“Where did you hide that?” George asked in amazement.
“In the trunk,” Bess replied smugly.
Her friends helped lay out the meal. Despite everyone’s hearty appetite, there were plenty of leftovers for the Papadapoulos family.
When the girls were on their way back to Athens, Nancy and George praised Bess extravagantly. “It’s the first time you didn’t go for second helpings!” George teased. “Now that you’ve started the diet, how about sticking to it?”
Bess did not retort.
As they drove along an attractive bathing beach, Nancy gazed longingly at a strip of white sand dotted with sunbathers. “If only we had brought our swimsuits,” she said with a sigh.
“That’s my second surprise,” Bess piped up, announcing she had packed everyone’s gear. “I was hoping we’d have time for a dip!
Eagerly Nancy parked the car and Bess removed the beach togs. The girls hurried to the ticket booth and bathhouse. They changed quickly and, after dropping their towels on the coarse sand, ran into the surf. Nancy and George dived under a wave, feeling the cool water tingle against their skin, while Bess began to sidestroke near shore.
“It’s wonderful,” she thought as the salt water licked her face. Then, changing direction, she let her toes touch bottom. Instantly, she let out a cry of pain!
6
Hunting a Suspect
Hearing Bess’s cry, Nancy and George swam toward her from opposite directions. They sliced through the water quickly but were still several feet away when the lifeguard reached her.
“My foot hurts,” Bess was saying to him as she limped onto the beach.
The young man knelt to look at the red mark on Bess’s skin. “You were stung by a jellyfish,” he said, then stood up again. “You’ll be all right. I have some—”
“What happened?” George interrupted as she and Nancy caught up to the pair.
Nancy’s gaze traveled to the bite. “Do you have any rubbing alcohol?” she asked.
“No,” the lifeguard said, “but I have a solution of ammonia.”
“Ammonia!” Bess gasped. “Ick!”
The young man ran to a canvas bag next to his chair and removed a bottle of clear fluid. Within seconds he was pouring some of it over the large welt.
“Ou-ouch!” Bess cried out. “That burns. It hurts more than the jellyfish!” She shook her foot vigorously and to her relief the sharpness of the sting abated quickly.
“You see, I told you you’d be all right,” the lifeguard grinned. “Alexis is never wrong. ”
For a long moment Bess returned the smile, dimpling her cheeks as she blinked in the sunlight. “Alexis?” she paused for the rest of his name.
“Hios.”
“The shipping family?” Nancy inquired.
“That’s right. We’re from the island of the same name. ”
“Then why are you here in Loutraki and not sailing on some gorgeous yacht?” Bess asked.
“I will be on one later this summer. Would you all like to go?” he said hastily.
The sunlight danced on his deeply tanned shoulders, making the visitors wish they had more time to spend on the beaches of Greece.
“I’d love to,” Bess replied.
“But we don’t plan to stay the whole summer,” George put in quickly.
“We’re really here on business,” Nancy explained. “As a matter of fact, it involves the shipping family of Nicholas, who own the Nikos line.”
“Oh, yes. I know them.”
“You do?”
“Of course,” Alexis said. “The shipping community is a very close-knit one. ”
“Then maybe you know Constantine Nicholas,” George put in. “Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, we’re looking for him. I mean Nancy is.”
Alexis seemed somewhat guarded as he went on. “I understand he disappeared with a lot of money, some of it his inheritance from his parents and the rest stolen. It’s possible, though, the story is only gossip. ”
“What else have you heard?” Nancy prodded.
“First, can you tell me why three pretty American girls are so eager to know?”
Briefly, the girl detective mentioned that her father was Helen Nicholas’s lawyer and that he had asked Nancy to search for Helen’s missing cousin, Constantine. “The stolen money you referred to—was it stolen from Uncle Nicholas’s estate?”
“Maybe. I know that the old man hoped Constantine would carry on the business after his death. But now he’s gone, and no one knows where.”
Alexis could shed no more light on the subject, and the young people began to chat about Greece.
“Have you ever been to Lycabettus Hill?” Alexis inquired.
“Where’s that?” Bess asked.
“In Athens,” he said. “It has a spectacular view of the city. There’s a small church, too, and a restaurant. Maybe you would all like to go there with me this evening. ”
“Sounds great,” George replied.
“Shall we meet about eight thirty?” Nancy said as the girls picked up their beach towels.
“Fine. Just tell me where you’re staying,” Alexis said.
“The Hotel Skyros,” Bess replied, waving good-bye. “See you later. ”
The young detectives changed into dry clothes and as they were starting back for Athens, Nancy mentioned Mrs. Thompson. “I ought to phone her about our visit to Agionori. ”
“Forget using the hotel phone,” George said. “It takes forever to get through.”
Consequently, after Nancy returned the car to the garage, the trio headed for the kiosk near their hotel. Nancy dialed Mrs. Thompson’s home telephone number, listening to it ring several times before hanging up, then tried Helen Nicholas. She did not answer.
“Maybe Dad’s in,” Nancy murmured, making the third call.
To her delight, he picked up the phone immediately, and Nancy related her current news.
Bess, meanwhile, pulled George aside. “Do you see that guy up the street?” she asked.
A tall man with black hair was pacing back and forth in front of an iron fence.
“What about him?” George replied.
“I think he’s the one who took the basket of apples from our hotel room!” Bess said.
“Oh?” George said. “Let’s watch him.”
As soon as Nancy finished her conversation, Bess told her about the suspect. Suddenly she let out a stifled cry.
“And look who else is coming,” Nancy remarked.
Approaching the stranger was Isakos, the unpleasant man they had met on their flight to Athens!
“Follow me!” Nancy urged her friends. She led them onto a side street that curved back to the one where the men were standing.
The girls walked briskly toward a profusion of bougainvillea vines entwined around an iron fence and parted the flowers enough to see Isakos’s red face. He was moving his lips, but the words were barely audible. Then his voice rose.
“At two or three tomorrow morning no one will be around St. Mark’s!” he insisted. “It will be perfect. We can take—”
“Don’t speak so loudly!” the other man cautioned him.
“I can’t hear everything they’re saying,” Bess whispered to Nancy.
“Sh!” her cousin warned.
They heard only a few more words, including a vague reference to mosaics, before the pair moved down the street. They crossed it, apparently aiming for the Hotel Skyros.
“Do you suppose the men are staying there?” Bess asked, following her cousin and Nancy through the square.
“If not both, then I bet one of them is,” Nancy said upon entering the hotel. She stopped at the desk to inquire.
“Why, yes,” the clerk answered, “there is a Mr. Isakos in Room 986. ”
“Thank you very much,” Nancy said.
“Do you wish to leave a message?”
“N-no,” Nancy replied. The number of the man’s room was racing through her mind.
Theirs was 968! Had the venomous snake in the basket of apples been meant for Isakos? If so, why?
The same questions occurred to George. “Our room isn’t far from 986,” she said as they took the elevator to the ninth floor.
When the girls reached it, no one was in the hallway.
“All clear,” Bess said, tiptoeing with the others to Isakos’s door.
They listened a bit, but heard nothing.
“Maybe the other guy left,” George whispered.
“And maybe he’s on his way back,” Bess pointed out. “We’d better go.”
The girls hurried to their room to rest awhile before they showered and changed. Less than an hour before Alexis was due to meet them, Nancy slipped into a pretty turquoise skirt and blouse. Bess put on a white eyelet dress, and George, a tan silk outfit.
When they strolled out of the elevator onto the first floor, they found Alexis seated in a comfortable chair under a palm tree. His deep tan was a striking contrast against his white shirt.
“Hi!” the girls greeted him, prompting the young man to rise.
“I have some news for you,” he said mysteriously.
“You do?” Bess asked eagerly.
“I think I saw Constantine.”
“Where?” Nancy asked in surprise.
“Near Plaka. I tried to catch up to him, but couldn’t. There were too many people around. ”
“Maybe Constantine works at the flea market,” Nancy said thoughtfully. “We ought to go there in the morning to find out what we can.”
The other girls agreed, but as they approached Lycabettus Hill, the conversation quickly changed.
“How do we get up there?” Bess inquired.
“On the funicular,” Alexis said, pointing to a cable car ready to ascend through a tunnel. “It will take us to St. George’s Church.”
“Speaking of St. George’s,” Nancy said as they boarded one of two compartments, “is there a St. Mark’s Church nearby?”
Alexis pondered a minute. “Not that I know of,” he said.
“Well, I’m thinking of some place called St. Mark’s that may have some unusual icons or mosaics,” Nancy went on.
“Oh, yes. The monastery.”
“Is it in Athens?”
“No, no. It’s on the northern outskirts.” As Alexis spoke, the car began to slide through the dark tunnel, breaking slowly away from the buildings below.
“This is fantastic!” George exclaimed when they reached the top of the mountain.
The church was small and white, a stark contrast against the awesome view from the hill. Alexis swept his arm toward the Acropolis, where a rainbow of lights played over the temple ruins, then pointed out the King’s Palace and, in another direction, the harbors of Piraeus.
“We’d never have come here if we hadn’t met you,” Bess said to Alexis. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” he answered. “I hope to convince your friends to stay all summer.”
The evening wore away quickly and at the end of it, the girls promised to keep in touch with their new friend.
Next morning, the girls awakened early and directly after breakfast went to the jewelry shop in monastiraki.
Nancy’s first question to the shopkeeper was, “Do you recall the name of the man who bought the gold mask?”
The woman glanced in bewilderment from Nancy to the other girls. “Gold mask? What gold mask?” she repeated.
“The one you had in your window,” Nancy said.
“I don’t know what you are taking about. ”
“Surely you remember all of us,” the girl went on.
The shopkeeper remained silent. It was only when Bess decided to purchase a gold filigree bracelet that she smiled a little.
“A very pretty choice. Excuse me while I wrap it. »
“Weird,” George commented as the woman slipped behind the curtain, but hearing a low murmur of voices, she said no more.
Nancy tiptoed near the curtain. She caught a few Greek words, símera, ti óra, stís októ, apópse, and finally the name of the girls’ hotel!
“Something’s about to happen at the Hotel Skyros!” Nancy gasped.
7
Burglar Attempt
Before Nancy could tell her friends what she had overheard, the curtain was flung back. The shopkeeper appeared, holding Bess’s purchase.
“Is there anything else you would like?” she asked the girls.
“No, thank you,” George replied, signalling her cousin to leave.
Outside, Nancy opened her Greek-English dictionary, then said, “Something related to the three of us is going to happen at our hotel tonight about eight o’clock!”
“What!” Bess exclaimed.
“But where?” George asked. “We can’t cover the entire hotel. There are fourteen floors—”
“And a lobby,” Bess interrupted, adding, “Are you positive the shopkeeper was talking about us?”
“No, I’m not,” Nancy said, “but my hunch is yes. Anyway, we should stick around to see what happens. ”
That evening, the girls strolled through the hotel at the appointed hour. As a precaution, Nancy asked the hotel desk and telephone operator not to reveal the girls’ room to anyone. Bess offered to post herself near the busy side entrance.
“Where are you two going to be?” she asked.
Before either could answer, a call came over the loudspeaker for Nancy Drew to answer the phone. “George, will you check that out for me?”
“Sure. Where are you going? ”
“Upstairs to our room.”
“Alone?” Bess asked fearfully.
“I’ll be okay. You stake out the side entrance and don’t worry. I have a feeling that phone call is meant to keep us away from our room. ”
The girl detective took the elevator to the ninth floor. Instinct told her to step out cautiously. As she approached her door, a man suddenly appeared from the stairway exit. In his hand was a key which he inserted in the lock of her room!
“Stop!” she shouted, racing toward him.
He whirled quickly and hurled something in her direction, then dashed to the stairway.
“Stop! Stop!” Nancy cried again, dodging the object. She ran after the intruder, tracking him to the floor below. He dashed into an elevator with a couple who were just entering. The door closed just before Nancy got there.
He’s probably going to the lobby! Nancy thought.
Instantly, the girl detective flew back to the stairs, bolting down each flight with amazing speed. Upon reaching the ground floor, she gazed about breathlessly, hoping the man would still be in the lobby. There was no sign either of him or of the couple who had ridden with him.
Nancy hurried to the desk. “Parakaló, excuse me,” she said. “I’m looking for someone.” She described the suspect and the couple and added, “Are they staying in this hotel?”
“I don’t recognize the man but the couple sound familiar. They are staying here. Their name is Zimmer. I believe they are members of a charter tour from Massachusetts. ”
Just then, George spotted Nancy and ran toward her. “That phone call was from a newspaper reporter.” she said. “He wants to write an article about you.”
“About me?” Nancy said. “Why?”
“It seems he heard you were in Athens to solve a mystery and wishes to know what it’s about.”
“You didn’t tell him, did you?”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t tell anyone. I said, ‘What kind of a detective would I be if I told you over the phone?’ ”
“And what did he say?”
“He didn’t want all the details—just enough to make an interesting story. ‘Even so,’ I said, ‘I really can’t help you.’ ” She paused. “I believe he thought I was you until I slipped and told him I wasn’t Nancy Drew.”
“Then what happened?”
“He was furious and hung up.”
“Did you find out his name?” Nancy inquired.
“Yes, i
t’s Irwin.”
“And which paper does he work for?”
“He’s a free-lance writer. At least, that’s what he said. He claims he’s developing a column that focuses on Americans living or visiting in Greece. ”
“I think,” Nancy told George, “that Irwin, if that’s his real name, was only trying to keep me from going to our room, while his buddy went in.” She told about her ride to the ninth floor and what had happened. “The man looked like the one who took the apples—”
“Where did he get the key?” George asked. “Do you think he works at this hotel?”
“Possibly. Or maybe he stole a master key and had a duplicate made before anyone discovered the original was missing.”
“Terrific,” George said, shaking her head in concern. “If you’re right, then he could return at any time. ”
“We don’t have much of value for him to steal,” Nancy said. “What really bothers me is that he can harm us. Apparently, the apples were meant for us after all. ”
George nodded worriedly. “We’d better change rooms before—”
Just then Bess ran up to them. “Wait until you hear this!” she panted.
“What?” Nancy asked.
“A man ran out of the elevator and almost bumped into me. I heard him say ‘Drew.’ ”
“Why didn’t you follow him?” George pressed her cousin.
“I tried to, but he got away from me. He jumped into a car and they took off.”
“They?” George asked.
“There was another man behind the wheel. ”
“Did you notice a couple with them?” Nancy continued.
“Come to think of it, there were two people in the elevator, but they didn’t go with him. They looked as mystified as I was when he cut out in front of them. I’m positive the rude one was the man we saw with Isakos!”
Suddenly, Nancy recalled the object he had hurled at her in the hallway near the girls’ room.
“Let’s go upstairs,” she said. “On the way I’ll tell you what happened to me.”
When Bess heard about the intruder, she turned pale. “We’ll have to move out of here!” she insisted. “What if the guy slips us another poisonous snake?”