Free The Secret of the Golden Pavillion by Carolyn G. Keene Page B

dining room.
    Ned tarried behind and hid the box in the hall closet. He would bury the poisonous lei later, or give it to the police if they wanted it.
    A delicious dinner was served by Kiyabu. It had been cooked by both Emma and Hannah who had become great culinary friends. Tonight the meal was strictly mainland—roast beef, with lemon meringue pie for dessert.
    “If it’s all right with you girls,” Burt spoke up, “we fellows are going fishing in the outrigger canoe tomorrow morning.”
    “I wish you luck,” George replied. “But you’d better bring in a big one to make amends for deserting us,” she teased.
    “Wow!” said Burt. “How can I fail?”
    Nancy asked Ned if she might borrow the car to do some errands in Honolulu. She did not say what they were to be. In fact, she did not reveal what her main errand was until the following morning when she, Bess, and George were rolling along the highway.
    “I’m determined to find out if possible who sent that floral piece,” Nancy said. “Do you remember the section of road we passed on our way from the airport where a group of women were making and selling leis? I have a hunch the sender of my gift had a specialist make mine and it could be one of those women. Anyway, it won’t hurt to ask them.”
    When she reached the area, the young sleuth parked the car and the three girls began asking woman after woman if she had made a lei the day before of deep purple flowers. One after another answered no, until Nancy came to a very wrinkled old lady who was fashioning a beautiful lei of baby orchids. When Nancy put her question to the flower vendor, she looked up, startled.
    “Why, yes, I did make such a lei yesterday afternoon. Why do you ask?”
    Nancy searched the woman’s face for any sign of dishonesty, but the wrinkled visage showed only genuine astonishment.
    Nevertheless, Nancy decided that it was wiser not to tell the woman the whole truth. Pretending to giggle, she said that some unknown person had sent her the lei and she was trying to find out who he might be.
    “An unknown admirer, eh?” the woman asked. Then she frowned. “To tell you the truth, I thought it was a funeral piece.”
    She went on to say that the man who had asked her to make it had brought the flowers himself. She described him as being tall, with reddish-blond hair. “I do not know his name,” she added, “but I believe he is a mainlander.”
    “Did he ask you to put anything else in with the flowers?” Bess spoke up.
    “No,” the woman answered.
    Nancy thanked her for the information, and the girls went back to the convertible.
    “Reddish-blond hair!” said George. “That sounds like Ralph Emler, the same man we believe tricked Grandfather Sakamaki.”
    “Yes, it does,” Nancy agreed. “And I think our next stop will be police headquarters. I hope Sergeant Hawk will be there. I want to tell him about the lei.”
    Fortunately, the officer was in. When the young sleuth told her story, the police detective looked concerned.
    “I don’t like this at all,” he said. “Miss Drew, you must use extreme caution. So far we haven’t been able to locate this Ralph Emler. We don’t know whether he has left the city, is using an assumed name, or is staying in a private home. Emler left the place where he was staying, directly after receiving old Mr. Sakamaki’s letter.”
    The girls talked for some time with the detective. Nancy asked him about the possibility of the California claimants to the Sakamaki estate being impostors. “It’s possible, of course,” the detective replied, “but so far we have found nothing suspicious about them or their credentials.”
    “I think I’ll try to call on them,” said Nancy. “May I use your phone, Sergeant Hawk?”
    “Certainly.” The detective pushed the instrument toward Nancy and gave her the number of the Ponds’ residence. A rather petulant, flat voice answered the ring.
    “Hel-lo.”
    “This is Nancy Drew calling. I