“I’m sorry,” Vevi apologized, drawing back her hand.
“I can’t have tulip bulbs rolling around loose on the car floor,” Mrs. Gabriel added.
Vevi was careful not to touch the bags after that. Nevertheless, she thought that Mrs. Gabriel was a very disagreeable woman.
For the first few minutes of the ride, the woman scarcely spoke. Then, in a much more friendly manner, she began to question Vevi about where she had been after leaving the flower show.
“Only to Hanny’s place,” the little girl replied.
“I saw a car at the gate when I drove by earlier this afternoon,” Mrs. Gabriel remarked. “It was an automobile I never had noticed there before.”
“It must have belonged to the stranger,” answered Vevi carelessly.
“Stranger?”
“The same man who was at Mrs. Langley’s flower show. He’s here checking up on folks.”
“Checking up on whom?”