Lieutenant Masters stood up. "Come along," she said. "We'll go there now and you can hear everything firsthand."

            The two rode to the Fenimore house located in a run-down section of the city. The tiny yard was a mass of colorful flowers, however, and vines half-covered the unpainted, weather-beaten porch. As Nancy and the officer went up the flagstone walk, the policewoman called attention to two young, newly planted rosebushes.

            "Are these yours?" she asked.

            "They look like the ones that were in our yard," Nancy said. "But-"

            She broke off, because a little girl in a faded pink dress had just come around the corner of the house. When the child saw the woman in uniform, she stopped short and then turned as if to run off.

            "Don't be afraid," the lieutenant said gently.

            "Did you come to take me away?" Joan asked.

            "Indeed we didn't. But we will have to send you to a special school unless you decide to be good."

            "I am good," Joan said, tossing her tangled blond curls. "Just ask my mother!"

            "In many ways you are very good. I know you work hard to take care of your mother. But why do you dig up shrubs and plants that don't belong to you?"

            Joan's gaze roved to the telltale rosebushes. She hung her head and didn't answer.

            "I'm sure you don't really mean to be naughty," the policewoman continued. "Why do you take flowers?"

            "Because they're pretty," Joan said. "We can never buy anything nice."

            The child sank down on the porch steps and began to cry. Lieutenant Masters comforted her. Soon she gained an admission from the little girl that an older boy, Teddy Hooper, who lived next door, had suggested that Joan help herself to some pretty plants.