gloomily silhouetted against the sky, Mr. Hardy and Mr. Applegate discussed the robbery.
"I don't really need a detective in this case," snapped Hurd Applegate. "Don't need one at all. It's as clear as the nose on your face. I know who took the stuff. But I can't prove it."
"Whom do you suspect?" asked Fenton Hardy.
"Only one man in the world could have taken it. Robinson!"
"Robinson?"
"Yes. Henry Robinson―the caretaker. He's the man."
The Hardy boys looked at one another in consternation.
Henry Robinson, the caretaker of the Tower Mansion, was the father of one of their closest chums. Perry Robinson, nick-named "Slim", was to have accompanied them on their jaunt to the woods that day but had failed to appear. The reason was now evident.
But that Henry Robinson should be accused of the robbery seemed absurd. The boys had met Slim's father and he had appeared to them as a good-natured, easy-going man, the soul of truth and honesty.
"I don't believe it," whispered Frank.
"Neither do I," returned his brother.
