The Tenor with the Broken Voice; 8-14-1938

Margo and Lamont are at an opera. The listen as a tenor sings, but his voice breaks and it ruins the song.

Later, Lamont tells Margo he expects there will be other problems. They listen to a radio broadcast of the same opera, and the singer in that one has problems. A sandbag falls and kills the tenor instantly.

Clyde calls Commissioner Weston, working, of course, for the Shadow. There will be another performance of the opera that night. The Shadow then calls the Commissioner. He tells Weston to have two squads of detectives cover the opera, but Weston refuses.

The program then moves on to the opera that night. Weston himself shows up at the opera. The “cursed” aria starts. (Way too much time in this episode is taken up with the aria being done over and over.) The Shadow's voice is heard, warning everyone to clear the stage and lower the abestos curtain. There's an explosion and a fire on the stage. The Shadow tells everyone to evacuate the building.

There's a meeting of the Board of Directors of the opera company. They are discussing closing the opera house for the rest of the season. The Shadow shows up at the meeting. Weston is really nasty to the Shadow, though. The Shadow tells them to perform the same opera the a week later.

One guy doesn't want that to happen; it's the tenor who lost his voice at the first “cursed” performance. The Shadow calls Margo on his portable radio.

A guard is humming while checking. The guard is knocked out, and the voice of the crook is heard as he plants another explosive in a box the Shadow had told the meeting was to be reserved for him.

Margo and Lamont arrive later, and find the night watchman.

The Shadow calls Weston and says he will unmask the killer that night. Weston threatens to stop the opera, but the Shadow tells him things must go forward as planned.

Cardona is there for the performance, as well as Weston.

Then it's back to the “cursed” part of the opera (for the fourth time.) The Shadow's voice is heard, and he stop the curtain from being lowered. The Shadow speaks to Ratcauff (spelling?), and accuses him of planting dynamite. The guy admits to being the person who has been causing all the problems. A shot is heard and the crook falls. (So, just who shot him? Nothing is said to clear that question up.)


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