The golden columns which supported the roof were round and glistened in the sunlight. The roof itself, completely of gold, was patterned in the graceful shape of a plumiera flower.
“It looks like an Oriental temple,” George remarked.
“And so artistic,” Bess spoke up admiringly. Recalling that Nancy had suggested it might have been erected over a grave and was lovely enough to be a memorial, she said, “Somebody must be buried beneath it.”
Kiyabu smiled. “But not anyone human,” he said. “However, it might be a grave of one of the helpers of the Queen of Sharks.”
Startled by this remark, the others looked at Kiyabu for a further explanation. “You have never heard the story of ancient Pearl Harbor?” he asked. When they replied no, he went on:
“The Hawaiian name for Pearl Harbor is Puuloa, and the old Polynesians had a legend that it was the home of the Queen of the Sharks. Her name was Kaahupahau. She was a very kindly shark and lived in a place built in a cavern on the Honolulu side of Pearl Harbor.
“She loved the human race and ordered her shark people never to attack them. Part of their work was to keep man-eating sharks away from this whole area. The people who lived around were very friendly to these sharks and it is even said they sometimes rode on their backs.”
Bess gave a little shudder. “It’s a lovely story, but just the same I wouldn’t want to meet a shark out in these waters.”
Kiyabu was about to reply to this when he turned quickly and looked toward the beach. No one was on it, but a worried look came over the Hawaiian’s face.
“Is something wrong?” Nancy asked him quickly.
Kiyabu shrugged, but as the group started walking back to the house, he fell behind to talk to Nancy and Ned. “I heard strange whistling,” he explained.
“Yes, I heard it too,” said Nancy.
“I do not like it,” said Kiyabu. “It may mean trouble. The other day Emma and I heard the same whistling on the beach. We went to investigate, but could find no one. When we returned to our cottage, it had been ransacked.”
“You were robbed?” said Nancy. “How unfortunate!”
“That’s the funny part of it.” Kiyabu frowned. “Nothing was taken, but the intruder certainly was looking for something. Our house was a shambles.”
“Have you any idea what he was looking for?” Ned asked him.
The caretaker said no, but he was sure it had something to do with the mystery of Kaluakua. Nancy asked Kiyabu if he thought perhaps the recent claimants to the estate might have been there hunting for something to help them prove their case.
“Who knows?” Kiyabu said noncommittally. “But there is something else which I think you should know. Not long before Mr. Sakamaki Sr. died, a number of small valuable articles disappeared from the house—statuettes, some of them copies of old Polynesian pieces, and others that were genuine antiques from the Orient.
“Emma and I were greatly disturbed when we discovered that they were missing,” Kiyabu went on. “I asked Mr. Sakamaki about them, but he just smiled at me. ‘They are safe, Kiyabu,’ he said. ”But the executors have not been able to find any of them.”
“It certainly sounds as if they had been stolen,” Ned declared.
Kiyabu did not agree. “Mr. Sakamaki was very ill, but he managed to keep good account of everything. I’m sure he told me the truth when he said the items were safe. But where are they? The old gentleman was not strong enough to carry them outside the house and bury them.”
Nancy was quiet for a few moments, then suggested, “Perhaps Mr. Sakamaki had a visitor and gave the pieces to him.”
“Either that, or the person stole them and warned the old man not to say anything,” Ned remarked.
Suddenly Kiyabu’s eyes narrowed and his jaws set. “Maybe it was the man who brought the odd fish,” he declared.
CHAPTER X
A Daytime Ghost
“TELL us about this man and the strange fish,” Nancy urged Kiyabu.
The Hawaiian described the fish as being only a few inches long, with rough, scaleless skin. Because of its color and mottled markings the fish blends with the seaweed where it lives, and its paired fins enable the creature to climb about.
“This frogfish,” Kiyabu went on, “has a great mouth, and on the snout above it is a slender ‘rod’ with a flap at the tip. The frogfish uses this as bait to lure the shrimp he eats.”
Kiyabu said that the man who had brought the fish in a covered bucket was Mr. Ralph Emler. “Mr. Sakamaki asked him to stay to lunch and I served them,” the caretaker continued. “Later I was sent into Honolulu to find a proper aquarium for the fish. When I returned, Mr. Emler had gone. The fish lived only a few hours. And it was not until the next day when Emma was dusting that she missed the statuettes.”
“Please describe Mr. Emler,” Nancy requested.
The caretaker told her that he was tall, with reddish-blond hair, and had a deep voice.
“Do you know where Mr. Emler is staying?” Nancy questioned.
“Maybe,” Kiyabu replied. “Soon after his visit, Mr. Sakamaki grew very weak. He wrote two long letters. One was to young Mr. Sakamaki and the other to Mr. Emler. He asked me to mail them and I saw the addresses. Mr. Ralph Emler was visiting friends on Kapiolani Boulevard.”
“Did this man come to Mr. Sakamaki’s funeral?” the young sleuth inquired.
Kiyabu shook his head. “I never saw him again.”
Nancy asked Kiyabu if he had any suggestions as to where she might start in trying to solve the mystery. He smiled. “I understand you are a famous girl detective. I am afraid poor Kiyabu could offer no help.”
During the balance of the afternoon, Nancy walked round and round the Golden Pavilion, trying to figure out what its secret might be. There was no visible opening under the platform. Behind the latticework was concrete, studded with pieces of lava rock. Finally she gave up and went into the house. She made a tour of the mansion but nothing came to light which gave her any clue to the strange happenings.
“This mystery is going to be a real challenge,” she told Ned, as they strolled outdoors after dinner.
Dusk had fallen and Nancy said she would like to watch the Golden Pavilion for a while to see if the dancing ghost Kiyabu had seen might appear. But though they watched the building from a vantage point among the trees for two hours, nothing happened.
In the morning, as Nancy was pondering over what new approach she could take in solving the mystery, Dave said, “Some of the other Emerson fellows have challenged us to an outrigger race. Are you all game?”
Bess was the first to answer. “I don’t think our mixed group would stand a chance of winning. But if the rest of you want to try it, okay. Leave me out. You can have a crew of only five, anyway.”
“You’re both right and wrong,” Dave told her. “We should have only five in the canoe, that’s true, but we’re going to win!”
Bess, Hannah, Emma, and Kiyabu said they would come down to the beach to watch the race and root for their friends. At ten o’clock the Emerson group of paddlers appeared offshore. Nancy and George climbed into the Kaluakua’s outrigger canoe. Ned, Dave, and Burt followed, and each of them picked up a paddle. Ned sat in the stern to act as steersman.
The outrigger skimmed over the waves and soon was alongside the other canoe. Nancy and George knew four of the boys and were introduced to the fifth, who was the steersman. “Ready? Gol” he cried out.
The race was to be for half a mile along the beach to a buoy and back again. For a few minutes the two outriggers stayed side by side, then the one with the all-male crew began to pull ahead.
George scowled. “They mustn’t beat us!” she called out. “Let’s put on some steam!”
Everyone paddled harder, but they could not seem to catch up to their rivals. Finally Ned said, “I think our timing’s off. We need better rhythm. When I call out, ‘Dip—dip,’ all pull together!”
As soon as he did, the paddling became smoother. The first canoe made the turn and started back. Soon Ned’s group reached the half-mile mark and made a close turn, losing no time. Gradually the distance between the outriggers began to close.
Little by little, Ned urged his paddlers to dip faster. As the two canoes neared the finish line, George cried out that they must go even faster. With arms working so quickly that thev were a blur to the watchers on shore, the mixed group of paddlers finally nosed alongside the other canoe. The race ended in a photo finish!
The hot, panting contestants lay their paddles across the canoes and caught their breaths. In a few moments, however, they were calling back and forth to one another.
“Didn’t think you could do it!” said the steersman of the all-boy crew. “Congrats!”
The others laughed and Burt said, “All you need are girls who paddle like boys, and you’re set!” Then he praised Nancy and George for their work.
The five Emerson boys waved good-by and started back for the Halekulani. Nancy and her friends picked up their paddles and turned toward shore. They had not gone far when Nancy, gazing at the Golden Pavilion, gave a start.
“Look!” she exclaimed. “A woman wearing a long white muumuu just crawled from underneath the pavilion!”
“The ghostly hula dancer!” Nancy exclaimed
All eyes turned in the direction of the building. The woman was standing still and the watchers wondered if she were going to dance.
“But she couldn’t have crawled from beneath the pavilion,” George spoke up. “Kiyabu told me it has no opening.”
Nancy nodded. “And I didn’t find any. It must be well hidden.”
Suddenly the woman started running toward the house. A moment later she disappeared among some shrubbery.
“Oh, she’ll probably go inside!” Nancy cried out worriedly. “I’m sure the house is unlocked, and Bess and Hannah and Kiyabu and Emma aren’t looking that way!”
She and George tried to signal the group on shore about what was happening, but none of them seemed to understand and stood awaiting the canoeists.
“I wonder if she’s the ‘ghost’ Kiyabu saw,” Nancy mused, “and why she’s around in the daytime.”
The canoeists worked the paddles furiously as they came nearer and nearer the shore. Finally Dave and Burt jumped out and pulled the out-rigger up onto the beach. With a quick explanation to those on shore, the others started running toward the house.
The woman in the long white muumuu was not in sight, but Nancy felt sure this meant she had already entered the house. “We’ll surround the place, so that she can’t escape!” the young sleuth suggested.
The others spread out, planning to encircle the building completely. Nancy and Ned dashed up the front porch and burst through the entrance into the hall.
At that moment, from somewhere inside the house, came a bloodcurdling scream!
CHAPTER XI
A Tantalizing Gift
AS THE sounds of the scream faded, the watchers outside the house dashed in, some through the kitchen door, others through a side door to the sunroom. All ran to the front hall.
“Who was it?” Bess cried out. “And where is she?”
“We don’t know, but everybody look for her!” Nancy ordered.
Part of the group bounded up the front stairway while Kiyabu and Emma took the rear one. Nancy, Ned, George, and Burt searched the rooms on the first floor. They looked in closets, behind curtains and screens, and even underneath pieces of furniture, but there was no sign of the woman in the white muumuu. Disappointed, the whole group of searchers met once more in the front hall.
“How could that woman have escaped from the house?” Bess asked, puzzled. “We were watching every window and door.”
“Up to a point, we were,” Nancy replied. “But when the woman screamed, everyone who was outside came running in. It’s my guess she grasped the opportunity to go out a window at that time.”
“You mean,” George spoke up, “that she screamed on purpose to lure us inside so she could get away?”
“Possibly,” Nancy answered. “But also she may have been injured or frightened. I’m going to get my magnifying glass and see if I can find any clues.”
She hurried upstairs and from one of her suitcases took the magnifying glass which her father had given her for Christmas. It was a very fine one and Nancy called it her “Pride and Joy.”
When Nancy came downstairs again, Kiyabu followed her from place to place, his eyes lighting up with amazement as she made such amusing, but accurate remarks as: “Kiyabu, you really should ask Bess not to lean her elbows on the piano. It makes marks. And, Dave, when you dance, better not wear that tan sweater. It sheds.”
Nancy’s friends laughed and explained to Kiyabu that the young sleuth probably could have deduced this in the pitch dark. The caretaker shook his head in astonishment and remained silent. But he continued to follow Nancy around.
In the sunroom she stopped in front of a statue of a Japanese warrior. The figure was holding a samurai sword poised for action. Nancy examined the weapon carefully with her magnifying glass. Then she smiled.
“I believe the lady in the white muumuu screamed because she raked her head or arm on this sword.”
“You mean there’s blood on it?” Bess asked, horrified.
“No, but there are tiny bits of human flesh and hair.”
Bess shivered as Ned stepped to the window near the statue. “And she probably went out here.” He surveyed the flat, lava rock below.
Nancy nodded. The low, open window was well hidden by bushes, and the searchers were now convinced that the woman had escaped from the house this way. Since there were no fingerprints on the window sill, Nancy concluded that the woman had sat on it, whirled, and jumped down.
Nancy climbed out the window and Ned followed. With her magnifying glass, she examined the rocks carefully but could find no footprints. In the soft earth between a row of bushes, however, were small, light footprints.
“The woman doesn’t weigh much,” said Ned. “Right?”
“Right,” Nancy agreed. “And she runs gracefully. She’s probably a dancer. But all this doesn’t help to identify her. Is she the wife of one of the Double Scorps? Or is she some other intruder mixed up with the mystery of Kaluakua?”
Directly after luncheon, Kiyabu announced two callers from Honolulu. One was a police detective, Sergeant Hawk, and the other an executor from the bank which was handling old Mr. Sakamaki’s estate. He introduced himself as Henry Dutton. The men addressed most of their remarks to Nancy.
Sergeant Hawk spoke first. “Police Captain McGinnis of River Heights phoned Honolulu headquarters. He said your father had been in touch with him and suggested that someone from our department come to see you, Miss Drew. I understand that you have up-to-the-minute information on Mr. Sakamaki’s case, and that certain suspicious things have happened since you became interested in Kaluakua.”
Nancy gave a full account of all she knew in connection with the mystery, including the episode of the strange woman in the white muumuu. The detective, meanwhile, was busy making notes in a small book. From time to time he asked questions. Finally he put away his pencil and smiled at Nancy.
“This is a very fine, full report. The Honolulu police will start at once trying to locate the man who uses the names Jim O‘Keefe and Tim O’Malley. From your description, we should have no trouble locating him. Also, we shall try to find Ralph Emler.
“As to the woman wearing the white muumuu, it’s my deduction that she does not wear this except on occasions such as this morning. So it will be more difficult to locate her. Now I would like to examine the statue on which she scratched herself and also the footprints outside.”
Ned offered to take the detective to the two spots, so that Nancy might talk further with Mr. Dutton.
“Would you mind telling me something about the claimants to the Sakamaki estate?” Nancy asked the banker.
“I’ll be very happy to,” Mr. Dutton replied. “In fact, after I was informed by the police about your prowess as a detective, Miss Drew, I decided to tell you everything and ask your assistance.”
Nancy blushed a little. “Oh, I fail sometimes,” she said modestly. “But I’ll do everything I can to be of help.”
Mr. Dutton told her that the two mysterious claimants to the Sakamaki fortune were very reticent. Roy Chatley and his sister Janet Lee had had little to say, apparently relying on the various papers they had with them to prove their case.
“Do they have a lawyer?” Nancy asked.
“Not yet,” the executor replied. “But today they threatened to obtain one if we don’t accept their credentials pretty soon.”
“There’s doubt in your mind, then, about them?” inquired Nancy.
“Naturally. I knew elderly Mr. Sakamaki well. It seems strange that he never mentioned the California relatives.”
Mr. Dutton paused a moment, then said, “Since the estate is so large, it is certainly worth fighting for. So far the credentials of these California people seem to be in order, but I understand your father, Miss Drew, is going to stop in California on his way here and check everything.”
Nancy asked if there were any letters from old Mr. Sakamaki to Janet and Roy or their mother or grandmother among the papers of proof.
“No,” Mr. Dutton answered. “The brother and sister claim to have read a news account of the will in a California paper.”
“Where are they staying?” Nancy inquired. The executor replied that they were visiting friends named Pond in Honolulu. “I can’t remember the address exactly. I’ll send it to you,” he promised.
By this time the police detective had finished his work. He returned to the house and a short while later the two men were saying aloha to Nancy and her friends. Both insisted that Nancy get in touch with them at once if any trouble developed at Kaluakua.
Just before a late dinner that evening, Kiyabu came into the sunroom where the guests were seated. He presented Nancy with a long box which evidently contained flowers. The caretaker waited as she opened it. Inside was a deep purple, almost black, sweet-smelling lei.
“How very unusual!” Nancy remarked, as she picked up the florist’s envelope containing a card. Pulling it out, she read aloud, “From the Armstrongs.”
“Why, isn’t this sweet of them!” she exclaimed.
Nancy lifted the black lei from the box and started to put it around her neck. Seeing this, Kiyabu snatched it from her hands.
“Oh, please! No, no! Do not wear the lei!” he begged. “This is—this is a funeral offering!”
Nancy was mystified. Certainly the Armstrongs were familiar with the customs of the Islands. Why would they send her such a lei? Rising from her chair, she went at once to the telephone and called Mrs. Armstrong.
“A lei?” the woman repeated after Nancy. “Mr. Armstrong and I did not send it to you.”
Nancy’s heart skipped a beat and she stood lost in thought. Was the lei a threat from some unknown person?
CHAPTER XII
The Lei Maker’s Hint
BEFORE rejoining the group in the living room, Nancy decided to call the florist where the lei apparently had been purchased.
Fortunately, the shop was still open. But upon looking at their records, the proprietor declared that he had not filled such an order.
“Is it true that a lei made of deep purple flowers is used as a funeral piece?” Nancy inquired.
The florist said that this was a custom among some people. He himself did not make such pieces, and he doubted that any florist would suggest one.
Nancy thanked the man for the information and put down the phone. More perplexed than ever, she returned to the group in the sunroom. “The lei didn’t come from that florist,” she told her friends. “It must have been made privately.” Then she explained what she had learned.
George, curious to know more about the flowers, had picked up the lei and was examining it. “This is odd,” she said suddenly. “Scattered here and there among the flowers are sharp-pointed, brownish-colored tacks.”
As she pointed them out, Bess exclaimed, “And wherever the tacks are, the flowers are wilting!”
Nancy gazed at the mysterious lei. “Put it back in the box, George. I think those tacks have been dipped in poison.”
“What!” Ned cried out, springing forward.
Nancy explained that she thought the sender had hoped she would wear the lei, be pricked, and poisoned.
“Oh, how horrible!” Bess exclaimed. “This mystery is getting to be dreadful.”
Everyone was disturbed by the incident, and Ned remarked that the sender must indeed be desperate to resort to such measures. “But what I can’t understand is why should he or she want to harm you personally?”
George answered for Nancy. “To get you away from here.”
At this moment Hannah Gruen walked into the room. She had heard none of the conversation and everyone decided not to worry her. George quickly whisked the box of flowers behind her chair. The Drews’ housekeeper did not notice her action. She announced that dinner was ready and requested that they come to the dining room.
Ned tarried behind and hid the box in the hall closet. He would bury the poisonous lei later, or give it to the police if they wanted it.
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.