Chapter 8 The Mystery of the Fire Dragon by Carolyn Keene
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.”
“What time was this?” Nancy asked her.
“About three o’clock.”
Nancy’s thoughts began to race. The short, slender man could be the same one whom she herself had seen in the apartment hallway before the first firecracker went off. He might even have been the man driving the car which had followed George to the hospital when she played the part of Chi Che! He would have had time to change drivers, come to the Soong apartment, let himself in with the key stolen from Chi Che, and plant the firecracker in Miss Drew’s stove!
The outspoken woman apologized for what she had said, and promised to be alert for any suspicious persons and report them to the superintendent or to the police. The group disbanded and Nancy closed the door.
Aunt Eloise declared she was feeling better and she and the girls discussed the affair. “One thing is sure,” George spoke up. “Several people are trying to scare us off the case.”
“And in my case,” said Bess, “they’re almost succeeding. Maybe we should give up the entire thing.”
Aunt Eloise said she, for one, would not do this. She felt obligated to the Soongs to keep trying to solve the mystery of Chi Che’s disappearance.
“And I’m certainly going to stick by you,” Nancy determined. “But there is something I think we should do: take Police Captain Gray into our confidence.” Her aunt agreed.
Nancy called the officer, who promised to come to the apartment that evening. After she reported this to the others, Nancy said:
“Tonight I’m going to treat everybody to supper at a nice restaurant. I think Aunt Eloise has seen enough of her kitchen for today.”
Although Miss Drew objected, she finally admitted that she would enjoy going out to eat. Bess and George accepted readily. The foursome had a delightful meal at a small French restaurant famous for its excellent cuisine.
Soon after the group had returned to the apartment, Police Captain Gray arrived. He listened intently as Nancy related the whole story from the discovery of Chi Che’s note addressed to Eloise Drew to the recent explosion.
“Nancy Drew, I’m intrigued by your sleuthing ability,” he said, smiling. “I couldn’t have had a better report from one of my top men.”
Captain Gray said that he would have the apartment house, as well as the Drew and Soong apartments, watched twenty-four hours a day. “All visitors will be checked.”
The officer, as Nancy had requested, promised not to give out the story of Chi Che’s disappearance, except to the particular police who would be assigned to the case. “I agree with you that it might endanger her life,” he said.
Just as Captain Gray was leaving, the telephone rang. Miss Drew answered it, then called Nancy. “Please wait,” she requested the captain.
“This is Lily Alys,” the caller said. “Nancy, I got the job at the bookshop!”
“Good!” Nancy replied. “I’ll probably see you there. But, Lily Alys, if I should come to the shop, or Bess or George, act as if you had never seen us before.”
“All right,” the Chinese girl promised. “And I’ll try hard to do some detecting for you.”
Nancy reported the conversation to the officer, then he left. Before the young sleuth retired she told the others she was going to call on Grandpa Soong the following day. “I’ll take any mail that has come. And if there’s one signed Chi Che, I’m sure it will be a fake. She would never stay away if she knew her grandfather were ill.”
The next morning Aunt Eloise and the girls attended church. Then at about two o’clock Nancy suddenly remembered her promise to check Mr. Soong’s mail and went to the vestibule. There were three letters for the elderly man in the box. One was an advertisement. Another, in a man’s handwriting, was postmarked Hong Kong. The third had been addressed by a woman, Nancy felt sure. It was stamped special delivery and was postmarked New Haven, Connecticut.
“This one might be from Chi Che! The writing is similar,” Nancy thought excitedly, and hurried on to the hospital.
She found Grandpa Soong feeling better, but sad and puzzled about his granddaughter. “I have had no word from Chi Che,” he said.
“I think I have a letter for you from her,” Nancy remarked cheerfully, and handed over the mail.
“This is indeed from my Chi Che!” the elderly man exclaimed. “You will forgive me if I read it.”
With trembling fingers Grandpa Soong opened the envelope and took out a sheet of stationery. From where Nancy had seated herself, she could see that the letter was written in Chinese characters. And in the lower right-hand corner was a fire dragon!
A smile came over Grandpa Soong’s face. “Chi Che’s friends are taking her on a long trip. She says I am not to worry.”
“Well, that is reassuring,” Nancy said with a smile. But inwardly she was more worried than ever. Surely Chi Che would not of her own volition have notified her grandfather of such plans by letter instead of telephoning him. Nancy was fearful that Chi Che had been abducted, and perhaps taken out of the country!
“I wonder how long Chi Che will be gone,” Grandpa Soong mused. “Well, I must be patient. I will work hard on the foreword of my book and help to pass the time,” he said sadly.
The elderly man asked if the police had any clues to the person who had stolen his manuscript. Nancy had to admit that they had turned up none yet, but were working hard on the case.
“Grandpa Soong,” she said, “you may think me very rude, but I should like very much to have this letter from Chi Che. If I bring it back soon, may I borrow it?”
The archaeologist did not even ask her why she wanted the note. “Take it, my dear. And there is no hurry about your bringing it back.”
The next morning Nancy went directly to Columbia University and talked to the young woman assistant in the dean’s office who had been so helpful before. Nancy obtained samples of Chi Che’s handwriting, not only in English, but also in Chinese.
“Any news of when Chi Che may return?” the assistant asked.
“We do not know,” Nancy replied. “I suppose you are curious why I want the samples of Chi Che’s writing. The reason is that her grandfather received a letter from her which I suspect is a forgery. I’d like to determine if it is. But please say nothing about this to anyone.”
Nancy left the young woman staring in amazement after her. She hurried directly to Captain Gray’s office and showed him both the envelope and the fire-dragon stationery with its message.
“I suspect this may be a forgery,” she told the officer. “Could you possibly have a handwriting expert analyze it?”
“Yes, at once,” Captain Gray agreed. “This may be an invaluable clue.”
Nancy also confided her fear that Chi Che might have been taken from the country. The captain frowned, and said he would notify the FBI. He then suggested that Nancy return to headquarters in about two hours. The young detective thanked him and left, but she was back soon after lunch.
“Nancy Drew, you have scored another bull’s-eye,” the officer told her. “The note in Chinese and the envelope in English received today by Mr. Soong are definitely the work of a forger.”
“Can you tell me any more?” Nancy asked.
“Yes, several things. Most important, perhaps, is that this note and envelope were written by a woman!”