Pursuit

NANCY hurried to the rear of the shop to find Mr. Tallow. Before she had a chance to ask about Mr. Soong’s vase, he gave her some startling information.

“The Townsend vase, ” he told Nancy, “was sold to me by a Mr. David Carr.”

Nancy stared at him in disbelief. David Carr! That was the name of the man her father had mentioned; the man who had vanished so mysteriously in company with the Engs!

“You’re quite sure? ”

“Quite.” Mr. Tallow smiled pleasantly. “It’s all written down in my ledger.”

Nancy pointed out the dragon vase in the case. “Would you mind telling me where that came from? ” she asked.

“Not at all, ” Mr. Tallow replied. “I bought that porcelain only yesterday from Mr. Carr.”

Nancy caught her breath. She had been sure the dragon vase had been stolen from Dick’s shop by John Manning. Were Carr and Manning the same person? Or had Manning sold the vase to Carr, who in turn had sold it to Sen-yung’s Oriental Gift Shop?

“I’m sorry to have to tell you, ” Nancy said, “but this vase looks just like one that was stolen from a shop in River Heights.”

Mr. Tallow’s jaw dropped. “It can’t be true! ”

“The dragon design is exactly the same as the pattern on a Ming vase that belonged to a Mr. Soong, ” Nancy added.

“Mr. Soong! ” the shopkeeper exclaimed. “I know him well! He is an old friend of Mr. Sen-yung! Oh, this is terrible! ”

Mr. Tallow looked so worried that Nancy felt sorry for him and asked if she might examine the vase to see if it really were the same one.

“Of course, of course, ” he agreed.

He unlocked the cabinet door and handed the piece to Nancy. She laid the vase on its side and studied the bottom. Clearly painted on the base were several Chinese symbols. They appeared to be exactly like one set of the markings that she had found in Manning’s room; the set Mr. Soong had said was on his vase.

Nancy translated the symbols. “Made in the studio of deep peace.” She looked at Mr. Tallow. “Is that correct? ”

He nodded nervously.

At that moment the door of the shop opened and a short, round-faced Chinese gentleman came in. He took off his hat, exposing a completely bald head, and fanned himself vigorously.

Mr. Tallow hurried toward him. “Mr. Sen-yung! Thank goodness you’re back! ”

After introducing his Chinese partner to Nancy, her aunt and the detective, Mr. Tallow repeated what Nancy had said about the dragon vase. Mr. Sen-yung’s face became grave. Taking a magnifying glass from his pocket, he examined the pottery. Suddenly he straightened and turned to his partner.

“When did you buy this vase? ” he asked sharply.

“Yesterday, ” Mr. Tallow replied.

“You should not have bought it without first consulting me! ” Mr. Sen-yung told him heatedly.

“But you were ill! ” his partner protested. “I didn’t want to disturb you! ” He looked at the vase, then back at the Chinese. “Is anything wrong? ”

“Everything! ” Mr. Sen-yung exclaimed. “This vase is a fake—an imitation! ”

“This vase is a fake—an imitation! ” Mr. Sen-yung exclaimed

Mr. Tallow stared at him, dumbfounded.

“How can you tell, Mr. Sen-yung? ” Nancy asked.

He showed her the barely perceptible but unmistakable signs that had betrayed the vase to him. Under the magnifying glass the colors showed no signs of having softened with the years, and there was a scent of newness about the porcelain. But most particularly the marks on the bottom stood out a trifle too clearly.

“It is a clever imitation, ” Mr. Sen-yung admitted. “Extremely expert.”

Had this copy of Mr. Soong’s vase been made in China and smuggled into the United States by David Carr?

Mr. Sen-yung asked his partner for the complete story of the purchase. Mr. Tallow said he had bought the dragon vase and also the one sold to Mr. Townsend from David Carr. The man had introduced himself as a sales representative of the West Coast Trading Company and shown credentials to prove his identity.

Knowing the fine reputation of the firm, Mr. Tallow had assumed the vases to be authentic. Now it seemed possible that the Townsend vase also was a fake.

“We must get the Townsend vase back at once, ” Mr. Sen-yung said. “If it, too, is a reproduction, we’ll refund the money.”

“It has been stolen, ” Nancy informed him. “That’s really what brought me to New York.” Then she asked Mr. Tallow, “What does David Carr look like? ”

“He is medium height, ” the man replied, “with black hair and dark skin.”

“Did you notice his eyes and his shoes? ”

“Not his shoes, ” Mr. Tallow replied slowly. “But his dark eyes had a peculiar piercing stare.”

“John Manning! ” Nancy cried.

The two partners, Miss Eloise Drew, and the detective looked at Nancy in bewilderment. She quickly told them about the vase thief.

“Don’t you see? ” she finished. “Manning and Carr are probably the same man! ”

“And he’s the one who held up the deliveryman! ” Mr. Tallow exclaimed. “I just remembered that Carr was here when I gave instructions as to when and where the jar was to be delivered.”

“Did Carr say where he’s staying? ” Nancy asked.

“No, but I think I know where he may be, ” Mr. Tallow replied. “He dropped a piece of paper from his pocket. It was a letterhead from the Hotel Royalton.”

Asking permission to use the office telephone, Nancy dialed the hotel. David Carr, she was told, was registered.

“If we hurry, we may catch him! ”

The detective, who had been listening to Nancy’s theories with great admiration, led Nancy, her aunt and Mr. Tallow to a police car in front of the store. Seconds later, they sped up Madison Avenue.

Side by side, Nancy and the detective hurried into the hotel lobby and went up to the desk. The man showed his badge and asked for the number of David Carr’s room.

The clerk looked surprised. “Mr. Carr? He just checked out.”

“But I phoned only a few minutes ago, ” Nancy protested. “He was registered then.”

“I’m sorry, ” the clerk told her. “He checked out right after you called.”

“Did he leave any forwarding address? ” she asked hopefully.

The clerk shook his head.

“Mind if we search his room? ” the detective asked.

“Go ahead, ” the clerk replied. He took a key from the rack and gave it to the plainclothesman. “Room 414.”

While Mr. Tallow waited in the lobby, to watch in case the thief should reappear, Nancy, her aunt and the detective proceeded to the room Carr had occupied.

The door was ajar. Inside, a maid was cleaning the room. The detective asked to see any scraps of paper she had picked up. The maid showed them to him. He and Nancy pored over the pieces, looking for a possible clue to Carr’s whereabouts. But neither the maid’s trash bag nor the room itself disclosed the slightest clue.

The detective grunted in disgust. “No use staying here. There isn’t a ghost of a clue to where Carr went.”

The maid stopped dusting and looked at them. “You mean the gentleman who was occupyin’ this room? ” she asked.

“Yes, ” Nancy said hopefully. “Can you tell us anything about him? ”

“Well, I can tell you what I overheard, ” the woman replied. “Just as I came into the room to clean he was talkin’ on the phone. Before he hung up, he said somethin’ about meetin’ somebody at the Oregon restaurant.”

“Thanks! ” cried Nancy.

She ran from the room, followed by her aunt and the detective. A few minutes later they joined Mr. Tallow in the lobby. Then all four taxied to the restaurant.

The Oregon was on a corner. Tingling with eagerness, Nancy almost dragged her aunt into the foyer of the narrow restaurant. The tables, she saw, were arranged along the two walls beyond a row of potted palms.

“Mr. Tallow, see if you can find Mr. Carr, ” she whispered. “Look through the palms.”

Parting the fronds of one of the plants, he peered at the dining room. Not seeing the suspected thief, Mr. Tallow stepped into the entranceway for a better view.

“There he is! ” he called excitedly.

There was a commotion at the rear of the room. Nancy saw a man spring from a chair and dash through the swinging door to the kitchen.

The detective ran in pursuit. Nancy, remembering the restaurant was situated on a corner, darted back toward the front entrance. If Carr should escape through a side door, she reasoned, he would come out around the corner.

Nancy’s deduction was right. As she rounded the side of the building, Carr streaked from the restaurant’s side entrance. Nancy was on his heels before the detective emerged.

The elusive Carr slipped in and out of the crowd. Pedestrians stared as Nancy raced after him.

At the corner she saw Carr dash into a subway entrance. He leaped down the steps three at a time, Nancy after him. Token in hand, he went through the turnstile like a streak of lightning.

Nancy had to pause a moment to buy a token. A train stood in the station. Carr ran forward alongside, slipping quickly into one of the forward cars.

The doors of the train were closing. Nancy leaped inside the nearest car just before the big door snapped shut. With a lurch, the crowded train started.