"Put your hands up and move away from the desk," Dr. Chang ordered the girl detective. Nancy obeyed. This is no time to berate myself for carelessness thought Nancy. She had to figure a way out of this mess and get her friends out of danger too.
"How did you get in here?" So, she didn't know about the secret door to her office.
"I just sort of wandered in," Nancy replied. "I think the door must have been left unlocked."
"I doubt that. Where's Beulah?"
"I'm not sure. I don't keep track of your domestic staff. Good help is so hard to find these days, don't you agree? By the way, I don't think that's going to be one of your main worries since you'll most probably be spending the next 20 years of your life in prison. Perhaps Beulah and you can share a prison cell."
"I seem to have underestimated you, Miss Drew," said Dr. Chang. The Chinese woman smiled. "To me you just seemed an overly curious teenager and could be easily dismissed."
"Others have made that mistake," said Nancy.
"Yes," the older woman agreed. "Then my informants told me you were making inquiries about my activities here. That's when I decided to have Brianna invite you and your friends over for a weekend visit. My original goal was to compromise and corrupt you and your friends so you'd be obliged to stay out of my way. Then I found out you were abusing my hospitality by spying on me. Now there is this additional outrage: burglarizing my private quarters. I cannot forgive this."
"You're right, Dr. Chang. I suggest you call the authorities and have me arrested."
"You won't think this is so amusing when you find out what I have planned for you, young lady," the Chinese woman replied.
"There are plenty of people who know where we are," Nancy said. "If anything happens to us you'll be in even deeper trouble than you already are now."
"I already have contingency plans prepared, Miss Drew. I won't allow anyone to interfere with my efforts to help these girls."
"And how is sending unfortunate women to work in brothels actually helping them?"
"I see you've even had time to read my confidential files." The girl detective noted with some satisfaction that Chang looked unsettled that her secret had been exposed. "I only use the girls who show the right aptitude for that profession; hence, the testing. Of course, the ideal candidate is also comely and charming. After proper training and indoctrination they're employed at a good wage and I make a profit. Quite a few of them send money home to their families."
"That's not helping them," Nancy retorted. "That's exploiting them. What you're doing is illegal and immoral. You're just taking advantage of their helplessness."
"That's fine talk from someone who has most probably never missed a meal in her entire life. Many of these girls were already selling their bodies on the streets for little more than crusts of bread. Often they were cheated of even that because they had no one to care for them or defend them."
"Your lawyer can try using that line of defense in front of a judge and jury at your trial but I don't think it'll work."
"You seem to forget who is holding the gun," the Oriental woman replied. There was a knock on the door and Lester entered the office.
"Hey, that chubby bitch ate all the cupcakes," Lester complained. "Oops!" he added when he saw the girl detective.
"Never mind that," said Dr. Chang. "We have a problem. Go find Beulah then bring Brianna and our other two guests with you."
"Right away," Lester replied. He leered and winked at Nancy before leaving. Nancy could feel her skin crawl. Would Dr. Chang allow that hoodlum to rape her too? For the first time the girl detective could feel her bravado falter. She was frightened for herself as well as her friends.
"I'll make a deal with you," said Nancy.
"I believe you are not in any position to make a deal," Madame Chang replied, "however, I will listen to what you have to offer with great interest."
"You let us all go and I promise not to report you to the authorities until 24 hours have elapsed. That will give you and your henchmen time enough to clear out."
The Chinese woman chuckled. "Is that what you have to offer, Miss Drew? It doesn't very sound good to me, so no thank you. For the trouble you've caused me I've decided to turn you and your friends into little whores and put you all to work for me."
"That will never happen. We'll never submit to you."
"Don't be so certain of that," the evil woman said. "I possess a rare drug for especially hard cases which makes the recipient quite tractable." Nancy shivered at the prospect of being drugged and made helpless. At that moment George and Beulah walked in followed by Lester. Each woman had a sheet wrapped around her body in an attempt to protect her modesty.
"You should have seen what these two were doing," said Lester. "I was completely disgusted. It was a shame to interrupt them. Heh heh!" Beulah stared down at the floor ashamed and perhaps afraid to meet her mistress's angry glare.
"Well, why didn't you join us Lester," George said with a sexy smile.
"I should have," Lester replied with a lascivious grin of his own.
"Silence!" Dr. Chang ordered. George was defiant though. She stepped over to Lester and put her arms around the middle aged man.
"There's something I've always wanted to do with you ever since we met, Lester honey," George cooed.
"What's that, sweetie?" George responded by kneeing the unfortunate man in his genitals. Nancy was taken by surprise when Lester fell to the floor and started writhing and moaning in pain. The next thing she knew George had turned and tackled Beulah shoving the maid into her employer. Dr. Chang lost her balance and fell to the floor but she still retained control of the weapon.
"Run, Nancy! Get help!" George screamed as she struggled with the colored maid. Nancy's first impulse was to attack Dr. Chang, but the angry Chink was still keeping a wary eye on Nancy even as she tried to disengage herself from the two squirming adversaries. George was right. It was time to run for help. Nancy darted for the door. The girl detective heard angry screams from the three women and then a shot rang out. Nancy prayed that George was all right, but she kept running.
"Run!" Nancy shouted as she ran past Bess and Brianna. They looked alarmed and confused but Nancy didn't have time to explain. As she ran out the front door Nancy looked back and could see Beulah already in pursuit and moving fast. The ebony woman was completely naked. Her black beauty briefly startled Nancy then she started running again. There was a spare ignition key hidden in the blue roadster but with no time to retrieve it, the girl detective would have to make her escape on foot. But to where?
Nancy made for the river. It wasn't especially deep; too shallow for commercial traffic. It was mainly used by recreational fishermen and pleasure boaters. The girl detective was a strong swimmer and could easily make it across even with her clothes still on. The young woman barely had time to remove her shoes before Beulah caught up with and made a grab for Nancy... and missed. Nancy leaped into the water.
