Sinister Paradise (11 page)

Ned grabbed the man's shirtfront and hauled
him to his feet. Huffing and puffing, the man launched a shaky right at Ned's chin, but Ned ducked it easily and put him away with a solid right cross.

“Police! Hold it!” Tim's voice bellowed.

The detectives pounded down the fire escape. Tim held his .357 Magnum service revolver in one hand and his badge in the other. Martin vaulted the rail and dropped into the alley.

Grabbing the moon-faced man by the shoulders, Martin spun him around and pushed him up against the fence. “Spread 'em.”

“Hey! What is this?” the man complained. “I haven't done anything wrong. Those kids assaulted me. Arrest
them!
”

“Yeah, you're a regular choirboy, aren't you?” Martin frisked him thoroughly. “Turn! Keep your hands up!”

The man obeyed meekly.

“Are you Wally Cerrado, president of the Apex Detective Agency?” Tim asked.

“That's me.” Wally licked his lips in apprehension. “Look, I didn't mean these kids any harm. I was only doing my job.”

“Why did you run away when you saw us coming?” Martin asked.

Wally grimaced in embarrassment. “Well, I owe a few bucks around town. I thought you guys were here to collect.”

Nancy asked, “How did the Malihini Corporation hire you?”

“I—I don't have to answer that. You're not a cop.”

“No, but if I were you, Wally, I'd talk to the young lady,” Tim advised. “You picked the wrong client when you took on the Malihini Corporation.”

“What do you mean?” Wally mumbled.

“Remember Lisa Trumbull? The girl they hired you to find? Well, they're holding her prisoner,” Tim replied. “You fingered the girl for Malihini. So I guess that makes you an accessory, doesn't it?”

“I never came anywhere near Lisa Trumbull!” Wally's desperate gaze traveled from the cops to Nancy. “Come on, you guys. Give me a break!”

“Give
us
one,” Nancy urged. “Tell us everything you know about the Malihini Corporation.”

Wally thought it over for a long moment. Then he shook his head sadly. “I should've known it was too good to be legit. Okay, I'll play ball. Come on up to my office.”

Minutes later they were all gathered around Wally's desk. He pulled his Malihini folder out of an old file cabinet and laid it on his well-used blotter. “This is everything I've got.”

As Martin thumbed through the folder, Tim pulled out his notebook and began taking the private eye's statement.

“How did the Malihini Corporation hire you?” asked Nancy.

“They sent me a letter. Express courier, plus a retainer—a check for ten thousand dollars. They told me that Lisa had run away from home. They were sure she was still here in Honolulu, and they wanted me to find her. So I staked out the girl's condo. Asked a few questions around town. But she never turned up.”

“Why did you start following me?” asked Nancy.

“They told me to.”

“How?”

“I got another express letter from the Malihini Corporation. Haven't had time to cash the check.”

“May I see them, please?” Nancy asked.

The check was for twenty thousand dollars, issued by the Bank of Nova Scotia in the Cayman Islands. Wally looked on in dismay as Tim put it into his plastic evidence bag.

Nancy's gaze skimmed the letter. It was on quality bond paper with the legend The Malihini Corporation across the top.

Dear Mr. Cerrado,

We are highly satisfied with your work on the Lisa Trumbull case. Now, however, we have need of your services in a more pressing matter. We wish you to place four people under surveillance, two men and two women. They are: Nancy Drew, Ned Nickerson, Bess Marvin, and George Fayne.

We want no action taken against these people at the present time. We will be contacting you in the near future to arrange a time and place for the transfer of your information.

The Malihini Corporation

“I did like they wanted,” Wally said as Nancy handed the cops the letter. “I managed to find you three.” His face turned rueful. “But I never got a line on that George Fayne guy.”

Running footsteps sounded in the corridor. A worried-looking George appeared in the doorway. “Nancy! I've been looking all over for you guys!”

Wally's mouth fell open. “Hey—it's the boat girl!”

“Wally—” Nancy tried not to giggle. “Say hello to George Fayne!”

• • •

A short while later Nancy drove her friends to the bank. As they cruised along, Ned said, “You're looking thoughtful, Nancy.”

“Curious, isn't it?” Nancy glanced at him. “The Malihini Corporation hired Wally to search for Lisa. Then, after we arrived in Hawaii, they told him to forget Lisa and concentrate on us. Let's look at that sequence of events again, okay?” Nancy tapped her thumb on the steering wheel. “Diana sends Lisa to the bank. Lisa is unhappy and grabs this opportunity to run away.
She cleans out her mother's safety deposit box. Later that afternoon, Ross Rafferty checks the vault and discovers the theft. Ross tells Diana what happened. Diana calls her mother.” She lifted a forefinger. “Now—very soon after all this, Wally Cerrado gets that letter from the Malihini Corporation. They tell him Lisa is a runaway and give him ten thousand dollars to find her. What do you get from all that?”

“Wait a minute!” Ned frowned thoughtfully. “How did the Malihini Corporation find out about Lisa so fast?

George slapped the front seat. “Of course! The Malihini Corporation is run by one of Windward's top people. I'll bet they were all in Ross's office when he phoned Diana.”

“Second point.” Nancy lifted her thumb. “How come the Malihini Corporation never bothered with Lisa before? One day, she's a nobody to them. The next, they're ready to spend ten grand to find her. Why?”

Ned laughed aloud. “I get it! Lisa cleaned out the safety deposit box.”

“Right.” Nancy nodded slowly. “It was only
after
Lisa cleaned out the box that the Malihini Corporation went after her. Therefore, Lisa must have taken something of theirs out of the box.”

“But how did something of Malihini's get into Diana Faulkner's safety deposit box?” asked George.

“A member of the Malihini Corporation put it there,” Nancy said grimly. “Remember that shipping manifest I found? It was concealed inside one of Diana's bonds. The culprit must have done that with all of Malihini's papers.” She eased the car into a parking space. “The way I figure it, Lisa grabbed the Malihini documents by accident when she emptied her mother's box. She found them later. She's probably a bright girl and realized who was behind the Malihini Corporation. So she decided to contact that person and deal those documents.”

“And that explains why Wally was hired so quickly,” Ned added as Nancy switched off the engine. “The culprit checked Diana's box, realized the Malihini papers were gone, and set Wally on Lisa's trail.”

“Right!” Nancy opened her door. “And once they had Lisa safely stashed away at the Ka Lae, they sent Wally after us.”

As Nancy and her friends entered the lobby, they ran into Jack Showalter. His tense face relaxed when he spotted them. “There you are! Mr. Rafferty sent me down to intercept you.” He led them to the elevator. “Mrs. Faulkner and her daughter are upstairs. It's—well, it's pretty bad, Nancy.”

A ripple of dread ran through her. Are we too late? Nancy wondered. Is Lisa dead?

Arriving at the executive suite, Nancy saw
Alice and Diana by the conference table. Diana was weeping like a child.

Between her anguished sobs, Diana gasped. “This is all my fault! I failed her, Mother. Lisa wouldn't have run away if I'd made her happy.”

“Don't blame yourself, Di. You did your best.” Alice's eyes filled with tears.

Nancy hurried across the room. “Mrs. Faulkner, what has happened?”

Taking a golden bracelet from the table, Mrs. Faulkner gave it to Nancy. “This is Lisa's. I gave it to her last Christmas.”

Suddenly Nancy noticed Ross Rafferty, Mitsuo Kaimonsaki, and Amy Sorenson. They stood off by themselves, looking glum and miserable.

Alice handed Nancy a letter. “Ross got this in the mail with it.” Her voice broke. “They—they wanted to prove that they really have her.”

Nancy's stomach turned to ice as she read the terse, cruel message.

Rafferty—

We've got Lisa. Here's her bracelet. If you call the police, she's dead. Here are our terms: You, Jarman, Kaimonsaki, Sorenson, and the Faulkners will sell your shares in Windward Bancorp to us at a price we will name. Or else you'll never see Lisa again!

The Malihini Corporation

C
OMING UP BEHIND
Nancy, Ross said, “We can't be certain that the Malihini Corporation has Lisa. This could be a bluff.”

“Lisa loved that bracelet!” Alice snapped, whirling to face him. “She never would have given it up.”

Ross didn't meet her eyes. “We can't sell those shares. We mustn't! It'll be the end of the bank!”

“The bank can go hang!” Alice declared, her eyes flashing. “If I have to sell to save my granddaughter, I'll do it!”

Ross looked as if he'd just been shot. “You—you can't do this to me!”

“You did it to yourself, you moron!” Mitsuo exploded, clenching his fists. “You and your grandiose schemes! Lending money to all those small countries. I warned you against it! You've ruined me, Rafferty!”

Ross's face turned lobster red. “I'll remember this disloyalty. I'll get you, Kaimonsaki!”

“Ross!” Amy shouted. “Don't you see? We
have
to sell! The girl's life is at stake!”

As the shouting continued, Nancy and Ned ushered the Faulkner woman out. Taking Diana's arm, Nancy steered her toward the water cooler.

Diana gratefully accepted a cup of water. Gone was the self-centered artist Nancy had met earlier. In her place stood a tense, frightened woman deeply worried about her daughter.

Diana looked at Nancy with haunted eyes. “My agent tells me that one of my paintings may bring two hundred thousand at auction.” She sobbed. “Right now I feel like burning it! Why did I let my work come between me and Lisa? She's the most important thing in my life. Why did I have to lose her?”

Nancy squeezed the woman's hands comfortingly. “You haven't lost her yet, Diana. There may still be a way to save her. Will you answer one question?”

Sniffling, Diana nodded.

“What did you keep in your safety deposit box?”

Diana shrugged. “My passport, my jewelry, this and that. I'm afraid I didn4 keep track. I left the money matters to my advisors.”

“Who were they?” Nancy asked.

“Father left me a substantial portfolio. Mitsuo Kaimonsaki took care of it at first. He's been with the bank since I was a girl. When I married Ross, he took over my affairs.” Diana blew her nose softly. “Since we were divorced, Amy Sorenson has been serving as my financial advisor.”

Nancy gave her a quick hug. “Thanks, Diana!”

On her way downstairs Nancy mulled over what she had learned. Whoever was running the Malihini Corporation had used Diana's safety deposit box because that person knew she rarely went to it and knew
that
because that person had been her financial advisor.

Nancy stopped in Jack Showalter's office, but he wasn't there. Sitting at his desk, she opened her shoulder bag and spread the clues out in a semicircle—the Higashi transceiver, the bearer bond, the shipping manifest. Nancy looked over the manifest. “Telephone speakers, tape recorder, electronic beeper,” she murmured to herself.

Electronic beeper! Amy Sorenson carried one in her purse!

Nancy frowned. She was just beginning to figure this out. Amy had thought George was a
guy
. . . .

Nancy picked up the bearer bond. Too bad Lisa didn't write a message on this, she thought.
She might have told us where she's being held—Nancy paused suddenly.

But the bad guys don't know she didn't leave a message, do they?

She grinned, folding the thick paper once more. An idea was beginning to take shape. It was risky—but if it worked, it would lead her straight to Lisa.

Picking up Jack's phone, Nancy said, “Operator, put me through to the Honolulu police, please.”

• • •

An hour later Nancy stood on the foredeck of the
Kahala.
A familiar voice hollered a greeting. Turning, she saw Tim and Martin walking down the wharf. Tim carried a brown-paper package under his arm.

“Welcome aboard, guys. That was quick.”

“We took off right after you called,” Tim said, climbing on board. “This is a dangerous plan, Nancy. Be careful.”

“I will.” Nancy led them below. “Did you bring all that wiretap stuff?”