(#44) The Clue in the Crossword Cipher (14 page)

“The medicine, however, proved to be very expensive to produce, so this chemist began substituting quinine for one of the costly ingredients. The quinine was smuggled into New York by Harry Wallace and sent to the chemist.

“After Wallace had removed the powder from the forks and spoons, he sold the rare arrayánes pieces at a high price. The rest of the shipment, made at the Velez craft shop by Llosa, was fashioned from the common queñar wood and sold in regular channels at a fair figure.”

“What a neat racket!” George exclaimed.

Nancy asked, “Did Luis Llosa get the quinine here?”

“Probably,” Carla’s father replied. “The Lima police believe that Luis Llosa stole his supply of it from various sources in South America.”

“I don’t see why he went to the trouble of getting arrayánes wood,” George remarked. “He could have used something easy to buy.”

“We’ll have to find out about that later,” Nancy replied. “Señor Ponce, were the other articles in the shipments stolen from Velez’s shop?”

“I’m afraid so,” her host answered.

“How did the police learn about the wonder-drug racket?” George asked.

Senor Ponce smiled. “Thanks to Nancy Drew,” he said. “They contacted United States authorities who picked up Harry Wallace, out on bail. He was at the return address given on the envelopes she found. After a surprise inspection of the chemist’s place, he also was arrested.”

“Did they find Luis Llosa?” Bess asked.

“No,” Señor Ponce replied. “The police learned that he was only boarding at the Lima address on the envelopes. He had not been there in a week.”

Bess burst out, “Now that his pals have been caught, maybe he’ll get scared and run away. Then he won’t bother us any more.”

George scoffed. “Don’t be silly. He’ll be madder than ever and keep after us.”

Nancy was inclined to agree with George and wondered what Luis Llosa would do next. She hoped it would be nothing to delay or ruin their trip to the Nascan lines.

“There will be one other passenger I did not tell you about,” Señor Ponce said. “He is a government official who is an archaeologist. His name is Dr. Benevides.”

Soon the group said good night to one another. They were to be up early to make the trip.

The next morning Señor Ponce drove them all to the airfield and there the girls met the men who would be their traveling companions. They were handsome with charming manners, and all spoke English. Nancy and George noted how Bess’s eyes sparkled and they winked at each other.

Nancy thought affectionately, “For Bess the expedition is a success even before it starts!”

The helicopter rose gracefully and set off for the pebbly desert in southern Peru. Two hours later the pilot, Ernesto, announced over his mike that they were nearing the Nascan lines. Immediately the Ponces and their friends crowded to the various windows and gazed below. The copilot, Canejo, came back to join them.

“Oh my goodness!” Bess cried out. “Look at that giant!”

She pointed at the outline of a man etched in the ground below. Canejo told her it was eight hundred feet tall.

“There’s a fish!” George exclaimed. “A highway is running right through the middle of it!”

Canejo explained that this was the Pan-American Highway which had been built before present-day people realized that among the markings on the desert there were giant figures.

“I see a monkey stretched out on his back,” Carla called out. The copilot said that this particular figure was two hundred and sixty-two feet in height.

“It is a marvelous bit of work,” said Señora Ponce. “This is not like the monkey on our plaque, though.”

The whole group was fascinated by the long lines that looked like roadways. Many of them interlocked. There were also several spirals and huge figures of birds.

“This is the most amazing thing in archaeology I have ever been privileged to see,” Señor Ponce remarked.

Dr. Benevides agreed wholeheartedly. “The entire project is such a mystery. Everyone wonders why those ancient Indians made their figures so gigantic.”

Nancy smiled. “May I venture a guess?” she asked.

“Please do,” the doctor said, smiling.

Nancy told him about their trip to Machu Picchu and the elderly Indian who had remarkable eyesight. “He can see small objects two-thirds of a mile away. If the ancient Indians who lived around here had that kind of vision, they could easily see the giant figures from far away, and enjoyed doing their art work on a grand scale.”

The archaeologist looked at Nancy with interest. “That is a very sensible theory,” he said, “and one I have not heard anybody express. I understand some scientists think that this whole area was a great agricultural calendar for the use of farmers. Or possibly it had something to do with the Nascan religion of the time.”

Before Dr. Benevides had a chance to make any further comment, Bess gave a shriek of delight.

“Look!” she cried out. “There’s our monkey with the spiral taill”

CHAPTER XIX

Desert Mummy

EVERYONE in the helicopter gazed down at the monkey figure. It looked exactly like the one on the plaque and the spiraling tail matched perfectly.

Nancy was thrilled. “Oh, I’m sure that figure was carved long ago by the Ponces’ ancestor Aguilar!” she thought.

When Nancy told the others her idea, every one agreed, and Carla said, “I want to see it again!”

The pilot circled the area several times, then asked Señor Ponce if he wished to land.

Before he had a chance to answer, George cried out, “There’s a giant cat figure! Cats remind me of Luis Llosa.”

Ernesto looked back for a moment. “Did you say Luis Llosa?” he asked.

“Yes.”

The pilot said that when he was attending a Peruvian flying school several years before, one of the students there was named Luis Llosa. “He had a cat tattoo on his upper arm.”

His listeners were extremely interested. “Please tell us more,” said Nancy.

“Luis was a very good parachutist, but as a man he was a troublemaker,” the pilot replied. “Finally he was expelled. I have never heard what became of him. Do you know this person?”

“Yes, we do,” Nancy answered, and told Ernesto the story. “If you ever see or hear of him, please get in touch with the police immediately.”

Ernesto promised to do so, then at a signal from Senor Ponce he landed his helicopter close to the spiral-tailed monkey. The steps were lowered and everyone got out.

“Oh, it’s hot!” Bess exclaimed.

Dr. Benevides told her that the temperature in this desert varied little. She would soon become adjusted to its warmth.

“Sometimes in the early morning there’s a slight mist here, but never any rain or wind.”

The archaeologist’s prediction that the group would soon adjust to the warm air proved to be true. The poles were set up and the canvas canopies put in place. Then the digging tools were unpacked. The girls expressed their eagerness to start work, but Señor Ponce suggested that they eat lunch first and stay under the shelter of the canvases while the sun was high.

“You will have plenty of time to search,” he said. “The sun goes to bed late here.”

During the rest period Dr. Benevides, the Ponces, and their friends discussed where to start the dig. The desert figures had been etched into the ground by removing the top layer of pebbles and piling them along the edges of the wide paths. The two sides of one of the monkey’s arms were as far apart as a narrow street!

Although Nancy felt that the tip of the tail was the place where a treasure might be found, Dr. Benevides asked them to start digging in the area where the tail started to spiral.

“I believe that since the monkey is on one side of the plaque and most of the tail on the other, this fact has real significance. Perhaps Aguilar intended to indicate that the clue to the mystery is at the joining of the two.”

Because of the distance between the two paths outlining the tail, he had the searchers start digging in separate places. Work began with a will. Except for the noise of the tools as they hit the stony ground, there was not a sound.

The upper layer of pebbles was about two inches deep and below this lay a stratum of brownish-white stone. Because of the terrain it was evident that if Aguilar had hidden something here, it would not be buried very deep. After going down a couple of feet, each digger would move to a new position. Hour after hour went by with no results.

“This is discouraging,” Bess complained.

At six o’clock Señor Ponce decided that they should cease digging for the day. Just then his daughter cried out excitedly:

“Come, everybody! I have found a mummy!”

“A mummy!” her mother exclaimed.

Everyone hurried to Carla’s side. She had uncovered only the head, which was rather well preserved. Quickly the men helped to unearth the rest of the clothed body from its shallow grave. Because of the dry, even climate it had not disintegrated.

Meanwhile, Dr. Benevides studied the face. “This is not the mummy of an ancient Indian,” he said. “He belongs to the white race.”

The clothing of the man in the shallow grave proved to be that of a Spanish explorer.

“Whoever buried him did a careful job,” the archaeologist remarked.

During the past few seconds Nancy had been thinking hard. Finally she said, “Do you suppose this could possibly be the mummy of your ancestor Aguilar, Señor Ponce?”

The others were startled by the suggestion, but agreed it was quite possible. Aguilar’s Indian companion who had delivered the plaque to the Ponce family could have made the burial.

“Perhaps we can find some identification,” Dr. Benevides suggested. He kneeled on the ground and very carefully unbuttoned the jacket. He turned back one side. A paper stuck out of an inside pocket. “I’m almost afraid to touch this,” he said. “It may crumble.”

“We must take that chance,” said Senor Ponce.

Dr. Benevides was used to working meticulously on digs, and the girls marveled at the deft way he lifted the paper out with forceps. To the onlookers’ amazement, the writing on it—in Spanish—was still legible.

Carla’s father read it, then said quietly, “This is an honorable discharge from the Spanish army to—” he paused, then finished with a catch in his voice, “to Renato Aguilar.”

Everyone looked at the mummy with reverence. No one spoke until Señor Ponce said, “We will reinter the body. Perhaps it can be removed from here later.”

When the brief ceremony was over, the group picked up their tools and walked back to the tents. Soon Rico had supper ready.

“And I am hungry,” declared Señor Ponce. “The desert air has given me an appetite.”

Later, when the girls were preparing for bed, Nancy remarked, “I am more convinced than ever that Aguilar came here to bury his treasure. He did not dare entrust it to his Indian servant because he might have been attacked by bandits and the object—whatever it is—stolen from him.”

George nodded in agreement. “I doubt that Aguilar thought it would take so long for his family to figure out the crossword cipher.”

Nancy smiled. “We haven’t figured it out yet.”

“But in the morning,” said Bess, “we will!”

The campers were awake early and as soon as breakfast was over the searchers walked to new digging positions. Before they had a chance to reach the spots, they became aware of an approaching plane. It was flying low and slowly.

As they watched, a parachutist jumped from it. In a few moments his chute billowed out and he drifted down to land near the camp.

“What does he want?” George asked.

Within seconds, another chutist dropped from the plane; then, one by one, several more. When all had hit the ground they quickly unharnessed themselves and hurried toward the campers.

The leader was a thin, heavily bearded man with bushy black hair. In a deep voice he said, “I am sorry to disturb you, but in the name of the Peruvian government you are under arrest. Get into the copter and my men will take you back to Lima.”

Nancy and her companions were stunned. Immediately Dr. Benevides said, “But we have permission from the government to dig here.”

“The permission has been canceled,” the bearded chutist said. “Now do not make any trouble. Leave everything here and get in the copter.”

Nancy had been watching the beady eyes of the leader and strongly suspected that he might be Luis Llosa in disguise. She edged toward the pilot and his copilot, and whispered her suspicion to them. Instantly they lunged forward and seized the intruder.

“Now,” said Ernesto, “we’ll see if you have a cat tattoo on your arm.”

“And maybe that hair and beard will come off,” added Canejo, reaching toward the whiskers.

“Leave that man alone!” barked one of the suspect’s companions as they closed in belligerently.

At the same time, their leader jerked free and swung a blow at Ernesto. Instantly the other chutists leaped on the pilots and Rico.

Señor Ponce was yelling at the top of his voice for everyone to calm down. “We want no trouble!” he cried out.

Another chutist, a very tall, heavy-set man, picked Nancy up in his arms and raced toward the helicopter. There he whirled and called out:

“You will do what I say or I will take this girl away as a hostage!”

CHAPTER XX

An Impostor’s Story

“OH, Nancy! No! No!” Bess shrieked. “Don’t let them take you away!”

“They won’t!” Ernesto cried.

The parachutists had not counted on the strength of the men in Nancy’s group, nor George’s knowledge of judo. Ernesto dashed to Nancy’s rescue. With a stinging blow, the pilot knocked out the big fellow who was holding her.

By this time Luis Llosa’s disguise had been yanked off and he stood clean-shaven and short-haired. One of his khaki shirt sleeves was ripped, revealing a cat tattoo on his arm! He stood alone for a moment, panting, while Canejo went to help subdue the intruders. Suddenly Llosa started to run.

Bess whispered to her cousin, “Get him!”

George did not hesitate. To Llosa’s utter surprise, she rushed up and used one of her judo holds on him. He went head over heels—and even Señora Ponce, startled as she was, had to smile.