The Mystery of the Fire Dragon - Carolyn Keene [13]
The shop owner opened a drawer and took out several sheets. “Is this what you mean?” he asked.
When Nancy said yes, the man smiled and told her he was the artist.
Nancy was excited by this information. “Do you paint this stationery for some particular person?”
“No, no,” the artist answered. “Many people, both Chinese and American, buy this stationery. I take no special orders. I will be glad to sell you some if you care to have any.”
The young sleuth, thinking the unusual stationery might come in handy, bought a few sheets with envelopes to fit. “Do you also make cards with this design?” she asked.
Once more the man rummaged in the drawer. Presently he pulled out one exactly like the card which had been sent with Grandpa Soong’s hospital flowers. Nancy said she would like to buy three or four.
“You don’t make these on order either?” she asked.
The artist shook his head. Then he in turn asked, “Is there some special reason why you want to know?”
Nancy explained that a Chinese friend of hers had received a beautiful bouquet but that there was no name on the hand-painted dragon card. The recipient was most eager to find out who had sent the flowers.
“It’s possible a man named Ryle is responsible,” said Nancy. “Do you know anyone by that name?”
“Ryle?” the Chinese shopkeeper repeated. He looked into space for several seconds, then said, “A man named Ryle was in here several months ago with a friend. He did not buy any of this stationery or the cards. He was interested in selling me something.”
“Oh, you also buy Oriental objects from people who come in here?” Nancy asked, to draw him out.
“Once in a while,” the shop owner replied. “But in the case of Mr. Ryle, I must admit I refrained. He had some pieces of very fine jade with him. He said he had brought them from the Orient. I was afraid the jade might have been stolen or smuggled and I did not want to get into trouble.”
Nancy’s heart began to beat faster. Here indeed was an interesting clue!
But the young sleuth pretended to be shocked by the possibility that Mr. Ryle was a smuggler. “Then he can’t be the man we have in mind,” she said. “Do you know the first name of the Mr. Ryle who wanted to sell you the jade?”
“No, I didn’t hear it,” the man answered. “The only reason I know his name is Ryle is because his companion called him that. The men haven’t been in here since, so I know nothing more about them.”
“This man named Ryle—was he stout?” Bess queried, hoping to get more information for Nancy.
“No. In fact, he was a small, slender man. But he looked very strong,” the stationer replied. A customer came in just then, so Nancy and Bess took their leave. Out on the street once more, the girl detective said, “I think we’ve hit upon a real clue. This small, slender but muscular man we keep hearing about must be named Ryle! But is Ryle his first or last name?”
“Good question,” Bess remarked. “And how do you spell it?”
The girls walked back to Canal Street to hail a taxi. To their amazement the car in which the two suspects had driven to Chinatown was still standing there.
“I think I’ll phone the police about this,” Nancy told Bess.
She went into a drugstore and called Captain Gray. Without revealing anything about the mystery surrounding Chi Che, Nancy said she had picked up a clue which might lead to the man who had attacked Grandpa Soong. She mentioned the parked car and its license number.
“I’ll look into the matter at once,” the officer promised.
Nancy had a hunch that the car had been abandoned, so there was little point in waiting for the two men to return. She signaled a taxi and directed the driver to take her and Bess back to Aunt Eloise’s apartment.
Meanwhile, George had been having an adventure of her own. Right after Nancy and Bess had driven off in the taxi, a Chinese girl, carrying an armful of books, had rushed up to her. She had spoken excitedly in what George assumed was Cantonese, but the only words George could distinguish were “Chi Che.” Did the girl think she was Chi Che or had she seen through her disguise?
Suddenly the Chinese girl,