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Authors: Carolyn G. Keene
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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
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
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