The Hidden Staircase

The Hidden Staircase is the second volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series written under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, published in 1930 and revised in 1959.^[1]

Summary, 1959 edition

In the beginning of "The Hidden Staircase" Nancy gets a mystery call from her friend Helen Corning, and she is introduced to Mrs. Flora Turnbull and Mrs. Rosemary Hayes, by Helen, who is the great- granddaughter of Miss Flora and great niece of Aunt Rosemary. Miss Flora believes that their home, Twin Elms Mansion, is haunted. Nancy has just agreed to help solve the mystery of Twin Elms when a man named Nathan Gomber tells Nancy that her father, Carson Drew, is in great danger. Gomber represents a client and other land owners, dissatisfied with the proceeds of land purchases for a new railroad. Mr. Drew tells Nancy to go to Twin Elms with Helen and help Miss Flora and Mrs. Hayes, as he will be traveling to Chicago during the first part of Nancy's stay at the old estate and join her later.

After an enjoyable dance with her former prom date, Nancy and her father inspect the railroad construction near the river, but are forced to swim to safety when a runaway truck nearly runs them down. Nancy and Helen pack their bags and head off to Twin Elms, with Helen announcing the news of her private engagement over the weekend, en route. At Twin Elms, Miss Flora explains her theory of a ghost, and explains the disappearance of items both precious and of little value, and strange things happening such as music with no explanation. A chandelier moving by itself, and a mask held up in the windows over the next few days lead Nancy to investigate the interior and exterior of the Colonial house thoroughly. Nathan Gomber, coincidentally, is trying to buy the historic home over protests from the Turnball family. Although an adjoining estate with a twin home is available for purchase, it is rundown and not of interest to Gomber.

In the meanwhile, Nancy's father fails to return from Chicago, and after tracing him to the train station, she is led to believe from eyewitness accounts that he has been possibly drugged and kidnapped. Nancy continues to search for clues to her father's whereabouts and also to solve the mystery of the intruder at Twin Elms, helped by a night watchman and discovery of a secret room. She and Helen decide to investigate the neighboring estate for clues to a secret entrance, since the house was built with the same design as Twin Elms.

Upon their arrival at the realtor, Nancy is horrified to discover Nathan Gomber has just purchased the neighboring estate. Mr. Dodd agrees to lend the girls a key since Gomber has not taken possession, and they make a daytime visit to Riverview Manor. Nancy finds a secret panel to an underground passage and staircase. The tunnel leads to another staircase. But at the top of the stairs is a man who stops Nancy and Helen. Nancy discovers a missing property owner, hidden staircases and passages inside Twin Elms, and that her father is a prisoner in the tunnel. Nathan Gomber is imprisoned.

Summary, 1930 edition

In the beginning of the original edition of “the Hidden Staircase”, Nancy is home alone since her father and her housekeeper, Hannah Gruen, are both out for the day. The doorbell rings and Nancy is introduced to the "rude visitor", Nathan Gombet (sic), who has come to see Carson Drew about some papers. When his persistence irritates and insults Nancy, she grows impatient and angrily tells him to leave and threatens to call the police.

Soon after, Nancy is surprised at her house by Allie Horner, who she aided during "the Secret of the Old Clock". Allie knows who Nathan Gombet is by reputation and because he stole eggs from her farm. When Carson Drew arrives home, he explains his history with Gombet, in which Gombet signed over his land to build a railroad and then decided after the construction that he had been cheated out of money.

The following day, Abigail Rowen (whom Nancy helped along with Allie Horner in "the Secret of the Old Clock") introduces Nancy to the Turnball sisters, Rosemary and Floretta. They ask Nancy to help them learn the cause of the mysterious "hauntings" of their mansion in Cliffwood, several miles from River Heights where Nancy lives. The sisters explain that numerous valuable items have gone missing from their Civil War era Mansion, but they cannot understand how any person could have entered the locked home during these different instances to commit the thefts.

Nancy stays overnight with the Turnball sisters for over a week to determine the source of their problems. She goes alone and has her own bedroom. Before she leaves, her father gives her a revolver from his desk to protect herself. He explains that he will be out of town on business in Chicago for a few days and no more than a week. The resume that when he knows the day of his arrival back in River Heights, Nancy will pick him up at the train station to discuss her findings at the Turnball Mansion.

Before Nancy leaves for Cliffwood, she receives a threatening letter telling her to stay away from the Turnball Mansion. While she is there, more items are stolen, and at one point they find a couple of canaries flying about the mansion. When Nancy notices an stone mansion across a hill which is almost identical to the Turnball Mansion, The Turnball sisters tell her that their mansion was built with the other stone mansion by a their distant relatives, two brothers who eventually became rivals during the Civil War. Likewise, they explain that none other than Nathan Gombet owns the other stone mansion and has even asked to purchase their house.

Armed with this knowledge, Nancy is certain that Nathan Gombet is the culprit and is determined to prove it. Meanwhile, her father, who sent a telegram to Nancy to pick him up on a certain day at the station for their meeting, deboards to find Nathan Gombet waiting for him. Nathan confuses Carson and leads him to believe that Nancy has had an accident near Gombet's mansion and is residing there in trouble. Distraught and believing Gombet, Carson Drew rides back to Gombet's Mansion, where he is then held prisoner. Nancy never received the telegram from Carson Drew and worries that something is wrong since she cannot reach him.

Late one night, once the Turnball sisters are asleep and convinced that there is some passage between the two mansions, Nancy ventures out in the rain and dark with her revolver and a flashlight to Gombet’s Mansion. While she is running through the rain, she sees Gombet walking toward the Turnball mansion. She decides that this is her only opportunity to get into his house and resists her urge to follow him.

After sneaking in a cellar window of Gombet’s house, Nancy is almost discovered twice by his servant. Upon the second search by Gombet’s servant, Nancy is narrowly saved from discovery, but ends up locked in an upstairs room. In the closet of this room, Nancy finds a knob, which after pulling it, Nancy finds the hidden staircase. The hidden stone staircase, as it turns out, leads to a large underground tunnel that splits off at various points (all of which lead into different rooms in the Turnball mansion).

The next morning, Nancy and the Turnball sisters go to the sheriff who brings the police force to the Gombet’s mansion. They find Nathan Gombet in the cell where he is holding Carson Drew as prisoner and arrest Gombet.

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