Nancy Drew ~ The Final Scene

Walkthrough by Tally Ho

Day One

Holy Smokes! Maya has been kidnapped, the kidnapper threatened us, the theater's caretaker wants to help, and told us about a secret passsageway. Then we met Brady Armstrong. In the first conversation with Brady, avoid mentioning searching until you have no choice left. That way, you get the most out of that conversation. Time to search the room. There is not a lot to look at here. Look at the clothes rack and push aside the clothing. There is a door, but it doesn't work. Open the Wardrobe and take the magic wand from the top shelf. Look at the makeup-table, see the locked drawer, then inspect the portrait over the sink. By the looks of the money falling out of this guy's pockets, I'd say times were good, at least for a while. Check behind the picture and pull the handle. You hear something unlock. Check behind the clothes again, and the secret passageway is open. Go through. It seems to pass around the backstage area, to the other side. If you looked around the backstage already, you found the Women's dressing room, but it was locked. Now you enter that room through the wardrobe. Meet Simone. She's cranky because we interrupted her business on the phone, and tells us to scram.

There's not much to do in her room, especially with her sitting right there. You can exit via the normal door now, and it will remain unlocked. There will be no further need to go through the secret passage. Exit and turn right. Go through that door, and take an immediate left into that double door. Step in, look down, and pick up the coin. Proceed further down the hall, working your way to the front of the theater. As you go, examine the photos and posters lining the walls. Some of the magicians referred to are made-up, but Harry Houdini was absolutely real. Read about his performance with the cages, his renown for the "Watery Grave" illusion, and the fact that J.J. Thompson wagered $50,000 that Houdini would fail in his attempt. Keep going until you get to the theater lobby. From the central point in the lobby, you can look all around. You see left and right sweeping staircases, an out-of-order key machine, a game of some sort, the door to the ticket booth, and a dude in camouflage named Nicholas Falcone.

Talk to Nicholas. He represents "Had It", which stands for Humans Against the Destruction of Illustrious Theaters. He doesn't seem to take Maya's disappearance very seriously; and tells us where a working phone is.

It's time we got some professional help. Go into the ticket booth, learn the number for the Police Department, and call them. You have a conversation with the police sergeant, who won't investigate unless Maya is still missing after 24 hours. That's not much help. Let's go see what's upstairs. At the top of the stairs, there is a choice to go into the balcony straight ahead, or into the projection booth by going across the center. Do that, and talk with the caretaker, Joseph. He offers to help, and informs you that the doors have been locked, so there is a limit to the suspects. Save asking about himself until last. Go back downstairs and talk again with Nicholas. You learn what Had It is all about, and that the future plans for the site are secret. Let's go see if Simone Mueller will talk now. Off to the Women's dressing room. Simone seems to be more interested in building her career, even at Maya's expense. (She couldn't have done it. How do you kidnap someone when you are always on the phone?)

Exit her room and take two steps forward, into the backstage area, toward that large crate. Look straight down, and see that there is a trap door, but the crate is blocking it. Hmmm. It's too heavy to budge. Maybe there is some way to move it. Head over to the ropes that control the hanging sets. Untie the rope, and lower it all the way down. Something clunks. Return to the crate, and you can attach the sling to the overhead cable. Then back at the rope controls, you can use the rope to raise the crate. Trouble finding the trap door? Walk toward Simone's room until the floor creaks. Turn around and look down. Now you can enter the basement. Go down, and to the right, right some more, until you come to a panel on the wall. Oh, goody! Finally a puzzle!

What is the object of the puzzle?

What method should I use to figure it out?

What is the solution?

The door unlocks, to reveal another puzzle. This is not a slider, it is harder. You must decide which piece goes where, and swap them and rotate them until they form a picture.

Click here to see the solved box.

Click here for brute-force instructions.

Okay, now you've opened the box, and discover one more puzzle - this time two gears are missing. It's time to go exploring. Go up the stairs, turn into the backstage area and walk up to the fire extinguisher. Turn right, go through the red curtain, and down the steps and turn right toward the center. (The right-cursor is high-up.) Walk up the center aisle three steps until you see a piece of bubble-gum stuck to one of the chairs. Yuck! You can't take it with your fingers, not that you'd want to. Use the magic wand. Now continue to the back of the theater, and exit into the lobby. Turn toward the right stairs, and find the Bees-Knees Jazz Machine. The object here is to guide the musical note from the upper-left, over to the dancers at the upper-right. The other notes slide around when you move, and try to block your way. You have to plan your route so the notes get stuck behind the barriers and you can get by. This puzzle is something like the one in the Royal Tower, but much easier. There are many successful routes. To see one solution, Click Here. The dancers get their music, and you get your gear. One gear to go. Go up to the balcony, enter the left side, and go look at the railing. See the missing medallion? Where could it be? Try looking over the edge of the railing. Mind you don't get dizzy. Can't quite reach? Do you have something that could extend your reach? Try the wand with the sticky gum. There's your second gear.

Down in the basement once again, open the box and place the gears on the spindles. Give the main gear a spin, and what do we have here? A key (those are always handy) and an agreement, signed by both J. J. Thompson, and Harry Houdini, giving Houdini half-ownership of the theater in lieu of his $50,000 reward. Well, now! If there is a descendant of Houdini kicking around, maybe he/she could stop or at least postpone the demolition. Before going upstairs, go to the other end of the basement and play with the Amazing Monty machine. Is this game randomized? I don't really know. Sometimes I got lucky on the first try (right-hand card) and sometimes it took three or more attempts. You will eventually find the Ace. Your prize is a piece of flash-paper, which might be useful for startling someone. Don't get confused with the interface here - the flash-paper goes into your inventory, and the instructions stay with the machine. Don't worry about the instructions; to use it, just take it from your inventory and 'use' it on the intended target when the time comes. Let's go talk to Nicholas. He tells the story of his grandmother, who designed all the fancy decor, then was never paid. It seems Nick has something of a motive for saving the theater, beyond Had-It's connection.

Talk to Joseph. He plans to live with his brother, Jake in Arizona, and build a theater there. He also tells you about J. J. and the futile efforts to declare the theater a landmark. Talk to Brady. Ask him about Simone. Ask him where he was at the time of the kidnapping. Talk to Simone. Now talk to Nicholas about the papers you found in the basement. He goes to the van to check his computer. While he's gone, go forward, and look at the Theater brochure, where you learn the phone number for the County Administration. Look at the Had It Brochure to see Nick as founder and president. When you step back, Joseph calls you on the P.A. and says to come to the projection room. He has found Maya's press pass! Rather, Brady found it. Joseph suggests calling the police, then having a night's rest. Go to the ticket booth, and call the county administrator's office first, then the police.

Day Two

Step forward and look at the card on the funeral wreath. Someone sure has a gruesome sense of humor. Go talk with Joseph. On the way in, look at the 'missing' poster on his door. Go talk with Nick about the theater. Go talk with Simone about the posters, Brady, and the wreath. Go to Brady's room and examine the self-improvement book he has been reading. Leave his room, and come back in. He's back, and talks about his being managed by Simone. Maybe he should study that book a little more. Go out front and see Nicholas. He has the number for Houdini's cousin. When you finish with Nick, you can hear the press conference in progress. This might be a good time to check out Simone's room more thoroughly, and Brady's too. In Simones room, look in the drawer. There is an insignificant object to take: a bobby pin. Doesn't seem like much, but I've seen McGyver pick locks with those things. Her purse yields some interesting items. Her PDA (personal digital assistant) is not hard to get into - click on the center (5) and then the four corners. Her calendar doesn't look like a lot of tragedies are occurring. The e-mail suggests that she knew of Maya, and probably answered the mail in Maya's name. The business cards are what you'd expect, but look at that item on the right - a receipt for a funeral wreath! Well, Nancy - you wanted evidence. Have a look at the camera. Push the red button to turn it on, and the + key to cycle through the pictures. Hey! There's Maya's pass on the floor in the basement. Now there's Brady, finding it. What? There's Brady in the balcony. No wonder he fumbled the answer when we asked him where he found it. I don't think he found it by himself, I think somebody staged the whole thing. Hmmmm.

Let's check Brady's room again. Look at the locked drawer in the makeup table. Pick the lock with the bobby pin, and read the book describing Houdini's cage trick. It seems we have the secret to one of Houdini's famous illusions. It is possible to go below the stage, into a secret room, and also up into a trick chair in the audience. Clever. Could this be a place to hide someone against their will?

Better call Houdini's cousin and see what we can do. When you go toward the lobby, you hear another threat over the p.a. system. The voice sounds sort of familiar, but it is disguised. Go to the ticket booth and call Eustacia. She's a piece of work! She gives you a hard time, but she also gives you Sherman Trout's phone number at the Library of Congress. Call Mr. Trout, and he promises to send a slide of the evidence that Houdini might have been part-owner. Go upstairs to talk to Joseph, but he is not there. Look at his area. There is a telegram informing him that his brother in Arizona died some time ago. Joseph seems to be hiding that fact.

Let's see what we have so far. Joseph is suspect because he has a motive to protect the theater, and because he lied about his brother. Nicholas is suspect because he has a personal connection to the theater, and he has pulled off a phony kidnapping in the past. Brady and Simone are suspect because they could use a boost to their publicity; Simone appears to have sent that ghastly wreath, and Brady took part in staging a story about the press pass. Some of the clues tend to point to Joseph: He knows his way around the secret passages, and could have taken Maya through there. Whoever was at the county and hid the blueprints was a man; no further description. The voice making the threatening calls sounded like a man, but the voice was disguised; could be anyone - but the Southern accent showed through. (As in "Don't let the turkeys get you daown.")

Go to the control panel. Remember the instruction book, that emphasized the settings must be made in the proper order? Here's the sequence:

1. Turn on the main power.
2. Enter the code 121192 in the keypad.
3. Press the left and right fader power buttons.
4. Pull both faders to the bottom. This brings the cages down to stage level.
5. Activate the magnets.
6. Raise the faders one click.
7. Open the trap doors
8. Press the lock (the toggle switch on the right.)

At any time during the process you can look up and see the progress of the cages through the window. If you do something out of sequence, the process won't work correctly. Back away, and begin again at step 3. Now go onstage, and examine the cages. You can look down and see how the mirrors prevent the audience from detecting the trap doors. Enter one of the cages and look down to see the ladder descending to the basement. Go down, and find a peep-hole in the wall. You discover Maya, locked in the Magician's chamber. Suddenly, someone closes the trap doors and you are imprisoned. Find the trap door in the floor and go down the stairs. To the left is a slider puzzle-lock on the entrance to the magician's room. Try the pieces, and they are stuck. Go the other way, and press the button that lowers the lift to the trick chair. Go up, and find that Joseph is greasing the wheels. Talk to him, and he gives you some lubricant. Back to the slider. The object is to move the pieces in order to clear the way for the rabbit to go all the way from right to left. It's not particularly hard, just fussy. Go in and discover that Maya was indeed here. You wanted evidence? There's her shoe, and some fairly fresh Mama Mia's pizza. Open the chest and take the rubber gloves. Look at the bookcase and read about flash paper again, along with some card tricks, and a way to reveal a hidden image using a pencil.

Exit the room through the casket-shaped doorway, and you are in the normal basement, no longer trapped. Well, not exactly. The gate to the stairs is locked, and not only that, it's electrified! Use the rubber gloves so you can safely touch it. The keypad has a code that you will have to discover on your own. Here's what to do: Press buttons until one silently stays down. That's the first number of the nine-digit code. Starting with that number, press buttons until you learn the second number. Continue searching, always repeating the sequence until you know all nine numbers. When you do, the gate opens and you can go up.

When you get to the backstage area, you run into Brady, who's acting a bit twitchy as usual. You tell him you need to call the police, which you should proceed to do. Now they are interested enough to come and investigate. Go talk with Joseph. Again he suggests you get some rest. When you exit the room, Day Two draws to a close.

Day Three

• You begin in the ticket booth, reading today's paper. Near the phone is a note from Joseph, saying to meet him right away.

• Go see him and talk about everything, including accusing him. He also says something about repairing the key machine.

• Go see Simone and talk about Brady.

• Go see Brady and talk about Nick.

• Go see Nick and talk about Eustacia and Mr. Trout.
• Go to Brady's room and take a pencil out of his briefcase.

Go to the projection room. Joseph is gone. Look at the table on the right. Pick up the slide, and read the instruction book for the projector. On the last page, find the impression left by the key, and darken it with the pencil so you can see how it was made.

You will need to duplicate this key by using the key machine in the lobby. Save your game before you put a quarter in the slot. Choose the correct sequence of letters in order to reproduce the pattern seen here. For the answer, Click Here.

Go back to the projection room. Okay, fasten your seatbelts. Things are going to heat up. To the right, is a cabinet. Open it and take the projector bulb. Go to the projector and turn it on, watching the bulb blow out. Open the projector and replace the bulb with the good one. When you pick up the slide, a timed sequence starts, and it is Very Short, as you will find out. If you try to put the slide in the projector, you get nabbed.

• Pick up the slide, and click on it immediately to put it into inventory.
• Close the projector
• Step back twice, turn right toward the cabinet
• Step forward twice to hide in the cabinet, being careful not to click on the Acme box.

After they inspect the 'empty' room, it's safe to come out. Go to the projector and put the slide in the front compartment. Then turn on the light, and focus. Ooops! The focus knob fell off and rolled under the table. Go under the table and find the tape recorder. Pull it out, and press play to discover how someone could appear to be in the projection booth, while they were actually somewhere else. Push the tape recorder back, and retrieve the focus knob. Examine the other box under the table, to realize how someone could disguise their voice. To exit this scene, look for an up arrow at the top of the screen. Go up twice, put the focus knob on the projector, and sharpen the picture. Then look at the image closely through the window, to learn where the secret switch is to open another passageway.

When you back up, Joseph appears in the doorway. He's really lost his grip on reality this time. Just talk to him until he goes away. See the duplex outlet (that's fancy talk for 'electric plug') to the right of the door? Click on it to open it, and flick the switch to gain access to the secret passage. Close the switch-box. Turn right and go up the ladder. At the top, you find a locked door. You don't really have the key somewhere in your bag of tricks; you need to find it. Turn around and find the lock-box on the far left wall. Your little key that came from the puzzle-box will open this lock. Two important pieces of evidence are there, showing that Houdini gave up his title to the theater, and Louisa Falcone had ownership. That means Nicholas is part owner! If we don't stop that wrecking ball pretty soon, it won't matter who owns it. The correct key changes randomly, so take them all. Go back to the locked door and try the keys until you get in.

Step in, and see Maya locked up. Don't let that music make you nervous. Go to the other side of the room, and see the Marquee through the window. If we could turn it on somehow, the wrecking crew would realize there is still someone inside, and stop the demolition. On the way across the room, you can see a hacksaw, and you can pick it up. Don't bother, you won't be using it. From the window, go ahead and to the left, looking for the switch to the Marquee. As you find it, Joseph turns up again, and blocks the way. Talk to him until he says he never meant it to turn out this way. Still have that flash-paper? Now is the time to surprise Joseph with it. He steps back, and you can reach the switch. Turn on the power to the Marquee, and all's well that ends well. Congratulations, Detective Drew; another fine solution to a tough case. See you in the next one.

This document may only be distributed  with the express written permission of the author, Tally Ho
The content of this document may not be altered in any way without the permission of the author.
Any proposed changes or additions to the walkthrough may be submitted to Tally Ho.
All images and concepts property of Her Interactive.

copyright 2001

GameBoomers Walkthroughs and Solutions

The correct letters to press are: S, I, V, O.

The object of this puzzle is to turn the blocks until they all show the same image.

Turn the blocks until you discover which is the only image that appears on each block.

Turn the blocks to learn which blocks are also turned. Choose the one that affects the most blocks first.
Choose the block that does not affect any others last.

You want all the blocks to become spades.

Start with the fourth block (the club) and turn it until it shows the spade.

Next turn the first block until it is a spade. Then do the same with the second and third blocks.

Finish by turning the fifth (right-hand) block. You hear something unlock.

Warning: This solution only works if you are starting the puzzle in its original, undisturbed condition.

Use the arrows as follows:
R, L, D, R, R, R
D, R, D, D
R, U, R, U, R, U
L, U, R