Chapter 16 The Mystery of the Fire Dragon by Carolyn Keene
A Chinese Puzzle
“Nancy, that’s a good hunch,” Ned said. “Let’s eavesdrop on Mrs. Truesdale.”
Quickly the couple moved up the narrow street and cautiously posted themselves, one on either side, at the door of Mr. Lung’s shop.
Nancy and Ned were just in time to see Mrs. Truesdale take a small white paper from her purse. She held it up and turned it first on one side, then the other, for Mr. Lung to see. Then, without looking, she seemingly returned it to her purse. But the paper fluttered to the floor apparently unnoticed.
“Please ship four dozen mah-jongg sets to my sister’s gift shop,” the woman said to the owner.
Mr. Lung grinned. “Very soon,” he said.
Mrs. Truesdale snapped her purse shut and started for the door, evidently unaware that the paper she had shown the man lay on the floor.
“I’d certainly like to see what’s written on it,” the young sleuth told herself.
“We’d better hide!” Ned warned. He took hold of Nancy’s arm and hurried her into the doorway of an adjoining shop.
They saw Mrs. Truesdale come out onto the street, hail a ricksha man, and climb into the cart. As soon as she was out of sight, Nancy urged Ned to return to Mr. Lung’s shop with her.
“Suppose you buy a mah-jongg set while I try to find out what is on the paper.”
“All right,” he agreed.
The eager couple re-entered Mr. Lung’s shop. Fortunately, the owner had not noticed the paper. Nancy and Ned smilingly walked up to the counter.
“We decided to come back, as you see,” Ned said. “May I see your assortment again?”
The shop owner nodded briefly and turned his back. Nancy quickly leaned down and picked up the paper from the floor. One side was white. Two words were printed on it—Kam Tin.
The girl detective hastily put it in her handbag. By now Mr. Lung had brought out the various sets. Nancy and Ned finally selected one in a teakwood chest.
“Shall I send this to you in the States?” Mr. Lung asked.
Ned had no intention of disclosing their names. “I think we’ll take it along,” he said.
“I will get your set from stock.” Mr. Lung disappeared behind the curtain into his back room. Now was Nancy’s chance to take out the paper. This time she noticed that the other side was red. Ned, too, took a glance and both of them gave a slight gasp.
The paper was definitely the cover to a package of firecrackers. On it was painted the fire dragon!
Quickly Nancy put the paper back on the floor. Mr. Lung reappeared and wrapped the set. Ned paid him. Both the young people smiled and thanked the shop owner, then walked outside.
“Where do we go next?” Ned asked.
“Some place where we can talk without being overheard,” Nancy whispered.
“Let’s go into the lobby of a small hotel near here,” he suggested.
As soon as they entered the place, Ned remarked, “This firecracker business seems to prove Mrs. Truesdale is part of the dragon gang.”
Nancy nodded. “Ned, have you any idea what Kam Tin means? That was printed on the white side of the firecracker paper.”
“Why, yes,” he replied. “Kam Tin is an ancient Chinese walled city several miles inland in the New Territories, beyond Kowloon.”
“I believe,” said Nancy, “that Kam Tin is either a place where the smugglers’ goods are collected, and perhaps put into the mah-jongg sets, or else it’s the spot where Chi Che Soong is a prisoner.”
“Oh, I hope it’s not the latter!” Ned said.
“Why?”
Ned described Kam Tin as hundreds of years behind the times. “There’s no plumbing in the one- to two-room houses which are set close together. People and farm animals also are crowded together. The streets are extremely narrow and there’s mud everywhere.”
“Oh, dear! Poor Chi Che!” Nancy exclaimed.
Ned explained that the men farmed outside the walls. At night the animals were brought inside the city walls for safety.
Nancy was thoughtful for several seconds, then she suggested to Ned that they contact Grandpa Soong’s brother as soon as possible. “He’s Mr. Lee Soong and is retired now. But at one time he was head of the police in Shanghai.”
“Then he’s just the one to help,” said Ned. “He’ll have a personal interest in this case, since Chi Che is involved.”
They returned to the Peninsula Hotel lobby and Nancy immediately telephoned Mr. Soong. He asked them to come to his house at once. Nancy, wondering where Mrs. Truesdale was staying, consulted the desk clerk and learned to her delight that the woman was registered at the Peninsula.
“It will be easy to trail her from here,” she told Ned.
The two sleuths set off for Mr. Lee Soong’s house. The Chinese was a very handsome man and appeared far younger than his twin brother. He was agile in his movements and spoke quickly and decisively. He was astounded and greatly concerned to hear the details of his great-niece Chi Che’s disappearance. At the end of Nancy’s recital, he said:
“I shall get in touch with the local police at once and a search will be started for Chi Che. If she is in this crown colony, she will be found. I will work on the case personally, and I beseech you, Miss Drew, to continue your fine efforts.”
Nancy promised to do so and said she was going to ask George and Bess to trail Mrs. Truesdale.
Mr. Soong thought this an excellent plan. “Mrs. Truesdale may be the one to lead us to a real solution,” he predicted. “I will also have two Chinese detectives follow all three, so no harm will come to the girls.”
Nancy thanked him and said she would let him know when her friends started out. She and Ned drove back to the hotel. Mr. Drew had not returned, but Bess and George came in from their shopping tour, arms filled with bundles.
“Oh, this town is fabulous!” Bess exclaimed. “Nancy, wait’ll you see what we bought!”
Nancy smiled. “First, though, I want to tell you what Ned and I learned this morning. And I have a sleuthing job for you and George.”
When the girls heard about Mrs. Horace Truesdale, they were thunderstruck. George actually fell into a chair, shocked. “And I thought that woman didn’t have a brain in her head!” Bess added.
“If she does belong to the gang,” said Nancy, “she might have been the one who sent the faked note and also the flowers to Grandpa Soong at the hospital. The dragon card might even have been meant for me to see so I’d be frightened off the case.”
“What do you want Bess and me to do?” George asked eagerly.
“Trail Mrs. Truesdale,” Nancy replied. “Or better yet, invite her to go shopping with you and find out everything you possibly can.”
“I like that assignment,” Bess spoke up quickly. “Get me into a shop and I can stand anything!” George telephoned to Mrs. Truesdale’s room and gave the invitation. To the cousins’ delight, the woman accepted promptly and said she would be ready to go shopping at two o’clock. Nancy relayed the message to Mr. Soong.
Then, turning to Ned, she asked, “How about you and I going to Kam Tin?”
The young man hesitated. “I’d rather not trust my old car for the trip. But I’d like to go. Suppose we try to charter a helicopter.”
“Perfect!” Nancy’s eyes sparkled.
Ned drove to the Kai Tak Airport and went inside the building to make arrangements for the flight. Nancy, meanwhile, walked outside and along a fence. Near the control tower was a large Navy helicopter. In the distance she saw a small whirlybird.
“That must be the helicopter Ned and I will take,” she figured, and walked toward it. At that moment a small car raced past her and onto the field. In it sat a Chinese man at the wheel, and a girl. She barely caught a glimpse of their faces.
Some distance farther down, the driver stopped the car. The Oriental girl alighted, hurried onto the field, and into a waiting plane. It was a small, two-engine craft. The car whizzed off.
Nancy, lost in thought about the mystery, kept on walking toward the helicopter. Presently she drew near the small craft into which the Chinese girl had hurried. Nancy noticed that there were curtains inside the plane which more than half covered the windows in the passenger compartment. The three landing steps attached to the inside of the door were down.
Suddenly a girl’s voice called, “Nancy Drew?”
Nancy was startled and instinctively responded, “Yes.” Instantly the Chinese girl peered through the doorway. “Come here!” she said. “I’m Chi Che. I’ve been a prisoner but I escaped. This pilot is going to fly me to Taipei to get away from the kidnapers. But I want to tell you my whole story first. And, please, how is my grandfather? Poor Grandpa!”
Nancy stared at the girl. She did indeed resemble the photograph of Chi Che Soong. “Hurry!” the girl urged.
Still Nancy hesitated. She wanted to be sure this was Chi Che. “But it’s not necessary for you to go to Taipei,” the young sleuth said finally. “Your uncle is here and knows all about your kidnaping. I’ll take you to him and you’ll be perfectly safe.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” the Chinese girl countered. “Please come inside a minute. I don’t want anybody to see me, but I must give you a message for my grandfather. It is very important.”
Nancy turned once more to look for Ned. He was coming on a run. Confident that now she would be all right, the young detective quickly went up the steps and into the plane.
Immediately the door was slammed shut. The pilot pressed the starter buttons on first one, then the other engine. The motors roared to life. At once the plane raced to the nearest runway and took off.
“I don’t want to go to Taipei!” Nancy cried out. “Take me back!”
Suddenly the Chinese girl laughed. “My name is Chi Che, but it’s not Chi Che Soong. Nancy Drew, you’re a prisoner!”