While one officer held Mrs. Gabriel, another questioned Miss Mohr and Miss Gordon as to the nature of their complaint. “This woman has been destroying library property,” declared Miss Mohr. “We saw her digging up the Brownie Scout tulip bed,” added Vevi. “I think she has some of our bulbs in her pocket now.” “Ridiculous!” snapped Mrs. Gabriel. “I suppose it does seem unusual for me to be found here digging up tulip bulbs. Nevertheless, I can explain.” “Please do,” invited Miss Mohr. “I bought a large order of tulips, especially valuable stock, from Mr. Mattox. Unfortunately, in driving home, I offered one of these children a ride.” “Me,” interposed Vevi. “She had a bag of worthless bulbs with her--” “Not worthless,” corrected Vevi. “They may have been culls but they were Golden Beauties. Those are the best and most valuable kind on the market now that Mr. Van Der Lann has won the blue ribbon!” “If you’ll keep quiet for a moment, I’ll explain,” said Mrs. Gabriel, glaring at Vevi. “The child either deliberately or possibly by mistake, exchanged a bag of my good bulbs for her trash. So tonight I thought to recover my stock.” The two police officers seemed half inclined to believe the woman’s story. “If it were only tulip bulbs you wanted, why didn’t you come to Miss Mohr or me?” questioned the Brownie Scout leader. “I realize I should have asked permission to dig up the bed,” replied Mrs. Gabriel glibly. “I hesitated to do so because I didn’t want to cause trouble.” “You set great store by those tulip bulbs,” remarked Miss Mohr. As she spoke, she glanced about the ground. The bulbs had been scattered everywhere. In her haste to dig them up. Mrs. Gabriel had broken many and chopped others in two with her sharp tool. “If you valued your tulips so much, why did you dump all the other bags of bulbs along the roadside?” Vevi demanded. Mrs. Gabriel ignored the pointed question, so the little girl asked it again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the woman finally replied. “If you found any bulbs along the road, they must have belonged to someone else.” The police officers had been listening to the talk. Now one of the men had a question of his own. “Lady,” he said, “are you sure it was tulip bulbs you were after?” “Of course! What else?” “Sorry,” said the policeman, “but I’m afraid we’ll have to take you to the station for a complete search.” “The idea!” Mrs. Gabriel snapped. “You may look in my purse now if you like. You’ll find nothing.” She offered her pocketbook, which the policeman thoroughly examined. Inside were toilet articles, a billfold containing nearly two hundred dollars, a handkerchief and a set of car keys. “I saw her put something in her outside coat pocket while she was digging,” Connie reported. One of the officers reached into Mrs. Gabriel’s pocket. He brought out nothing but an old theater program.