The Stone Idol (2 page)

“Maybe someone switched bags on you,” Frank said. “Someone might have taken yours and left a dummy while you were buying your ticket at the airline counter.”

Kimberley shook his head again. “I carried a number of small artifacts in the bag. The others were there when I opened it in New York. Only the Easter Island piece was missing.”

“Then it must have been stolen in Santiago,” Frank concluded.

“That's what I think!” Kimberley boomed.

“Do you suspect anyone?”

“Not really.”

“Did anyone else know you had the idol in your bag?”

“Charles Bertrand, my partner. But he can't be the thief.”

Frank shrugged. “Mr. Kimberley, if Bertrand is the only other person who knew about the idol, he's a suspect. Would he have any motive for stealing it?”

Kimberley hesitated. “Well, if I were out of the way, Bertrand could take over the company,” he said finally.

“But how would the theft of the sculpture get you out of the way?” Joe asked.

“Because I have to account for it. You see, whenever we take a piece from the office, we sign a release for it. I signed one for the Easter Island idol. I'm responsible for it, and I have no idea where it is. I could be accused of stealing it myself

“Tell us what happened in Santiago,” Joe suggested.

Kimberley squinted as if to gather his thoughts. “I took the piece from our office in my handbag. Bertrand came to my hotel that evening and we discussed the price we might place on it in New York. The bag was in the room, zippered and locked.”

“Did you leave the hotel room at any time?” Frank inquired.

“Only once. I had to go down to the jeweler's in the lobby to pick up my wristwatch. I was having it repaired. ”

“Did Bertrand stay behind?”

“Yes. But I don't know whether he was in the room all the time.”

“If he had left, even for a few moments, someone else might have sneaked in. ”

“I'd like to think so,” Kimberley insisted. “I don't like to throw suspicion on my partner.”

“The handbag was locked,” Joe commented. “Whoever opened it must have had a key. Could Bertrand have made a duplicate of your key?”

“It's possible,” Kimberley confessed. “I've often left my key ring lying on the desk in our Santiago office. Anyway, it didn't occur to me to unlock the bag and check the contents at the time. I carried it all the way to New York without realizing that the idol was missing.”

Joe looked puzzled. “Since it was stolen in Santiago, why don't you ask the Santiago police to find it?”

“I can‘t!” Kimberley protested. “I'd be the prime suspect. After all, I had the idol in my possession, and now I can't produce it!”

“So you want us to go to Santiago and investigate?” Frank asked.

Kimberley nodded. “I need someone smart enough to find the idol without any undue publicity. That's why I placed the ad in the Times. You boys were the first to call me.”

“What does the idol look like?” Joe inquired.

Kimberley took a photograph from his desk drawer and handed it to him.

Frank looked over Joe's shoulder and saw a stone head with eyes like circles, a broad nose, and an open mouth. A fierce scowl distorted the features. The most noticeable thing, however, were the ears, with the lobes hanging down almost on a level with the chin.

“The Easter Islanders did that deliberately,” Kimberley commented, pointing to the ears with his finger. “You can see the lobes are pierced. People hung weights on them so they would become enlarged. Of course, the practice has stopped in modern times. But long ears have always been a feature of Easter Island art.”

“How big is this sculpture?” Frank wanted to know.

“About six inches high,” Kimberley informed him.

“Then it's not heavy. You wouldn't have felt the loss of its weight in your bag. ”

“No,” Kimberley agreed. “I never noticed that the bag was lighter, not with all those other stone artifacts in it. Well now, let's get down to the bottom line. You boys are obviously top-notch detectives. I'd like you to take the case. What do you say?”

The Hardys explained that they would have to talk to their father first.

“Fenton Hardy?” Kimberley queried. “Yes, I saw he was mentioned in the newspaper reports about the embezzlement case you just solved.”

“If we take your case,” Frank said, “we need a little more to go on besides what you've told us so far—some clue or starting point. We can't just go to Santiago and hope we'll be lucky.”

“I have something,” Kimberley said slowly. “A strange message I received. Here it is.” Again he reached into his desk drawer and drew out a piece of paper, which he handed to the boys.

The message was composed of words cut from a newspaper and pasted on a South American Antiquities letterhead bearing the Santiago address. It read:

Frank and Joe looked baffled.

“Mr. Kimberley, where did you get this?” Frank asked.

“And what does it mean?” Joe wanted to know.

“It came in the mail from Santiago,” the antique dealer told them. “And I have no idea what it means. But since it mentions an idol, I think it must refer to the Easter Island god figure.”

“It's on note paper from your Santiago office,” Joe pointed out.

“True. But lots of people have access to that.”

“The message must be a clue,” Joe stated. “Maybe it came from somebody who knows where the idol is but doesn't want his identity revealed. ”

“It might be one of our Santiago employees,” Kimberley said.

“Well, whoever wrote this is telling us to investigate the Santiago office,” Frank declared. “That's where we'll begin if we take the case. ”

“When can you let me know?” Kimberley asked in a tense voice.

“After we talk to our father,” Frank replied. “We'll phone you this afternoon.”

When the Hardy boys returned to their hotel, Frank called long distance to Bayport.

Aunt Gertrude, who was their father's sister, answered. “Why aren't you home yet?” she demanded in a tart voice.

“Well, we might have another case, Aunty,” Frank said. He knew that although Aunt Gertrude was often critical of her nephews, she was basically proud of their accomplishments.

“Hmph!” Miss Hardy snorted. “Don't you ever give up? Can't you stay home for a change like other boys? Seems to me that if you're not in danger, you're not happy.”

“Don't worry, Aunt Gertrude, this case isn't dangerous,” Frank said and quickly explained what had happened. “And now may I talk to Dad, please?” he added when he was finished.

“Just a moment. ”

Fenton Hardy took the phone. “I found out how you solved the mystery,” he began. “An old friend of mine in the New York Police Department called me about it.”

“It was easy,” Frank said modestly.

Fenton Hardy chuckled. “That's not what my friend reported. He considers your performance a remarkable example of detective work. What are you going to do now?”

“More detective work—maybe,” Frank announced. “If you think we should take the case.”

“What does it involve?”

Frank described their conversation with Kim Kimberley and his request for their services.

Fenton Hardy thought for a moment, then said, “Go ahead. It should be interesting.”

Frank detected a slight hesitation in his father's voice. “You sound as if you're not all that happy with the idea. ”

“Well, I've just taken a new assignment, and I might need your help. It concerns the theft of government materiel from several naval bases. The navy has no idea who the thieves are, and hired me to find out. ”

“Shall we come home, then?”

“No, not yet. You see, I'll have to tour the naval bases where the thefts have occurred. If I do need you, it won't be until after the tour is over and I've checked out several clues. ”

His father paused a moment, then went on, “Tell you what. Go to Santiago for the time being, and stay at the Inca Arms Hotel. I'll get in touch with you there if necessary.”

After Fenton Hardy had hung up, Joe rang Kimberley's office and told him that they would be able to work on his case, but might have to take time off to help their father.

The antique dealer hesitated for a moment, then said, “Okay, why don't you come back here and we'll talk about it. ”

“We'll be right over, sir.”

Joe hung up and the boys taxied to the Empire State Building for the second time that day. The secretary showed them into Kimberley's office, and he motioned for them to sit down.

“I'm hoping you'll find the idol before your father needs you,” the antique dealer said. “If not, I'm in trouble. But I decided to give you the job anyway because I feel that boys your age will be less conspicuous. You realize, of course, that you can't walk into our Santiago office and tell my partner I hired you to investigate him and his staff.”

“We understand, sir,” Frank said. “What kind of cover do you have in mind for us?”

“I thought you could be high-school students with a special project in Incan history. You contacted me and I referred you to Santiago, because our staff there can help you study the artifacts we have. You have a research grant from your school to cover your expenses.”

“That sounds like a plausible plan,” Joe conceded.

Kimberley nodded. “Now here's where you go when you get into town. Our office is on Avenida Bernardo O‘Higgins, or as we would say in English, Bernard O'Higgins Avenue.”

He handed the boys a card bearing the printed legend of South American Antiquities, with the address and phone number underneath. “And take the strange message and the photograph of the idol with you, too. ”

Joe took the two items while Frank pocketed the business card.

Kimberley sighed. “I don't like to deceive my partner, and I'm sure he has nothing to do with the theft. But someone in our office must—our staff were the only people who were in on the transaction and knew what hotel I was staying in. ”

Frank nodded.

“My secretary will give you your expense money on your way out. Call me as soon as you have any news. ”

“We will, Mr. Kimberley,” Joe promised.

“Oh, there's one other thing you should know about. ”

“Yes?”

“Depending on how you look at it, you might be in danger from the idol's
aku-aku!”

Frank and Joe stared at Kimberley in surprise.

“What's an
aku-aku?”
Joe asked.

“An uncanny spirit. The people of Easter Island believe that
aku-akus
watch over them and all their possessions, especially those objects connected with the old religion. If the people obey their traditions, the spirits protect them. But if they step out of line, the
aku-akus
haunt them and bring bad luck.”

“The old whammy,” Frank said with a grin. “When an
aku-aku
puts a spell on you, you've had it. ”

“Sounds somewhat like voodoo,” Joe commented.

“Right,” Kimberley said. “Thor Heyerdahl wrote a book called
Aku-Aku
about his experiences on Easter Island. He found the people convinced of the power of the spirits. They say anyone who disturbs an idol of the gods is in for trouble. Looks like it came true for me. I've had nothing but headaches since I bought that piece.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Frank queried.

“Because you may run into the idol's
aku-aku
before your investigation is over. I don't want to frighten you off the case, but I feel I should warn you. ”

“We won't be frightened off,” Frank promised.

Kimberley nodded. “Good. I've heard you boys aren't afraid of danger. That's why I'm depending on you to find the idol and have whoever stole it from me arrested. When can you leave?”

“On the next available flight,” Frank declared.

“That's fine. Solve the mystery as quickly as you can. I'll be waiting to hear from you.”

The boys returned to their hotel and discovered that the next plane from New York to Santiago was scheduled for the following afternoon. They spent the night in the hotel. After breakfast the next day, they went to a bookshop to buy a book on Incan art and did some sightseeing. Then they took a taxi to Kennedy Airport. Soon they were airborne, winging their way south along the eastern shore of the United States.

The boys took turns studying the book they had bought.

“We'll have to beef up on the subject,” Frank said. “Otherwise Bertrand will never believe our cover. ”

After dinner was served, both Hardys fell sound asleep and did not wake up until breakfast the next morning. Meanwhile, they had reached South America; the massive peaks of the Andes could be seen below.

After they landed near Santiago, the brothers took a taxi to the Inca Arms Hotel. Large crowds were thronging the streets. Most people wore ordinary dress, but here and there the flash of brightly colored robes showed that Indians from the mountains were visiting the city.

The taxi turned into a broad thoroughfare with a street sign reading “Avenida Bernardo O‘Higgins.”

“This street's wider than Fifth Avenue in New York!” Joe said, surprised.