(#44) The Clue in the Crossword Cipher

TOLD against the fascinating background of South America, this Nancy Drew mystery-adventure makes exciting reading. Lovely young Carla Ponce who lives in Peru invites Nancy and her friends Bess and George to visit her and solve her “monkey mystery,” which promises to lead to a fabulous treasure. The clue is carved on an intriguing wooden plaque that is so old most of the crossword cipher is obliterated.

When a notorious gang headed by El Gato (The Cat) steals the priceless relic, Nancy’s hopes of solving the mystery are almost shattered. But the daring young detective’s ability to think fast and act quickly results in the recovery of the plaque.

Nancy’s determined efforts to decode the crossword cipher take her to the magnificent, awe-inspiring Incan ruins at Cuzco and Machu Picchu. Through clever deductions, perseverance, and dangerous adventures, Nancy and her friends help to capture a ring of vicious smugglers and go on to make an astounding archaeological discovery.

“Oh, I’m getting some wonderful clues!” Nancy called

Published by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., a member of The Putnam &
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 : 978-1-101-07745-0

2008 Printing

http://us.penguingroup.com

CHAPTER I

The Monkey Mystery

“THIS is what I want you to solve, Nancy. I call it my monkey mystery.”

The speaker was beautiful Carla Ponce from Lima, Peru. She had large dark-brown eyes, shoulder-length black hair, and olive skin. Her visitor was attractive Nancy Drew, fair-skinned, blue-eyed, and titian-haired. Both girls were eighteen.

Carla pointed to a round wooden plaque about fifteen inches in diameter which hung on the wall of her bedroom. The wood was very old, but the carving on it fairly clear.

“It’s an outline of a monkey with part of his tail cut off,” said Nancy, “and several lines spread from one side of him to the edge of the plaque. You think this design may be a clue to some great secret? Perhaps a treasure?”

“Yes. The plaque has been in my family for three hundred years,” Carla replied in her delightful Spanish-accented English. “But it disappeared. Then, about twenty years ago, my father found it in my great-grandfather’s trunk. But nobody has ever been able to figure out the significance of the carving.”

As Nancy gazed at the walking monkey with its arched back, Carla took the plaque from the wall and laid it reverse side up on a table.

“This side is even more intriguing,” she said.

Down the center was a series of gouged-out spaces with two similar crossing sets. Radiating from the middle was a spiraling group of lines which extended to the very outside of the plaque.

“This is fascinating!” Nancy remarked. “Oh, Carla, I’d love to work on your mystery. But I’m a little embarrassed even to try when others have worked on it for so many years.”

Carla gave Nancy an affectionate squeeze. “From what I have heard of cases you have solved, I am sure you will figure out this one. What bothers me is that if the plaque is a clue to a treasure buried long ago, by this time someone may have found it.”

“We’ll have to take that chance,” said Nancy. “The first thing I’d like to do is examine this under my magnifying glass. How about coming home with me to dinner and bringing along the plaque?”

“That sounds wonderful!” said Carla. “I will tell my aunt.”

While in River Heights, Carla was living with an aunt and uncle. She had just graduated from secretarial school and would return to Lima in a few days.

The two girls went downstairs to speak to Mrs. Renshaw, a friend of the Drews.

“I’m happy to have Carla go with you,” she said, “but I don’t want her to come home alone. She had a bad scare one night. Mr. Renshaw and I will drive over to get her.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” Nancy said quickly. “My father and I will bring her back.”

Mrs. Renshaw looked relieved. “I probably should explain why I’m concerned. Carla recently has been followed several times.”

“You mean by a man?” Nancy asked

Mrs. Renshaw nodded. “There is more to the story than that.”

“Oh please, Auntie,” Carla protested. “I am sure you worry unnecessarily.”

Her aunt continued with the story. “Only yesterday Carla received a very strange message in the mail. It was a sheet of paper onto which letters cut from newspaper headlines had been pasted. The message was,
‘Cuidado con el gato.’
”

Carla explained, “It means, ‘Beware of the cat.’ ”

“How strange!” said Nancy.

“We cannot figure it out,” Carla said. “My aunt and uncle have no cat and there is not a bothersome one in the neighborhood.”

Nancy looked off into space. Having solved many mysteries, beginning with
The Secret of the Old Clock
and recently
The Mystery of the 99 Steps,
her thoughts immediately flew to the idea that
El Gato
was a person.

To herself she said, “He may be the man who has been following Carla and someone is trying to warn her against him.” Aloud she said, “Carla, could El Gato refer to something at your home in Lima?”

Carla said that the Ponces had no cat and she was at a loss to explain what the warning meant. “I am not going to worry about it, though, because I shall be leaving for home soon.”

“Good idea,” said Nancy.

She suggested that the girls start for the Drews’. They said good-by to Carla’s aunt and went outside. The Renshaw house stood on a slope overlooking the Muskoka River. The girls gazed toward the water as they walked to Nancy’s convertible. Carla was clutching the plaque tightly.

In the driveway she skidded on some loose gravel, and while trying to regain her balance, let go of the plaque. It flew through the air, landed on the edge of the slope, then began rolling down rapidly.

Carla gave a cry of dismay. “Oh, I mustn’t lose it!”

Instantly Nancy took off after the fast-disappearing object. Though the way down was precarious, she had almost caught up with the plaque when it bounced off a stone. The momentum sent the ancient piece of wood sailing through the air and into the water, some twelve feet below.

“My precious heirloom!” Carla cried out. “It will be lost!”

Within a second Nancy had kicked off her pumps and made a shallow dive into the river. She surfaced not far from the plaque, which already was being swept along by the swift current. With strong strokes she overtook it. Grasping the plaque firmly, she made for shore.

When Nancy reached the riverbank, Carla exclaimed, “Oh, how can I ever thank you! I am terribly sorry I dropped the plaque. We will go back to the house and you can put on some dry clothes.”

“I’ll be all right,” Nancy insisted. “It isn’t far to my home. I’ll keep the windows of my car closed so I won’t catch cold.”

Fifteen minutes later she was pulling into the Drews’ circular driveway. The front door was opened by Mrs. Hannah Gruen, the pleasant, middle-aged housekeeper, who had helped to rear Nancy since the death of Mrs. Drew. She was delighted to hear that Carla would stay to dinner.

“We have something interesting to show you,” said Nancy as she led the way to the dining room and laid the plaque on the table. Carla explained its origin to the housekeeper, while Nancy ran upstairs to change her clothes and get the magnifying glass which had served her so well in solving other mysteries. As soon as she returned, the young sleuth gazed through the glass at the monkey side of the plaque.

“I see something down here in the corner,” she announced. “It’s a word—perhaps a name. It spells A-G-U-I-L-A-R.”

“Oh!” Carla cried out. “That was the name of an ancestor of ours. He was a great artist. I never knew his name was on here.”

“Then he must have carved these figures,” said Nancy. “What became of him?”

“He disappeared from Lima,” Carla answered. “No one ever heard of him again.”

Nancy could not detect anything further which she had not seen before. Now she turned the plaque over.

“Umm!” she murmured. “I see something here.”

“What is it?” Carla asked eagerly.