What homebrewers call "secondary fermentation" generally doesn't involve fermentation at all, it's just a clarifying and conditioning step. Because of that it isn't unusual for there to be no activity in the secondary. There are some brewers who transfer with the intention of having additional fermentation in the secondary, but it's far from common.
Unless you're intentionally moving the beer early, 9 days is probably too soon to transfer most beers - especially if there's still activity. By moving the beer away from the yeast you could cause fermentation to stall prematurely, which sounds like it could be what happened here. It's also possible that because there was little remaining yeast, what fermentation did happen just wasn't vigorous enough to raise a krausen and leave a ring.
I think the best option is always to wait until fermentation is complete, then wait at least a few more days, then transfer to secondary (or skip secondary entirely and go straight to keg or bottle). And the best way to judge whether or not fermentation is complete is by taking gravity readings 3-4 days apart. If they're the same, it's done. Foaming and airlock activity aren't necessarily good indicators.
So take a gravity reading, then take another in a few days, and if they're consistent and about where you expect, go ahead and keg/bottle.