The Thirteenth Pearl

by Carolyn G. Keene

  “No,” he said, “and we have not heard from her. However, I will be glad to call you if Mrs. Rossmeyer should visit us.”

  The Drews thanked the man and gave him the Mises’ phone number, then joined the rest of the group for the return flight.

  The trip back to Tokyo was uneventful, and they reached the Mises’ home in the evening. On the doorstep lay a note addressed to Nancy Drew.

  She opened it quickly and held her breath. The familiar 4 + 9 = 13 equation was the only message. Nancy showed it to the others, then said to her father, “It’s not fair to put the Mises in any danger. I think you and I should leave here.”

  “You mean, go back to the United States?” her father asked.

  Before Nancy could reply, both Mr. and Mrs. Mise spoke up. They insisted that their guests stay with them. They were not afraid, and besides, they felt that they could give the Drews some protection.

  “Anyway, the person who is sending these threats may forget the whole affair if we do not take him seriously. Meanwhile, I suggest that we get away from the house for more sightseeing,” Mr. Mise said.

  Nancy and her father did not feel this way about it, but did not object to the idea.

  “What do you recommend?” Mr. Drew asked.

  “A trip to the famous Nara Park,” Mr. Mise said. “It is a lovely place to visit and is full of interesting things to see.”

  Mrs. Mise smiled. “Nancy, you will love the little deer that come out of the woods and greet tourists.”

  “Isn’t that quite a distance from here?” Nancy inquired.

  “Yes, about an hour’s flight,” Mr. Mise replied. “I will make the reservations right away.”

  Next morning they drove to the airport and departed for Nara. The town had been Japan’s capital in the 8th century, preceding Kyoto and Tokyo. The visitors enjoyed the sights before continuing to the famous park, which was a spectacularly beautiful place. People crowded the entrance and chuckled at the small deer that clustered around them, bowing their heads in welcome.

  “Aren’t they darling?” Nancy exclaimed. She patted several of the animals, who were very friendly, then followed the Mises on a walk along the paths that meandered among the trees.

  They finally came to an enormous statue of Buddha and gazed at it in awe. The benign figure had its right hand raised as if blessing a congregation. Mr. Drew remarked that it must weigh an enormous amount.

  “Five hundred tons,” Mr. Mise said. “The total height is seventy-one and a half feet. The Buddha itself is fifty-three feet tall, and the face alone is sixteen feet in height.”

  “That really is tremendous,” Nancy remarked. “When was it cast?”

  “In the year seven hundred and forty-nine A.D. It contains several metals, but the outside is bronze.”

  Nancy asked her host about the main tenets of Buddhism and its great teacher Guatama Buddha.

  Mrs. Mise replied, “That suffering is inherent in life, and that one can be liberated from it by mental and moral self-purification.”

  Nancy thought this over, then said, “If a person could do that, he would be perfect.”

  “That is true,” Mr. Mise said. “Many Buddhist priests try to attain this goal and deny themselves most of the pleasures of life. We, who are not priests, also try to accept pain and to live moral and upright lives.”

  Nancy smiled. “You are such kind, helpful people. I am sure you’re succeeding beautifully.”

  The couple seemed embarrassed by the compliment and changed the subject. Nancy, meanwhile, had noticed how many people were taking photographs. Most of them were Japanese, but there was a sprinkling of visitors from countries all over the world.

  Suddenly she saw a man who was snapping her picture. She stared at him and realized that he was short, had black hair, a hard face, and was wearing a gray suit. He looked to be of Italian descent. Could he possibly be Benny the Slippery One Caputti?

  When the man became aware that she had spotted him, he turned and hurried around the statue. Nancy took off after him, her camera ready to snap his picture.

  By the time she reached the rear of the great monument, the fugitive was running away at a fast clip. Nancy pursued him and was closing the distance between them, when suddenly a guard stepped up and stopped her.

  “Please! You must not pursue an innocent man in this holy park!” he said.

  Nancy was amazed. What made the guard think that the fleeing man was innocent? Certainly the fact that he was racing away made him highly suspect!

  She said, “I don’t think that man is innocent. I believe he’s wanted by the police!”

  Suddenly Nancy realized that the guard had spoken English without the slightest accent, and that he did not look Japanese. Was he a friend of Caputti’s and had he borrowed or stolen the Japanese guard’s uniform?

  The girl decided to pay no attention to him and started to hurry off. He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Don’t you dare run away!” he hissed at her.

  CHAPTER VIII

  Nancy Accused

  NANCY had to make up her mind in a hurry whether to try to get away from the man or turn the tables on him and prove that he had helped a criminal escape.

  In the distance she saw her father running in her direction. He had called another guard, who was hurrying along with him.

  By the time Nancy’s adversary realized that he was about to be caught, he let go of her and started to run. But the girl grabbed his wrist and held on tightly. Tug as he would, he could not get away before Mr. Drew and the other guard had caught up.

  “What’s going on here?” the lawyer demanded.

  Before the suspect could answer, the guard who had accompanied Mr. Drew spoke up. “This man is not one of us!” He turned to the impostor. “Who are you?”

  The man did not reply, so Nancy told her story and her suspicion that he was in league with a man who was wanted by numerous United States authorities.

  “I will take him into custody and hold him until he talks,” the legitimate guard declared.

  He asked the impostor where he had obtained the uniform. The suspect stared defiantly, but said nothing.

  Nancy tried to catch him by surprise. “Where did Benny Caputti go?” she asked him.

  The prisoner jumped and blinked, indicating that the girl had touched upon a vital subject. Still he did not talk.

  “It is against the law to impersonate an officer,” the guard declared. “You will have to come with me!”

  Suddenly the suspect cried out, “Why don’t you arrest this girl? She molested a visitor, trying to photograph him against his will. See her camera? She was bothering people with it.”

  Nancy and her father were startled, but Nancy said calmly, “He’s trying to twist things around. The fellow who fled, and who I believe is in league with this man, took my photograph. That’s why I chased him.”

  The guard nodded and handcuffed the prisoner. “I understand. Just give me your names and addresses in case the police want to contact you.”

  The Drews did, but before leaving Nara, they went to headquarters and told the full story. They suggested that the chief get in touch with United States Authorities regarding Caputti and the suspect, who evidently acted as a bodyguard for Benny the Slippery One. The officer thanked them for the information and promised to look into the matter.

  When the Drews and the Mises reached home late next afternoon, they found Haruka, the delightful maid whom the family employed, had arranged a special dinner. The reason was that it was Mrs. Mise’s birthday!

  Haruka had made paper bird and flower decorations using the famous Oregami method. She had hung them in various parts of the dining room. On the table she had put live flowers of various colors interspersed with green vines. In one corner of the room, the maid had placed a huge jardiniere and filled it with lavender wisteria that gently drooped over the sides.

  Haruka served a delicious dinner that included strips of fish with rice and fried vegetables. Warm sake, a wine made
from rice, was served with the meal. Dessert consisted of a flat piece of plain cake in which the center was scooped out and had been replaced with half of a large, ripe peach. Over it she had poured a hot, pink peach sauce, and she had decorated around the edge with scattered peach leaves.

  Everyone enjoyed the delicious meal, and they each proposed toasts to wish Mrs. Mise a happy birthday. When dinner was over, Haruka brought in a large cage with hundreds of gorgeous butterflies in it. She announced that this was her personal gift to Mrs. Mise. She had recently been on vacation and had collected them herself.

  “They are beautiful!” Mrs. Mise told her, then translated for the Drews.

  “You know my love for the colors blue and yellow,” she continued. “How exquisite these butterflies are.”

  Everyone stood up to look at the fluttering creatures. Nancy liked a particular one that had various shades of blue from light to dark from its center to the wing tips. Mr. Drew’s favorite was a reddish brown butterfly with black spots on its wings.

  After the excitement about the gift had subsided, Mr. Mise gave his wife his presento. It was a high comb studded with pearls for his wife’s hair.

  “How beautiful!” Nancy exclaimed.

  “My husband is a most kind man,” Mrs. Mise said. “This is a lovely way to remind me of this birthday.”

  Nancy and her father were sorry they had not known about the special occasion and did not have a gift for their hostess.

  Suddenly Nancy laughed. “Dad,” she said, “we brought presentos for the Mises from the United States. In all the excitement about villains we completely forgot!” She asked to be excused, went upstairs, and got the gifts from her suitcase. She brought them down and handed a package to each of their friends.

  Mr. Mise’s presento was a new type of fountain pen. After thanking the Drews, he said that he was delighted to own one of them, since they had not yet reached the Japanese market.

  His wife’s gift was a dainty lace handkerchief. It had been made by a nun who was an expert at needlecraft. She had learned the art in Belgium. Mrs. Mise was thrilled with the presento.

  Further conversation was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. Haruka answered and said that it was for Mr. Drew and Miss Nancy. When Mr. Drew said hello, there was a click on the line, and it went dead.

  Nancy and her father looked at each other. Was this a hoax, or was Mr. Caputti trying to find out whether the Drews had returned to the Mises’ home?

  The lawyer asked Haruka if she had any idea from where the call had come.

  “It was from overseas, sir,” she said. “I am so sorry you were interrupted.”

  A few minutes went by and the phone rang again. This time Mr. Drew answered it himself.

  “Is this the Mise home?” a man asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Am I speaking with Mr. Drew?”

  “Yes.”

  “This is Professor Joji Mise in River Heights,” the caller identified himself.

  “I’m glad to hear from you,” Mr. Drew said. “Did you just call a few minutes ago and were interrupted?”

  “Yes. I had to try again. Unfortunately, I have bad news for you.”

  Nancy, who stood close enough to the receiver to overhear the conversation, felt a chill going down her spine. Instantly she thought of Mr. Moto and Mr. Kikichi.

  “I have just learned,” the professor went on, “that burglars broke into Mr. Moto’s shop. Chief McGinnis asked me to tell you about it. They took everything in the place.”

  “That is, indeed, bad news,” Mr. Drew remarked. “What about Mr. Kikichi?”

  “He was beaten unconscious and taken to the hospital. But he is all right now.”

  “Are there any clues to the burglars?” Mr. Drew inquired.

  “Yes, the police think that Benny Caputti and his wife were responsible. Further investigation revealed that they might have fled to Japan. We thought you should know this.”

  Mr. Drew told the professor of their trip to Nara. “My daughter believes she spotted Mr. Caputti but was stopped from pursuing him by a fake guard.” He gave the details of the event, and the professor suggested that the Drews try to locate the couple.

  “We’ll do our best,” Mr. Drew promised. “I suppose the River Heights police are working on this, but we may find some good leads here.”

  “Fine. I will report this to the chief. And now I would like to say hello to my brother and his wife.”

  As Mr. Drew said good-by to the professor and handed the phone to Mr. Mise, Nancy felt frustrated. Not only had they failed to find Mr. Moto, but now all his property had been stolen! While she and her father discussed the case, she did not know that a good lead would turn up soon. The Mises joined them a few minutes later, but their conversation was interrupted again when the phone rang a third time.

  The call was for Nancy. It proved to be from the chief of the Tokyo police force. “We are holding a woman here who has been using a phony passport,” the officer told her. “She resembles the description you gave us of a suspect the other day. Is it possible for you to come here to identify her?”

  CHAPTER IX

  Identification

  WHEN Nancy arrived at Tokyo police headquarters with her father and Mr. Mise, she was taken at once to a brightly lighted room. In the center of it stood a tall, three-sectioned Japanese screen. The young sleuth was told to sit down in a comfortable chair behind it.

  To her amazement, she found that she could look through the screen but was not visible to anyone on the other side.

  The chief explained that this was a rather recent invention. “Similar screens are being installed in many homes, where it is desirable for the owner to be able to look outside but not to be observed by curious passersby.

  He told the young sleuth that presently a woman would walk across the room. Nancy was to observe her carefully and decide if she could identify her.

  “She will not give us her name or tell us where she is from,” the officer explained. “But she matched the description of the woman you gave us the other day in connection with Mrs. Rossmeyer, so we thought you might be able to help us.”

  He left the room and she waited eagerly for the suspect to appear. In a few minutes, the door opened again. A woman came in, looking around for anyone watching her. Seeing no one, she walked toward a door on the other side. Nancy had no doubt in her mind that she was indeed Rosina Caputti!

  The young detective had a wild desire to dash from behind the screen, confront Rosina, and try to get a confession from her. She wanted to ask questions about Mr. Moto and World Wide Gems. However, she knew that this would be hopeless. Mrs. Caputti would deny everything and refuse to talk.

  The woman reached the far side of the room and was about to go out the door, when she apparently changed her mind. With an evil glint in her eyes, she made a beeline for the screen behind which Nancy was sitting. The young sleuth wondered what to do. Should she play a cat and mouse game and dodge to the front of the screen? She had only a fraction of a second to decide. Having identified Mrs. Caputti, she decided to stand her ground.

  The next instant, the suspect hurried around to the back. She stopped short and stared at Nancy balefully.

  “You little vixen!” she shouted, grabbing the girl by her hair.

  Nancy wrenched the woman’s hands away and exclaimed, “Leave me alone! It won’t do you any good to harm me. You’re Rosina Caputti, and you’re likely to stay in prison!”

  The commotion brought the chief back into the room. “What is going on?” he shouted.

  Mrs. Caputti said, “This little busybody was spying on me. I won’t have it! Why did you tell me to walk across this room?”

  Nancy answered the question. “So I would be able to identify you.”

  At this Mrs. Caputti screamed and tried to get her hands on the girl again. “I never saw you in my life!”

  Nancy, who was athletic and strong, pinned the woman’s hands behind her, while the chief called out in
Japanese, apparently for help. Another officer appeared instantly. The two men wrestled with Mrs. Caputti, who was fighting them like a tigress. Finally she was hustled away, and the chief returned to Nancy.

  “The woman is definitely Rosina Caputti,” the girl told him.

  “Thank you very much,” he said, bowing. “I did not know she would act like this, but I am glad you were able to identify her.”

  “You little vixen!” the woman shouted at Nancy.

  He and Nancy walked into his office, where Mr. Drew and Mr. Mise were waiting.

  Nancy’s father asked, “What was all that screaming about?”

  The young detective gave him the details, then smiled. “I’m glad the chief rescued me. Mrs. Caputti is much larger than I. I’m not sure I would have won the battle!”

  The officer grinned. “I would say you are very strong and agile yourself.”

  Nancy and her father thanked the chief and said good-by. He replied, “Sayonara.”

  When the three reached home, they found Mrs. Mise upset. Nancy sensed this at once and asked, “While we were gone, did something unpleasant happen?”

  Mrs. Mise nodded and replied, “A man, who would not give his name, phoned several times asking for Mr. Drew and Nancy Drew.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  Mrs. Mise smiled. “I said that no one by that name was here. And you were not. You were at the police station.”

  Her husband said that was very clever, and she went on, “The man made threatening remarks, but would not say who he was. Finally he became angry and said, ‘I will not phone again, but tell Mr. Drew and that daughter of his that four plus nine still equals thirteen!’ ”

  “It sounds as if he is getting desperate,” Mr. Drew commented.

  “And scared,” Nancy added. “Maybe this unknown speaker planned to steal the thirteenth pearl, but somebody else got there first. He thinks we know who it was and is trying to find out.”

  Mr. Drew thought this was a shrewd guess. “Perhaps he’s one of the underworld characters, but is being double-crossed by another member.”

  Nancy knew Mrs. Mise was convinced that she and her father were in grave danger, but their hostess did not express her thoughts aloud. Instead, she said, “I think this evening we should forget all about this mystery and have a good time. If my husband wishes to do so, I suggest that we all go to the Kabuki Theater.”