"That is true," returned the boy. "But I don't see how I am going to do it. He is very stubborn."
"He won't be stubborn long. He knows the charge against him is too grave. You might intimate to him that it will go easier with him if he confesses."
"That is true, sir."
"If he is merely a tool it is nothing to you whether he is punished or not. You wish to bring the instigator of this plot against you to justice."
"Supposing I go in and have a talk with him, then?" suggested Ralph.
"We will both go in," returned Horace Kelsey.
Half an hour later they were closeted with Martin Thomas in a side room of the police station. They told the rascal of the object of their visit.
At first Martin Thomas would not listen to them but when Horace Kelsey pictured the possible future to him he grew more pliable. He began to pace up and down nervously.
"Well, supposing I own up to everything," he said, at last. "Will you drop this case against me?"
"That depends on what you have to say," said Ralph, cautiously.