Vevi noticed a tall stranger in a gray suit who had entered the greenhouse. He seemed to be watching the persons who came in, rather than looking at the flowers.
“Who is that man?” Vevi asked, pointing him out to Hanny and Connie.
“No one I ever saw before,” Connie replied carelessly. “Maybe he is one of Mr. Piff’s friends.”
The stranger, however, did not speak to the flower festival promoter when the latter came into the greenhouse. In fact, the man did not talk to anyone.
“Maybe he is a detective,” Vevi decided. “Mrs. Langley may have hired him to watch the prize tulips.”
Convinced that this was so, she went over to ask the garden club president about it.
“No, dear,” Mrs. Langley assured her, “I do not have a detective on the grounds.”
“Then who is that man who keeps watching everyone so closely?” Vevi asked.
Mrs. Langley turned to glance at the tall man in the gray suit. She had never seen him before.
“He probably is from some nearby town,” she told Vevi. “Many persons are here today that I do not know.”