Why does this POSIX sh function set $? = 1

Question

Very simple script but no idea why it sends an exit code of 1...

docker run --rm -it alpine
/ # apk update && apk add curl
...
...
/ # func() { RESPCODE=$(curl -sS -w "%{http_code}" -o /dev/null https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1); EXITCODE=$?; [ $EXITCODE -ne 0 ] && return 2; }
/ # func
/ # echo $?
1

Why does it not exit with zero code?!