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.
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!
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.”
“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 comer 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!”
CHAPTER IX
Bess Is Missing
“A WOMAN!” Nancy exclaimed. “I wonder who she is—probably the wife of one of the men involved in the case.”
“No doubt,” said Captain Gray.
“Will you show me some of the differences in the two handwritings, so that if I come across the fake one again, I might be able to spot the forger?”
“Be glad to, Nancy.” Captain Gray laid the envelope of the letter which had just come to Mr. Soong and the sample of Chi Che’s handwriting in English, side by side.
“One of the hardest things to imitate in handwriting is the crossing of t’s,” the officer explained. “The forger is trying to be so careful that he usually goes slower and the line is slightly more wavy than the original writer would make it. Look at these two through this magnifying glass.
“The letter ‘y’ is another interesting one to look for,” Captain Gray stated. “If it is an unfinished one with the tail going straight down, it is apt to be off center or wobbly. If it’s a completed ‘y,’ it’s even easier to spot.”
Nancy studied the y’s on the two different samples of writing. “It’s very evident,” she said. “This is fascinating.” Then her brow furrowed. “Captain Gray, do you agree that Chi Che is being held against her will?”
“I would say yes,” the officer answered. “Furthermore, she probably was taken away somewhere else before any members of the gang even thought of sending this note. For that reason, they had to forge it.”
“Shall I take this letter back to Mr. Soong?” the young detective asked. “He may become suspicious, and that’s what we’re trying to avoid.”
The officer nodded. “We have made good photostats of it. Take the letter back, but suggest to Mr. Soong that it might be accidentally thrown away in the hospital and would be safer with you. Then suppose you return it to me.”
Nancy smiled understandingly and left. She found Grandpa Soong sitting up in bed, writing. He did not object to her suggestion about the letter, so she took it back to police headquarters.
“I think I’ll drop in at Stromberg’s Bookshop and see how Lily Alys is making out,” Nancy told Captain Gray. “Perhaps she has picked up a clue already!”
Nancy hurried to the shop. There were several customers who were being assisted by both Mr. Stromberg and Lily Alys. Nancy gave no sign of recognizing the Chinese girl who presently came up to her and asked:
“May I help you?”
“Yes,” Nancy replied. “I’m looking for a book on the geology of New York State. Do you happen to have one in stock?”
“I think we have,” Lily Alys said. “Will you come over this way, please?”
The young clerk found the volume. “Is there something else?” she asked sweetly.
“I’m not sure.” Nancy looked around. “The shop is fascinating. I’d like to browse a little.”
“Very well,” Lily Alys said. “Let me know if you find anything else you wish to buy.”
In an undertone which no one else in the shop could hear, the Chinese girl said quickly, “On the third shelf of the travel books is a volume about Asia which contains an article on Hong Kong. Inside the book I found a piece of dragon stationery.”
“Was there anything written on it?” Nancy asked.
“The paper looked blank on both sides. But maybe you can find something.”
Quickly Lily Alys went over to the desk, made out a sales slip for the book on geology, then went up to another customer. In the meantime, Nancy wandered around glancing at various volumes. Finally she came to the travel section and found the book which Lily Alys had mentioned.
She took it from the shelf, and began to look through the volume. Presently she came to a chapter on Hong Kong. But there was no piece of stationery among the leaves!
“Someone has taken it out,” Nancy thought. “I wonder who. Mr. Stromberg? Or someone who is using the bookshop to leave or collect secret messages? Or maybe the sheet was only a mark to indicate something in the chapter,” she deduced. “I think I’ll buy this book.”
She walked back toward the desk with it and told Lily Alys that she would purchase the book about Asia as well as the other. As Nancy said this, Mr. Stromberg abruptly left the customer on whom he was waiting and rushed to Nancy’s side.
“That book is not for sale!” he informed her in a sharp tone of voice.
“That book is not for sale!” he informed Nancy
Nancy looked at the man in amazement. “Not for sale?” she repeated. “It was on the shelf.”
“Nevertheless, that volume is not for sale!” Mr. Stromberg cried excitedly. “Give it to me!” Without waiting for her to do so, he snatched it from her hand.
Nancy pretended to be shocked by his action. “Why, is something the matter with the book?”
“Yes—uh—it’s out of date. You’ll have to wait until the revised edition is published.”
“Oh, I don’t mind if it’s old,” said Nancy disarmingly. “I love to read about Asia.”
By this time Mr. Stromberg’s face was red with anger and he once more vehemently refused to sell the book. Nancy was sure now that the book held some clue to the mystery of the fire dragon. The question was how much did Mr. Stromberg know about it? Was he shielding someone else? Had he been asked not to sell the volume and had it inadvertently been put on the shelf?
Nancy shrugged. “If you won’t sell it, you won’t sell it,” she said. “Well, I’ll just pay for the other book I bought.”
Mr. Stromberg accompanied Nancy to the desk. He wrapped the book on geology himself and took her money. There was no chance for Lily Alys to tell Nancy any more, but the young sleuth was determined to find out later that day if the Chinese girl had come across additional information.
As Nancy walked along the street toward Aunt Eloise’s apartment, she decided to try another bookshop for a copy of the book on Asia. She found one without any trouble, then hurried home.
“Hello, everybody,” Nancy called, entering the apartment. Seeing only Aunt Eloise and George in the living room, she asked, “Where’s Bess?”
“She went marketing for me,” Miss Drew replied.
Nancy told about her experience in the bookshop and the others agreed that something strange was going on there. Next, Nancy turned to the chapter on Hong Kong in the book on Asia. First came the history of the city, then suggestions to tourists on what to see, and finally a list of shops known for fine jewelry, linen, furniture, and clothing of all kinds.
“Hong Kong is the place for expert tailoring and dressmaking,” Nancy remarked. “My, and listen to these prices. Things cost about one third what they do in this country!”
“Me for Hong Kong.” George chuckled, taking the book. Presently she said, “There doesn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary in this chapter. Maybe the contents of the book had nothing to do with the piece of dragon stationery inside.”
“Then why wouldn’t Mr. Stromberg have sold me his copy?” Nancy argued. “I think perhaps some phrase or sentence was underlined and he didn’t want anybody to see it.”
George suggested that perhaps they should have the police keep a watch on Mr. Stromberg. Aunt Eloise shook her head. “He might be innocent of anything underhanded. A customer may have asked him to reserve that particular volume, and not being a very diplomatic person, he practically lost his head because Nancy wanted to purchase it.”
Nancy said that as soon as Lily Alys was back in her dormitory at Columbia she was going to phone her. She looked at her watch. “By the way, how long has Bess been gone?”
“Too long,” Aunt Eloise replied. “She should have been back an hour ago. I can’t understand it.”
Nancy was concerned too. “Perhaps we should go out and try to find her.”
At that moment the telephone rang. It was Lily Alys. “Oh, Nancy, I’ve lost my job!” the Chinese girl said worriedly.
“I’m not surprised,” Nancy told her. “And I’m sure it’s all my fault. Mr. Stromberg became suspicious after the book episode. Isn’t that it?”
“Yes, partly,” Lily Alys replied. “After all the customers had gone, he called me to the desk and handed me a few dollars. He looked at me hard and said, ‘Young lady, I don’t know what your game is, but I want a clerk I can trust—not someone that brings customers in here to cause a scene.’ ”
“He meant me!” Nancy exclaimed. “I believe that Mr. Stromberg must suspect you and I know each other.”