The Mystery of Pirate's Cove

Title card for 'The Mystery of the Pirate's Code'

**The Mystery of Pirate's Cove** is the second episode of the first season of *The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries*. It premiered on February 6, 1977.

## Synopsis

Nancy Drew and her friends see a beam of light coming from a supposedly abandoned lighthouse, and a professor tries to convince her that it is haunted. The local sheriff thinks they're imagining things, so it's up to Nancy to solve the mystery.

## Cast

* Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy Drew
* Shaun Cassidy as Joe Hardy (credit only)
* Parker Stevenson as Frank Hardy (credit only)
* George O'Hanlon Jr. as Ned Nickerson
* Jean Rasey as George Fayne
* William Schallert as Carson Drew
* Monte Markham as Professor Jack Wall
* Robert Karnes as Sheriff King
* Arthur Peterson as Old Man Jensen
* Skip Ward as 2nd Agent
* Joe Penny as Brandon
* Ron Nyman as 1st Agent

## Plot

Nancy, George and Ned are at a party at their friend, Brandon's, house. Ned and George watch Nancy dance with Brandon, smiling and having fun. George tells Ned to tell Nancy he likes her, but he denies he does. He says that since he works for her father, who is out of town, he just feels responsible for her. George does not believe him.

Nancy comes over to them, saying that Brandon has offered to take them out on his boat. As they go out onto the water, Nancy sees dead fish in the water and observes that because they are limp, they must be recently dead. They also notice that there are lights on at the old lighthouse and decide to go check it out since the lighthouse is supposed to be empty. Nancy's father, Carson Drew, represents the land it's on and Ned handles the account, so they want to make sure everything is alright. Back at Brandon's house, they ask him to call the police while they go back to the lighthouse.

It is early morning when Nancy, George, and Ned meet the Sheriff at the lighthouse, who is not pleased they called him. He points out that the lock is still on the door and none of the windows are broken, so it is impossible anyone could have gotten in. When Nancy implies it might be a ghost, the Sheriff is even less pleased. He suggests that the light they saw must have been the moon reflecting off the tower.

As they drive away from the lighthouse, a man watches them from the tower.

Ned comes to Carson's office looking for Nancy and is reprimanded for not meeting him at the airport. Ned reluctantly tells Carson that Nancy went out the lighthouse because she thinks there might be a mystery there. Carson expresses some regret for letting Nancy do investigative work for him, saying it was the beginning of his gray hairs.

Carson tells Ned that the lighthouse is to be bought by Professor Jack Wall, who wants it for his "psychic research foundation." The owner of the property is Old Man Jensen, who is represented by Carson. Carson describes the professor as young and charming, after which Ned quickly leaves to go after Nancy – leaving Carson slightly confused.

At the lighthouse, Nancy and George are trying to saw through the lock on the door. Nancy decides to take another look around and finds tire tracks that lead to the edge of the cliff. She hurries back to George, who has sawed through the lock and they enter the lighthouse together. George goes back to the car to get a flashlight, but when she hears Nancy scream, she rushes back in. However, it was only a bat that frightened her. Nancy reasons that there must be another way in if there are bats, but George counters that it's not necessarily one big enough for humans.

George goes out to see what the tire tracks mean as Nancy goes up the stairs. As George stands on the edge of the cliff, a man comes up behind her, startling her so that she nearly falls. He catches her and introduces himself as Professor Jack Wall, the new owner of the lighthouse. At the top of the lighthouse tower, Nancy notices footsteps in the dust. When she sees a car approach, she heads back down.

At the bottom of the lighthouse, Nancy is introduced to Professor Wall, who is charming. Ned is uncomfortable about how interested Nancy seems in the professor and George teases him about it: "I'd say something now, Ned, or forever hold your peace."

Nancy wants to show Professor Wall the footprints, but when they go back up, the dust is gone.

Professor Wall invites them to stay at night in the lighthouse when he does his research. When Nancy tells her father, he is not immediately into the idea, but is eventually convinced. Ned thinks that Professor Wall is after Nancy, and so is even less into the idea of her staying in the lighthouse with him overnight.

As George and Nancy help Professor Wall load his equipment into his van, they talk about what they think of him. George seems very impressed by him – describes him as "an Adonis" – and decides to go with them that night in the lighthouse anyway. Nancy is a bit more suspicious of the professor's story, remarking how she has never heard stories about the lighthouse being haunted and how a professor from across the country had gotten the idea.

Professor Wall overhears part of their conversation and shows them a map from a book about haunted places and how it matches with a map of River Heights. He tells them that it took him three years to find where the map was leading. He also tells them that the legend is not about the lighthouse, but about a series of caves underneath the lighthouse, where a pirate in the 1700s hid his treasure. He sealed four captains of the Queen's Navy into these caves to guard his treasure until his return. These, he says, are the ghosts that would haunt the lighthouse.

When he leaves the room, Nancy looks at the book and sees that it was last checked out of a library one year ago, contradicting his story about his three-year search. This makes George nervous and she wants to call of their night with the professor in the lighthouse. Nancy does not want to because she now knows for sure that he is up to something and they now have the upper hand.

It's a stormy night when Nancy and George arrive at the lighthouse. Nancy thinks that Professor Wall is going to have set up some scares for them.

Professor Wall has his equipment set up in a lower room in the lighthouse, as well as some snacks. He explains that he has the entire lighthouse rigged for sound, so they will be able to hear anything that happens. He continues to tell them about the legends surrounding the caves, including entire ships vanishing.

George thinks that the dead fish may have something to do with the ghosts as well and tells him about what they saw. Though Nancy brushes it off, he says it could be significant to his study.

Just as Professor Wall is saying that the night may have been a bust, they hear a scraping sound through the speakers, accompanied by what sounds like moaning. Lights flash on the equipment as well. While George is frightened by this, Nancy realizes that the sounds are just coming from a recording and turns it off.

Nancy confronts Professor Wall and realizes that he does not want the lighthouse for ghosts, but for the treasure from the legend he told them. Professor Wall admits to this but says that it is a bit more complicated since Ned has put a clause into the sale of the land that excludes everything underground. Nancy tells him that it is because oil rights, but the professor says he does not want the oil rights, just the treasure.

Nancy suggests they go see her father. After hearing the truth, Carson offers to sell the property anyway, including all mineral rights and rights to bounties below the surface, for double the price and the original owner – Old Man Jensen – gets 10% of everything he finds. Reluctantly, Professor Wall accepts.

After he leaves, Nancy tells her father that she wants to be there when Professor Wall looks for the treasure and Carson lets her, saying that she can make sure that Jensen gets his 10%. Nancy still has a feeling that there is something off about the professor and asks George to check out the book he showed them on her trip to New York the next day. She also wants to figure out where the disappearing footprints came from.

The next day, Nancy and Ned walk along the beach at the base of the cliffs as Nancy tries to find another entrance to the lighthouse. She thinks the dust disappeared because of a powerful updraft, meaning that there has to be another entrance, but Ned is doubtful, saying he has never seen anything like that on this beach.

As Nancy teases Ned about ghosts, they see a cave in the rock face that both are sure was not there before. Nancy suggests that it had been recently reopened. They realize that it would be submerged in high tide and that an underwater explosion could go mostly unnoticed. It would also explain the dead fish – which were knocked out and killed by the blast – and the tire tracks – from where the professor let himself down to plant the explosives.

Nancy is sure there is more to it and wants to go into the cave, even though the tide will start rising soon. Ned is not so sure, but goes with her anyway. They come across a door that does not look 18th century. Ned explains that it must be from around 1930 and that smugglers needed places along the coast to hide from the Coast Guard. Old Man Jensen told him that they liked these caves because they could see the Coast Guard coming from a ways away, until they were sealed shut in 1932. Ned manages to get the door open and they come across a skeleton chained to the wall, startling both of them.

In the lighthouse, Professor Wall opens a trap door hidden under a pile of rope leading down to a dark room.

Outside on the beach, the water is starting to rise. Nancy and Ned notice that though they are moving upward, the water level is not going down and realize that the tide is coming it. Nancy insists on going on, certain that there is another way into the lighthouse, but Ned convinces her to go back with him. Back at the door, the water reaches their waists and Ned sees that they cannot go back the way the came because the water level is too high. So they continue on.

Nancy and Ned find a metal door and try to get it open with no success.

The professor reaches the other side of the door and hears them calling for help from the other side, but does not open the door right away.

As the water rises, Ned tells Nancy to get up on his shoulders and she finds another cave in the ceiling. Inside this cave is a chest, which she immediately starts to try and open.

After some hesitation, Professor Wall opens the door, saving Ned just in time. Nancy calls them up to the cave, where she shows them the chest which is full of gold coins. As the professor celebrates his newfound wealth, Nancy eyes him suspiciously.

In Carson's office, they have verified that the treasure is real. It is worth about two million dollars, so Jensen will get $200,000 and Professor Wall will get the rest. Though Nancy pretends to have no more suspicions of Professor Wall, he can tell that something is off.

George returns from New York with photocopies of the book and shows Nancy that the map is different from the map the professor showed them. The original map is of a lighthouse in Florida.

With this new information, Nancy rushes off to confront Professor Wall, who is packing up his equipment at the lighthouse. Nancy confronts him about the book and suggests that he planted the treasure. He brushes off this accusation, asking her why he would go through all of the trouble only to have 10% of a treasure he planted go to someone else. She explains that since all income needs to be reported to the government, if one were to get their hands on some money illegally, they would not be able to use it unless they came up with a good laundering scheme. She suggests that 10% going to Jensen would be a small price to pay for all that money going into his bank account, no questions asked.

Professor Wall asks Nancy if anyone knows she came out to the lighthouse and if they know what she came to do. She replies that everyone knows what she came to do, but he doesn't believe her because they would never let her do something so dangerous. Nancy runs away, out of the lighthouse, but does not get far before the professor grabs her. She tells him that he will get life for murder, but he replies that he would already get life for hijacking an airplane. Nancy manages to pull away and runs away, the professor chasing her, as a figure watches from the lighthouse.

Nancy finds herself on the edge of the cliff with no way out as the professor closes in. He tells her how he got two million dollars and parachuted out of an airplane, breaking both legs. He had to mend himself back to health, only to realize that he could not spend any of his money and that he was being watched.

Before he can reach Nancy, police appear behind him and arrest him. Nancy realizes that they were the 'ghosts' in the lighthouse, who had been watching Professor Wall. Carson, Ned and George are there too, making sure that Nancy is alright.

A few days later, Carson, Nancy, George and Ned return to the Drew home after dinner. Ned thanks Carson for taking them out, but Carson says that he owes Ned more than just dinner for saving Nancy. Nancy agrees, kissing Ned on the cheek.

Nancy explains how Professor Wall became a coin dealer to accumulate the 'treasure' for his plan. He placed mail-order ads in European newspapers, buying pieces of eight and dubloons and other coins that would fit the story. He purchased these through a post office box, taking three years to accumulate two million dollar's worth.

Ned is confused as to how Nancy figured all that out and she tells him she simply bought the newspaper and read the professor's confession herself. Everyone laughs and she kisses Ned on the cheek.

## Locations

* River Heights
	+ Drew Home
	+ Lighthouse
	+ Carson Drew's Office

## Quotes

**George Fayne:** "*Ned, why don't you just tell her she turns your brains into a soufflé and be done with it?"*

**Carson Drew** (about **Nancy**): *"The day she started part-time investigative work for my was the beginning of my gray hairs."*

**Nancy Drew:** "*Did you know your lighthouse came with a ghost?"*

**Professor Jack Wall:** "*I'd have demanded my money back otherwise."*

**Ned Nickerson:** "*Nancy, ghosts are the professor's business."*

**Professor Jack Wall:** "*Parapsychology."*

**Nancy Drew:** "*Really?"*

**Professor Jack Wall:** "*Are you interested?"*

**Nancy Drew:** *"Fascinated!"*

**George Fayne:** *"I'd say something now, Ned, or forever hold your peace."*

**Carson Drew**: *"Nancy has a very inquisitive mind; she loves to unravel a mystery".*

**George Fayne** (about **Professor Jack Wall)**: *"I don't believe him, I mean, he's an Adonis!"*

**Nancy Drew:** "*Ned, we're definitely going up, but so is the water."*

**Ned Nickerson:** "*Well, I could tell you why that phenomenon is happening, but you're not gonna like it."*

**Nancy Drew:** *"Oh, the tide's coming in."*

**Ned Nickerson:** "*Mhmm."*

**Nancy Drew:** *"You're right, I don't like it."*

**Nancy Drew:** *"I've never thought of you as particularly dangerous. But you are devious... And smart."*

**Professor Jack Wall:** "*Now what are you talking about?"*

**Nancy Drew:** *"Well, you rewrote history and put your own chapter into that textbook. That was to give credibility for finding us the treasure."*

**Professor Jack Wall:** *"Nancy, we did find the treasure."*

**Nancy Drew:** *"We found* a *treasure. But I think you planted it there."*

**Professor Jack Wall:** *"Oh, I see: I bought this old lighthouse, lugged in two million dollars in gold, just so I could give away a $200,000 reward."*

**Nancy Drew:** *"That's right! Because you wanted to be able to spend the money. All income has to be reported to the government. That means you have to report where all the money came from. Gangsters go through all sorts of trouble to put crooked money into their legitimate bank accounts."*

**Professor Jack Wall:** *"C'mon Nancy, do I look like a gangster?"*

**Nancy Drew:** *"Doesn't mean you couldn't be dishonest. If I were to guess, I'd say you somehow got your hands on two million dollars you couldn't explain."*

**Professor Jack Wall:** *"Explain to whom?"*

**Nancy Drew:** *"The Internal Revenue Service? Your friends? Maybe even the police? Unless you wanted to leave the United States, you had to come up with a story for all your newfound wealth. And that reward would be a small price to pay for putting all that money into your bank account, no questions asked."*

**Professor Jack Wall:** *"Who knows you came out here?"*

**Nancy Drew:** *"Everybody."*

**Professor Jack Wall:** *"They also know why?"*

**Nancy Drew:** *"Of course!"*

**Professor Jack Wall:** *"No. They never would have let you come.*

**Nancy Drew:** *"They'll give you life for murder!"*

**Professor Jack Wall:** *"Unfortunately Nancy, they also give you life for hijacking an airliner."*

**Nancy Drew:** *"Don't do it, it's not worth it!"*

**Professor Jack Wall:** *"I don't want to, Nancy, believe me. I didn't want any of this, but they were watching me. Nancy, I got away with two million dollars, parachuted into a forest, broke both my legs, sat alone in a cave and mended myself back into shape. Then when I came out I couldn't spend a dime. Nothing! They were watching me. I don't know how, but they suspected something. They just couldn't prove it. But I still couldn't spend a dime. It's taken me three years to pull this off. I'm sorry, Nancy. I'm sorry, but you've left me no other choice.*

**Ned Nickerson:** *"At least we cracked the case."*

**George Fayne:** *"*We *sure did. Tell me, Ned, how did the professor convert his two million dollars into gold coins?"*

**Ned Nickerson:** *"Uh, well..."*

**Nancy Drew:** *"He became a coin dealer, right Ned?"*

**Ned Nickerson:** *"Yeah, that's right, a coin dealer."*

**Nancy Drew:** *"He placed mail-order ads in European newspapers all over, buying pieces of eight, doubloons, whatever fit the bill. They were purchased through a post office box. It took him three years to accumulate a trunkful. Right, Ned?"*

**Ned Nickerson:** *"Yeah, that's right. Oh, I give up. How did you figure that one out, Nancy?"*

**Nancy Drew:** *"Elementary, my dear Ned. First I removed a small coin from this old antique to buy the morning paper, and I read the professor's full confession."*