The Mystery of the Fire Dragon - Carolyn Keene [17]
“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.”
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