A guard came up to Jimmy Valentine in prison and took him to the warden who handed him his Governor's pardon. The warden told him to stop cracking safes and lead an honest life, although Jimmy insisted that he was innocent.
The next morning, Jimmy stood in the warden's office in ill-fitting clothes that the state provided to its discharged prisoners. The clerk gave him a railway ticket and some money and the warden handed him a cigar as he walked out.
Jimmy headed to a restaurant first and had some good food. Then he boarded a train to a little town near the state line, where he went to a café owned by Mike Dolan.
He took a key from Mike and entered a room at the back to get his suitcase, which contained the finest set of burglar's tools. When he left the cafe half an hour later, he was dressed in tasteful and well-fitting clothes and carried his suitcase.
Soon, many high-profile safe-burglaries began to take place. They came to the attention of Detective Ben Price. On investigating the crime scenes, Ben Price remarked that they seemed to be Jimmy Valentine's work. He had learnt his habits while working on the Springfield case which had landed Jimmy in jail.