The Mystery of the Fire Dragon - Carolyn Keene [8]
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!”
Nancy gazed into space for several seconds, then said, “Aunt Eloise, I don’t blame you for feeling the way you do. But I think there’s a good chance the thief or some accomplice of his may come back to the Soong apartment to try stealing something else. What I’d like to do is spend the rest of the night there and find out.”
Miss Drew shook her head. “It’s too dangerous,” she argued. “I’d never forgive myself if anything should happen to you.”
“George can stay with me,” Nancy said, by way of persuasion. “I’ll place a chair under the door handle so no one can possibly get in. If I hear anyone trying the door, I’ll call the police.”
George spoke up. “Why call the police? Why don’t you and I just go out and capture the thief?”
Before Miss Drew could comment, Bess remarked, “It’s just possible Chi Che herself will return and won’t be able to get in.”
“That’s true,” Aunt Eloise conceded. “Chi