The Thirteenth Pearl

by Carolyn G. Keene

  Nancy grinned as Mrs. Mise got back under her dryer. It was not until both had their hair combed out that they felt free to talk.

  Suddenly Mrs. Mise said, “Nancy, didn’t you mention a Mrs. Rossmeyer from your country who might be in Japan?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  Mrs. Mise replied, “I just overheard the girl at the desk say that Mrs. Rossmeyer had called to cancel her appointment.”

  The information excited Nancy. “Mrs. Mise, please ask the girl if Mrs. Rossmeyer is staying at this hotel.”

  The Japanese woman smiled and went to the desk. When she returned, her answer was, “Yes, Mrs. Rossmeyer is staying here.”

  “I must see her at once!” Nancy exclaimed.

  “I will wait here while you hurry upstairs and speak to the room clerk.” Mrs. Mise said. “Find out which room the woman is staying in.”

  Nancy nodded and went up the steps to the lobby. After a short wait, she was able to get the clerk’s attention.

  “I would like to call on Mrs. Rossmeyer,” Nancy said.

  CHAPTER XII

  Suspicious Taxi Driver

  “I’M SORRY, miss, but Mrs. Rossmeyer checked out a few minutes ago,” the clerk said.

  “Did she say where she was going?” Nancy asked.

  He shook his head. “Is it important that you find out?”

  “Yes, it is. Very important. Is there any way I can get this information?”

  The obliging clerk asked his assistant to take over, then came from behind the desk. With Nancy at his side, he inquired at the travel agency in the hotel and asked several porters and the maid who took care of Mrs. Rossmeyer’s room.

  His efforts were in vain, until a porter, just coming in from outside, told him that the socialite had departed for the airport.

  Nancy thanked the kind clerk, then telephoned the Mise home. The maid answered and said that both Mr. Drew and Mr. Mise had gone into the city on business.

  “Then may I speak to the man who is guarding the house?” Nancy asked.

  When Mr. Natuske came to the phone, she told him what she had learned about Mrs. Rossmeyer’s departure.

  “Do you know where Mr. Mise has gone?” Nancy asked him.

  “Yes, to his bank.”

  Nancy requested its name, then made a call. She was able to catch Mr. Mise and told him about Mrs. Rossmeyer. “Could you get in touch with the airport authorities and find out where she’s going?”

  Mr. Mise promised to do so at once.

  Nancy returned to the beauty salon. She and Mrs. Mise paid their bills, then left the hotel. On the way home, Nancy told her companion what she had learned from the clerk, and that Mr. Mise would follow the trail.

  When they arrived at the house, Nancy went to talk further with Mr. Natsuke. She asked him if anything had happened since she had spoken to him on the phone.

  “Yes,” he replied. “I saw a man sneaking around the house and taking pictures of both the first and second floors. Unfortunately, I could not get to him in time. He spotted me and ran like a deer.”

  “What did he look like?” Nancy asked.

  “He was Japanese, of medium height, and wore a dark business suit. I got in touch with headquarters and reported it.”

  Nancy remarked that the people who had been spying on the Mise property now obviously realized that it was being guarded. “I hope none of them will return!”

  Mr. Natsuke agreed whole-heartedly.

  Nancy had just entered the house when Mr. Mise returned. Eagerly she asked him if he had any luck chasing Mrs. Rossmeyer.

  “Yes and no,” the Japanese replied. “I was told by the airline that she and her maid departed for Rome. But just before leaving, there had been a commotion in the terminal building.”

  “A commotion?” Nancy asked in surprise. Mr. Mise nodded. “When the police rushed up, they learned that Mrs. Rossmeyer had been robbed of two strands of pearls and a valuable ruby and pearl pin!”

  “How dreadful!” Nancy exclaimed, then asked if the authorities had obtained any clues to the thieves.

  “Perhaps,” Mr. Mise replied. “Mrs. Rossmeyer said she suspected the driver of a private taxi that had picked her up at the hotel. She had used him several times before while in Japan and had always found him honest. But now he is a prime suspect because he was the only person near her during the trip to the airport. He took her bags and assisted her from the cab. The theft could have happened then.”

  “Did the police get his name and address?” Nancy asked.

  Mr. Mise said Mrs. Rossmeyer had given it to them. “He is Joe Slate, a Japanese, although he was born in the United States. He drives Americans who speak only English.”

  “Did the authorities get in touch with him?”

  “They called his home, and there was no answer. When they went to his house, they found that he had disappeared. He lived in a furnished apartment, and all his belongings were gone.”

  Nancy wondered if he could be a member of the Caputti gang, since it specialized in jewel robberies. She asked Mr. Mise if immigration and customs officials had been consulted.

  “I do not know, but I will contact both of them,” he said.

  Mr. Mise spent some time on the telephone. When he returned to Nancy, he said, “Neither immigration nor customs has any record of a Joe Slate.”

  Nancy wondered if any fellow cabbies might have some information on him and suggested that Mr. Mise speak to the police again and ask for an inquiry of all taxi drivers in Toyko, public or private.

  An hour later came a preliminary report. No one who had been questioned so far had any idea where Joe Slate had gone.

  “He slipped through our fingers,” Nancy said, disappointed.

  “Well, there are still a few drivers who have not been questioned yet. And a policeman is stationed across the street from Slate’s apartment in case he should come back. If a clue should turn up, the police will call us.”

  Just then Mr. Drew arrived. He had visited another client, then called on a Tokyo lawyer who was an acquaintance of his. “I did some sleuthing of my own,” he said, “and asked this man about Rosina Caputti.”

  “Oh, good!” Nancy said. “What did he tell you?”

  “She’s still in jail because the passport she was using had been stolen from a woman she resembles. Fortunately, it’s now in the possession of its owner. But Mrs. Caputti still refuses to tell why she was using a false passport to enter the country.”

  “That’s no news,” Nancy said. “The news is coming now,” Mr. Drew said with a smile. “Mrs. Caputti had a caller in jail. He gave his name as Joe Slate.”

  “Joe Slate!” Nancy exclaimed. “That’s the name of Mrs. Rossmeyer’s private taxi driver who is suspected of having robbed her!”

  She told her father the story and asked if he had obtained a description of Joe Slate.

  “He’s Japanese, medium height, and speaks English without an accent,” Mr. Drew replied.

  “He sounds like the same man who drove Mrs. Rossmeyer!” Nancy declared.

  Mr. Drew frowned. “This is very puzzling. You say Slate has disappeared? He had told Mrs. Caputti that he would get a lawyer for her. So far no one has come.”

  “How long ago did he visit her?”

  “I believe just yesterday.”

  At this moment Mrs. Mise walked up to them. “I do not mean to interrupt,” she said politely, “but we must dress for the reception if we do not wish to be late.”

  Nancy and her father excused themselves and went off to change their clothes. When they appeared a little while later, Mr. Drew declared that he had never seen his daughter look prettier.

  Nancy’s eyes twinkled. “You mean I might have made a good Japanese girl?”

  He grinned back at her. “You certainly would have made a good Japanese detective!”

  Mr. and Mrs. Mise looked charming in their outfits, but Nancy could not help but think how distinguished her father looked in his white, formal dress.

 
“The ceremony will be attended only by close members of the family,” Mrs. Mise told Nancy on the way to the hotel where the reception was to be held.

  “I’m sorry,” Nancy said. “I would have loved to have seen it.”

  “I can tell you a little about the ceremony,” Mrs. Mise said. “Most weddings take place, as we Japanese say, ‘before the Shinto Gods.’ Sometimes this is only a scroll with the name of a God hanging in front of the couple as they exchange their vows, but mostly a Shinto priest presides. He must exorcise any evil influences that the couple might be exposed to, and does this with a shake of the streamers attached to a wand.”

  “And then they drink the ceremonial drink?” Nancy asked. “I’ve heard about that.”

  “Yes. That is the most important part of the ceremony. Both bride and groom must take the ritual drink, three times, then another three times, then another—nine times in all. After this the bride removes her headgear, signifying that she has left her family. There are no rings or other tokens exchanged at a Japanese wedding.”

  “I heard that in the olden days the groom was not allowed to see the bride’s face until after the wedding,” Nancy spoke up.

  “That is true. It was feared that if he saw it, he might not wish to marry her. The removal of the hat is still the symbolic gesture of showing her face.”

  When they reached the reception, they found the newlyweds seated at the head of a long table, while the bride’s and groom’s families were on opposite sides.

  “You see the elderly man next to the couple?” Mrs. Mise said to Nancy. “He is the sponsor of the wedding. In this case, he is a senior member of the accounting firm for whom the groom works.”

  Just then the man stood up and spoke in Japanese. “He’s presenting the couple to the party,” Mrs. Mise explained. “He tells about their families and their achievements.”

  After the speech, various guests sang short songs, some of which, Mrs. Mise said, were from plays.

  As the festivities proceeded, guests mingled and spoke to the young couple and their parents. Nancy noticed the many jewels the women were wearing. There were not only pearls in abundance, but diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and semiprecious stones. All of them were gorgeous. Most of the women wore fancy head-combs.

  Nancy thought, “What a wonderful place for a thief like Benny the Slippery One to operate!”

  After wishing the bride and groom great happiness in their married life and thanking the newlyweds’ parents for inviting them, the Drews followed the Mises toward a table with dainty refreshments.

  They had been there only a few minutes when one of the hotel’s messenger boys walked up to Mr. Mise. He handed him a letter and spoke in Japanese.

  After he left, Mr. Mise opened the envelope. Inside was another one addressed to Nancy. A bit nervous about what its contents might be, she took out the message. It read:4 + 9 = 13. Your time is getting short!

  CHAPTER XIII

  The Party Thief

  MRS. MISE was very upset, and she was on the verge of tears. “This is so bad,” she said, “so very bad.”

  Nancy patted the woman’s hands. “Let’s try not to take this warning too seriously. I think that whoever has been writing these notes is a coward. If not, he would have done something more drastic by this time.”

  Mr. Drew knew that Nancy was trying to make their hostess feel better. He doubted, however, that Nancy could take the matter so lightly.

  He was right. Secretly Nancy was greatly worried. She had a feeling that her adversary desperately wanted to frighten her. Nancy asked Mr. Mise if he would try to find the porter who had brought him the note. “I’ll go with you,” she added.

  Together they hurried to the lobby of the hotel and walked past the porters who were seated on a bench in a little niche.

  Mr. Mise shook his head. “I don’t see the young man here,” he declared. “Maybe he was from another hotel.”

  Nancy asked, “Did he wear the same uniform as these men?”

  Mr. Mise nodded. “That means he could not be from another hotel.” Suddenly a smile crossed his face. “Here he comes now!”

  A young man was walking out of an elevator. Mr. Mise and Nancy went up to him, and the two Japanese conversed for a few minutes. Then Mr. Mise translated for Nancy.

  “The porter says that a little boy arrived with the note, then left the hotel. He does not know whether the child came from the street or whether he is staying at the hotel.”

  “In other words, someone probably gave him a tip to bring the note to the porter, so the real sender couldn’t be traced,” Nancy reasoned. “Very clever.”

  “Whom do you suspect the sender is?” Mr. Mise asked.

  “Benny Caputti. He either followed us or happened to see us here. If the latter is true, he was in the hotel. In either case, he might still be here!”

  “And you would like to find him,” Mr. Mise said with a smile. “But it is a large place, and you cannot search the rooms!”

  “I know,” Nancy said. “But Benny would be where the jewelry is—”

  “Which is at the reception!” Mr. Mise completed her sentence.

  “Right. Let’s go back there and tell Dad.”

  When Mr. Drew and Mrs. Mise heard about what had happened, they offered to look around for a man who matched Caputti’s description. Nancy and her father went off together. The Mises walked in a different direction.

  Presently Nancy noticed a short, black-haired man who, although he was not dressed in a gray suit, was obviously American or European like Caputti. He was walking quietly among the guests, when Mr. Mise appeared on the scene and took her arm.

  “Nancy, I would like you to meet Mr. Shopwell. He is president of an American bank in Tokyo.”

  Nancy managed to hide her surprise and shook hands with Mr. Shopwell. How glad she was that she had said nothingl

  The Drews and Mr. Mise spoke to the bank president for a while, then continued their sleuthing. Nancy saw another man some distance away who was dressed in black dinner clothes and fit the description of Benny the Slippery One. Suddenly she stopped short and grabbed her father’s arm.

  “Look!” she said. “That man! He’s snipping a pearl necklace right off that woman’s neck!”

  The young detective and her father made their way through the crowd to close in on the thief, who had slipped the necklace into his right pants pocket.

  He was walking away from the woman with quick steps. When Nancy and her father caught up to him, they each took an arm.

  “We saw you steal that woman’s necklace!” Nancy accused him.

  “That is a lie!” the thief cried out.

  “You can’t deny it,” Mr. Drew said. “The necklace is in your right pants pocket!”

  The suspect stepped a few paces away. “You are wrong!” he insisted, still backing up further. “You are wrong. I’ll prove it to you!” With that he turned the pocket inside out.

  Several coins fell to the floor, but that was all. The pearl necklace was not among them!

  Nancy and her father were stunned. It seemed like the work of a magician. The Drews had to agree that the necklace was indeed not there and apologized as the man angrily pushed the pocket back into its place. Then he picked up his coins from the floor.

  “But I saw you take it!” Nancy insisted. “I’m sure I saw you take it. But if I was wrong, I’m sorry.”

  “He’s slipping a pearl necklace off that woman’s neck!” Nancy said.

  The man nodded and turned to leave. The Drews walked away quickly before there might be a scene.

  “I can’t understand what happened,” Mr. Drew said tensely. “We both watched him take that necklace!”

  “I have an idea,” Nancy spoke up. “Maybe there was a hole in his pocket, the pearls fell to the floor, and were picked up by an accomplice! Remember, there were a few people between us and that man, so we might not have seen the necklace drop.”

  “You’re right,” her father agreed. “Let
’s go back to the spot and see what we can learn.”

  By the time they reached the area where the theft had occurred, the owner had discovered her loss. She was Japanese, and began exclaiming in bitter tones in her language. The Drews did not understand what she was saying but noticed another guest hurrying up to her. She was an American who apparently understood some Japanese. However, she spoke to the woman in English. “I saw a necklace on the floor a few minutes ago. A Japanese woman picked it up, slipped it into her purse, and walked off. I assumed it belonged to her.”

  Mr. Drew whispered to his daughter, “You were right about the hole in the thief’s pocket. And the woman who picked up the necklace was indeed an accomplice.”

  Nancy was annoyed at herself for letting the thief slip through her fingers so easily. Why had she not looked for a hole in his pocket when he turned it inside out?

  She spoke to the guest who had watched the person pick up the pearls from the floor. “Would you recognize her if you saw her again?”

  “I believe I would,” the American replied. “She wore a very pretty kimono and carried a matching handbag.”

  “Would you mind pointing her out to me?”

  When the woman hesitated, Nancy added, “I’m trying to catch a thief, and I believe he’s at this party.”

  The American consented, while Mr. Drew asked other guests if any of their jewelry was missing. Suddenly there was a hubbub as one woman after another discovered that their gems had been stolen. Bracelets, necklaces, pins, and hair ornaments were gone. A valuable ruby and diamond necklace was reported by a friend of the bride to have been stolen.

  Mr. Mise notified the police, and a number of officers arrived in a few minutes to search for the thief. All guests cooperated and permitted themselves to be searched.

  A young officer asked Nancy for her purse. She smiled.

  “I don’t have one with me,” she said. “I put my comb into the bottom of my kimono sleeve as I understand Japanese women often do.”