The Mystery of the Fire Dragon - Carolyn Keene [2]
Something in front of Nancy exploded with a loud bang!
Nancy kissed her aunt a second time. “That’s from Dad, and Hannah sends her best wishes, too.”
As soon as they had entered the apartment, and the door was closed, the young sleuth said, “Aunt Eloise, don’t keep us in suspense. Tell us everything about Chi Che and what happened.”
Miss Drew produced the note the Chinese girl had written. At once Nancy noticed that in the lower right-hand corner of the stationery was a small hand-painted dragon in an Oriental shade of red. She pointed this out.
“It may be a clue,” the girl detective remarked.
Aunt Eloise could add little to her story, except to say that the Soongs appeared to be very fine people and very fond of each other. They rarely had guests, because Grandpa Soong was at present spending most of his time writing a book.
“Let’s call on Grandpa Soong,” Nancy proposed, eager to start work solving the mystery.
Her aunt agreed. As Nancy opened the apartment door, she noticed a figure running toward the stairway. The person wore dark trousers and a loose coat.
Nancy stepped into the hall. At that instant something in front of her exploded with a loud bang!
CHAPTER II
The Dragon Clue
INSTINCTIVELY Nancy put both hands over her face and stepped backward into the doorway. Despite her quick move she was showered with a spray of paper and sandy particles.
“What happened?” Aunt Eloise asked excitedly. “Are you hurt?”
“I—I guess not,” Nancy answered, as brownish-black smoke spread throughout the hallway.
Bess and George dashed from the apartment to look around for the cause of the explosion. Nancy joined them and a few seconds later held up a small tube. “I believe it was a giant firecracker someone set off.”
“A firecracker!” Bess repeated, thinking that mysteries for Nancy Drew had started in many unusual ways but never before with a giant firecracker.
Ever since the time Mr. Drew had asked his daughter to help him unravel The Secret of the Old Clock until recently, when Nancy had solved the mystery of The Clue in the Old Stagecoach, she had been in many precarious situations. The giant firecracker might have injured the young detective badly.
Nancy was staring at the Soongs’ door. Was the explosion some kind of warning to the Soongs? Or, by chance, had someone learned that Nancy was interested in the mystery and used this means to scare her off the case?
By this time all the doors along the hallway of the apartment house were being opened and curious, frightened faces looking out. When the tenants found that no damage had been done and no one had been hurt, they closed their doors again.
The last apartment to be opened was the Soongs’. An elderly man, with a long beard and wearing a black Chinese suit, looked inquiringly at the girls.
Miss Drew stepped up and said, “Hello, Grandpa Soong. I want you to meet my niece, Nancy Drew, and her friends Bess Marvin and George Fayne.”
Mr. Soong bowed low. “It gives me deep pleasure to meet the relative and friends of my very fine neighbor. I was on my way to answer the buzzer when I heard a loud explosion. Can you good people tell me what happened?”
“Mr. Soong, we think that a giant firecracker was set off,” Nancy replied. “Would you possibly know why?”
Grandpa Soong looked startled. “I know nothing about it. You think perhaps that because most firecrackers are made in Chinese territory I should know the reason?”
“Oh, no,” Nancy replied quickly. Then she told about the figure she had seen running down the hall just before the explosion.
Grandpa Soong smiled. “Without a better description, I could not identify such a man or woman. But I am sure I would not know him, anyway.”
The young sleuth went from door to door along the hallway, asking the various occupants if they had noticed the running figure. Each denied having seen anyone around.
When Nancy returned to the group, Aunt Eloise invited Mr. Soong into her apartment so that the girls might become better acquainted with him. Under the strong light of a reading lamp the elderly