“Then we planted diamonds, thinking it was fertilizer!” gasped Jane.
Mr. Van Der Lann’s disclosure amazed everyone except Miss Mohr. She was not surprised because the nurseryman earlier had told her of his suspicion that Mrs. Gabriel was not an honest person.
Now that Mr. Van Der Lann had revealed that the pellets were uncut diamonds, the Brownie Scouts became highly excited. Vevi was especially so, for she knew that Mrs. Gabriel had not had time to dig up all of the stones.
“Almost every tulip bulb has a pellet with it,” she revealed. “Why, this old flower bed is full of diamonds!”
“I’m going to dig them up!” cried Jane, reaching for Mrs. Gabriel’s trowel.
The police, however, would not permit any of the children or the adults to touch the flower bed. They said they would assign men to sift the earth and make certain that every uncut stone was recovered.
Mrs. Gabriel realized by this time that it was useless to deny her guilt.
“All right, I did smuggle the diamonds in with a shipment of bulbs,” she acknowledged. “I wasn’t alone in the deal though. If you arrest me, how about the Mattox couple?”
“We’ll take care of them, never fear,” the policeman assured her.
Mrs. Gabriel was taken away to the police station and other men came to sift the flower bed soil. All the Brownies, Mr. Van Der Lann, the librarian and Miss Gordon stood by, watching the work. Soon a fairly large crowd gathered.