A delicious dinner was served by Kiyabu. It had been cooked by both Emma and Hannah who had become great culinary friends. Tonight the meal was strictly mainland—roast beef, with lemon meringue pie for dessert.
“If it’s all right with you girls,” Burt spoke up, “we fellows are going fishing in the outrigger canoe tomorrow morning.”
“I wish you luck,” George replied. “But you’d better bring in a big one to make amends for deserting us,” she teased.
“Wow!” said Burt. “How can I fail?”
Nancy asked Ned if she might borrow the car to do some errands in Honolulu. She did not say what they were to be. In fact, she did not reveal what her main errand was until the following morning when she, Bess, and George were rolling along the highway.
“I’m determined to find out if possible who sent that floral piece,” Nancy said. “Do you remember the section of road we passed on our way from the airport where a group of women were making and selling leis? I have a hunch the sender of my gift had a specialist make mine and it could be one of those women. Anyway, it won’t hurt to ask them.”
When she reached the area, the young sleuth parked the car and the three girls began asking woman after woman if she had made a lei the day before of deep purple flowers. One after another answered no, until Nancy came to a very wrinkled old lady who was fashioning a beautiful lei of baby orchids. When Nancy put her question to the flower vendor, she looked up, startled.
“Why, yes, I did make such a lei yesterday afternoon. Why do you ask?”
Nancy searched the woman’s face for any sign of dishonesty, but the wrinkled visage showed only genuine astonishment.
Nevertheless, Nancy decided that it was wiser not to tell the woman the whole truth. Pretending to giggle, she said that some unknown person had sent her the lei and she was trying to find out who he might be.
“An unknown admirer, eh?” the woman asked. Then she frowned. “To tell you the truth, I thought it was a funeral piece.”
She went on to say that the man who had asked her to make it had brought the flowers himself. She described him as being tall, with reddish-blond hair. “I do not know his name,” she added, “but I believe he is a mainlander.”
“Did he ask you to put anything else in with the flowers?” Bess spoke up.
“No,” the woman answered.
Nancy thanked her for the information, and the girls went back to the convertible.
“Reddish-blond hair!” said George. “That sounds like Ralph Emler, the same man we believe tricked Grandfather Sakamaki.”
“Yes, it does,” Nancy agreed. “And I think our next stop will be police headquarters. I hope Sergeant Hawk will be there. I want to tell him about the lei.”
Fortunately, the officer was in. When the young sleuth told her story, the police detective looked concerned.
“I don’t like this at all,” he said. “Miss Drew, you must use extreme caution. So far we haven’t been able to locate this Ralph Emler. We don’t know whether he has left the city, is using an assumed name, or is staying in a private home. Emler left the place where he was staying, directly after receiving old Mr. Sakamaki’s letter.”
The girls talked for some time with the detective. Nancy asked him about the possibility of the California claimants to the Sakamaki estate being impostors. “It’s possible, of course,” the detective replied, “but so far we have found nothing suspicious about them or their credentials.”
“I think I’ll try to call on them,” said Nancy. “May I use your phone, Sergeant Hawk?”
“Certainly.” The detective pushed the instrument toward Nancy and gave her the number of the Ponds’ residence. A rather petulant, flat voice answered the ring.
“Hel-lo.”
“This is Nancy Drew calling. I should like very much to see Mrs. Lee and Mr. Chatley. Will you please find out if it would be all right for me to come to the house.”
“Well, I dunno,” the woman on the phone answered. “They don’t see visitors much, but I’ll ask ’em.”
After a long wait, another woman’s voice said hello. “This is Mrs. Lee speaking. You wish to see me?” she asked.
Nancy repeated her request. There was a long pause as if Janet Lee was consulting someone else. Then she said, “Why, certainly. I’d love to have you. When do you want to come?”
“Right away,” Nancy replied. “And I’d like to bring two friends who are in town with me.”
“Come ahead,” Janet Lee invited. “I’ll be waiting for you.”
On the way to the Ponds’ residence, Bess declared that she was not going inside the house. She even begged Nancy to hold the conference in their garden. “After that black lei episode, I trust hardly anybody around here,” she declared.
Nancy laughed. “All right. I only hope the Ponds have a garden.”
Bess’s wish was gratified. The house was set some distance from the street and was surrounded by a high hedge. A driveway led to the front door through a most attractive garden.
Bess and George seated themselves in lawn chairs, while Nancy rang the front doorbell. It was opened by a middle-aged woman wearing a long, dark-blue muumuu. Her blond hair was rather frizzy and unkempt.
“Mrs. Lee?” Nancy asked.
“Oh my, no. I’m Mrs. Pond. Janet’ll be here in a minute. She’s gettin’ prettied up for you folks.”
Nancy took an instant dislike to Mrs. Pond. When the woman invited her inside, she said, “Oh, it’s so lovely out in the garden, I’d prefer staying outside.”
Mrs. Pond shrugged. “Have it your own way.”
At that moment Janet Lee and Roy Chatley appeared. The brother and sister did not look at all alike. He was taller than she and had light hair and a pale complexion. His sister was small and slight with dark hair and a sallow complexion. At Nancy’s suggestion they joined Bess and George in the garden.
“Why have you come here?” Janet asked abruptly.
Nancy was slightly taken aback, but she kept her composure and said, “I am a friend of Mr. Sakamaki in River Heights. In fact, my father is his lawyer. I understand you are distantly related to him.”
“Yes,” Roy replied in a soft tone, “We had the same grandfather, although I understand the Mr. Sakamaki you know was never told this.” Suddenly Roy said in a loud, unpleasant voice, “It was pretty mean the way Grandfather treated his first wife. Oh, well, we can forgive a lot if we just get the inheritance. Boy, what I couldn’t do with that money!”
Nancy and her friends were disgusted with Roy’s approach to the subject. They learned little that they did not already know, and presently said good-by.
“They’re just horrid,” Bess remarked as Nancy drove off.
Soon after reaching the highway, Nancy stopped, pulled to the side of the road, and said, “I think my next bit of sleuthing will be talks with the neighbors of the Ponds, and finding out what I can about that couple. They just don’t seem like the kind of people one would expect to live in this fine residential area.”
CHAPTER XIII
A Valuable Discovery
THE GIRLS found most of the Ponds’ neighbors in their gardens. Nancy, Bess, and George discreetly inquired of one after another if they were acquainted with the couple. In each case the answer was the same. The Ponds had rented the house very recently and no one knew them. They appeared to be unsociable and were away from the house a great deal.
“Are they Hawaiians?” Nancy asked an elderly man.
“Oh, I think not. I’m sure that they are from the mainland,” he replied.
When the girls returned to the car, one of the women to whom she had spoken earlier was waiting for them. Nancy wondered if she had further information, but the woman merely smiled and asked if the girls were going into Honolulu. Upon learning that they were, she asked for a lift, explaining that her husband was using their car that day for a business trip.
“We’d be happy to take you,” Nancy said, and they all got in.
On the
way, the passenger, whose name was Mrs. Ayers, pointed out a thickly branched tree with dense foliage. “That is a monkeypod,” she said. “Many of them grow on the island of Kauai, and the wood is brought here to be made into attractive pieces. I’m going to a shop now that specializes in these pieces to buy a wedding gift.”
“The tree certainly looks top heavy,” Bess remarked. “Its long limbs seem to be way out of proportion with the size of the trunk.”
“Is the wood hard?” George asked.
“Yes,” Mrs. Ayers answered. “It’s very durable, and won’t warp or crack.”
“I’d like to look at some of the wooden pieces,” Nancy remarked. “We want to take home some gifts and this is a good chance to purchase them.”
When they reached the Waikiki Beach section, Mrs. Ayers told Nancy where to park and the four walked to the shop. After looking over the many attractive articles on display, George selected a snack server, Bess a tray, and Nancy a salad bowl with wooden fork and spoon.
“Not far from here,” Mrs. Ayers told the girls, “is an extremely interesting jewelry shop. It specializes in ivory pieces. If you have time, I’d suggest you drop in there.”
She went to the door with the girls and pointed out the shop. With a “thank you so much” and an “aloha” to Mrs. Ayers, the three hurried up the street and entered the jewelry store.
The display case intrigued the girls. Ivory pins, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets were delicately carved in patterns of various Hawaiian flowers.
“I see just the right gift for Aunt Eloise,” said Nancy, and asked the clerk the price of a pin and earring set carved in the ginger flower design.
“Will you mail this directly to New York?” Nancy inquired.
“I’d be very glad to,” the clerk replied.
After the sale was completed, the girls returned to the convertible, and this time headed straight for Kaluakua. As they parked in the driveway, Ned greeted them with a friendly gibe.
“For Pete’s sake, where have you been? Here we boys speared the biggest fish of the season and we’ve waited and waited hours for you to come home and admire it.”
The girls laughed. “What is it and where is it?” George asked.
“It’s an ulua,” said Ned, “and what a time we had capturing the old boy. He was a real fighter and towed our outrigger along as if it were a feather.”
Only Bess was impressed. Nancy and George were sure the story was grossly exaggerated. Grinning, Nancy said, “Come on, Ned, tell us the truth. How big is this fish?”
“Follow me,” Ned suggested, and they all trooped to the kitchen.
The ulua, minus its head, tail, and fins, lay on the kitchen table and the girls had to admit that it was a good-sized fish.
“We may as well tell you the truth,” Dave spoke up. “Hero Ned speared this fish all by himself under water. But I guess it wasn’t too much of a battle.”
Ned grinningly admitted that it had not been too hard to spear the fish. “We’re going to have it for lunch,” he stated. “So we’d all better go for a swim and work up an appetite.”
Hannah Gruen smiled. “But not too big an appetite,” she said. “Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong telephoned and they’re going to serve a native feast tonight—a luau.”
“How exciting!” spoke up Bess, who was always ready to eat.
The Drews’ housekeeper went on to say that the Armstrongs had invited the mainlanders to come to their home for the feast. But Hannah had told them that Nancy and the others probably would not want to be away from Kaluakua for so many hours because of the mystery.
“So the Armstrongs offered to come here and prepare the feast,” she announced. “Kiyabu says there is a pit in the garden where pigs were roasted for luaus years ago. ”He’s going to fix it up and heat the lava rock which is put into the pit. The pig has to be steamed.”
“Mm-m! I can’t wait,” Bess remarked, and began to lick her lips in anticipation of the feast.
As Nancy glanced toward Ned, she detected a slightly hurt expression on his face.
“It won’t taste any better than this fish,” she said quickly.
The young man beamed at her, then said, “Nancy, the undersea life offshore here is fascinating. I dare you to go skin diving with me to see it.”
“I’ll do it!” Nancy agreed. “Tomorrow!”
“It’s a date.”
Everyone enjoyed the ulua at lunch. Directly afterward, Nancy suggested that the whole group go on an exhaustive search of the premises to try learning what Grandfather Sakamaki’s secret might be. Walls were tapped for hollow spaces. Floors and ceilings were inspected for trap doors. Nothing came to light.
Finally Bess, heaving a great sigh, remarked, “I’m afraid that Grandpa Sakamaki was just spoofing. He just didn’t want this estate to go out of the hands of the family, so he made up the whole thing.”
The group was in the living room. George had crawled beneath a heavy teakwood table and was tapping the underside. Suddenly the others heard her give a squeal of amazement.
“I’ve found a hidden drawer!” she exclaimed.
At once the other young people were down on hands and knees and crowding close to her under the table.
“There’s a panel that slides. It must be a secret drawer. Yes, here it is and there are some things in it!” George cried out gleefully.
Burt helped her lift out the hidden drawer which was filled with small, dark wooden statuettes. One by one the objects were set on the table.
“What a find!” said Ned enthusiastically. “I’ll bet these are ancient and valuable.”
When Kiyabu was summoned he gazed in awe and amazement at the figurines. He had never seen them before. He, too, thought they were old and that Mr. Sakamaki Sr. would never have taken the trouble to hide them unless they were valuable.
“I know Mr. Uni at the museum,” he said. “Maybe he would come up here to look at them.”
Nancy thought this a good idea and asked Kiyabu to put in the call to Mr. Uni. In a little while the Polynesian expert arrived. The small, bright-eyed curator examined each piece carefully. Finally, he declared that the statuettes were very old and authentic but not ancient.
“The museum would like very much to have these,” Mr. Uni said. “Perhaps the estate would sell or donate them to us later. In the meantime, I believe they would be much safer locked up down there than they would be here. I understand there have been some strange happenings at Kaluakua.”
“Yes,” Kiyabu answered. “One can never seem to tell when there may be prying eyes. Now that these pieces have been found, I think they should be taken away and put into a safe.”
Nancy offered to call Mr. Dutton and ask his advice in the matter. When the executor learned of the discovery, he agreed that the museum was the place for the statuettes.
“Miss Drew, will you please write out a receipt with full description of each piece and ask Mr. Uni to sign it,” he requested. “Also I’d appreciate it if you’d send someone to the bank with it.”
“I’ll be very happy to,” Nancy replied. “I’ll ask the boys to accompany Mr. Uni to the museum, then deliver the receipt to you.”
“Very good,” said Mr. Dutton.
Kiyabu supplied paper and pen, and Nancy wrote down a detailed account of each object. Most of the statuettes represented ancient gods of the Polynesians, but others were of former Hawaiian kings.
After the boys had left with Mr. Uni, Kiyabu went back to the garden where he had been cleaning out the old fire pit in which the pig for the feast would be roasted. Near it, he had built a raging bonfire in a depression of the garden.
On the ground stood a bucket of water. Every once in a while Kiyabu would lift a sample rock from the fire in a huge pair of tongs and drop it into the water, apparently to test the intensity of the heat.
Hannah said that she was going out to the garden to sit in the shade near the picnic spot and rest. She invited the girls to join her when they finished searching.
“I think we should quit work now,” Bess stated. “If we don’t, we’ll all be worn out for the party tonight.”
Nancy was reluctant to leave her job unfinished. But she realized that since arriving at Kaluakua she had not spent much time with Hannah, so she decided to follow her to the garden. The group of four seated themselves in comfortable chairs, their backs to the area where the fire was burning.
Kiyabu left his task and walked to the house. Reaching the porch he turned to look back and stood transfixed with horror.
A furtive figure had appeared from the bushes. Quick as a flash, the man had grabbed up the huge fire tongs lying on the ground and was about to heave them toward Nancy!
CHAPTER XIV
Meeting a Shark
“Auwe! Wikiwiki!” Kiyabu screamed from the porch of the house. Nancy and the others did not know what he meant, but instinctively they turned in the direction he was facing.
Nancy was not a moment too soon. The heavy tongs were coming straight at her. Like a flash, she leaped aside just as the tongs buried themselves in a nearby bush.
“Mercy!” Bess exclaimed, clutching her heart.
George, who had seen the man near the fire, called out, “There goes the fellow who threw them!”
In an instant she was dashing across the grass after him. Nancy and Bess followed. The fleeing man dodged in and out among the trees and shrubbery until he reached the entrance to Kaluakua. By the time the girls arrived at the spot, he was a good distance down the road. A small black car which had been parked in the bushes picked him up and sped off.
The angry girls stood still, staring after it. The automobile was too far away for them to read the license plate.
“One of the Scorps, I’ll bet,” George found her voice. “Thank goodness Kiyabu saw him and warned you, Nancy.”
“Yes,” Bess added. “Why, Nancy, you might have been killed by those heavy tongs.”
Nancy was silent. She was a bit shaken by the experience, and was puzzled as to who the man might be. He was of medium height and had thinning, dark hair.