The Mansion Mystery

Nancy’s investigation turns a series of apparently supernatural disturbances into a solvable scheme built around a concealed route between two houses.

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The First Disturbances

Uneasy Signs A House Under Strain Rosemary Turnbull describes strange noises, moving shadows, and unexplained music. The accumulating incidents make The Mansion feel unsafe to its residents. An Unsettled Household The sisters also report missing possessions, but cannot explain how anyone entered their locked home. Their uncertainty gives an intruder room to manipulate them.

Nancy Takes the Case

A Voluntary Investigation A Request for Help Rosemary asks Nancy Drew to examine the troubling events. Nancy is intrigued but recognizes that the unexplained thefts make the matter more serious than a ghost story. Permission to Stay After returning home, Nancy persuades Carson Drew to let her investigate while he is away. She agrees to be careful and accepts his revolver as a precaution.

The Locked House

A Search Without Answers A Systematic Inspection Nancy examines the attic, basement, bedrooms, and downstairs rooms for hidden panels. The apparent thoroughness of her search produces no usable clue. Suspicion Persists Although the search fails, the unexplained thefts convince Nancy that the house may contain a concealed route. The silence and nighttime unease keep the possibility alive.

The Breakthrough

A Route Revealed A Dangerous Entry Nancy slips into Nathan Gombet's house and reaches a room filled with stuffed and living birds. Trapped there, she notices a small knob hidden inside a closet. A Passage Below The knob releases a concealed wall, and Nancy tumbles down stone steps into an underground passage. Her escape from immediate danger becomes the discovery that can explain the haunting.

The Hoax Exposed

The Mechanism of the Mystery The Sisters See the Route Nancy shows Rosemary Turnbull and Floretta Turnbull the hidden entrance and traces the passage to concealed openings in their rooms and sofas. The sisters can now understand how an intruder moved unseen. Fear Loses Its Hold The route explains the apparent haunting and thefts, while Nancy identifies Nathan as the likely culprit. The house’s frightening mystery becomes a matter of evidence and arrest.

Several weeks before Nancy’s visit

The afternoon Nancy visits Rosemary at Abigail Rowen’s cottage

Nancy’s first two days staying at The Mansion

The stormy night Nancy enters Nathan Gombet's house

The morning after Nancy returns through the passage