The Secret of the Golden Pavillion Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER I - A Moonlight Burglar

  CHAPTER II - A Suspect

  CHAPTER III - Strange Symbols

  CHAPTER IV - A Rewarding Chase

  CHAPTER V - Double Worries

  CHAPTER VI - A Disastrous Dance

  CHAPTER VII - A Studio Accident

  CHAPTER VIII - The Surprising Clue

  CHAPTER IX - The Golden Pavilion

  CHAPTER X - A Daytime Ghost

  CHAPTER XI - A Tantalizing Gift

  CHAPTER XII - The Lei Maker’s Hint

  CHAPTER XIII - A Valuable Discovery

  CHAPTER XIV - Meeting a Shark

  CHAPTER XV - The Silversword’s Secret

  CHAPTER XVI - The Specter

  CHAPTER XVII - Volcano Birds

  CHAPTER XVIII - An Explosion

  CHAPTER XIX - A King’s Treasure

  CHAPTER XX - Aloha!

  Copyright © 1987, 1959 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

  Published by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., a member of The Pumam & Grosset Group, New York. Published simultaneously in Canada. S.A. NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES® is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-07737-5

  2008 Printing

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  Nancy and Ned tried to escape, but it was too late

  CHAPTER I

  A Moonlight Burglar

  NANCY DREW, her lovely blue eyes sparkling with excitement, stared in fascination from the cabin of a private helicopter. The craft was headed for the River Heights airport, a few miles beyond. Below, the rooftops of the town stood out clearly in the moonlight.

  “We’re almost home, Togo,” Nancy said to the terrier beside her. Fastened to his collar was a blue ribbon that he had won at a dog show in a city some distance away.

  Leaning forward, Nancy asked the pilot, “Could we please go lower? I’d love to see my house from the air.”

  The young man shook his head. “It’s against regulations. Maybe these will help you.” He handed her a pair of binoculars.

  Nancy adjusted them and in a moment her home came into focus. “I see it!” she exclaimed. But a second later she suddenly gasped in alarm, “A man’s climbing into a dormer window on our third floor!”

  “You mean a burglar?” the pilot asked.

  “Yes. All our windows on the first and second floors are wired for a burglar alarm. The thief must know that. Oh, dear, he may harm Hannah! ”

  Quickly Nancy explained that Hannah Gruen was the Drews’ housekeeper and that Mrs. Gruen had been like a mother to her since she was a little girl and had lost her own mother.

  “Radio the airport tower, please!” Nancy urged. “Tell them what’s happening and ask them to page my father. He’s waiting for me. He can contact the police to catch that burglar!”

  Instantly the pilot made the call. Then, at Nancy’s request, he began to circle above the Drew home. Less than five minutes later, they saw the burglar step out backward from the dormer window onto a long, slender ladder. In his hand was a brief case.

  “It must be one of Dad’s,” Nancy told the pilot.

  The intruder made a nimble descent. Then he collapsed the ladder into a small bundle, picked it up, and disappeared among the trees that lined the Drew driveway.

  “Please relay all this to the tower,” Nancy begged.

  The pilot followed her request, then said, “I’d better get to the field pronto.”

  His landing was cleared and soon the helicopter was standing on the concrete runway. Nancy tucked Togo under one arm and her purse under the other, while the pilot grabbed her week-end bag. Then the two hurried to the gate.

  At the exit stood a taxi driver whom Nancy knew well. “Good evening, Joe,” she said.

  “ ’Evening,” he replied. “Your father asked me to drive you home. I hear you’ve been having some excitement at your house. Mr. Drew said something about his fetching the police and nabbing a burglar.”

  “Then Dad did get the message!” Nancy exclaimed. “Let’s hope they caught the thief before he got off the grounds.”

  She thanked the pilot for his assistance, then ran to Joe’s taxi and hopped in. He drove as quickly as possible to Nancy’s home.

  As the taxi came to a halt at the front door of the large, brick house, Mr. Drew stepped from the doorway and took Nancy in his arms. “So good to see you again,” said the tall, distinguished-looking lawyer.

  “It’s good to be here,” his daughter replied. “The burglar—Did you catch him?”

  “Unfortunately, no.”

  Togo, who had scampered into the house, was running around in circles and yipping with joy at being home. In a moment Hannah Gruen appeared from the rear of the house.

  “Are you all right, Hannah?” Nancy asked, as she hugged the housekeeper affectionately.

  “Oh, yes. But to tell the truth, I’m mighty embarrassed. I didn’t even hear that burglar,” she went on. “I dropped off to sleep waiting for you and your father, and never woke up once. By the way, what did the man take?” she asked Mr. Drew.

  The lawyer said that so far as he could find out, the burglar had been after only one thing—a brief case containing papers relating to a new case which he had just taken.

  “The intruder may have wanted these for some special reason, but also he may have been after an odd-looking object that was in the brief case. My client was sending it to you, Nancy. It was a copy of a rare old Polynesian artifact—a wooden figure, half human and half bird. It had little monetary value, so I’m puzzled about that aspect of the burglary.”

  “Perhaps,” said Nancy, “the thief believed the piece to be old and rare.”

  “Possibly,” her father agreed.

  Nancy inquired how the burglar might have learned about the contents of the brief case. Mr. Drew stared into space a moment, then answered, “I had luncheon today with my new client, Mr. Sakamaki. He’s a Hawaiian. He talked rather freely about his case. It was a public restaurant and perhaps the burglar was seated nearby listening to the conversation.”

  “Does the case involve something Polynesian?” Nancy asked.

  “Well, yes and no,” the lawyer replied. “I’d prefer that Mr. Sakamaki tell you the whole story himself. You may pick up a few points which I missed,” he complimented his daughter. “When I happened to mention to him that you loved to solve mysteries, he was interested at once.”

  Mr. Drew looked directly at Nancy, a slight smile playing around the corners of his mouth. “There is a very unusual mystery in connection with the case. Mr. Sakamaki would like you to solve it for him.”

  Nancy’s face broke into a broad grin. “And I’d like to do it!” she said eagerly. “How soon may I talk to Mr. Sakamaki?”

  “Tomorrow morning at my office.”

  While Hannah prepared a midnight snack of angel cake and fruit juice, Mr. Drew went to the telephone and called police headquarters. The sergeant on duty reported that his squad had not apprehended the burglar as yet. The clue of the collapsible ladder was an excellent one, he said, and his men had stopped and searched a hundred cars in the general area of the Drew home. But no ladder had been found in any of the automobiles.

  “We’ll keep on looking,” the sergeant promised. “Something may turn up yet.”

  The next morning after breakfast Nancy and her father set out for his office. It was not long after they arrived that Mr. Drew’s secretary announced a caller.

  “Mr. Kamuela Sakamaki is here.”

  “Please show him in,”
Mr. Drew replied.

  A smiling man about forty years old walked in. He was of medium height, with lightly bronzed skin and friendly dark eyes. Mr. Drew presented him to Nancy.

  “I’m very happy to meet you,” Mr. Sakamaki said. “And I hope that you, as well as your father, will consent to taking my case.”

  As everyone sat down, the caller explained that he was part Polynesian, part Japanese. “My Polynesian first name means ‘Sam’ and when necessary I use the English version for business. I am very proud of my Polynesian forebears.”

  Mr. Sakamaki explained that he had perfected certain methods for finishing handmade furniture —an art practiced by his Polynesian ancestors. Like them, he used sharkskin instead of sandpaper.

  “At present I am lecturing and demonstrating in a furniture factory here. Mrs. Sakamaki and I have rented a house in River Heights for a year.”

  He went on to say that he had recently inherited a large estate of both money and property from his grandfather, Nikkio Sakamaki, in Honolulu. The estate was called Kaluakua. Abruptly he asked:

  “Miss Drew, would you like to go out there to solve my mystery?” From his pocket he brought out a paper on which two symbols had been drawn. “I believe these are a clue that will help.”

  He handed the paper to Nancy, who studied the strange figures. “Do you know what they mean?” she asked.

  “No, I’m ashamed to say I don’t,” Mr. Sakamaki replied. “I intended trying to find out but haven’t had a chance.”

  The Hawaiian said that shortly before his grandfather’s death, the elderly man had mailed the symbols to him without any translation. But a letter accompanying the strange piece of paper had said:

  “Never sell or give away Kaluakua until you solve its mystery.”

  CHAPTER II

  A Suspect

  AS NANCY stared at the strange symbols, her heart beat a little faster. This was a new and different kind of mystery for her to solve!

  “It sounds like a fascinating case,” she commented. Nancy recalled the exciting adventures she had had solving The Secret of the Old Clock, her first mystery, and how many thrilling moments she had experienced during her recent adventure, The Haunted Showboat. But none of the mysteries had started out with a more challenging clue than the one just presented to her.

  Mr. Sakamaki smiled. “You will love Kaluakua. The estate is right along the water of the Waikiki Beach area of Honolulu. It has beautiful gardens and a lovely house, and is a perfect place for a vacation.”

  Nancy looked toward her father. She wondered wkat he was thinking.

  The lawyer smiled and said, “Mr. Sakamaki, I should think you would want to go there yourself and attend to matters.”

  “I suppose I should,” the Hawaiian replied, “but it would be most inconvenient at this time. Many pressing business matters will keep me on the mainland.” He turned to Nancy. “We Hawaiians call the people in the Continental United States ‘mainlanders.’ ”

  Mr. Sakamaki now amazed the Drews by saying that actually there were two mysteries in connection with settling his grandfather’s estate. Only that day he had learned of two claimants, a brother and a sister, who had suddenly appeared in Honolulu, declaring that they were grandchildren of the deceased man.

  “Besides that disturbing news,” Mr. Sakamaki went on, “I have had word from the caretaker that there have been queer happenings at Kaluakua.”

  “What kind of happenings?” Nancy asked.

  “For one thing,” the caller replied, “a stranger was seen lurking on the estate beach, and when the caretaker went to question him, the man took off hurriedly in a boat. Then, there is a Golden Pavilion on the grounds, and someone has been hacking the floor of it.”

  “A Golden Pavilion?” Nancy repeated.

  Mr. Sakamaki said that it was a circular open building about thirty feet in diameter. It had columns and a roof, all covered with gold leaf.

  “It sounds very unusual,” Nancy remarked. “Is the secret of Kaluakua connected with this pavilion?”

  Mr. Sakamaki shrugged. “Wherever or whatever the secret is, I should like to have it discovered as quickly as possible. I intend to present the estate to Honolulu, with the Golden Pavilion to be used as an outdoor theater. You see, I really don’t need Kaluakua for myself financially. And I have a lovely home in Honolulu where I prefer living.”

  Then the man’s face clouded as he continued, “I keep forgetting about the Chatleys. They are the claimants. If they should prove their case, I suppose the estate would have to be split three ways. It is doubtful if they would agree to donate Kaluakua to Honolulu. They probably would want to sell it and take the money to the mainland.”

  Mr. Drew now spoke up. “You never heard about these relatives from your grandfather or anyone else?”

  Mr. Sakamaki shook his head. “These people are claiming that my grandfather had a wife in California some years before he moved to Honolulu. They further claim that my grandfather abandoned his wife and a baby daughter. Knowing my grandfather as I did, I cannot imagine him doing such a thing. He was somewhat eccentric, but full of kindness. My own parents, who are deceased, never mentioned any such thing taking place.”

  “Was your grandfather a Hawaiian?”

  “No, he came from Japan. But he married a Polynesian.”

  Mr. Sakamaki told the Drews that the claimants’ full names were Roy Chatley and his married sister, Janet Chatley Lee. Both were about forty-five years of age.

  “As I said, I have never seen them nor heard of them before,” Mr. Sakamaki continued. “I had come to your father, Nancy, to ask him to help me settle the estate before this complication arose. I just received a letter about the Chatleys from the bank in Honolulu which is acting as executor. Now I’ve come to beg you, Mr. Drew, to investigate this new angle.”

  “Just how did your grandfather’s will read regarding beneficiaries ?”

  “It stated simply that everything was left to any living grandchildren,” Mr. Sakamaki replied. “I thought I was the only living blood relative until the Chatleys suddenly came into the picture.”

  He went on to say that Mr. Drew would be handling the legal angles pertaining to the settling of the estate, including the Chatleys’ claim. He had thought Nancy would like to take over the part of his case having to do with the secret at Kaluakua.

  “Oh, I’d love to,” said Nancy eagerly. “May I, Dad?”

  The lawyer smiled fondly at his daughter. “There is only one hitch,” he said. “I cannot leave here immediately. Besides, I think my first stop should be Los Angeles, where I’ll look into the background of these claimants to the estate. Valuable time would be lost before I could reach Honolulu.”

  Mr. Sakamaki leaned forward in his chair. “Perhaps,” he said to Nancy, “you have some young friends who would go with you? And also your housekeeper?”

  Nancy did not reply at once. Her mind flew to her two chums, Bess Marvin and Bess’s tomboy cousin George Fayne, but she knew that the expense involved in such a trip would be prohibitive.

  The Hawaiian apparently had guessed her thoughts. Smiling, he said, “I want this mystery solved. Expense means nothing to me. I’ll finance the trip for the entire group.”

  Nancy was overwhelmed by the offer. Feeling that it was up to her father to make the decision, she waited for him to speak.

  Mr. Drew gazed out his office window a few moments before replying. Then he turned to Mr. Sakamaki. “I will consent to all of this on one condition. The expense involved will be my fee.”

  “As you wish,” Mr. Sakamaki said. “I will do everything I can to make it a most enjoyable stay for you.” He arose and shook hands with the two Drews. “You have made me very happy,” he added, “and I will leave you now to make your own plans. I will be in touch with you soon.”

  Bowing slightly, he left the office. At once Nancy went over to her father and threw her arms about his neck. “It sounds marvelous, doesn’t it? Almost like a dream. I can hardly believe i
t!”

  Her father agreed, and said he hoped that Bess and George would be able to go with Nancy, as well as Hannah Gruen. “I’ll make arrangements for you all to fly to Honolulu as soon as you let me know if the girls can go.”

  He suddenly noticed that his daughter’s smile had faded. Her expression was tense and she was staring out the window.

  “What’s the matter?” the lawyer asked her.

  Nancy pointed and her father turned to look in that direction. On the rooftop of a nearby office building a man was opening a collapsible ladder. As the Drews watched, he placed it against a window of the adjoining building.

  “He may be the thief who got into our house last night!” Nancy cried out. “It looks like the same kind of ladder!”

  Instantly Mr. Drew turned to his telephone. He put in a call to a lawyer he knew who occupied the office where the open window was. After a few moments of conversation, he hung up and said to Nancy, “The man is a window washer, but we probably should investigate him.”

  “Let’s go talk to him right now,” Nancy urged.

  Mr. Drew agreed and they went immediately to the office of his lawyer friend. They learned from him that the window washer’s name was Abe Antok and that he worked for the Acme Window Cleaning Company.

  Nancy hastened to the window where the man was working. After a few casual remarks to Abe Antok, she asked, “Isn’t it unusual for ladders to be used for washing office windows?”

  “Yes, ma’am, it is,” Abe replied. “But my boss and me, we been inventin’ this ladder. You notice it’s kind of special. We hope to put it on the market someday and make a lot of money. But a few kinks have to be ironed out yet. I use it in places that are hard to get to.”

  “I see,” said Nancy. “By the way, how high will it reach?”

  “Oh, very high, miss,” Abe replied proudly.

  “Could it reach to the third floor of a house?”

  “Oh, sure,” Abe answered. “I’ve used it a couple of times for that. Worked fine.”

  During the conversation Nancy had made up her mind that Abe in no way seemed like a house-breaker. A new thought suddenly came to her and she asked, “Do you ever rent out this kind of ladder?”