As though to enjoy the triumph which he felt, Prince Zuvor opened the envelope, in which he carried exact duplicates of Professor Whitburn’s plans — copies which he had made on the Dresden. Still watching the door, the Russian spread the papers in his lap.
“Fool!” he hissed. “Fool, called The Shadow! You thought because I drew a revolver that I was fighting to keep my only set of plans. You are welcome to those you took. These will serve me every bit as well!”
He looked at the papers in his lap. They were blank!
HE turned them over — both sides were blank. Nervously, the Russian dropped his revolver, and it clattered to the floor. As Zuvor spread the blank sheets, he heard a laugh that came from the other side of the closed door.
The truth dawned on Prince Zuvor. The Shadow had entered without awakening him, and had taken the duplicate plans from his coat, substituting these blank papers instead.
The Red Envoy had been tricked into delivering up the original plans. He had given them with a pretense of reluctance; he had even made a gesture to recover them.
For he had felt the packet in his coat, and had been sure that the duplicates were safe.
By his subtle methods, The Shadow had led Zuvor to reveal the set of plans that were in the traveling bag, and now the Red Envoy held nothing. The man in the compartment groaned.
The details of Professor Whitburn’s invention were too complicated to be remembered without the plans themselves, he could not rely upon his memory.
He had stolen the plans; he had brought them with him. He had reached Germany, where he was beyond the reach of the agents of the United States government.