be easy,” laughed Macklin, “if I knew who he was. But right now I ain’t—”
“You’d like to know who he is, wouldn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll tell you who he is,” said Palermo, in a low, subtle voice that made Macklin stare. “I’ll tell you who he is. They call him”— the speaker paused impressively—”The Shadow!”