The Mystery of the Fire Dragon (3 page)

“Whew!” George cried out. “He’s a prehistoric man, no less! What did he look like?”

Once more Grandpa Soong’s eyes twinkled. “Fu Hsi had the head of a man and the body of a dragon!”

“Ugh!” Bess remarked. “I’m glad there aren’t any such people around today. What did this man do?”

“Legend tells us that he was the king. He had six counselors, all of them dragons. In fact, there was a line of kings, called the Man Kings, who had faces of men and bodies of dragons. This probably explains why China has often been called Dragon Land.”

“Where is this frieze now?” Nancy queried.

“In a museum in China.” Grandpa Soong suddenly looked pensive. “I hope to be able to go back home sometime and see it.”

As soon as the group had finished eating supper, Grandpa Soong expressed his thanks for their hospitality, then said he would like to return to his own apartment and do more writing.

By ten-thirty Miss Drew and her guests were sound asleep. All were up early the next morning. After Miss Drew had left for school, Bess said to Nancy, “What’s on our girl detective’s calendar?”

“I thought you and I might go to Stromberg’s Bookshop and see if we can pick up a clue about Chi Che. If we fail, then George can take over.”

The two girls set out, and after walking a few blocks, came to Stromberg’s Bookshop. There was one woman customer inside, but no salesclerk. Seeing the girls, the woman, who was portly and unbecomingly dressed in a ruffled blouse and bouffant skirt and carrying her coat on her arm, came up to them immediately.

“This is most annoying!” she complained. “I don’t know where Mr. Stromberg can be and I’m in a great hurry. I come here often and it’s always the same story. Nobody to wait on me!”

Nancy and Bess merely smiled, wondering why the woman bothered to come back if she were displeased with the service.

As if reading their thoughts, she said, “But Mr. Stromberg has such a fine collection of foreign books that I hate to go elsewhere.” She smiled in a tolerant sort of way, however, and said, “But Mrs. Horace Truesdale is not one to lose her temper. No doubt Mr. Stromberg has a good reason for not being here.”

“Doesn’t Mr. Stromberg have a salesclerk?” Bess asked Mrs. Truesdale.

“I believe so, but she’s a college student and doesn’t work here full time.”

The girls began to look around at the books on the shelves, trying to conceal their own impatience for the owner’s return. Mrs. Truesdale kept up a constant chatter.

“Have you ever been to the Orient?” she asked the girls.

When they shook their heads, the woman went on, “I’m planning to go myself with one of the tourist groups. That’s why I’m here—looking for books on the Orient.”

Idly she picked several volumes from a shelf and started to leaf through them. “Oh, dear, where is Mr. Stromberg? I’ve been here ten minutes!” When the girls made no comment, Mrs. Truesdale said, “I suppose I’m an idiot to go abroad. Air travel doesn’t agree with me. Besides, I hate being away from my family for such a long time.”

Nancy and Bess smiled in spite of themselves. When Mrs. Truesdale moved away, Bess whispered, “I’ll bet that woman’s a pest. I should think her family would be glad to see her go away for a while.”

Finally Mr. Stromberg came in from the street.

He was about fifty years old, of medium height and build, and had piercing blue eyes, a high forehead, and a prominent nose.

He nodded to Mrs. Truesdale, saying, “I have some books for you. Would you mind waiting a few minutes?”

Turning to the girls, he asked, “Can I do something for you young ladies?”

“Will Chi Che be here soon?” Nancy asked.

“I presume you mean Chi Che Soong. No,” Mr. Stromberg replied. “Chi Che asked for time off—wasn’t certain of her return either, so I can’t tell you when she’ll be in.”

“Well, thank you very much,” said Nancy. “I’ll drop by again and see if she’s here.”

Mr. Stromberg gave a great sigh. “I wish Miss Soong would get back. We deal in foreign-language books and she was a great help to me. You know, Chi Che Soong speaks seven languages!”

“How amazing!” Bess remarked.

“Isn’t there something I can do for you?” the shop owner asked.

“Well, not in the line of books,” Bess answered. “We—ah—wanted to invite Chi Che to a party.”

Mr. Stromberg, not interested in this subject, walked over to Mrs. Truesdale, and the two girls left the shop.

“We didn’t learn anything there,” Bess said.

Nancy frowned and admitted that she was frankly puzzled. Chi Che’s note to Aunt Eloise had indicated that it was written on the spur of the moment and under great stress. Somebody she feared must have been nearby because she was unable to finish the last part of the note. Yet Mr. Stromberg said Chi Che told him she wanted time off and her return was uncertain. Nancy revealed her thoughts to Bess.

“The two things just don’t dovetail,” she said finally.

“It’s too deep for me,” Bess admitted, shaking her head. “Well, where do we go from here?”

Nancy suggested that they make a trip to Columbia University and try to find out something about Chi Che. When they arrived on campus, the girls went to the office of one of the deans. A young woman assistant proved to be most helpful. She suggested that the girls go to the building where foreign students often gathered.

“They may be able to tell you something about Miss Soong,” the young woman said.

Nancy and Bess hurried to the designated building. It was almost lunchtime and the girls noticed everyone heading for the cafeteria in the building. Nancy and Bess stood near the door. Several Chinese young people came in. The American girls smiled at them and asked if they knew where Chi Che was. None did, and one girl added:

“Chi Che has been cutting classes lately. She never did that before. I can’t understand it.”

Nancy said that she had heard Chi Che was visiting college friends out of town. The Chinese student looked surprised. “None of her friends here is away. If she’s visiting, the person must be someone from another college.”

“Would you like to come and have lunch with our group?” the Chinese girl invited.

“Why, thank you very much,” said Nancy. “We’d love it. I’m Nancy Drew and this is my friend Bess Marvin.”

“My name is Amy Ching,” the other girl said.

The three went into the cafeteria and Amy Ching introduced Nancy and Bess to several other foreign students, but none could give any information about Chi Che Soong.

Nancy and Bess returned to the apartment early in the afternoon and brought George up to date on their findings. Nancy remarked, “Frankly I’m worried, even more than I was before. Apparently Chi Che Soong had no idea while at school on the day she disappeared that she was going to be away.”

At supper that evening Nancy and the other girls, as well as Aunt Eloise, forced themselves to be gay in the presence of Grandpa Soong. The door between the two apartments was left open

Later that night Nancy was in a deep sleep when she was suddenly awakened by a scream. As she sat up in bed she realized that the scream had come from the Soong apartment. The young detective jumped out of bed.

By this time Aunt Eloise, Bess, and George were awake also. They could hear moaning from the adjoining apartment.

They grabbed their robes, rushed into Grandpa Soong’s living room, and turned on the light. No one was there.

Aunt Eloise led the way to the elderly man’s bedroom. A desk lamp was on. In its rays they could see Grandpa Soong lying on the floor. He was barely conscious. As the group knelt beside him, he whispered:

“Stole—my—manuscript!”

“WE MUST call a doctor at once,” Aunt Eloise said. She asked Grandpa Soong who his physician was, but the elderly man was too weak to answer. Miss Drew turned to George and requested, “Please telephone my physician, Dr. Gordon.”

Meanwhile Aunt Eloise, Bess, and Nancy gently lifted Grandpa Soong onto his bed. Then Nancy ran back through her aunt’s apartment and out into the hall to see if the attacker were in sight. The young sleuth knew it was a vain hope, and as she had expected, no one was there.

Nancy realized that by the time she waited for the self-service elevator to come up from the first floor and take her down again, the thief would have made his escape.

Quickly Nancy ran down the stairs. She stopped at each floor and looked around for any sign of the thief. Finally, reaching the lobby without having seen anyone, she dashed to the front door and gazed up and down the street. No one carrying papers under his arm or a bundle or suitcase was in sight.

Nancy hurried back to Aunt Eloise’s apartment, and using the kitchen phone, immediately called police headquarters. She was switched to Captain Gray, who was on duty at the nearby precinct. The officer said he would send two of his men at once to investigate.

Then Nancy returned to Mr. Soong’s apartment to do a little investigating of her own. She found that everything had been stripped from the archaeologist’s worktable except the lamp. A bottle of Chinese ink and brushes lay on the floor and near it an exquisite hand-painted metal vase.

Every drawer in the room was open and the contents were strewn about. Bookshelves were in disarray. Apparently the thief had made a quick but thorough search of Grandpa Soong’s workshop for all papers, notes, and photographs pertaining to the manuscript.

The buzzer interrupted Nancy’s investigation and she went to open the door.

“I’m Dr. Gordon,” said the smiling young man.

Nancy led him to Mr. Soong’s bedroom. Aunt Eloise and the girls withdrew while the doctor made an examination of the victim. As they waited for his report, the buzzer sounded again.

Two police officers had arrived. They introduced themselves as Brady and Reed. Upon hearing that the doctor was in the bedroom, the two men said they would start in the living room to search for a clue to the intruder.

Presently Brady said, “He didn’t force an entry, so he must have had a key.”

Finding nothing to help identify the thief, Officer Reed added, “Apparently the thief went immediately to the bedroom. From what you tell me, Miss Drew, Mr. Soong was working at his desk when he was attacked.”

Just then Dr. Gordon appeared. He shook his head. “Mr. Soong’s condition is the result of fear as well as a hard blow. He will have to be removed to the hospital at once.”

“I’ll call an ambulance,” Officer Brady offered, and went to the phone.

Nancy asked the doctor if it would be possible for her to talk with Grandpa Soong before he was taken away. “Yes,” Dr. Gordon replied. “But make it brief.”

Both officers followed her inside and introduced themselves. The elderly man gave the girl a warm smile. “I am very grateful to you, my friend,” he said in a whisper. “I—I do not know why my manuscript was stolen.”

Officer Reed asked him for a description of his assailant.

“The man was masked,” Mr. Soong said, “and wore a hat pulled low, so I could tell nothing about his face or hair. He was rather small, but very strong.”

At once Nancy wondered if he might be the same person she had seen running away after the firecracker explosion. That person was small, too. She told this to the officers.

At that moment the door buzzer sounded. Two ambulance attendants carrying a stretcher entered the apartment. As they carried Mr. Soong from the room, his friends gave him their best wishes for a quick recovery.

As soon as the attendants and their patient had left, the two police officers went toward Grandpa Soong’s bedroom. One of them carried a little kit which Nancy knew was a fingerprinting outfit.

“Do you mind if I watch you work?” she asked.

“No, come along,” Officer Reed replied.

As she started to follow, Nancy was detained by Bess. “Don’t you think we should tell the officers about Chi Che and our suspicions that she’s in danger?”

George tossed her head. “Certainly not. Chi Che asked Aunt Eloise not to.”

“Just the same—”

Miss Drew spoke up. “Bess has a point, but so has George. Let’s take a vote.”

Nancy and Aunt Eloise sided with George. Resignedly, Bess said, “Okay. But if Chi Che is still missing by tomorrow I’ll probably ask the same question again.”

Aunt Eloise smiled. “A lot can happen in twenty-four hours,” she said. “You’ve already found that out since you came to New York.”

Nancy went into Grandpa Soong’s bedroom to watch the police officers. They had already opened their kit. One man was holding a camel’s-hair brush and a bottle of gray powder.

“This must be one of the thief’s hand marks,” said Officer Brady, who was shining a flashlight on the desktop and looking through a magnifying glass. “The finger spreads indicate a larger hand than that of Mr. Soong’s. And shorter fingers.”

Officer Brady dusted the prints with the powder. Then, as his co-worker held the flashlight, he picked up a camera and photographed the prints.

Officer Reed turned to Nancy. “We’ll get these prints two ways,” he said. “Now we’ll use lifting tape.”

He took what looked like a large rubber patch with a thin outer coating from the kit. First he peeled off the coating, and Nancy noticed that the rubber under it was very sticky. He placed this over the fingerprint, then gently took it off.

“Very good,” he said. “Come look, Miss Drew.”

Nancy took a few steps forward and studied the perfect reprint on the tape. She smiled up at the officers. “It’s fascinating,” she said. “And now I’m going to ask you a favor. If you should find that these fingerprints are on record, will you let me know to whom they belong?”

“I guess we can do that,” Officer Reed replied.

After the two men had left, Nancy and the girls returned to Miss Drew’s apartment. “I’m going to bolt this door,” Aunt Eloise announced. “I don’t want any thieves coming in here!”