“What! Has he been caught?”

“He was captured⁠—but he will never come to trial.”

“Did he escape again?”

“He escaped⁠—by death. The thief is dead.”

“Dead? What happened?” asked Hurd Applegate excitedly.

“His name was Red Jackley, and he was a notorious criminal. He was tracked down by our father, and when he tried to escape on a railroad handcar he got into a smashup, and he was fatally injured. But before he died, he admitted robbing Tower Mansion.”

“He admitted it? He confessed?”

“He confessed everything.”

“I don’t believe it,” sniffed Adelia Applegate. “Nothing will ever convince me that it wasn’t that rascal Robinson.”