“His name was Red Jackley and he was a notorious criminal. Dad got on his trail and Jackley tried to escape on a railroad handcar. It smashed up and he was fatally injured,” Frank explained.
“Where did you get your information then?” Mr. Applegate asked.
Frank told the whole story, ending with, “We thought Jackley might have made a mistake and that it’s the new tower where he hid the loot.”
Hurd Applegate rubbed his chin meditatively. It was evident that he was impressed by the boys’ story.
“So this fellow Jackley confessed to the robbery, eh?”
“He admitted everything. He had once worked around here and knew the Bayport area well. He had been hanging around the city for several days before the robbery.”
“Well,” Applegate said slowly, “if he said he hid the stuff in the old tower and it’s not there, it must be in the new tower, as you say.”
“Will you let us search it?” Joe asked eagerly.
“Yes, and I’ll help. I’m just as eager to find the jewels and bonds as you are. Come on, boys!”
Hurd Applegate led the way across the mansion toward a door which opened into the new tower. Now that the man was in a good mood, Frank decided that this was an opportune time to tell him about the trap door. He did so, offering to pay for the repair.
“Oh, that’s all right,” said Mr. Applegate. “I’ll have it fixed. In fact, Robinson- Oh, I forgot. I’ll get a carpenter.”
He said no more, but quickened his steps. Frank and Joe grinned. Old Mr. Applegate had not even reprimanded them!
The mansion owner opened the door to the new tower and stepped into a corridor. Frank and Joe, tingling with excitement, followed.
CHAPTER XVI
A Surprise
THE rooms in the new tower had been furnished when it was built. But only on rare occasions when the Applegates had visitors were the rooms occupied, the owner stated.
In the first one Frank, Joe, and Mr. Applegate found nothing, although they looked carefully in closets, bureaus, highboys, and under the large pieces of furniture. They even turned up mattresses and rugs. When they were satisfied that the loot had not been hidden there, they ascended the stairs to the room above. Again their investigation proved fruitless.
Hurd Applegate, being a quick-tempered man, fell back into his old mood. The boys’ story had convinced him, but when they had searched the rooms in the tower without success, he showed his disgust.
“It’s a hoax!” he snorted. “Adelia was right. I’ve been made a fool of! And all because of Robinson!”
“I can’t understand it!” Joe burst out. “Jackley said he hid the stuff in the tower.”
“If that fellow did hide the jewels and bonds in one of the towers,” Applegate surmised, “someone else must have come in and taken them-maybe someone working with him. Or else Robinson found the loot right after the robbery and kept it for himself.”
“I’m sure Mr. Robinson wouldn’t do that,” Joe objected.
“Then where did he get the nine hundred dollars? Explain that. Robinson won’t!”
On the way back to the main part of the mansion, Hurd Applegate elaborated on his theory. The fact that the loot had not been found seemed to convince him all over again that Robinson was involved in some way.
“Like as not he was in league with Jackley!” the man stated flatly.
Again Frank and Joe protested that the ex-caretaker did not hobnob with criminals. Nevertheless, the Hardys were puzzled, disappointed, and alarmed. Their search had only resulted in implicating Mr. Robinson more deeply in the mystery.
Back in the hallway of the main house they met Adelia Applegate, who crowed triumphantly when she saw the search party returning empty-handed. “Didn’t I tell you?” she cried. “Hurd Applegate, you’ve let these boys make a fool of you!”
She escorted the Hardys to the front door, while her brother, shaking his head perplexedly, went back to his study.
“We sure messed things up, Frank,” Joe declared, as they walked toward their motorcycles. “I feel like a dud rocket.”
“Me too.”
They hurried home to tell their father the disappointing news. Fenton Hardy was amazed to hear that the stolen valuables had not been located in either tower. “You’re sure you went over the place thoroughly?”
“Every inch of it. There wasn’t a sign of the loot. From the dust in the old tower, I’d say no one had been there for ages,” Frank replied.
“Strange,” the detective muttered. “I’m sure Jackley wasn’t lying. He had absolutely nothing to gain by deceiving me. ‘I hid it in the old tower.’ Those were his very words. And what could he mean but the old tower of Tower Mansion? And why should he be so careful to say the old tower? Since he was familiar with Bayport, he probably knew that the mansion has two towers, the old and the new.”
“Of course, it may be that we didn’t search thoroughly enough,” Joe remarked. “The loot could be hidden under the flooring or behind a movable wall panel. We didn’t look there.”
“That’s the only solution,” Mr. Hardy agreed. “I’m still not satisfied that the stolen property isn’t there. I’m going to ask Applegate to permit another search of both towers. And now, I think your mother wants you to do an errand downtown.”
Mrs. Hardy explained what she wanted and Frank and Joe were soon on their motorcycles again. When the boys reached the business section of Bayport they found that Jackley’s confession had already become known. The local radio station had broadcast it in the afternoon news program and people everywhere were discussing it.
Detective Smuff walked along the street looking as if he would bite the head off the first person who mentioned the case to him. When he saw the Hardy boys he glowered.
“Well,” he grunted, “I hear you got the stuff back.”
“I wish we had,” Frank said glumly.
“What!” the detective cried out, brightening at once. “You didn’t get it? I thought they said on the radio that this fellow Jackley had told your father where he hid it.”
“He did. But how did the news leak out?”
“Jackley’s door wasn’t closed all the time. One of the other patients who was walking by the room heard the confession and spilled it. So you didn’t find the loot after all! Ha-ha! That’s a good one! Didn’t Jackley say the stuff was hidden in the old tower? What more do you need?”
“Well, it wasn’t there!” Joe retorted hotly. “Jackley must have made a mistake!”
“Jackley made a mistake!” Smuff continued cheerfully. “It looks like the joke’s on you fellows and your father!” The would-be sleuth went on down the street, chuckling to himself.
When Frank and Joe returned home they found that Mr. Hardy had been in touch with Hurd Applegate and had convinced him that a more detailed search of the towers would be advisable.
“Boys,” he said, “we’ll go there directly after supper. I think we’d better not wait until tomorrow.”
At seven o’clock the detective and his sons presented themselves at the Tower Mansion. Hurd Applegate met them at the door.
“I’m letting you make this search,” he said as he led them toward the old tower, “but I’m convinced you won’t find anything. I’ve talked the case over with Chief Collig. He’s inclined to think that Robinson is behind it all and I’m sure he is.”
“But how about Jackley’s confession?” Mr. Hardy asked him.
“The chief says that could be a blind. Jackley did it to protect Robinson. They were working together.”
“I know it looks bad for Robinson,” Mr. Hardy admitted, “but I want to give the towers another close examination. I heard Jackley make the confession and I don’t believe he was lying.”