There was a speaking-tube fixed between the two rooms!
Smith literally ground his teeth.
“Yet, Petrie,” he said, “we have learnt something. Fu-Manchu had evidently promised Eltham his life if he would divulge the name of his correspondent. He meant to keep his word; it is a sidelight on his character.”
“How so?”
“Eltham has never seen Dr. Fu-Manchu, but Eltham knows certain parts of China better than you know the Strand. Probably, if he saw Fu-Manchu, he would recognize him for who he really is, and this, it seems, the Doctor is anxious to avoid.”
We ran back to where we had left Karamaneh.
The room was empty!
“Defeated, Petrie!” said Smith, bitterly. “The Yellow Devil is loosed on London again!”
He leaned from the window and the skirl of a police whistle split the stillness of the night.