Previously on Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion: we arrived in a fictional and inaccurate version of San Francisco, and then were promptly put to work, because free labor is the best labor. We met the following people: Rose (who has the house insured for a million dollars, to be deposited to her and only her), Abby (who believes in ghosts and is throwing us a seance tonight), Charlie (who has no idea what he’s doing, which may be fair because he’s working in the only house in SF with a basement), and Louis (who…likes antiques?). Also, some dude named Valdez is apparently a big deal. But not enough of a big deal for anyone to actually have useful information on him, u know.
So! We left off with Abby telling us that the ~spirits~ wished to speak to us, because why not. Seance party in the improbable basement!
“We really don’t have time for this.” Hee! I’m starting to like Rose. I hope she’s not the culprit.
So we gaze accordingly, and the piano starts to play ~on its own~, glasses start falling over, blah blah ghost shenanigans blah. Rose is all freaked out. We’re not, though, because turbans and crystal balls don’t impress Nancy Drew much. You’re going to have to step up your game, Abby. Anyway, Abby communes with the ghost of Valdez, who claims that he has returned to the mortal plane in search of his wife. Who? We’ll probably have to go figure that out later. SIGH. Abby proclaims the seance over (really? that was like a minute long) and Rose snaps that they don’t have time for these games. “And make sure you blow out the candles on your way up. I don’t want to wake up and find the house on fire.”
OR DOES SHE?
So we go back upstairs, but hey, since everyone’s asleep, we should go snoop around. It’s probably eating away at Nancy that we haven’t broken into somebody’s room yet. We go back to the basement to see if we can find any spectral activity, because as you may recall, Nancy doesn’t actually believe in ghosts. And she’s right to, since hidden underneath the table is…
A smoke machine and audio equipment. Oh, Abby.
(By the way, check out those massive rolls of tape. The ’90s were the best.)
We can also go check out the fireplace, and Nancy will note that the grate is “stuck.” I tried to use the paint chisel on it because why not, but apparently that’s no good either. Boo. Anyway, blah blah things you need to pick up blah: there’s a(nother) key in the cash register (I can’t keep track of all the keys we’ve picked up so far), and you need to grab a screwdriver from Charlie’s toolbox. I mean, whatever, it’s not like he’s actually building anything. And it’s for the greater good! There’s also sheet music in the piano bench, the top one of which has the character for river: 川. Good 2 know.
That’s it for the basement! Let’s go see if that key we found will open up the attic, y/y? Because there’s nothing creepy at all about sneaking into an attic in a haunted house at one in the morning. Nancy Drew eats fear for breakfast! (I don’t, though, and I do not approve of this.)
So, the attic. It is dark and creepy, as Nancy Drew attics are wont to be. And of course, there’s stuff up here. Stuff pertaining to a 200-year-old mystery that I really do not care about. But whatever.
“The Mysterious Story Book!” Golly, I wonder what we’ll find in here. It’s basically a couple of pages detailing a girl (with “auburn hair”, I wonder who that could be)…finding a hidden treasure! I wonder of it’s a portent of things to come. I kind of hope not, because in the story, the girl gets hit on the head with a shovel by the villain. No more head injuries, please. I’m not sure how Nancy hasn’t suffered some kind of brain damage yet.
Over in the corner is a desk(?) type thing, which is locked, naturally. Thankfully, we have like five keys, so let’s use one of them to open it. (I believe the one that opens this is the really old-fashioned key, which is next to the screwdriver in the picture above.) And inside is…sheet music! Some of the notes are darkened, which…is super helpful? I guess? The lyrics are something about gold at the end of a rainbow and a phoenix rising, blah blah blah. There’s also a flyer for a performance of “The Bandit’s Treasure,” which I’m sure you can’t guess the plot for. Gosh, it’s almost as if this attic is trying to hint that there’s, perhaps, some kind of treasure…somewhere. ~*~Mystery~*~
But who’s causing the accidents? Why aren’t we investigating that?
Anyway, it should be noted that the performance took place at the “Golden Gardenia Hotel.” You will recall that Lizzie Applegate (who we read a book about in the library earlier) was an actress, and that Rose mentioned that this house was likely once a hotel. HMMMM. Our suspicions are confirmed by a letter from someone named Valdez (who once owned this house) that indicates that he owned the Golden Gardenia. But what does this all mean? (Spoiler: I don’t really care.)
There’s also HOLY GOD IN HEAVEN, WHAT IS THAT. Jesus.
Once I stop freaking out (decapitated baby heads!!! I am not a fan of abandoned dolls, I don’t know. They’re creepy, okay), I should point out that we’re supposed to grab the iron. For…reasons.
(I also forgot this my first go-round, but there’s a hanzi primer somewhere in here that has the character for “beginning,” which you’ll need. It looks like this: 开)
That’s all we really need to look at, which means we can finally gtfo this creepy attic. (I’m in a rush to finish this game, can you tell?) Except wait, THE TRAPDOOR IS STUCK. Of course it is.
It was super-thoughtful of the last owners to leave this crowbar up here, don’t you think?
Anyway, the house is still dead asleep (as reasonable people should be, said the girl who stays up to 4 AM on the regular), so we should go try to piece together our new clues with everything else in the house while it’s still empty. Nancy Drew doesn’t need sleep!
As we pass the staircase, do take the time to note that the one of the bird heads on the banister is missing an eye.
(You know how there are some words you don’t really use in real life, and then you try to write them and have a sort of existential crisis about whether or not you’re using them correctly? That was me with “banister” for about five minutes there.)
By the way, remember how Rose wanted us to fix that dumbwaiter in the hallway? You take the iron from the attic, attach it to the frayed end, and voila, dumbwaiter fixed! With that out of the way…
…let’s look through Rose’s stuff!
Blah blah bookkeeping blah. There’s a to-do list, which may briefly horrify you if you don’t know that Rose isn’t going to make us do everything on that list. (“Sand and polish hardwood floors”? Jesus, no.)
What is important are the rest of these papers! Wow, Rose really isn’t having very good luck with this house. (Also…vandalism to a shrubbery? Did they trim it into an offensive shape or something? I have so many questions.) There’s also a letter from Louis, offering Rose his ~services. He mentions that he’s “extremely” interested in examining the books in the house, and in exchange, will help Rose with the renovations — he’ll save her both time and money! Except not, with all the accidents they’re having. Oops. He also claims to have found a good deal on scaffolding equipment, though the insurance letter notes that they’ve had a scaffolding collapse. Don’t cut corners, Louis!
The insurance dudes also sent Rose another letter, telling her that they’re going to have to raise her insurance premiums if the accidents continue. I don’t really understand this letter, mostly because my brain shorts out once someone says the word “premiums.” AAAAH WHAT IS BEING AN ADULT. They’re also avoiding paying out until they can inspect Rose’s renovation methods. Yikes. Rose might not get that fire money after all. Suspicious!
Can we go to bed now? No, of course not. Next up, we should check out that sheet music we found in the attic. There was a piano in the saloon, perchance that could help us.
I’m going to break here and point out that this game…is really non-intuitive. I mean, I freely admit I’m terrible at Nancy Drew games, and I have never beaten a game without a walkthrough, but some of the things you have to do sort of take me aback with how random they are. Can anyone really connect the dots and think, “Ah, yes, this sheet music definitely makes me think of the piano in the saloon, and it most certainly makes sense to go down there, play the darkened notes on the piano, and use the sheet music on the paper I find inside. This is my first thought”? I mean, I couldn’t even read music when I first played this game, and I certainly had no ear for it. (If you’re like me, but for some reason haven’t played this game in the 13 years since it came out, just press the keys [from left to right, 1-7] 6-2-4-5-4.)
(Or maybe I’m just dumb. Because I can admit that.)
“Find Diego on staircase.” Oh, if you insist.
In the interest of not spending actually forever on these puzzles, I’ll just say that the ~key~ is to go to the banister at the top of the stairs and turn the letters until they spell “Diego.” (Who’s Diego? I have no idea.) It’s one of those turning-one-turns-the-others games, so just click on them until you work it out. That’s what I do, anyway. Once you get Diego, the banister poles (is there a better word for them?) will turn again and show the words “coins,” “false,” and “floor.” And the panel beneath the banister slides open to reveal…(if it’s another key, I’ll punch someone)
…a letter from E. Valdez to Diego! How exciting.
Blah blah TREASURE!!! blah. It basically reiterates the lyrics of the song in the attic: sun stretching from east to west over all the land blah. I don’t believe we have to know the hanzi symbol tying the string, though we do have to hold onto it for…reasons.
Can we go to bed? Can we finally go to bed?
Nope, one more thing we gotta do. Dumbwaiters, as you know (Bob), are used to send things from one floor to another, because even before there were elevators, people dreamed of not having to use stairs. Let’s see what’s in the box upstairs, shall we?
The point of this, of course, is…another hanzi character! We steal the ceramic tile (gotta catch ’em all, you know), and note the hanzi symbol (for eye) on the teacup: 目. Now we can go to sleep.
So, the next day. It’s been a good night’s worth of snooping, and look, someone’s left a note for us. Maybe it’s from Charlie. There’s always someone who awkwardly falls in love with Nancy during these games.
Oh. Well, this is rude. Who could it be from? Probably not Rose, as she invited us here. Charlie seems to like us pretty well, too. Of course, Abby’s not a fan of our skepticism, and Louis is just generally creepy. Who could it be? Ah, I’m so glad to be worrying about the actual mystery than whoever the hell Valdez is.
Although, really, who even cares? This is kind of weaksauce anyway. Nancy Drew only wastes her time on real threats, like bombs, and falling urns, and crashing rollercoasters, and that time someone tried to set her on fire. (Etc, etc, etc.) Whoever’s behind this mystery is such an amateur.
Anyway, you can probably go around and talk to everyone about what we found out last night, but I’m lazy so I’ll just get the part that actually moves the story forward:
Fire in the living room! Wow, Rose really jinxed herself there. I’m also weirded out by this house not having smoke alarms. Rose is going to get the pants sued off her when she opens this hotel. The good news is, we totally checked out that fire extinguisher in the cabinet, so we’ll just use that real quick. Day saved! Maybe now Rose will start paying us.
We have an eeeeenteresting post-fire conversation with Rose. Louis apparently has been advising her to cut her losses and sell the house to another client of his. Suspicious! I don’t like you, Louis. But Rose is resilient: “I’m sticking with this house, no matter what. Nothing can drive me away.” Oh, okay. Rose then tells us that the fire was likely caused by sparks from the fireplace, even though she told Charlie to get a fire screen. Oh, Charlie. He’s so incompetent.
Two more questions from Nancy Drew, Queen of Tact — why does Rose have such a crazy high insurance policy? “For protection. I put my entire life savings into this house and if goes up in smoke, I’ll lose everything.” Fair enough. (What about Abby? Or did she only chip in a little bit?) And also, has she found any rainbow designs in the house? Rose says no and doesn’t bother questioning our seemingly random interest in rainbows. Then again, this is San Francisco.
Louis and Charlie don’t come out of that conversation looking too good, so let’s go talk to them. I’m going to Louis first, so we can poke through the fire damage on our way in. I’m a very efficient super-sleuth, you know.
Well…I’m sure someone will really miss those phone bills from 1820. What was even in this box? My memory is horrible. Oh, well, whatever, you don’t really have to know what’s missing to solve the case, so I’m going to skip on over this.
Hi, Louis! We don’t have time for his pleasantries, so let’s immediately begin the interrogation: did he hear anything, you know, given that he’s one room over? Nope, he’s very ~isolated~ here in the library. Downloading .exe files on BitTorrent, I’m sure. Although, this was the year 2000, so he was probably using Kazaa. Shudder. We ask him if the papers were very important, and he says no, not particularly. Well, does he know anyone named ‘E. Valdez’? He’s a Victorian expert, right? Nope, Valdez isn’t ringing a bell for him either. Man, everyone in this game is useless.
Maybe we can try to butter him up by asking him about his store! “It’s a gallery, not a store,” he snaps. Oh, okay. He tells us that if he doesn’t have what his clients are looking for, he finds it. (But…didn’t he just say it’s not a store?) That sounds kind of weird. Louis is probably running some kind of illegal business behind his antique ~gallery.
We then switch topics, asking if this house was really a hotel. Louis has no idea, but thinks that it probably was, what with the saloon and all. (I think the fact that there are only like five bedrooms doesn’t really support this theory, although Louis also mentions the house was probably rebuilt several times. Still, maybe it was built by an eccentric millionaire who wanted to have saloon parties. Or Jay Gatsby.) Anyway, blah blah no records before 1906, and our mysterious arsonist just destroyed the rest of them, so whatever.
Next question: does Louis think Rose should sell the house? “I leave that decision up to her,” he smarms. He’s not sure she can afford to complete the renovations, although I’m sure she could cut down on her costs by firing Louis.
Finally: who’s Lizzie Applegate? A “very popular” 1800s actress who left all her money to the “Ladies’ Protection Society.” Great. By the way, has he seen the poem in our room? Indeed he has, and he calls it a “cheap Chinatown souvenir.” Hey, don’t insult our decor!
You also have to ask him what a phoenix is, but I’ll skip over that because I’m sure everyone already knows. I will point out that he claims it’s a popular symbol in the Bay Area, and I’m bovvered by this inaccuracy.
This is the part where I’m forced to admit that I messed up a bit — or rather, I didn’t do everything in the most logical order. At this point in the game, we have to get into the library while Louis is gone, but of course, he’s here. What I did here is basically click around until I figured he left and then went back, but I’ll break with something more interesting and show you the conversation I had with Charlie. It makes more sense to put it here anyway, since we have to grab him before he leaves at 5.
Charlie once again defends his incompetence, and we slyly point out that he was the one that was supposed to get the fire screen. But according to Charlie, Louis said it was the wrong type and said he’d buy another one, so Charlie returned it. Uh-oh. Louis, you’re looking very suspicious right now. (Plus, literally who cares about types of Victorian fire screens? Man.) Charlie protests that he has nothing to do with the accidents — there’s something weird going on in the house. Well, duh, Charlie. He’s supposed to be my age? I feel insulted. When we press, though, he says he “better not say any more.” Oookay. We ask about Valdez and finally, someone has some decent information — Diego Valdez was a wealthy rancher in the 1800s. “I just read a book on him for my history class.”
Waaaaaiiiit. Waitwaitwait. Louis, supposed expert on Victorian California, doesn’t know about a dude whose life is required reading for freshman history? That’s embarrassing. Rose should ask for her money back.
Anyway, Charlie tells us that Diego never married or had kids, which should give you pause because you’ll recall that there are two Valdezes here — Diego and E. Valdez. So who’s E? We don’t mention that to Charlie, though, and opt to ask him his thoughts on Abby. “She’s not bad. She can be a little weird. I think she gets on Rose’s nerves sometimes.” Blah blah Abby shirks her share of work blah. Well, I can see why Rose might’ve cut her out of the million dollar insurance policy now. Oh, and Charlie thought he saw Abby go through the papers right before the fire. Oh, Abby, you’re not looking great right now either. We decide to flat-out ask Charlie how one might get into Abby’s room. You know. Hypothetically. Charlie just says that Abby guards it like Fort Knox, except not really, because we already know for a fact that she’s out for three hours every day. So that’s another thing we should get on soon.
Okay, that should take up enough time for Louis to get out. Let’s go back!
We’ve collected all three tiles, so we line them all up and pull one of the bird statues next to the fireplace…
Secret passageway! Yay!
Sadly, this one doesn’t lead anywhere particularly fun — it just goes behind the wall and lets us peek out from behind a painting into the library. I have no idea what anyone might have used it for, but I won’t judge. There’s a painting of a little kid with the hanzi for child (子) on the bottom. Also grab the lantern lying on the floor, please.
So we pull back this brick here to see…
Louis stealing a book and hiding it in his briefcase! What a fiend. (For real, though, even if he’s not the culprit, he’s still a massive douchebag.)
Well. Clearly we’re going to have to get into his briefcase and see what that’s all about. Join me next time as we break into Louis’s briefcase, Abby’s room, Charlie’s house, and other fun locations in our quest for the truth. And also Valdez, because that’s still a thing. Bye bye!
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