Summary of book the hidden stair case
Answers
Explanation:
At the beginning of the original edition of The Hidden Staircase, Nancy is home alone while her father and their housekeeper, Hannah Gruen, are both out for the day. The doorbell rings and Nancy is introduced to the "rude visitor," Nathan Gombet, 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, whom she aided in 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: 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, Allie introduces Nancy to the Turnbull 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. 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 Turnbull 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 but no more than a week. They decide 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 Turnbull mansion.
Before Nancy leaves for Cliffwood, she receives a threatening letter telling her to stay away from the Turnbull 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 a stone mansion across a hill which is almost identical to the Turnbull Mansion, the Turnbull sisters tell her that both mansions were built at the same time by distant relatives of theirs; 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 he has even asked to purchase their house.
Armed with this knowledge, Nancy is certain that Nathan Gombet is the culprit behind the thefts 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, disembarks 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 waiting there, in trouble. Distraught and believing Gombet, Carson Drew rides back to Gombet’s mansion, where he is then held, prisoner. Nancy never receives the telegram from Carson Drew and worries that something is wrong since she cannot reach him.
Late one night, once the Turnbull sisters are asleep, and convinced that there is some passage between the two mansions, Nancy ventures out to Gombet’s mansion in the dark, rainy night, armed with her revolver and a flashlight. While she is running through the rain, she sees Gombet walking toward the Turnbull mansion. She decides that this is her only opportunity to get into his house and resists her urge to follow him.
After sneaking through 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 and after pulling it, discovers a hidden staircase. The stone staircase, as it turns out, leads to a large tunnel that splits off at various points, all of which lead into different rooms in the Turnbull mansion.
The next morning, Nancy and the Turnbull sisters go to the sheriff, who brings the police force to Gombet’s mansion. They find Nathan Gombet and the cell where he is holding Carson Drew as prisoner and arrest Gombet
Answer:
Nancy Drew recieved a call one morning from Helen Corning asking her if she could help solve a mystery at Helen's great grandmother and Great aunt's home. Later after taking the case, a man named Nathan Gomber warned Nancy to stay with her father at all time because he is in grave danger. Nancy's father told her not to worry about him, and to take the case at the Twin Elms Mansion. He was going to Chicago to find a man named Willie Wharton and confirm that he signed a contract for a railroad company. When Nancy arrived at the mansion, she was told that there were many mysterious occurences there. Strange music playing from the second floor, Stolen items, and even objects moving. Coincidentally, Mr. Gomber was also trying to buy the mansion from Miss flora even though there was one identical to it.
Nancy Drew would make plans to try to catch the ghost in the act, but some how never could. She suspected that there must be microphones hidding in the house somewhere and the ghost must be listening to all of their plans. She suggested that they call the police, and ask them to send a gaurd to watch the mansion grounds at night. Nancy's father had not yet returned from Chicago, and she became worried. She learned from an eye witness at the train station that he might have been drugged and kidnapped. Nancy kept searching for clues on her missing father, and also for the intruder.