The Thirteenth Pearl

by Carolyn G. Keene

  The girls went back into the shop and showed their find to Mr. Moto’s friend. “Oh, no,” he said. “These do not belong to me, and they would not fit Mr. Moto. Not many Japanese have large feet like this!”

  A customer walked in at that moment, and Mr. Kikichi went to help her. Bess, George, and Nancy walked outside again.

  “What are you going to do with those sandals?” Bess asked Nancy.

  “I’m holding on to them for a while,” Nancy said. “I have a hunch they might be a clue.” She put them in her car, then told her friends what she had learned from Mrs. Rooney.

  “I don’t believe Mr. Moto went to Japan to visit his brother without planning this ahead,” George said after hearing the story.

  Nancy nodded. “I’m afraid he may have been kidnapped!”

  Bess and George agreed. “The fact that he didn’t call Nancy or her father after he had asked them for help just a day or so before is very suspicious,” George declared.

  “That, and the messed up room,” Bess added. “Do you think we should tell Chief McGinnis about this, Nancy?”

  “Yes, but first I’ll get in touch with Dad. Maybe he’ll have an idea.”

  Bess sighed. “This is becoming too much for me. Stolen jewels, missing persons, a possible kidnapping! I want no part of it.”

  “For the time being, you’ll get your wish,” George said, glancing at her watch. “We promised your mother we would take her shopping. Did you forget?”

  “I’ll drive you home,” Nancy offered.

  “Oh, no. We’ll walk,” Bess said. “It isn’t far. You go back to your sleuthing so you’ll be all finished when we see you later.”

  Nancy grinned. “I doubt that I’ll be that lucky.”

  As the girls walked off, she decided to talk to Mr. Kikichi again. “He must be wondering what we were doing there and why we asked so many questions,” she thought.

  When she entered the shop, he emerged from the back room. “I was locking the rear door,” he announced. “What do you wish?”

  “I wanted to tell you that I’m trying to find a clue to who might have come in here last night and wrecked Mr. Moto’s room,” Nancy explained to him.

  “I see,” said Mr. Kikichi. He looked at her but made no comment except to say that he would straighten up the room when he had a chance.

  Nancy promised she would be in touch with him in case she heard from Mr. Moto, then left.

  She drove to her father’s office and told him what she had seen.

  “It certainly appears suspicious,” he agreed. “It’s possible there was foul play, and Mr. Moto was taken to Japan by force. I’ll get in touch with the airlines and see what I can find out. If they have no record of his leaving, I’ll contact other likely airports. I’ll also check on Mr. Kikichi and notify the police.”

  Nancy said good-by to her father, but did not go home. Instead, she decided to follow up the clue of the Rising Sun tire. She went to a large garage and asked the manager if people in town used tires with that symbol.

  “No,” the man replied. “I know of only one person in River Heights who does. I guess he im ports them from Japan.”

  “Is he American or Japanese?” Nancy asked with increasing enthusiasm.

  “Oh, he’s Japanese, but he lives in this country. For some time now he has had a home on the outskirts of town. I understand he travels to Japan a lot, though.”

  Nancy was elated. “Do you know his name?”

  “Yes. Mr. Kampura.”

  Nancy thanked the man and went to a public telephone booth to consult the directory. To her disappointment, Mr. Kampura was not listed.

  The young sleuth drove back to her father’s office and told him what she had found out. Mr. Drew called Chief McGinnis and asked if he knew Mr. Kampura.

  “Not personally,” the officer replied. “But I understand he has rented a place outside of town.”

  “What business is he in?” the lawyer inquired.

  “He’s in the wholesale jewelry business. I believe he works for World Wide Gems, Inc. If you want to contact him, you’d better hurry. He’s leaving the United States on Thursday.”

  Nancy had overheard the conversation. “You know, Dad,” she said excitedly, “it appears as if all our leads point to Japan!”

  Her father smiled. “You’re right. Especially since I’ve found out that the World Wide Gems headquarters are in Tokyo!”

  “Oh, Dad—”

  “I know. You want to go there—”

  “Yes! On the same flight that Mr. Kampura is taking!”

  “Let me think about this for a moment.” Mr. Drew went outside to speak to his secretary, then returned, smiling. “I just checked on a few things. I have several business clients in Tokyo, and it might not be a bad idea to see them personally. We could—”

  “Oh, Dad, you’re wonderful!” Nancy jumped up and gave her father a big hug. “Perhaps Professor Mise could call his brother and tell him we’re coming!”

  “Good idea. You get in touch with him, and I’ll take care of the reservations. Then you’d better pack your wardrobe, and lay out some things for me that you think I might need.”

  Excited, Nancy drove home and told Hannah Gruen about the proposed trip.

  “My, my,” said Hannah. “You certainly do get around solving mysteries. This latest one is in beautiful Japan?”

  Nancy laughed. “I don’t know whether I’ll find the solution there, but it’s where all my clues lead to. I’m really worried about Mr. Moto.”

  The kindly housekeeper said she was glad Nancy and her father were leaving. “With underworld characters here who might have harmed Mr. Moto, I think it’s a good idea that you’re going out of town.”

  Nancy phoned Professor Mise to tell him the news. A half hour later he called back and said he had telephoned his brother and that Toshio Mise and his wife would be happy to have the Drews as guests in their home, and they would pick them up at the airport.

  Nancy passed the message on to her father when he came home.

  “That’s extremely nice of the Mises,” he said. “I hope we’ll be able to repay them somehow for their hospitality.”

  “Have you any news on Mr. Moto?” Nancy inquired hopefully.

  “He didn’t fly out of any of the coastal airports, at least not under his own name. But if he was kidnapped and taken to Japan, I’m sure his abductors provided a fake passport.”

  “Which would make it even harder for us,” Nancy said. “Oh, I do hope we find out what happened to him.”

  When Nancy and her father reached the airport in New York on Thursday, he said, “How do you propose to identify Mr. Kampura? There might be many Japanese on board our plane.”

  A sudden idea came to Nancy. “Let’s have him paged and wait near the check-in counter. When he shows up, we can see what he looks like.”

  Her father agreed, stepped up to the desk, and put in the request. Then he and Nancy walked out of sight, but watched the counter carefully from a distance.

  Soon a Japanese man arrived to answer the call. He was about six feet tall, slender, and had a severe, square-jawed face. He reminded Nancy of Genghis Khan’s cruel raiders of ancient times.

  Mr. Drew turned to his daughter and whispered, “Nancy, don’t ever tangle with him!”

  The Drews hurried away before Kampura could learn that the call was a fake. “Dad,” Nancy said, “remember I told you about the sandals Bess and George found in Mr. Moto’s driveway?”

  “Yes.”

  “They were rather large for a Japanese man, yet they were made in Japan.”

  “Many sandals are.”

  “But these were not the kind usually sold in our country.”

  “I see what you mean. You think they might belong to Mr. Kampura because he’s very tall?”

  “Yes! Between the sandals and the tire tracks with the Rising Sun insignia, I’m convinced Mr. Kampura was in Mr. Moto’s shop recently!”

  “I’m inclined to agree,” Mr
. Drew said.

  Just then a message came over the loudspeaker.

  “Will Mr. Campbell Drewry please go to the nearest phone?”

  Nancy’s father winked at her and headed for a booth. The girl was puzzled. Slowly she followed her father and watched him pick up the receiver. Why had he answered the call?

  Suddenly an idea came to Nancy. She recalled that Campbell was her father’s middle name, which he never used.

  “Clever!” she thought to herself, a smile spreading across her face. “Dad must have instructed his office to use that name in case they had a message for him before he left. This way he could not be identified,” Nancy thought. “I wonder what the message is?”

  CHAPTER V

  Shocking News

  “MR. DREWRY” reported to Nancy that his secretary, Miss Hanson, had checked with various other airlines that Mr. Moto might have taken to Japan.

  “None of them had any record of a flight booked in his name,” he said. “I also got word on Mr. Kikichi. As far as she could ascertain, he’s in the United States legally, and there were never any charges against him.”

  “Thank you for your report, Mr. Campbell Drewry,” Nancy said with an impish grin as they walked toward the boarding gate. Mr. Drew squeezed his daughter’s left arm affectionately.

  “You’re welcome. And now we’d better go. Our flight is ready.”

  The Drews followed a group of passengers onto the large jet and took their seats. Nancy was in trigued by the dainty hostesses in native kimonos. Before the first meal was served, the young women brought in steaming hot towels for the passengers to wash their hands with. When the trays of food were set before them, the Drews looked at them, wondering how they would enjoy the exotic dishes.

  Nancy remarked politely, “Isn’t that an attractive color arrangement?” The tray contained a bouquet of green parsley in a small vase. Next to it was a tiny platter with pinkish raw fish. White boiled rice and a dish of broiled eel were alongside it. A pot of green tea was served, and dessert consisted of a combination of fresh apricots and peaches.

  Mr. Kampura was seated at the very front of the plane near the exit door. Once Mr. Drew walked up close to him and talked to the hostess, but he kept his eyes on the Japanese man all the while. Kampura was speaking to the man sitting next to him, but their conversation was unintelligible to the lawyer.

  When they arrived at their destination many hours later, Mr. Kampura was the first to get off the plane. Nancy and her father tried to follow him, but with most of the passengers standing in the aisle, it was impossible.

  The Drews claimed their baggage and walked out into the lobby. They noticed a Japanese couple who were waiting near an exit. The man looked so much like Professor Mise in River Heights that Nancy and her father felt he must be his brother.

  The Americans walked up to the couple.

  “Pardon me, but are you Mr. and Mrs. Mise?” Nancy asked.

  The man smiled. “Ah, yes. And you are Mr. Drew and Miss Nancy Drew?”

  “Yes, we are,” the lawyer replied. “We’re delighted that you speak English. Unfortunately, we have never learned your language.”

  The couple bowed low to the visitors, and Mr. Mise said, “You make us very happy by visiting us. Perhaps you will pick up some Japanese phrases while you are here.”

  “I’d like to ” said Nancy.

  Mr. Mise took her suitcase, and the Drews followed their hosts outside to a waiting car. Nancy could not resist taking a peek at the tires. They did not have the Rising Sun insignia on them.

  As Mr. Mise drove through the city, Nancy and her father commented how much it resembled an American metropolis, despite the sprinkling of one-story brown wooden houses, which served as a small reminder of “Old Japan ” Most of the people wore Western dress, and the streets were literally teeming with the city’s ten million inhabitants.

  Mr. Mise came to an open area with a large marketplace and stopped the car. “Would you like to get out and walk around?” he asked. “This is one of our flower markets. We Japanese like our gardens to be all green because we think it induces tranquility and rest. But we enjoy flowers in the house.”

  Part of the area was filled with chrysanthemums of every conceivable color and size. These flowers were not yet in full season, and apparently they had been forced.

  Mr. Drew spoke up. “May I purchase some for you, Mrs. Mise?”

  The woman smiled and bowed. Later Nancy learned that it was considered bad manners for a Japanese to refuse a gift, which was called a presento.

  Yellow chrysanthemums were bought, then the journey proceeded to the Mises’ home, which was several miles out of town. It proved to be a beautiful place and was entirely concealed from the road by trees and bushes. A gardener on a step ladder was pulling needles from a pine tree.

  Mrs. Mise explained why. “Japanese do not care for bushy gardens. We like to be able to look through the foliage, so a certain number of needles are pulled out.”

  They rode to the house. Mrs. Mise, Nancy, and Mr. Drew alighted, while Mr. Mise took the car to the garage. The house was designed in true Japanese style, with sliding panels for walls. The panels could be opened easily to give more space.

  Mrs. Mise said with a smile, “We do not sit on the floor to eat, as many of our countrymen do. We prefer the type of table and chair that you have in your country.”

  Nancy asked if the couple slept on the floor, as was the custom, and was told that in their second floor bedrooms there was American furniture. Mrs. Mise led the Drews to their rooms, and while the visitors were unpacking clothes, she arranged the chrysanthemums in a typical Japanese pattern. At the top of the bouquet was one flower, surrounded by leaves. Below it was another, and near the rim of the vase was a third. The arrangement was very artistic.

  When Nancy and her father came downstairs and noticed the beautiful bouquet, Mrs. Mise explained that the top flower represented Heaven, the middle one Man, and the lowest one Earth.

  At dinner, which was served by a dainty young woman in Japanese costume, conversation turned to the main reason for the Drews’ visit. The stolen necklace was not mentioned, but Mrs. Rossmeyer was. The Mises had heard of her through the press, but had never seen the woman.

  “We are interested in an organization called World Wide Gems,” Mr. Drew told them. “Do you happen to know a Mr. Kampura, who is connected with the company?”

  Mr. Mise said, “I have met the man but do not know him well. World Wide Gems has its main office in Tokyo, but the many salesmen are scattered throughout the world.”

  Nancy asked, “Would it be possible for us to meet Mr. Kampura?”

  Mr. Mise thought this could be arranged. He would telephone in the morning to find out.

  Now the Drews told the Mises about the missing jeweler, Mr. Moto. “We heard from his friend, Mr. Kikichi, that he had gone to Japan,” Nancy explained. “But none of the airlines we asked had issued a ticket to him. We think he might have been kidnapped.”

  “Oh, no!” Mrs. Mise said. “What are you going to do?”

  “He has a brother in Tokyo,” Nancy said, “Tetsuo Moto. I would like to find out if Tetsuo has heard from him.”

  Mr. Mise brought out a telephone directory to find Tetsuo’s number. There was a listing, but when he called up, he was told that the number had been disconnected because the man had moved.

  “Shall I get in touch with the police and explain the situation?” Mr. Mise asked. “Perhaps they can trace Tetsuo Moto for you.”

  “That would be a good idea,” Mr. Drew said, and the host put in the call.

  “The officers will let me know if they can find him,” he reported after a short conversation. “And now it is late. Any time you wish to go to bed, do tell us. We want you to feel at home while you are here. Please do not hesitate to ask us for anything you may desire.”

  Mr. Drew said, “You are very thoughtful. Nancy and I are tired and would appreciate getting some sleep. Once more I want to thank y
ou for inviting us here.”

  Nancy spoke up. “Your brother, the professor, and his wife are wonderful people. I can see that you are exactly like them.”

  Everyone said good-night and went to his room. The following morning when Nancy came to breakfast she found an envelope alongside her plate. Her name was printed on it in large, bold letters. Inside was a single sheet of writing paper containing the following equation:4 + 9 = 13

  Puzzled, Nancy handed the note to Mr. Mise and asked if he knew what it meant.

  A worried expression spread over his face. “Four is shi in Japanese, which also stands for death. Nine is ku, which translates to suffering in pain. Thirteen has no double meaning.”

  “It does to me,” Nancy said slowly. “I’m sure it refers to the thirteenth pearl.”

  “I do not understand,” Mr. Mise said. “What is the thirteenth pearl?”

  “Danger!” Mr. Drew said tensely, then told the Mises about Mrs. Rossmeyer’s stolen necklace.

  When he finished, their host frowned. “Do you think the stolen thirteenth pearl has been brought to this country?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out. We believe that Mr. Kampura might be mixed up in this somehow, and we are here to investigate.”

  Mrs. Mise had a suggestion. “When you go to Mr. Kampura’s office, Nancy should dress like a Japanese girl. Then she will not be recognized if someone is following you.”

  Mr. Mise thought this was a wise idea. He also felt that he should go with Nancy, while Mr. Drew and his wife should leave later and take a different route.

  An appointment with Mr. Kampura had been made for 11:00 o’clock. This left plenty of time for Mrs. Mise to disguise Nancy. The woman said she had been a dancer and knew all about make-up.

  “I am sure I can make you look like a Japanese girl.”

  First she rubbed white salve on Nancy’s face and covered it with powder to lighten her sun-tanned skin. Then she darkened and upturned Nancy’s eyebrows and put a black wig on her head. It had a tiny lotus blossom on one side. She was given a rosebud-type mouth.