Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the Sophia

Dear Dad,

I've just arrived in Instanbul. It's beautiful here, and my hotel is small and comfortable. The amount of people here is overwhelming, but exhilarating. The Bosporus looks like a constant celebration of life, and I can't wait to unpack my bags and head over for the festivities.

Frank Hardy was contacted a few weeks ago by his Aunt, Bethany, who lives here. I will hopefully meet her and her husband tomorrow. Apparently, there have been very suspicious deaths of construction workers at the Hagia Sophia. Apparently, they began construction a few years ago to work maintenance on this very old chapel, and make more rooms available for the constant crowd of onlookers to enjoy. The process, according to Bethany, has been nothing but trouble since they began, but Turkey's dedication to its history would not allow the construction to cease because of what they called a "few complications".

Her husband is the head of security there, and nobody can quite figure out how these poor people are losing their lives. A few months ago, a body showed up in one of the private rooms, his entire body drained of blood. The Turkish Police started an investigation, but to no avail. There were no clues, no fingerprints, no signs of forced entry, and most mysteriously, not one single drop of blood in the entire room. It was ghastly scene. The next week, another construction worker was found outside, near one of the crypts, and was found to have been killed in the same gruesome way. After one of the security men disappeared, Bethany called Joe and Frank immediately, asking them for their help. She doesn't feel like the police have any leads, and she apparently fears her husband's life. I was naturally asked to come along.

Frank and Joe were going to meet me here today, but they were both caught in a layover in Amsterdam, so I am holding down the fort until they get here later this afternoon. I am definitely intrigued by this case; this city is filled with a beautiful history, and just standing in my hotel room, I can feel the chills of century old are already filling me with excitement.

Hopefully we can help the police get to the bottom of this horrible crime, and learn something about this beautiful culture in the meantime.

With love,

Nancy

Nancy Drew set down her letter, closing her eyes and sitting back in her seat. She let herself draw a breath, and prepare herself for another case. She'd been many places, but this was her first time on the Mediterranean. The air was different here, somehow; every building was old, and had that beautiful musty smell that reminded Nancy of old books and stories of castles and wars. She stretched in her seat, and rose to open the window. There was no air conditioning, but the weather was so beautiful; the Fall had treated Istanbul kindly, giving it a soft breeze and cool nights. Nancy leaned out of her window, letting the breeze brush her hair out of her face. She felt her stomach rumble, and wondered how on earth she was going to find a post office and a hot meal with her limited knowledge of Turkish.

She walked back to her desk and picked up her Turkish Dictionary. "Yemek." The word sounded odd in her mouth. So much of Turkish reminded her of Egyptian, mixed with Arabic and a Chinese pronunciation. "Su" was water. She flipped through a few more pages, satisfied, and shoved it in her shoulder bag. She was Nancy Drew. She could figure it out.

As she stepped out onto the sidewalk, she almost felt like the was in New York City. There were so many people walking; she wondered where they were all going. There were so many different types of people. Girls, giggling, being chased by their mothers, women with scarves around their hair, women with long flowing hair, men with mustaches. It was refreshing to be in a place where not everybody had their nose in a phone or a computer. It was like she was immediately transported back to a time before her, a time when people 's possessions were what they needed to live, and they were happy that way. She took a breath and began to follow her map to a nearby park, where she was hoping she could find some food. As she walked, waiters eagerly approached her at every corner, pulling out chairs and asking if she would like any tea. She smiled politely at their urgency, and kept walking. She crossed the street to the park, almost losing her breath at its beauty. There were actually people in the park just to walk, just to sit in the grass for lunch. Nancy saw a booth for what looked like sandwiches, and joined the small gathering of hungry people.

She walked along, eating a kumru, which turned out to be a sandwich with meat, onions, vegetables, and a type of ranch sauce. The strong smoked flavors consumed her taste buds, and she washed down her bites with a coke. She felt a bounce in her step, an excited urgency to see everything she could. The park was filled with statues and trees, and it wound around to a main street. As she turned the corner, risking her life to cross the street, she looked up at the buildings that towered over the sidewalk she was standing on. They looked old and like they were about to crumble any second. She took a step towards the wall, letting her hand brush the engraved words on the side of the building. She gasped. Was that Greek? Her brain racked, trying to figure out how old this building must be. She looked up at the beautiful carvings in the stone, and let her hand exert pressure against it, feeling the immense amount of structure and power it exuded. How did people walk by walls and buildings like this every day, how did anybody get used to this?

Nancy glanced at her watch. How was it already 4:30? She started to make her way back to the hotel; she did not prefer to be outside by herself at night. Besides, Frank and Joe would be there soon; they could already be there, for all she knew. It was quite freeing not to have a cell phone, but it would be nice to make sure Frank and Joe made it in alright.

As Nancy went up the steps to her quiet hotel, just one street down from the Hagia Sophia. It was already just past five, and she was excited to see if the boys had shown up. Just as she opened the door and stepped in, she ran directly into a girl, carrying several books, which fell from her hands down to the floor. She wore a simple dress, and had her dark hair pulled back in a lose french braid. She had a surprised expression on her face.

Nancy let out a gasp. "Oh! I am so sorry! Let me help you with these. I should have been looking where I was going!" She bent down to help her, then closed her eyes, forgetting she probably had no idea what she was saying. She looked up at the girl, who was now smiling. "I'm sorry! No turkish.."

"It is ok. I speak little." She smiled and bent down.

Nancy smiled back. "Hi. My name is Nancy." She stood up and reached out her hand, and handed the girl her books back.

"I am studying English," she said proudly, and gesured to her books. "My name is Camille. We don't have a J."

Nancy looked at her, confused. "Excuse me?"

"Camile is with 'c'. We say it like you say J. English has so many letters." Camile smiled. "You have American accent. Are you here alone?"

"Yes, for now. My friends are coming soon."

"Friends? Two boys? There are two boys here look like they are from TV. Your friends?" She pointed up the stairs.

"Oh, yes! Wow, they are here already! Thank you Camile!"

"Yes, we see many people here, but American boys are nice for me." She smiled at Nancy, winking.

Nancy laughed in response, embarrassed. "Do you live here?"

"Yes, mother and fathercim own this place. It is small but nice. We have room upstairs. Your are nice, they like you. Come for chai tonight. Will you?" She seemed earnestly interested in their company. The surprised look seemed to be a permanent expression for her.

"Sure, alright," Nancy smiled. She hoped Frank and Joe didn't have any plans for the night.

"Great. Go see boys. I am jeally. Enjoy them. They are in your room." She smiled and stepped outside of the hotel. "See you tonight. Any time, not 23."

Nancy wasn't sure what she meant. 23? Oh, of course. They use military time. Not after eleven pm. Nancy smiled in response and waved, shutting the door behind her. She then turned and bound up the steps, excited to see her friends.

"Nancy!" Frank was sitting on her bed and Joe was balancing on the back two pegs of her desk chair.

"Frank! Joe! Boy it's good to see you!" She naturally went to hug Frank first, taking in the smell of his sweet breath and a strong reminder of comfort and home. She turned to Joe and reached to kiss him on the cheek. These boys, over the past few years, have been her rock. After losing her aunt, breaking up with Ned, and missing home for almost two years now, they were her constant. Something in her life that would always be there, and never change.

"So where is your room," Joe asked with a smile on his face.

"What? Did you not get a room?" Nancy quickly glanced around the small room, unable to imagine all three of them staying there.

"Had a little miscommunication with Mr. BigHead around here. What a jerk. Anyway, it's just for a few days. We'll all stay with Bethany after her guests leave."

"Oh… Don't tell me Mr. BigHead is the owner of the hotel," Nancy said, biting her lip. She glanced up at Frank, trying to hide her smile.

"Why, dear Nancy, do you ask?" Joe leaned back in the chair more, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, see… We're supposed to have tea with them tonight."

Nancy heard the chair legs fall forward into its resting place. "What?" Joe groaned. "That's my Nancy, always making friends."

"Come on Frank, it will be ok. They can't be all bad. They might even serve you some food."

"Oh, well in that case, bring Mr. BigHead on!" Joe rubbed his hands together. "I'm dying for some more food. You should never go to a counry and not eat as much as possible."

Frank rolled hie eyes and sat back down on the bed. "That is not the reason we came. Count Dracula has other plans for us."

Nancy shivered. "Can we call him something else? Something nicer and less scary?"

"Fluffy Fluffikins it is," Joe teased. "Maybe if we let you talk to him Nancy, he'll be serving us tea before the week ends."

"It's actually pretty interesting; the culture here is a very superstitious one," Frank began, forrowing his eyebrows in thought. "They are very afraid of what is going on , and most refuse to even pray in the Hagia Sophia anymore, worried they will be cursed by Dracul, who was a very real threat to the Ottoman people in previous centuries."

"Ok, Frank, we know you took History. "

But Nancy was intruiged. "Dracula? He was real?" She started to feel the temperature in the room change.

"Yes, the family's name was Dracul, and Dracula meant 'Son of Dracul.' Their family crest had a Dragon as its symbol, and people feared him. He was actually a very rich warrior for the Christian movement, and killed many Turks during the Ottoman Regime. His nickname was Dracul the Imapler, because he liked to show off his work by taking the heads of the Ottoman soldiers and raising them up on steaks, after impaling their bodies. People here, which was then Constantinople, believed he had deamon-like powers. When he was finally captured, they removed his head and traveled all the way down to Spain, showing that the Devil had been killed. The severed head and coprse itself stayed here, probably on these very streets by the Hagia Sophia, to calm the city from its panic. "

Nancy Drew was speechless. "Oh my God. How awful. How did the myth turn into anything about blood?"

"Well, story goes, Dracul's head was misplaced somewhere near the border of France and Spain. The pilgrams, which is what they were called, were clueless as to where it went to. It was under heavy protection. Then, not too long later, there were sightings in France of the acclaimed Dracul, and he was sucking the blood of the locals, supposedly attempting to keep his heart beating. Thus the stories began. The Turks were especially worried, knowing that he would come back to get his revenge."

Nancy sat down on the bed beside him, thinking. "So perhaps we have a copycat on our hands. Are there any reasons for somebody to do something like that, to prove a point or hold the construction of the Hagia Sophia?"

"I guess that's what we'll have to find out."

A silence fell in the room, as they all absorbed the story. Nancy couldn't get the image of the panicked Constantinople, the pilgrims, waking up to find Dracul missing. The chaos and fear that must have run through the hears of the people here. This problem was a very real threat to these people, and whoever is doing this sounds like a very dangerous person. Nancy felt a new determination to find out who was doing this, and put an immediate stop to it. What a slap in the face, a personal insul to the Turkish people.