Toby Crackit informs Fagin that he and the other robbers had to flee the scene of a botched robbery. Oliver is missing because he was shot and Crackit and the others fled their pursuers, leaving Oliver in a ditch.
Toby tells Fagin, who has already read of the robbery in the newspaper, that the "whole country was awake" and came rushing after them, so they had no choice but to run. He says the boy was shot when Bill had Oliver on his back as he was fleeing. Toby adds,
"We stopped to take him between us; his head hung down, and he was cold."
Then as the pursuers gained on them, Toby continues,
"It was every man for himself.....We parted company and left the youngster lying in a ditch."
When Fagin hears that they have lost Oliver, and that the boy could be dead, he yells loudly and pulls his hair in chagrin. Then, he rushes from the house.
In the following chapter (XXVI), Fagin scours the neighborhood for a man called Monks; when he cannot locate him, he looks for Bill Sikes, but only finds Nancy there in a drunken stupor. She says poor Oliver is better off dead, anyway. But, Fagin significantly says that Oliver is worth hundreds of pounds to him.
Later, Fagin finds Monk and their conversation suggests that Monk has a personal interest in Oliver as does Fagin. Obviously, money is involved if Fagin is so upset and declaring that Oliver is worth a fortune.
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