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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, frowning, looked more closely at George. Then she laughed and in English apologized. “Oh, I thought you were a girl I know named Chi Che Soong. My, how much you look like her! I stopped you because I heard Chi Che left her job at Stromberg’s Bookshop. I wondered if I could get it.”
    George Fayne took an instant liking to the attractive Chinese girl. The stranger introduced herself as Lily Alys Wu. After a little more conversation, George had an idea.
    “Perhaps I can get the job for you at the bookshop,” she said. “Would you like to talk it over?”
    “Yes. But first, please explain why you are costumed and made up the way you are. You see, I am one of Chi Che’s closest friends.”
    George smiled but did not reply at once. Could she trust Lily Alys with confidential information about the missing Chi Che?

CHAPTER VII
    Strange Thefts
    AS GEORGE stood debating whether or not to tell Lily Alys Wu about Chi Che, an elderly gentleman carrying a brief case came along the street. He and the Chinese girl smiled at each other.
    “How are you, Professor Rankin?” Lily said.
    “Very well, thank you, Miss Wu. And you?”
    “Fine. I certainly enjoyed your lecture yesterday.”
    “I am glad,” Professor Rankin said, and tipping his hat, went on his way.
    The little episode helped George make up her mind. She was sure she could trust Lily Alys.
    “The reason I’m masquerading as your friend Chi Che Soong,” she said, “is because Chi Che seems to be missing.”
    “Missing!” Lily exclaimed. “I know she hasn’t been to classes for the past few days. I was going to phone her this afternoon. Please tell me more.”
    George was guarded in her statements, but did reveal that Mr. Soong had not heard from his granddaughter since she left a