Chapter 7 The Mystery of the Fire Dragon by Carolyn Keene
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.
Presently 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!