'Robinson?'
'Yes. Henry Robinson-the caretaker. He's the man.'
The Hardy boys looked at each other in consternation. Henry Robinson, the
caretaker of the Tower Mansion, was the father of one of their closest
chums! Perry Robinson, nicknamed 'Slim,' was the son of the accused man!
That his father should be blamed for the robbery seemed absurd to the Hardy
boys. They had met Mr. Robinson upon several occasions and he had
appeared to be a good-natured, easygoing man with high principles.
'I don't believe he's guilty,' Frank whispered.
'Neither do I,' returned his brother.
'What makes you suspect Robinson?' Mr. Hardy asked Hurd Applegate.
'He's the only person besides my sister and me who ever saw that safe
opened and closed. He could have learned the combination if he'd kept his
eyes and ears open, which I'm sure he did.'
'Is that your only reason for suspecting him?'
'No. This morning he paid off a nine-hundred-dollar note at the bank. And I
know for a fact he didn't have more than one hundred dollars to his name a
few days ago. Now where did he raise nine hundred dollars so suddenly?'
'Perhaps he has a good explanation,' Mr. Hardy suggested.
'Oh, he'll have an explanation all right!' sniffed Mr. Applegate. 'But it will
have to be a mighty good one to satisfy me.'
The automobile was now speeding up the wide driveway that led to Tower
Mansion and within a few minutes stopped at the front entrance. Mr. Hardy
and the two boys accompanied the eccentric man into the house.
'Nothing has been disturbed in the library since the discovery of the theft,'
he said, leading the way there.
Mr. Hardy examined the open safe, then took a special magnifying glass from
his pocket. With minute care he inspected the dial of the combination lock.
Next he walked to each window and the door to examine them for
fingerprints. He asked Mr. Applegate to hold his fingers up to a strong light
and got a clear view of the whorls and lines
on the inside of the tips. At last he shook his head.
'A smooth job,' he observed. 'The thief must have worn gloves. All the
fingerprints in the room, Mr. Applegate, seem to be yours.'
'No use looking for fingerprints or any other evidence!' Mr. Applegate
barked impatiently. 'It was Robinson, I tell you.'
'Perhaps it would be a good idea for me to ask him a few questions,' Mr.
Hardy advised.
Mr. Applegate rang for one of the servants and instructed him to tell the
caretaker to come to the library at once. Mr. Hardy glanced at the boys and
suggested they wait in the hallway.
'It might prove less embarrassing to Mr. Robinson that way,' he said in a
low voice.
Frank and Joe readily withdrew. In the hall they met Mr. Robinson and his
son Perry. The man was calm, but pale, and at the doorway he patted Slim on
the shoulder.
'Don't worry,' he said. 'Everything will be all right.' With that he entered
the library.
Slim turned to his two friends. 'It's got to be!' he cried out. 'My dad is
innocent!'
CHAPTER VII
The Arrest
FRANK and Joe were determined to help their chum prove his father's
innocence. They shared his conviction that Mr. Robinson was not guilty.
'Of course he's innocent,' Frank agreed. 'He'll be able to clear himself all
right, Slim.'
'But things look pretty black right now,' the boy said. He was white-faced
and shaken. 'Unless Mr. Hardy can catch the real thief, I'm afraid Dad will
be blamed for the robbery.'
'Everybody knows your father is honest,' said Joe consolingly. 'He has
been a faithful employee -even Mr. Applegate will have to admit that.'
'Which won't help him much if he can't clear himself of the charge. And Dad
admits that he did know the combination of the safe, although of course he'd
never use it.'
'He knew it?' repeated Joe, surprised.
'Dad learned the combination accidentally. It was so simple one couldn't
forget it. This was how it happened. One day when he was cleaning the
library fireplace, he found a piece of paper with numbers on it. He studied
them and decided they were the safe combination. Dad laid the paper on the
desk. The window was open and he figured the breeze must have blown the
paper to the floor.'
'Does Mr. Applegate know that?'
'Not yet. But Dad is going to tell him now. He realizes it will look bad for
him, but he's going to give Mr. Applegate the truth.'
From the library came the hum of voices. The harsh tones of Hurd Applegate
occasionally rose above the murmur of conversation and finally the boys
heard Mr. Robinson's voice rise sharply.
'I didn't do it! I tell you I didn't take that money!'
'Then where did you get the nine hundred you paid on that note?' demanded
Mr. Applegate.
Silence.
'Where did you get it?'
'I'm not at liberty to tell you or anyone else.'
'Why not?'
'I got the money honestly-that's all I can say about it.'
'Oh, ho!' exclaimed Mr. Applegate. 'You got the money honestly, yet you
can't tell me where it came from! A pretty story! If you got the money
honestly you shouldn't be ashamed to tell where it came from.'
'I'm not ashamed. I can only say again, I'm not at liberty to talk about it.'
'Mighty funny thing that you should get nine hundred dollars so quickly. You
were pretty hard up last week, weren't you? Had to ask for an advance on
your month's wages.'
'That is true.'
'And then the day of this robbery you suddenly have nine hundred dollars
that you can't explain.'
Mr. Hardy's calm voice broke in. 'Of course I don't like to pry into your
private affairs, Mr. Robinson,' he said, 'but it would be best if you would
