Nancy Drew 5: The Final Scène

2002: Original a Dutch Walkthrough by: Louis Koot 

 2024: This English translation also done by Louis Koot

If you have found this walkthrough via google search or via another site then you have  probably not visited my site. 

A lot more very detailed game walkthroughs can be found on my site at:  www.pcgameswalkthroughs.nl

This walkthrough is based on "Senior Detective"

This is the 5th adventure for our heroic detective, Nancy Drew. This time the story takes place in an old theater in St. Louis.

Nancy is visiting an old high school friend, Maya Nguyen. Maya, a student at the University of Washington, is a journalist for the university newspaper and as such holds a press pass. Maya is on her way to have an interview with Brady Armstrong for the newspaper. Brady Armstrong is the "Star" actor in the play "Vanishing Destiny". This play premieres tonight at the Palladin Theater here in St. Louis. The Palladin Theater was built in 1926 and renovated sometime in the 1950s. The current owners of the theater have sold the theater to a project developer who will have the theater razed to the ground in exactly 3 days to build something else in its place. There is a lot of opposition to the impending demolition of the beautiful old theater where, in the past, all the great magicians, such as The Great Houdini, once performed.

Start

The game starts in the usual Nancy Drew way as Nancy reads from "own work", which is from a letter she has just written and which is intended for her friend Bess. Here she explains the above. After this we automatically arrive "backstage" in the theater.  Maya is about to enter the "Mens Dressing Room" where she will have the interview with Brady Armstrong. Maya steps in there and Nancy is left alone in the hallway. Nancy doesn't feel like staying in this drafty and messy hallway waiting for Maya to come out again, and she decides to go to the canteen. We see how Nancy then leaves, but then suddenly we hear Maya screaming and shouting from the Dressing Room and this is where the game begins for you. Maya has been kidnapped

Day 1

Men's Dressing Room:

Open the door via the doorknob and go inside. Then immediately turn left and you will see a table with a telephone on it. 

Go forward to the phone and it will start ringing. Someone calls. Click on the phone and listen to the male voice. 

Maya has been kidnapped and apparently this is the the Kidnapper. 

He says that if the demolition of the theater is not called off, Maya will go down with the building. 

Zoom out and…..The phone rings again, so go forward and click on the phone again. Nancy, assuming that this is the kidnapper again, snaps at the caller. But this is not the kidnapper but the theater caretaker, Joseph Hughes. Once Nancy has calmed down a bit, tell him about Maya's kidnapping and then just follow the conversation option. 

Joseph thinks that the kidnapper took Maya out of the locker room through a "secret passage" and also that, because the kidnapper called on an inside line. 

The kidnapper and Maya must still be in the building. Joseph will ensure that all outside doors are locked.

When this conversation with Joseph has ended, a young guy enters the locker room and "introduces" himself quite smugly. This is Brady Armstrong, the big star of the company. Talk to him, but avoid all options that involve looking for Maya first. Only use those options if there is no other option remaining. This way you get a lot more information from Brady. 

You learn about Brady's booking agent, Simone Mueller, and when you tell him about Maya's kidnapping and the kidnapper's phone call, you learn about the existence of a group of "Radicals" who are strongly opposed to the demolition. You also learn that a certain Nicholas Falcone is one of them. Ultimately, either tell Brad that the caretaker is looking for him or send him on a search trip for Maya. Brad then disappears.

Turn left 2 times. You see a clothes rack full of clothes. Go forward to this rack and then click on the front piece of clothing. The clothes then slide away and in the wall behind the fence you can clearly distinguish the outline of a door. Unfortunately, you cannot open this door. Slide the clothes back and then zoom out and then turn 7 times counterclockwise. You see a large cupboard with a guitar leaning against it. Go forward to this cupboard, then open the right cupboard door and then step into the cupboard". There is a stick on the top shelf. Click on that stick and you will have a Magician's Wand in your inventory.

Zoom out, close the cupboard door, zoom out and turn 2 times left. You will then see the large dressing table. There's nothing to do there now, just a drawer that looks locked. But on the back wall, to the left of that pile of boxes, you see a fountain and above it a photo on the wall. Go there and you are zoomed in on the photo. Click on the photo and it will fold over. A lever now appears behind the photo. Click on this lever. You hear the characteristic sound of a door opening. 

"Close" the photo again and zoom out 2 times. Now turn 9 times left and then go 1 time forward again to the clothes rack. Push the clothes away again and the "secret" door is now open. Go 1 time forward and you will be in the "secret passage". Follow the passage 1 time forward, 2 times left, 9 times forward, 2 times forwards and 1 time forward and you have gone all the way through the passages. Open the door at the end of the secret passage and step into the wardrobe. Then click on the panel to the left of the clothes and this turns out to be the wardrobe's door that then opens. Step into the "Womens Dressing Room". There's someone in here and she's on the phone. You automatically turn towards her. If this does not happen automatically, turn left yourself

Women's Dressing Room and Corridor to the Lobby:

So this is Simone Mueller, Brad Armstrong's theater agent. Simone is far too self-centered and doesn't really have much interest in Nancy's problems. Answer her 2 or 3 times and she will then kick Nancy out of the room. Then turn 7 times right and then go forward to the room door, open it and step outside. You can go straight ahead or turn right. Go right and forward and open the next door and then go forward into the corridor of the theater. In front of you you will immediately see a double door on the left. Turn left and open this double door and step inside. 

You are in a Lodge of the theater hall. You cannot go further forward or to the left or to the right. Click the down arrow and you look at the floor. There is a coin on the floor just in front of the legs of the right chair. Click on it and the coin will appear large on your screen. It is a "liberty" coin from 1965. Click on it again to place it in your Inventory. Then click the look up arrow and then, left or right at the bottom of your screen, the turn arrow. Open the doors again and go back into the hallway. You can take a look at that photo on the hallway wall right in front of you, but why would you? So go left and you look back through the hallway. You then simply follow this corridor to the right and then around the corner to the left to the end where you will encounter a red curtain.  At the end of the corridor click on the red curtain and go forward and then you are in the large Lobby of the theater.

NB: on your way through this corridor you can click on the photos and posters hanging on the walls. Most of the photos are not important but you will discover photos and posters of Harry Houdini, the Great Houdini, the master escape artist. You will find out that Houdini once performed in this Palladium Theater and that his real name was Erik Weiz and that he was born in Budapest in 1874 and died in 1926. You will also learn about a bet for 50,000 dollars between Houdini and the then owner of this theater, J.J. Thompson.

Lobby:

You see a staircase on the left. This goes to the balcony of the large theater hall. There are 2 of these stairs. Behind the stairs you will see a seating area. Straight in front of you will see one of the double hall doors. You will also see a single door. That is the door to the office, or as it is called in this game, the "Ticket Booth". Go forward and then turn 7 times left and you will see the "Snack Bar". There is a young man standing in front of the snack bar. Go forward. The young man turns to you invitingly. Notice the large banner hanging behind him, it reads: "Humans Against the Destruction of Illustrious Theaters", so "HAD IT". The young man is Nicholas Falcone. Click on him and speak to him in the following order:

Nicholas then tells you that you can find a telephone with which you can call outside in the Ticket Booth. Zoom out and turn 10 times left and you will see the door of that Ticket Booth again. Go there. Open the door and go inside. Go forward again and you will be at the telephone. There is a note on the wall above the telephone. Click on that note and write down the phone numbers written on it. You cannot take the note with you and you may still need these telephone numbers. So note them down:

Zoom out and then move forward to the phone. Call the St.Louis Police Dep. number. 

This telephone conversation with the police is completely automatic. You have no influence on this conversation. The police, in this case St. Mac Ramsay, are not at all convinced that Maya has been kidnapped and will only treat Maya's disappearance as a Missing Person Case after 24 hours. For now, the Sergeant is thinking of a "Student Prank". Nancy must therefore come up with proof that Maya has really been kidnapped if she wants the police to take action sooner. After this conversation you can call Nancy's friends. Ned Nickelson isn't home, but Bess Marvin is. The conversation with Bess also runs automatic. 

When this is also over, zoom out twice and click the turn arrow. Open the door and step forward once back into the Lobby. You look at the Snack Bar again. Turn left 5 times and then go forward 4 times, up the stairs. At the top you will see the double doors leading to the left balcony room, but do not go there. Instead, move the cursor to the right side of your screen and then click the right arrow. You look into a passage to the other side. Go forward 1 time and then click forward 1 time to the single door. This is the door of the Projector room. Open this door and go inside. Then turn left twice. A guy is bent over behind the large film projector. This is Jozef Hugjes. You already met him by telephone, in the Men's Changing Room, you remember. Talk to Joseph in the following way to get the most information out of him:

Turn left 5 or 6 times, open the door and go forward and you are back in the passage. Go right once and you will see the double doors to the balcony again. Do not go forward now, but look for the left arrow on the left of your screen and click it and then go forward 4 times down the stairs. You are back on the Lobby floor. Turn Left 6 times and then go forward to Nicholas who is still standing in front of the snack bar and talk to them again, via:

Will Simone in the Women's Dressing Room be more  talkative now? Zoom out once and turn left twice and then click forward twice, into the corner on the left to that "gate" with the Red Curtain. Open the curtain and then go forward 10 times through the corridor all the way to the back and open the door there. Go forward once and then left once and open the door of the Women's Dressing Room.  Go forward once and then turn left twice and speak to Simone Mueller. 

it's not that important in this conversation which order of options you choose. Simone just isn't really interested in Maya's kidnapping and really just sees it as a way to get extra publicity for "her" star, Brad Armstrong. Simone does say that at the time of the kidnapping, she was on the phone in the dressing room. 

Simone is most likely not the kidnapper, but perhaps she's an accomplice? Turn left 7 times, go forward 1 time and open the door and step outside. You are then against the wall in front of the dressing room again. To the right is the door that goes to the hallway, but this time click forward once, to the left of the wall. You will see a large crate with ropes around it.

"Back Stage"

How to open the hatch under the crate

Go forward one more time and you will reach the large crate. Click the look down arrow. You see a hatch in the floor, but you cannot open this hatch because the crate stand on it. You have to figure out a way to get that crate off this hatch. Click the Up arrow, zoom out once and turn right once (you get this Right arrow on the corner of the wall). Then go forward 6 times until you reach the wall at the very back. You "walk" into the rack where the lifting ropes are tied.

Go forward one more time and you will be zoomed in on part of this rack.

Now click on the left rope 8 times in a row (3 times to untie the rope and then 5 more times to lower the tackle). After the 8th click you will hear "Clunk". Then zoom out 2 times and click the turn arrow and go back to the crate.  First move forward 4 times and then aim your forward arrow at the crate and click again. You are back at thecrate  and the tackle is now hanging above the box. Click on the tackle and it hooks onto the ropes of the crate. Click the turn arrow, at the bottom right of your screen. Then go back 6 times forward to the rope rack in the back wall. Click again 8 times on the left rope to hoist the crate up and to tie the rope properly to the button again. Zoom out  2 times and click the turn around arrow and go back to the crate 5. It is now hanging above your head and you are now zoomed in on the hatch in the floor.

The puzzles in the Cellar

Open the hatch and go forward 6 times, down the cellar stairs. At the bottom, turn right twice and then go forward towards the large "fan" and the ladder. Then turn right again and go forward twice to the back wall. You are now zoomed in on a large metal "plate" in this wall. On this plate you see a smaller plate with 5 blocks.

The "Spades" puzzle

Click on that  plate to zoom in. On each of the 5 blocks you see an image from the card game, you see the "Hearts", the "Diamonds", the "Clubs", a crown and the "Spades". What needs to be done is that you make sure that each block shows the Spades. You do this by rotating the blocks, but because the blocks are interconnected you cannot rotate each block separately. Number the blocks, from left to right, as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.  

If you click on 1, you rotate 1 + 2. 

If you click on 2, you rotate 2 + 3. 

If you click on 3, you rotate 3 + 5. 

If you click on 4, you rotate 1 + 3+ 4. 

If you click on 5, you rotate all  5.

The following solution only works from the starting setup as you see in the picture above. Do you also have this starting position, then click:

1 time block 4, 1 time block 1. 2 times block 2. 3 times block 3. 1 time block 5.  All blocks now show the Spades and the plate opens. A secret compartment is now open and you see a flat box in it.  Click twice on this box and you will have the next puzzle on your screen, which is in the lid of this box. It's a slider puzzle and the final solution looks like this:

Well, it's a kind of sliding puzzle, but slightly different. You obviously have to make the right image, but the blocks are not only not in the right place, but they are also twisted. So you have to place them in the right place and also turn them over properly. You move a block by clicking on it. You then "pick up" that block and you can then click it on another block. The block that you picked up will then be placed in the place of the block that was already there and then you will hold that block. You rotate a block by clicking thecurve arrow in the top left corner of a block.

The solution I am now going to give you for this puzzle only works from the very first starting position. 

So if you have already moved or rotated a block, this solution will NOT work. 

First number the blocks, from top left to bottom right, as 1 to 20, as in the diagram below.

We are now going to first click all the blocks in the right place, without twisting them.

Now all the blocks are in the right place. Now they just need to be rotate properly, as follows: (you do the rotating in the top left corner of each block)

The box now opens and inside is the Gears puzzle.

But you cannot solve this yet because you first have to look for the 2 gears that you have to place on the 2 pins in this box. You will have to leave this gear puzzle aside for a while until you have found the two gears. Click on the lid of the box to close it and then zoom out twice. Click the turn arrow and then  go left twice and then forward twice. Right in front of you you will see a narrow "cupboard" against the back wall.

Amazing Monty Game

It's a gaming machine as you'll see in a moment. Go forward 4 times again and you are completely zoomed in on this game.

So you have to play a variation of a game where you usualy must find out where the marble is under 3 cups but in this case you must find the playing card Ace of Spades. You play against the "magician". Click on the Play button. The "magician" invites you to find the Ace of Spades. Click the Play button again to begin.

I can't help you with this. You have to play the game until you find the Ace of Spades card. If you think you know where it is, click on the white button for the relevant card. The only thing I can recommend is to save first before playing the game for the first time. It is my experience that often, the very first time, the Ace of Spades is the left card. But I cannot guarantee this.

When you have found the ace of spades, there is an "Egg" in the "slot" of the machine. Click on it to zoom in on it and then click on it again to open the "Egg". There is a kind of "Ring" on a paper in the egg. Click on the ring and 2 things will happen at the same time. First, the "ring" disappears in your inventory, but at the same time the instructions for using this "Flash Trigger" ring appear on your screen. Please copy points 1, 2 and 3 because you are not allowed to take these instructions with you. Don't worry, when you need to use this "ring", I will tell you where and how to do it.

Zoom out. The instructions disappear back into the "egg". Zoom out again and click the turn arrow and then go forward 4 times, right 1 time and forward 1 time. through the open gate. Go forward once again (to the "wall") and you will be back on the basement stairs. Go up this via 5 times forward and open the hatch and go forward and you are back in the hallway near the Women's Dressing room. Click the flip arrow at the bottom of your screen. You then look at the hatch again. Do not open the hatch now, but click the zoom out arrow and then go forward 5 times, towards the rope rack in the back wall, but you will then stop at the Fire Extinguisher. 

Turn right once here and go forward once to the red curtain. Open the curtain and you look into the large theater hall. Go forward 2 times, down the stairs and then, slowly, move your cursor to the right in the middle over the chairs until you get the right arrow. Click this to go 1 time right and then go 1 time forward, past the stage. Then click left once to the middle path and follow it forward three times. You will then see a dirty piece of purple chewing gum stuck to the back seat on the left. Zoom in on that twice. Nancy doesn't want to touch this piece of junk , so take the Magic Wand from your inventory and click on the Chewing Gum with it. The chewing gum sticks to the tip of the wand and the whole thing disappears back into your inventory.

Lobby

Zoom out twice and go forward once to the back wall of the room. 

Go right once, forward once, left once and open the double hall doors.

Go forward 1 time and you are back in the Lobby. 

Go forward one more time and then turn left 4 times and you will see a kind of "Pinball machine" on the left under the stairs.

The 1st Gear in the "Pinball Machine"

Go forward there 4 times and you will be zoomed in on the pinball machine's playing screent.

What you need to do is to move the round musical note in the top left corner, via the arrow buttons on the right side of the screen, to the Dance Couple at the top right.  But the 2 other Music Notes will try to block your Music Note. Click on the arrows in the following order: right, left, down, right 3 times, down, right, down 2 times, right, up, right, up, right, up, left, up, right... done. Take your prize from the lock. It is the first of the two gears for the Gear Puzzle in the basement. Click on it to place it in your inventory. Zoom out 3 times and then go up the stairs to the balcony 4 times.

Find the 2nd gear on the balcony

At the top, do not go forward to the double doors, but go 1 time left and 2 times forward across the passage. Then 1 time forward to the double doors on the left hall balcony. Open these doors and go forward 5 times, until you are at the bottom of the balustrade. For decoration, ornaments on which gears are mounted have been placed on this balustrade. However, the right ornament has no gear. Click the look down arrow above the balustrade and you will then look over the balustrade and down into the room. You see an ledge under the balustrade and on it lies, in addition to a can, also that gear. Click on it but Nancy can't reach it. Take the wand with the chewing gum attached to it from your inventory and click it on the gear. This will now appear in your screen. Click on it again to put the gear in your inventory and then click your wand back in your inventory. Zoom out 2 times and then click the Turn Arrow and go forward 3 times, back up to the doors, open them and then go forward 5 times and you are back down in the lobby.

Back to the Cellar

You now have the two gears, so go back to the puzzle in the basement. Turn left 9 times and go forward 2 times to the Red Curtain Gate, left in the corner of the snack bar. Open the curtain and go forward 10 times through the hallway again, open the door, forward 2 times and click the Look Down arrow. Open the floor hatch and go forward 6 times down the basement stairs. Then right 2 times, forward 1 time, right 1 time and forward 2 times to that metal plate in the wall. 

Then click on the "Spades" puzzle (you don't have to do this again) and the secret box will open. Then click twice on the box to open it again and then place the largest gear on the left and the smallest gear on the right and then click on the gear that was already there. The drawer of the box opens. First take out the key and then click on the papers. These will appear on your screen. There are 3 sheets that you have to read through. It's an agreement between J.J. Thompson and Harry Houdini where, in settlement of the $50,000 debt, J.J. Thompson will make Houdini co-owner of the theater since 1925.

So J.J Thompsom lost that bet, but couldn't pay the $50,000. To settle this debt, Harry Houdini became half owner of the Palladium Theater. Could this mean that there are probably descendants of Houdini who can stop, or at least postpone, the demolition of the theater?

Zoom out once, close the drawer and then the box and then zoom out again and click the turn arrow. Let's have a chat with all the people we know now. So first go to the snack bar in the lobby and talk to Nicholas Falcone there. I won't explain the route there anymore, you should know that by now.

Lobby: Nick/Joseph

When you're with Nicholas, follow these conversation options:

After this, go right 4 times and then forward 4 times up the stairs. At the top, turn left once and then forward once over the walkway. 

Then click forward once to the door of the Projector room. Open the door, go forward once and turn left twice. Click on Joseph and talk to him:

Men's Dressing Room: Brady

End the conversation and look for Brady. So leave the projector room. At the passage, turn right once, left once and go forward four times, down the stairs and you are back in the lobby. Turn left 4 times and then go forward 3 times to the red curtain, in the left corner near the "pinball machine". Open the curtain and then follow the corridor, forward, left, 8 times forward and open the door. Forward (you are again "Back Stage near those lifting ropes), immediately turn right and open the door of the Men's Dressing Room. Go forward inside and then turn left 3 times and click on Brady. Talk to him via: I'm asking everyone. Where were you.....and then....Okay, but where were you? Then continue talking to the arrogant jellyfish and use all options and then close. Turn left 6 times and go outside.

Nick

Return to Nicholas at the snack bar in the lobby. Talk to Nick in this way...

Nick disappears to look up something on his computer. Go forward to the counter that Nick always stands in front of. Then click on the stack of papers to the left of the banana. You then zoom in on the counter and you see 3 stacks of brochures. Click on the right stack. A Hadit Brochure will appear on your screen. Open it and read it through. You find out that Nick Falcone is the founder and president of the Hadit movement. Zoom out twice and then click on the left Stack. A brochure of the theater will appear on your screen. Open this too and then click on the pages. Nancy then reads out the telephone number of the "County Administration". Then zomm out 6 times.

Joseph

Joseph calls Nancy over the intercom and he wants Nancy to join him in the Projection Room. So go there and click on Joseph. He now shows Nancy  Maya's Press Card. Brady found this one. Ask further. Joseph then tells Nancy to call the police again and then go to sleep. End the conversation and leave the projector room and go down to the lobby. Find the door of the office (the Ticket Booth) and go in there and go to the phone, but before you call SAVE your game first.

Ticket Booth telefoon

You can only do the next two telephone conversations once. They also both run completely automatically, so if you miss anything from these conversations or are unable to follow them properly, the only way to listen to them again is to save now so that you can then load this save again.

First call the County Administration. You can see the number at the bottom left of the screen. 

Unfortunately, no blueprints. Someone stole them. 

Then call the St. Louis Police = 555-1522. 

St. Ramsay still doesn't believe that Maya has been kidnapped, but when Nancy mentions the name Nicholas Falcone to him, he is suddenly very interested. It seems that our friendly Nick is not very friendly after all. A while ago he was also involved in a demonstration against the demolition of another building and, according to Ramsey, he does not shy away from violence. 

After both of these telephone conversations, you can also call your friends. Make them fully aware of what you know. These two conversations also largely run automatically, but here you will have to click the next option a few times. You don't really learn much from Ned, Bess and George and, because you play as a Senior Detective, they don't actually give any hints. Then zoom out twice and leave the Ticket Booth. When you step outside back into the lobby, Joseph appears and orders you to go to sleep now and this is the end of DAY 1

Day 2

We start this second day of Nancy's 5th "case" in the Lobby of the Theater. Right in front of you is a funeral wreath between the stairs and the benches. Go forward twice to this funeral wreath and then click on the card attached to it at the top right. The envelope will appear on your screen. Click on it and read the card: "Planning a funeral is such a dreadfull pain…….Wouldn't you rather just stop the demolition?". Someone with a rather morbid sense of humor, right?

Zoom out 4 times and then go up the stairs 4 times, left and then forward to the door of the Projector room. Hola….there is now a "Missing" poster attached to the door. Click on the poster and then on the photo of Brady. So Simone is busy trying to publicize Maya's kidnapping. Zoom out  twice, open the door and go inside. Turn left twice and talk to Joseph again and use all the conversation options. Once this conversation is over, go outside and down the stairs to the Lobby. Go to Nick at the snack bar here and talk to him in this way:

After this, go to the Women's dressing room and talk to Simone there. Follow all options regarding the "Missing Poster", Brady, the Funeral Wreath and the press conference. Then go outside and through the "Back Stage" to the Men's Dressing Room. Go inside, turn left three times and you will see the table with the telephone. To the left of that is the table that Brady always leans against when he is in the locker room. He always reads a book. Go forward to the table and then click on the book that's on the smaller table on the left. Click on this book again to get it on your screen. The title is: "You are what you Project". Click on it to open the book. You will then see pages 24 and 25 and you will see that a few sentences are highlighted in purple. Click on page 25 and you will see pages 26 and 27 and again a few sentences are highlighted in purple. Maybe you should copy any of these highlighted sentences because they may become important later on in the game

If you now look to the right you will see a piece of paper sticking out of the book. Click on it……Well……Brady is quite childishly full of himself, isn't he. Click on the paper to expand it and it turns out to be a printout of a Website. Read it through and then click on the left pages again and again to close the book and then zoom out twice. Then turn right 5 times and then go forward 2 times to the dressing table. You are then zoomed in on the drawer of the dressing table. Click on the lock of the drawer…..Unfortunately the drawer is locked and you cannot open this drawer even with the key from your inventory. Zoom out 2 times, turn right 6 times and then forward to the door and go outside. First go back to Simone in her dressing room via "Back Stage" and click on her again.

You don't have anything new to ask Simone now, but by doing so you have given the game the opportunity to put Brady in his dressing room. You probably could have just gone to the Lobby and then come right back to Brady's dressing room. So wrap it up with Simone and head straight back to Brady's room.

Go inside and turn to the left and look...there is the madman reading his book again. 

Talk to him and just follow all the conversation options and then close the conversation.

 It's strange that he can't remember where he has found Maya's Press Card.

Search Simone's and Brady's room

Leave the dressing room room and return to Nick in the lobby. Talk to Nick. 

Nick has found a descendant of Harry Houdini and he says he left her phone number for you on the phone in the "Ticket Booth." 

Talk some more and when your conversation is over you will hear that Simone and Brady have started their press conference.

That means Simone and Brady are not in their  rooms right now, so we can take a closer look at them now. Go to Simone's dressing room and enter there. Turn right twice and then forward twice to the dressing table. Open the drawer and take out a hair clip. Close the drawer, zoom out once and then click on Simone's black backpack, which is on the right of the dressing table. 

Then click on the closure of the backpack and it will open. Click on the top of the backpack. You are now looking inside the backpack. Click to the left of the hairbrush in the bag and you'll have Simone's agenda. At the top of this electronic diary are the compartments for credit cards. Click on the last card on the far right. It's a bill for a Funeral Wreath,  so Simone is the one with the morbid humor? Zoom out twice and then click on the agenda screen.

You have to enter a code but I couldn't find this code anywhere. But after some trying it turned out to be: 5, 1, 3, 7, 9. You can then read Simone's emails via the buttons on the right. It turns out that she receives all emails for Brady and also answers them in Brady's name. Also reads Maya's email. Click on the On button and then zoom out twice and then click, in the backpack, under the hairbrush. A video camera will then appear on your screen.

Click on the screen to enlarge it and click on the red button. Then click the yellow + button 4 times and.....Hé ...is that the basement of the theater? And what is there on the floor? Click on the yellow + button twice again. Oops...that's Maya's Press Card. So this one was found in the basement. By Simone? Click on the yellow + button again. Hello,that's  Brady with Maya's press card in his hand. Click on the yellow + button again. Brady with the Press Card, but he is not in the basement but in the theater. Click on the yellow + button again. Brady again and again with Maya's Press Card, but this time he is standing on the Balcony above the hall. Click on the red button and zoom out twice.  The camera disappears back into the backpack.

Zoom out once and click on the "lid" of the backpack to close it again. Zoom 2 times out. Well, no wonder Brady couldn't remember where "he" "found" Maya's press pass. It looks like someone staged the whole press card thing. Simone? Leave Simone's dressing room and go to Bray's dressing room via "Back Stage". Go to the drawer in the dressing table and open it by clicking with the hairpin on the lock of the drawer. The drawer will now open. Click the hairpin back into your inventory and then click on the book that's in the drawer. It's the "Stage Technician's Guide". Open the book. 

You should read all pages of this book carefully and especially copy the first part. You open the book on pages 74 and 75. First notice the red number at the bottom of page 74. Copy this number. It is: 121192. Then read the "Control Board Operation" instructions carefully and copy them if necessary. Also read all subsequent pages. You will then read about the "Iron Gages", the "Lock Button" and about the secret room and tunnels and about the Magician Room. Then return to page 74 and click on this to close the book again and zoom out. Close the drawer and zoom out 2 times.

Houdini's heir

Turn right 6 times and then go forward to the room door, open the door and step outside. Turn left, go forward and open the door to the hallway. Go forward into the hallway. Over the intercom you now hear the Kidnapper who now warns Nancy that she should not waste any more time. Go all the way through the hallway and then through the red curtain and go forward twice into the lobby. Go to Nick at the Snack Bar. Nick now tells Nancy that he has found a living relative of Harry Houdini and that he has left her phone number on the phone in the Ticket Booth. 

So go there and  along the way listen with half an ear to Simone and Brady who are still busy with their press conference. When you reach the telephone in the Ticket Booth, click on the note to the right of the telephone. This contains the telephone number of Eustacia Andropov, a niece of Harry Houdini. Then zoom  in on the phone. Andropov's number will be in the left screen so call Andropov: 1-813-555-3247. This conversation, and also the next one, happens completely automatically. 

Nancy speaks with Eustacia Andropov, a cousin of Houdini. Mrs. Andropov is currently 91 years old and quite snippy. Eventually she refers Nancy to a certain Sherman Trout from the Library of Congress and she tells  that Nancy must ask that Sherman about the Houdini collection there. Andropov gives Nancy the phone number and then ends the call. So call up the Library of Congress. This telephone conversation also runs completely automatically. Nancy speaks with Sherman Trout. Ultimately, Nancy convinces this guy to agree to look for the requested document in the Houdini Collection and he even agrees that he will send a slide of it to Nancy.

The Control Panel in the Projector Room

After this conversation, go back into the lobby and then up one of the stairs and to the door of the Projector room. Go inside and turn left twice. Joseph isn't there. Go 2 times forward to the place where Joseph always stands. There is a newspaper on the blue cupboard with Joseph's coffee mug on it. There is a piece of paper under the newspaper. Click on that piece of paper. It turns out to be a telegram stating that Joseph's brother recently died. Why did Joseph lie when he said that he would go live with his brother after the theater was demolished? He already knew then that his brother had died. Zoom out 3 times and let's first summarize what we already know, or think we know

Joseph is a suspect because he has a motive to prevent the theater from being demolished. When the theater is demolished, he no longer has a job, but also no place to stay, since his plan to live with his brother cannot go ahead. His brother has died.  Nicholas is a suspect because he also wants to keep the theater and because he has staged a kidnapping in the past to prevent a certain building from being demolished. Brady and Simone are suspects because they may have planned the kidnapping in order to gain publicity for Brady's declining career in light of the theater's upcoming demolition. Simone appears to have ordered that Funeral Wreath and Brady plays his role in the so-called accidental discovery of Maya's Press Card. But most clues seem to point to Joseph. Joseph knows about the "secret" corridors and rooms in the theater and he could have kidnapped Maya through it. Whoever stole the original blueprints from the County Administration, it was a man. Let's see if we can find those secret tunnels and that Magicians Room you have read about in the "Stage Technician's Guide", that book in Brady's dressing table drawer

Turn right twice and then go forward to that large control panel that is on the wall to the right of the projector. 

Then go forward again and you are zoomed in on the left part of this large control panel. Take a look at it first.

You can click on the cassette recorder, on the panel with the 2 sliders to the right of the cassette recorder, on the panel to the right of the sliders, with the 4 red round buttons and a toggle switch, at the bottom, on the panel with the 9 numbered black buttons. Do the following: First zoom in on the panel with the 9 numbered black buttons. You now have to enter a code. That's the code you saw in red letters in the "Stage Technician's Guide" on page 74. So enter: 129112. Wait a moment and you will automatically zoom out.

Then zoom in on the panel with the 4 red round buttons and the toggle switch. Right-click on that toggle switch to turn on the POWER.

Then, on this same panel, click on the two bottom red circular buttons labeled "Left" and "Right:

Then you go to the left to the two sliders and you click these 2 sliders all the way down.

You do this by simply clicking 4 times on both sliders at the very bottom.

Then click the Look Up arrow at the top of your screen. You look through the "window" at the stage and... 2 iron cages have now been lowered all the way to the stage. Click the Look Down arrow. Now click on the red round button marked "Magnets" and then click the 2 sliders 1 click up again. Finally, click on the red round button marked "Trapdoors". This is what the entire panel will look like then.....

Click the Look Up arrow and you will see that the 2 iron cages are now floating a little above the stage. 

Click the Look Down arrow and then zoom out 3 times.

To the secret "Magicians" Room

Turn right 10 times and open the door and step outside. Go left and immediately right and descend the stairs to the lobby floor via forward 4 times. In the Lobby, turn right twice and go forward twice to the double doors to the left of the snack bar. Open the doors and go forward, along the left side, through the room 8 times and you will be on the Stage. Turn right and then click on the front iron cage to open it. Go forward into the cage and then click the Look Down arrow. 

There, the 2 trapdoors, in the bottom of the cage and in the stage, are now open and you see a ladder that goes down into a shaft. Click the Down arrow again 5 times and you are at the bottom of the "secret" tunnel . Immediately to the right of the ladder you will see a lamp on the wall. The lamp isn't on. Click on this lamp and you will zoom in on that spot on the wall. There is a round peephole in the wall above the lamp. Click on the peep hole and.......

......You look into the round "Magicians" room and on the left you see Maya lying on the floor. You automatically zoom out again and then the 2 hatches above your head close. Now move your cursor to the hallway floor. At the back you will get a click spot on the floor. Click there and you are at a floor hatch. Open the hatch and descend the stone stairs 3 times. At the bottom you can then go left or right. First go left and then forward to that "Blocks" panel in the back wall.

The Rabbit must go to the Left Puzzle.

This is actually the door of the "Magicians" room. Click on the blocks……Oh….they don't move? Zoom out and then click the turn arrow. Go forward through the tunnel twice, then around the corner to the right and forward again to that button box in the back wall. Press the red button. The "Trick Chair" now comes down......it's actually a small elevator. Go forward once and you will be on this elevator. Click on the yellow triangle button and you will go up. Then click the Look Up arrow on the ladder and you look up at the hatch. Click on the hatch. 

The hatch doesn't open, but Joseph is up there and he's reporting in now. Say: I found a secret room under the stage........and then......I found the door, but the pieces that open......Joseph gets the hatch open and gives Nancy a can of lubricant spray or something. Click the Look Down arrow and then click the yellow triangles again and you will drop down again. Go right and then forward 4 times through the hallway and you are all the way back at the rabbit puzzle. Zoom in on the puzzle and then click the spray can on the panel. You can now move the blocks. The intention seems clear to me. You have to move the blocks in such a way that you clear the way for the rabbit so that it can actually cross over to the left. It's not really difficult and you can solve this puzzle in no time. When the rabbit has "walked" to the left, the door opens and you enter the:

Magician's room

Go left and forward and then click on the Pizza box at the bottom right of your screen. You see a shoe lying there. Click on the shoe and Nancy says this is Maya's shoe, so it's proof that Maya was here. Zoom out and go 2 times right. Under the poster there is a large chest. Click on the chest and then open it and then go forward once into the "chest". Take the red rubber gloves from the chest, you will need them in a moment. Zoom out and close the chest and zoom out again. 

Turn right 12 times and then go forward to the bookcase and click on the bottom row of brown books. The "Magic's Secrets Part IV" book will now appear on your screen. Open this book and read all the pages. If you don't feel like doing that, then only read the pages 62 to 65, because this part describes how the "Flash Paper" works. Do you remember that "ring" you won when you played that card game in the basement. That "ring" is attached to a paper and the whole thing is the "Flash Paper" and I suspect that you will have to use it later in the game. Once you've read all of this, close the book and zoom out. Turn 4 right and then go forward to that "Coffin" on the wall. This is the exit, so click on the right -hand side of the coffin and it will open.

Back in the Cellar: Opening the gate:

Go forward and you will be back in the cellar. Turn right and you will see that card game machine again. Click the Turn Arrow and then go forward twice and then right and you are in front of the exit. But the gate is now closed and locked, and worse... the gate is electrified... Put on the red rubber Gloves and click them on the lock of the gate. Keep the gloves on You must enter the correct code on this code lock. But what is this code? You will not be able to find the correct code anywhere in the game, and it will be different every time. It's a matter of Trial and Error. There are 9 numbered keys, so you are looking for a 9-digit code. What you need to do is the following.:

Simply press all the buttons one after the other. Start with 1. 1 button will remain pressed. This is the first digit of the code. Write this number down..... For me it was 9. Leave this button pressed and press another button. If this is the second digit of the code, it will now remain pressed. If it is not the second number, it will jump back, but your first correct number will also jump back. Then click on your first digit of the code again and then on the next button and repeat this until both your first and second digit of the code remain pressed. Then also copy the second digit, and repeat the process to find the third digit and so on until you have found all 9 digits: For me the code was: 9,1,8,5,4,6,2,7, 3. But, I suspect this code will be different in each game you replay.

If you get all 9 numbers correct, the gate will open. Put the gloves away again and go forward 5 times up the cellar stairs, open the hatch and then forward through the hatchway. You're back "Back Stage" in front of Simone's dressing room and you suddenly bump into Brady. You will automatically talk to the slimeball for a moment and then you continue through the hallway to the Lobby and to the telephone in the Ticket Booth. Call up St. Ramsey. This conversation runs smoothly again. Ramsey is now convinced that Maya has been kidnapped and promises that he will come to the theater as soon as possible to investigate the "Magicians" room. Go outside and then up the stairs and go to Joseph in the Projector Room. Talk to Joseph.  Joseph will wait for the police and take them to the secret room and he "orders" Nancy to go back to sleep. Go outside and Day 2 is also over.

Day 3:

You start day 3 in the Ticket Booth and you have the main article of the St. Louis Chronicle on your screen. Click on the newspaper to read the article clearly.  The kidnapper has apparently changed his plans... He now wants 50,000 hard dollars  for Maya's release.   Zoom out 3 times and then zoom in on the phone. There is a note to the left of the phone, near the keyboard. It's a note from Joseph and he wants to speak to Nancy immediately. So zoom out twice and go outside, up the stairs and go to Joseph, who is back in his place in the Projector room. Talk to him in this way.......

Then go to Simone in her  room and talk to her, first ask her about Brady and the Press Card and then follow all the other options. Then go to Brady in his  room and talk to him especially about Nick. Then go to the lobby and talk to Nick about Eustacia and Sherman Trout and tell him that Trout will send a slide. Then go back to Brady's room. Brady is not there, but his briefcase is now on the table with the telephone. Zoom in on this briefcase, open it by clicking on the handles and then click in the briefcase. Then click on the pencil that is on the left inside the briefcase. The pencil ends up in your inventory. Zoom out, click on one of the handles to close the bag again and zoom out twice.

Make a Key

Go back to the lobby and then upstairs to the Projector Room. Inside, turn left twice again to Joseph's place, but he is not there. Turn clockwise 6 times and you will look at a table with a lot of empty film reels on it. Go forward to the table and then click on the item that's under the pile of empty film reels on the table. You zoom in on it. It's a slide. Click on the slide and it will disappear into your inventory.

 Zoom out and then click on the book, that's to the left of the mountain of film reels. You zoom in on it. Click on it again to see the book enlarged on your screen. It's the "Clayton Projector Operation" book. Open the book and go through all the pages and read the operating instructions for the film projector. You then come to page 81. A key was stuck in here, but the key is gone. You can still faintly see the imprint of the key. Take the pencil from your inventory and click with it on the slice where the key should be stuck and you will then see the print of this key more clearly. 

Now click on the pages on the left again to page back and finally close the book again. Then zoom out 3 times and leave the Projector room and go down to the lobby via the right stairs. Then turn left so that you see the snack bar and then turn left three times. To the left of the snack bar, under the stairs and to the left of the red curtain, is a display cabinet containing... well... is that a cash register?

Move forward to the cash register and you'll be completely zoomed in on this thing's display. So it is a Key Machine and you can copy keys with it. Save the game first because if you make a mistake  you won't be able to do it again because you only have 1 quarter in your inventory. Take the "quarter" from your inventory and insert it into the coin slot on the right. The wheel turns and a key appears. You now have to "complete" this key further by clicking on the correct keys. Click on the following keys: S, I, V, O and you can then take the SIVO key. With this key you can immediately open the Film projector.

The Film projector:

Now go back to the Projector Room and when you are inside, immediately turn right 5 times. You see a large cupboard, to the left is the table with the empty film reels. Click on the cupboard to open it and then go forward 2 times into the Cupboard. You are then zoomed in on the left part of the cabinet. Under the "Acme" box you will see a glass tube in a box. Click on this glass tube. It appears large on your screen and it turns out to be a Projection Tube. Click on it to place it in your inventory. Then zoom out 2 times and close the cabinet and then turn left 6 times. You look at the large film projector again. Now hold your forward arrow between the projector and the large control panel and then go forward 3 times.

You are now zoomed in on the side of the projector and you see 2 buttons.

The front button has "FOCUS" written on it. The button behind it is the on / off button for the projector. Click on the on / off button…….O…..Ouch…..something seems to have broken inside the projector. Click on the on/off button again to turn the projector off again and then zoom out twice. Now aim your Forward Arrow at the left side of the blue housing of the projector and go forwards to it

You see the lock with which you can open the side. 

So take the SIVO Key from your inventory and click on the lock. The side opens and..........

You will see a slide at the bottom left of the projector, but do not click on it yet. At the top of the projector you will see a glass tube just like the one you took from the cupboard. Only, this tube is broken. Click on the glass tube twice to remove it. The tube disappears into your inventory. Then place the good tube that you took from the cupboard in this place. Then zoom out and Save the game now and name your save PROJECTOR or something like that. 

NB: You have to be quick in a moment and you won't get much time for it. There will be an internal timer running soon. You have to put Nancy in that large cupboard very quickly, so in the cupboard where you got that glass projector tube. The demolition workers will start their work immediately and someone will come in to inspect whether there is anyone left inside. And he musn't find Nancy here. If Nancy get's caught it's GAME OVER.

After you have saved the game click on that slide at the bottom left of the projector. Click on it again to place the slide in your inventory. Close the projector by clicking on the right side of the lid. Quickly zoom out 2 times and turn right 5 or 6 times. Open the cupboard and then click forward twice to the large right part of the cupboard and ........Nancy is then safely in the cupboard and looks through a crack into the Projector room. 

You hear someone come in and this someone inspects the room and declares it "Safe". The "inspector" disappears again. Go out of the cupboard and then turn right 3 times and go forward 3 times to the On/Off button of the projector. Do not turn on the projector yet, but go forward another 2 times. you are now at the front of the lens and you see the place where the slide should go.

So place the Slide, that you took from the Projector House, in here, then zoom out twice and then click on the ON/OFF button. Through the "window" you can now see the slide projected on the large movie screen of the stage. But the projection is quite blurry. So click the "FOCUS" button. Oops…..the Focus button falls off and rolls under the large control panel on the floor.  You now look at the floor, move your cursor to the right and you will get a click spot on the floor just in front of the control panel. Click there and you will look underneath the control panel. You see the focus button, but also a cassette recorder and a "Voiceswap" device. Click on the cassette recorder. You "pull" the cassette recorder towards you. Click on the cassette recorder buttons and then on the play button. 

You hear a recording of Joseph.........so this is what you kept hearing during your trips through the theater. So Joseph was not always in the room testing, but you kept hearing this tape. And with that "Voiceswap" you can distort a voice... Zoom out once and then click on the back of the cassette recorder to slide it back and at the same time the focus button will roll towards you. Pick up the focus button and then click the look up arrow twice, at the top center of your screen. Place the focus button back into place on the projector and then click the button 3 times to focus the slide. Then click forward once to the "window" and look closely at the projection of the slide.

Oh......so there is another secret room above the projector room and the switch to open this room is next to the door, according to the diagram on the slide. Now buzz off, switch off the projector via the on / off switch and zoom out 2 times. Joseph now appears in the door and he no longer lookes friendly. Just talk to him a few times and Joseph will disappear again. 

Save the game here because it will get complicated and you need to be quick 

You begin the END GAME and at some point during this last part of the game you will receive a 3 MINUTE warning. From that moment on, you really only have 3 minutes left to let the demolition workers outside know that you and Joseph are still in the building so that they will postpone the demolition. If you fail to do so, you will receive a 10 SECOND warning after 2 minutes and 50 seconds and then it is GAME OVER. When you are in the very last room, you really see the wrecking ball smashing into the theater. It depends on how  quickly you act from the moment Joseph disappears again, when you get the 3 MINUTE warning. So this could  happen already down here, or upstairs in the last secret room. If you get this 3 minute warning down here, well then you really won't make it. So try to be quick.

3 minutes left

If Joseph has disappeared again, you are standing in front of the door. To the right of the door you will see a boxon the wall. Go there and  open this box and click on the switch that's in it. Nothing happens, but you do hear a sound as if something has fallen down. Quickly, close the box, zoom out and turn right... a ladder has come down. Click the Look Up arrow on the ladder twice and then go forward and you will be at the top of a secret passage. Go forward twice to the door and try to open it. Unfortunately the door is locked and despite what Nancy says, you don't have a key for it. Click the Turn Arrow and then go forward, left and then forward 2 times to that iron hatch in the wall. Open it with the key (not the SIVO key) from your inventory.

The Keys

Oh...you wanted a key? Well, there are 9 of them hanging here, of different colors. Under the keys lies proof that Harry Houdini has indeed become half owner of the theater. Click on these papers to read them quickly and then put them away. Well...which of the 9 keys will fit on that door? I don't know and it's different in every game. Have you heard the 3 MINUTE warning yet? I hope not for you. You can do one of 2 thinks now:

1 = You can now take all 9 Keys with you to try them out one by one on the door. One of the keys is the right one that opens the door. The disadvantage of this is that you cannot clearly see in your inventory which of the keys you have used. You then run the risk of trying to use the same key over and over again and then suddenly your time is up and it's game over.

2 = You can also take the keys one by one and then go back to the door with only 1 key to try if it is the right one. Then go back to get the next key and try it. The disadvantage of this is that it takes a lot of time, partly because you always have to close the key box again to go to the door and also open it again to get the next key. If you are really lucky, you can make it if one of the first keys is the right one. I really recommend that you take all the keys with you and then try them at the door and then pay close attention to the color of the keys to know which ones you have already tried.

Pick up all the keys, close the key box, zoom out 3 times, click the turn arrow and go forward 1 time and you are back at the door. If you haven't heard the "3 MINUTES" warning yet, SAVE your GAME. Now just try out the keys in the lock, pay close attention to which key you use and if it does not fit, put it back in your inventory and be careful not to try a used key again........ It's really easy to get all confused here.

Ultimately you open the door with the right key. Have you heard the 3 Minute Warning yet? No...SAVE  THE GAME. Go forward and then turn left…..O…..Maya is ocked in a kind of Oven… Zoomout immediately and then go forward through the room 5 times. You will then end up at the back right of the room. Turn right. Nancy now looks at a narrow window and she sees part of the Neon advertising. If she could just let it burn, the demolition workers will know that there are still people in the theater and the demolition will be called off. Have you heard the 3 minute warning yet? NO.?...SAVE GAME.

The FINAL SCENE

Quickly, click the zoom out arrow  under the window, then click the turnarrow and then go left twice. In the distance you will now see a switch box on the wall. Go there and......Just before you reach the cupboard, Joseph steps in the way. He's completely out of control now. Talk to Joseph. During this conversation, if you have done everything above as quickly as I did, you will hear the 3 Minute warning. Joseph will eventually utter the following sentence:

"I'LL NEVER MEANT FOR IT TO TURN OUT THIS WAY"

Once he has said this, go to your inventory and click on the Flash Paper Ring and then click it on Joseph. Joseph is terrified and retreats. Quickly... Click on the lever and... The neon advertising flashes and the demolition crew will pospone the demolition. Nancy and Maya are rescued and the Theater will not be demolished but declared a historic monument and will be restored. Once again, Nancy Drew has brought a case to a successful ending.

NB: If you have completed the game with the good ending, load your very last save and play the last part again, but now make sure you let the 3 MINUTES pass. 

It is really nice  to see how the demolition ball  crashes straight through the theater.

2002: Original a Dutch Walkthrough by: Louis Koot 

 2024: This English translation also done by Louis Koot