It just went past me like a vampire,' called the wireless operator.

The operator calls the third number for the party to accept the charges before the call can proceed.

And the operator won't call him to the phone.

An operator called back three hours later, but the person who called in the report did not answer.

It was half an hour before the operator called back.

The operator called back in three hours, but the tipster did not answer.

The operators, whose numbers vary according to the time of day, screen calls to 911.

"There is between the three of them what the operators would call an open line."

The central operator must have worried about it and called the police.

In less than two minutes the operator was calling Mayday.