The Mystery of the Fire Dragon

by Carolyn G. Keene

  Nancy was determined not to give up her sleuthing completely. “But, at least, Bess, we can ask about Chi Che Soong,” she added. “Let’s try various places on Mott and Pell streets.”

  The girls decided to divide the task, with Bess taking one side of the street, Nancy the other. They had been at work on this project for nearly half an hour with no results, when Nancy came to a combination stationery, art, and knickknack store. Bess joined her.

  “Remember the hand-painted dragon, Bess? I wonder if the owner of this shop might help us locate the place where the stationery and card were made?”

  The girls walked in. First Nancy asked the Chinese shopkeeper if he knew Chi Che Soong. The man shook his head. “I am very sorry. May I help you in any other way?”

  Nancy smiled. “Perhaps you can. I see you sell stationery. Have you ever seen any with a small hand-painted dragon in the lower right-hand corner?”

  The shop owner opened a drawer and took out several sheets. “Is this what you mean?” he asked.

  When Nancy said yes, the man smiled and told her he was the artist.

  Nancy was excited by this information. “Do you paint this stationery for some particular person?”

  “No, no,” the artist answered. “Many people, both Chinese and American, buy this stationery. I take no special orders. I will be glad to sell you some if you care to have any.”

  The young sleuth, thinking the unusual stationery might come in handy, bought a few sheets with envelopes to fit. “Do you also make cards with this design?” she asked.

  Once more the man rummaged in the drawer. Presently he pulled out one exactly like the card which had been sent with Grandpa Soong’s hospital flowers. Nancy said she would like to buy three or four.

  “You don’t make these on order either?” she asked.

  The artist shook his head. Then he in turn asked, “Is there some special reason why you want to know?”

  Nancy explained that a Chinese friend of hers had received a beautiful bouquet but that there was no name on the hand-painted dragon card. The recipient was most eager to find out who had sent the flowers.

  “It’s possible a man named Ryle is responsible,” said Nancy. “Do you know anyone by that name?”

  “Ryle?” the Chinese shopkeeper repeated. He looked into space for several seconds, then said, “A man named Ryle was in here several months ago with a friend. He did not buy any of this stationery or the cards. He was interested in selling me something.”

  “Oh, you also buy Oriental objects from people who come in here?” Nancy asked, to draw him out.

  “Once in a while,” the shop owner replied. “But in the case of Mr. Ryle, I must admit I refrained. He had some pieces of very fine jade with him. He said he had brought them from the Orient. I was afraid the jade might have been stolen or smuggled and I did not want to get into trouble.”

  Nancy’s heart began to beat faster. Here indeed was an interesting clue!

  But the young sleuth pretended to be shocked by the possibility that Mr. Ryle was a smuggler. “Then he can’t be the man we have in mind,” she said. “Do you know the first name of the Mr. Ryle who wanted to sell you the jade?”

  “No, I didn’t hear it,” the man answered. “The only reason I know his name is Ryle is because his companion called him that. The men haven’t been in here since, so I know nothing more about them.”

  “This man named Ryle—was he stout?” Bess queried, hoping to get more information for Nancy.

  “No. In fact, he was a small, slender man. But he looked very strong,” the stationer replied. A customer came in just then, so Nancy and Bess took their leave. Out on the street once more, the girl detective said, “I think we’ve hit upon a real clue. This small, slender but muscular man we keep hearing about must be named Ryle! But is Ryle his first or last name?”

  “Good question,” Bess remarked. “And how do you spell it?”

  The girls walked back to Canal Street to hail a taxi. To their amazement the car in which the two suspects had driven to Chinatown was still standing there.

  “I think I’ll phone the police about this,” Nancy told Bess.

  She went into a drugstore and called Captain Gray. Without revealing anything about the mystery surrounding Chi Che, Nancy said she had picked up a clue which might lead to the man who had attacked Grandpa Soong. She mentioned the parked car and its license number.

  “I’ll look into the matter at once,” the officer promised.

  Nancy had a hunch that the car had been abandoned, so there was little point in waiting for the two men to return. She signaled a taxi and directed the driver to take her and Bess back to Aunt Eloise’s apartment.

  Meanwhile, George had been having an adventure of her own. Right after Nancy and Bess had driven off in the taxi, a Chinese girl, carrying an armful of books, had rushed up to her. She had spoken excitedly in what George assumed was Cantonese, but the only words George could distinguish were “Chi Che.” Did the girl think she was Chi Che or had she seen through her disguise?

  Suddenly the Chinese girl, frowning, looked more closely at George. Then she laughed and in English apologized. “Oh, I thought you were a girl I know named Chi Che Soong. My, how much you look like her! I stopped you because I heard Chi Che left her job at Stromberg’s Bookshop. I wondered if I could get it.”

  George Fayne took an instant liking to the attractive Chinese girl. The stranger introduced herself as Lily Alys Wu. After a little more conversation, George had an idea.

  “Perhaps I can get the job for you at the bookshop,” she said. “Would you like to talk it over?”

  “Yes. But first, please explain why you are costumed and made up the way you are. You see, I am one of Chi Che’s closest friends.”

  George smiled but did not reply at once. Could she trust Lily Alys with confidential information about the missing Chi Che?

  CHAPTER VII

  Strange Thefts

  AS GEORGE stood debating whether or not to tell Lily Alys Wu about Chi Che, an elderly gentleman carrying a brief case came along the street. He and the Chinese girl smiled at each other.

  “How are you, Professor Rankin?” Lily said.

  “Very well, thank you, Miss Wu. And you?”

  “Fine. I certainly enjoyed your lecture yesterday.”

  “I am glad,” Professor Rankin said, and tipping his hat, went on his way.

  The little episode helped George make up her mind. She was sure she could trust Lily Alys.

  “The reason I’m masquerading as your friend Chi Che Soong,” she said, “is because Chi Che seems to be missing.”

  “Missing!” Lily exclaimed. “I know she hasn’t been to classes for the past few days. I was going to phone her this afternoon. Please tell me more.”

  George was guarded in her statements, but did reveal that Mr. Soong had not heard from his granddaughter since she left a note saying she planned to visit some college friends. “Did you know Mr. Soong is in the hospital?” George asked.

  “No,” Lily Alys replied. “I am so sorry to hear that. What is the trouble?”

  Since the story had appeared in the newspapers, George told what had happened to the elderly man.

  “That is dreadful!” Lily Alys said. “I am very fond of Mr. Soong. And I know Chi Che loves and respects him very much. I cannot understand why she would stay away and not communicate with him.”

  “That is what my friends and I cannot understand, either,” said George. “Would you be willing to come to the apartment where we’re staying and discuss the situation? Perhaps you can give us some clue to where Chi Che might be.”

  Lily Alys said she would be happy to come. The two girls walked along side by side. There was no further recognition of “Chi Che” by any passers-by.

  When they reached the apartment, Aunt Eloise, who had just arrived, opened the door for them. Since Nancy and Bess were not there yet, the conversation was general. Aunt Eloise served tea and cookies.

  Presen
tly Nancy and Bess announced themselves over the speaking tube at the front door and a few minutes later entered the apartment.

  George introduced Lily Alys Wu and explained why she had brought the Chinese girl to call. Then, on a pretext that she had something in her purse to give Nancy, George asked her to come into the bedroom a moment.

  Quickly the two girls exchanged stories. Then George propounded the idea she had had for the past half hour; that Lily Alys, who, like Chi Che, was a linguist, try for a position at Stromberg’s Bookshop.

  Nancy smiled. “I think I know what you have in mind, George. You suspect that Chi Che’s message to Aunt Eloise might have meant she had found out some secret about the bookshop, and perhaps Lily Alys can learn the same thing without being caught.”

  “Exactly,” said George. “And I feel sure Lily Alys can be trusted.”

  Nancy too was certain of this. She and George returned to the living room and broached the subject to the Chinese girl. “That is, if you’re fortunate enough to get the position at the bookshop,” George added.

  Lily Alys screwed up her face and looked a little frightened at the idea. “I do not know that I am capable of such work,” she said. “I have never had anything to do with solving mysteries.”

  “It won’t be hard,” George urged her. “Just do the jobs Mr. Stromberg asks you to, but keep your eyes and ears open.”

  “And pay special attention to telephone calls,” Nancy added.

  The young Chinese student finally agreed and said that she hoped she would not fail in her assignment.

  “I will go over to Mr. Stromberg’s at once,” Lily promised, “and let you know later whether or not I succeed in obtaining the position.”

  Nancy went to the door with their new friend, and the others called, “Good luck!”

  As soon as Lily Alys had left, Nancy telephoned police headquarters. There was no news about the identity of Mr. Soong’s attacker, the sergeant on duty reported. “The car the suspects were riding in,” he added, “was found to have been stolen.”

  As Nancy thanked him and hung up, she shrugged resignedly. “Another clue has faded out,” she told her friends.

  George went into her bedroom to change her clothes and remove the Chinese make-up. Suddenly she called out, “Did one of you knock my clock onto the floor?”

  “No,” the others chorused.

  “Then someone was in here while we were all away!” George exclaimed.

  When they heard this, everyone rushed into the bedroom. George pointed to her traveling clock which lay on the floor by the bed.

  “But how could anyone get in here?” Aunt Eloise asked.

  Nancy and Bess looked at each other sheepishly. They had forgotten to lock the door between the Soong apartment and Aunt Eloise’s!

  “Evidently the person who has the key to the Soongs’ let himself in and came through,” Nancy said.

  Instantly a search was begun, but twenty minutes later Aunt Eloise declared that apparently nothing had been taken.

  “Then why was he in here?” George demanded.

  No one could answer her question. But suddenly Bess gasped. “Maybe the intruder was hiding in the Soong apartment while Lily Alys was here and overheard our plan!”

  Nancy, although concerned, pointed out that this was not necessarily true. The clock, probably knocked to the floor by the intruder, had stopped hours before. “I don’t think the person would have stayed around all this time.”

  “I hope you’re right.” Bess sighed.

  Nancy was quiet for a full minute, then she said, “Perhaps the intruder was hunting for Chi Che’s note to Grandpa Soong. When he didn’t find it in their apartment, he may have figured it was in here.”

  “And it was!” said Bess. “Where is it now?”

  Nancy rushed to a desk and pulled open the top drawer. “Gone!” she cried. “I put it in here with Chi Che’s photograph. In fact, that’s gone too.”

  “Oh, dear, what’s going to happen now?” Bess worried.

  Again Nancy was silent for a while. Then she said, “It’s my guess that the person who came in here wanted a sample of Chi Che’s Chinese handwriting. I believe Grandpa Soong will be receiving a new note. It will be a forgery imitating Chi Che’s writing.”

  “And what do you think it will say?” Aunt Eloise asked.

  “It will beg Grandpa Soong not to notify the police of her absence.”

  Nancy telephoned police headquarters to report the latest theft. Two plain-clothes men arrived a short while later. After making a routine investigation, they said they had found nothing significant and went off.

  A few minutes later Aunt Eloise produced a paper bag. “I stopped at a hardware store on my way home,” she told the girls. “I decided that if one more intruder came into either apartment, I was going to put bolts on the hall doors. Who wants to help me play carpenter?”

  Bess said, “I’ll be glad to help. But suppose Chi Che should return and can’t get in?”

  Aunt Eloise said she felt certain now that Chi Che was not going to return until she was found by Detective Nancy Drew and her friends or by the police. “However, I’ll tell the superintendent I’ve bolted the doors. If Chi Che should come back and not be able to get in, I’m sure she’ll go to him and he’ll explain.”

  Suddenly Nancy laughed. “We can barricade the Soongs’ apartment,” she said, “but we’d have to use a little magic to bolt ours after we’ve left it!”

  Aunt Eloise blinked and laughed. “Why, of course,” she said. “I was certainly letting my imagination run away with me.”

  Nancy added that it would be a good idea to barricade the Soongs’ apartment, nevertheless. “I’m positive that the intruder won’t return here since he found what he wanted—the photograph and the letter.”

  She and her aunt attached the bolt to the Soongs’ living-room hall door. Then it was shot into place and the connecting door between the two apartments also bolted.

  “Anybody hungry?” the teacher asked as she and Nancy joined Bess and George.

  “I’m starved!” Bess answered quickly.

  The other girls smiled. It seemed that Bess, who rarely watched her weight, could eat at any time!

  “I have a casserole dish in the refrigerator. ready to slip into the oven,” Aunt Eloise said. “I hope you’ll all like it.”

  The four entered the kitchen. Miss Drew turned on the automatic pilot to light the oven. Then she turned and started to walk toward the refrigerator.

  Suddenly there was an explosion inside the stove. The oven door flew off, hitting Aunt Eloise squarely in the back and knocking her over!

  CHAPTER VIII

  Angry Neighbors

  FEARFUL that there might possibly be a second explosion, Nancy and George lifted Aunt Eloise and rushed from the kitchen. They laid the teacher gently on her bed.

  “Aunt Eloise,” Nancy said, trying not to show her fright, “are you hurt?”

  Her aunt smiled wanly. “I only had the wind knocked out of me, I guess,” she said.

  The girls were greatly relieved, but Nancy felt that she should investigate. She wondered if the explosion might have been caused by an accumulation of leaking gas. “It could’ve been ignited when the pilot was turned on, but we would have smelled the escaping gas when we were in the living room,” Nancy said to herself.

  Puzzled, she entered the kitchen and walked to the stove. She gazed into the doorless oven. There were tiny bits of red paper and particles of sand lying about.

  “Someone planted another giant firecracker! So that’s what the intruder was doing in here, as well as taking Chi Che’s photograph and letter.”

  The young sleuth went back to report to her aunt and the girls.

  “How perfectly dreadful!” Bess exclaimed. “In solving a mystery it’s bad enough to go after an enemy, but when he invades your home to k-kill you, maybe, it’s pretty awful!”

  “I’m sure he didn’t mean to go that far, but he is trying to scare me
into giving up the case,” Nancy remarked.

  Suddenly someone began to pound on the hall door. Nancy went to find out who it was. Several people stood there. They announced they were neighbors, on the same floor.

  “What’s going on here?” demanded a very stout, red-faced man.

  “We—er—had a little accident with our stove,” Nancy answered, thinking it best not to tell him the whole story.

  “Is that all?” the man prodded.

  “Come see for yourself,” Nancy said. She was sure he would never guess the truth even if he noticed the bits of red paper and sand.

  The whole group of neighbors crowded into the apartment and went to the kitchen. “Door blew off, eh?” the red-faced man remarked. “Well, you ought to be more careful how you use gas.”

  Apparently he was satisfied with Nancy’s explanation. But a sharp-faced, thin woman in the group said accusingly, “Something strange is going on, and it has to do with those Soongs. And you seem to be pretty friendly with that queer old man.”

  “He’s not queer,” Nancy defended the archaeologist. “He’s a very learned and fine person.”

  “Maybe so,” the woman admitted. “Just the same, I don’t like living in a place where firecrackers are going off and people are getting knocked out by intruders.”

  George, who had appeared in the doorway by this time, could not refrain from commenting, “Then perhaps you should move?”

  The woman glared at her. “Me move?” she cried out. “I think the Soongs and Miss Drew should be the ones to go. You’re—you’re all dangerous tenants!”

  Nancy remarked icily, “Instead of you people becoming so angry and unfriendly, I think you should welcome the chance to help the police capture the person who is responsible for harming Grandpa Soong.”

  “What do you mean?” asked a small, shy woman.

  The young sleuth told her that if any of the neighbors had seen a suspicious person in the hallway or on the elevator, he should report it now. There was dead silence for several seconds as the men and women looked at one another. Then finally the shy little woman spoke up.

  “I’ve been so scared since that firecracker went off in the hall, I’ve hesitated to say anything. But I think Miss Drew’s niece is right. I may have a clue. Early this afternoon I was about to go shopping. As I have been doing, I opened my door a crack and looked out to see if anyone was in the hall. I saw a short, slender man sneaking along from the stairway toward the Soongs’ apartment. I was so frightened I closed my door, so I really don’t know where he went.”