The Mystery of the Fire Dragon - Carolyn Keene [15]
“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