And with that, the matter rested. Callie was unusually silent all the way home. It was evident that she had been profoundly affected by the change that the Tower Mansion mystery had caused in the lives of the Robinsons. Naturally sympathetic and tenderhearted, she felt keenly the injustice of it all, and she realized even more than Frank what it had meant to Mrs. Robinson and the girls to move from their comfortable home in the Mansion to the squalid and distant part of the city in which they now lived.
Callie lived but a few blocks away from the Hardy home, and Frank accompanied her to the gate.
“Mercy!” she exclaimed, glancing at her watch, “it’s after six. I’m away late for supper.”
“So am I. See you tomorrow.”
“Surely. But, Frank—”
“Yes?”
Callie hesitated, then looked directly into his eyes. “Frank,” she said, “if your father, somehow, doesn’t clear up this affair, you and Joe simply must do it! You must ! For the Robinsons. It means so much to them.”
“Dad won’t fall down on it. Don’t worry. And Joe and I are giving all the help we can.”
His confidence was contagious. Callie brightened up immediately.
“In that case,” she said, gaily, “the mystery is as good as solved. The three best detectives in the world are working on it. Goodbye, Frank.”
With that she ran lightly into the house.