The Mystery of the Haunted House

Title card for 'The Mystery of the Haunted House'

**The Mystery of the Haunted House** is the first episode of the first season of *The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries*. It premiered on January 30, 1977.

## Synopsis

Joe and Frank Hardy, suspicious of their father's "fishing trip," follow him and become involved in the search for an amnesiac ex-soldier being chased by killers for some secret he knows. They end up at a club called the Haunted House that has mazes, trapdoors, and secret passageways.

## Cast

* Shaun Cassidy as Joe Hardy
* Parker Stevenson as Frank Hardy
* Lisa Eilbacher as Callie Shaw
* Ed Gilbert as Fenton Hardy
* Edith Atwater as Aunt Gertrude
* Roger Davis as Sonny
* Simon Scott as the Commander
* Richard Kiel as the Manager of the Haunted House
* Jim Antonio as Rigby
* John Kerry as Stratton
* George Murdock as Officer Harlen
* Lew Brown as Second Officer
* Bonnie Ebsen as Madge
* Dick Ryal as Head in Crystal Ball
* Reggie Nalder as The Man

## Plot

On a dark street, Frank and Joe are watching their father, Fenton Hardy, leaving the Black Hawk Hotel in Emmetville and getting into his car. He told them that he was on a fishing trip at the lake and they are curious what he is actually doing. Frank is uncomfortable following his father around but Joe points out that there is someone else following him in a car. They follow on their motorcycles.

They arrive at a cemetery. Fenton gets out of the car and the person continues to follow him. Joe does not want to go into the cemetery at night, but Frank convinces him to go in anyway.

Fenton is looking at gravestones with a flashlight until he finds one with the name Will Bronson. He stops and writes something down. Frank and Joe crouch behind a bush and see a man nearby watching Fenton as well. As Fenton turns to leave, Joe and Frank hurry away. They get to the man's car and Joe quickly goes inside and lifts a fingerprint off of a box of cough drops. He and Frank manage to get out of the cemetery without being seen.

Joe wants to warn their father that he is being followed but Frank thinks that perhaps Fenton did not tell them about this case for a reason, that it is an important case they shouldn't mess with. Joe counters that he did not know he was being followed but Frank is not so sure since he was a New York City cop for twenty years. They decide to go home and call their dad at the hotel to tell him he was being followed.

At home, their dad's assistant, Callie, is getting ready to leave for the night. Frank asks her if Fenton said anything about a new important case, but she says that she doesn't know anything. They tell her what they saw and she says that it's none of her business and leaves. Frank calls the hotel, but finds out that Fenton checked out of the hotel an hour earlier.

Fenton is driving down a dark road when he is trapped by two cars. He gets out of his car and tries to get away, but the men from the cars force him back in and have him drive with them.

In an abandoned warehouse, the two men - one of whom is named Rigby - want him to answer some questions. Fenton refuses to tell them since the details of the case, as well as the person who hired him, are confidential details.

At home, Frank and Joe are looking at the fingerprint they lifted from the car. Aunt Gertrude comes down and tells them to go to bed. Outside the house, two men in a car are watching the house.

Once everyone is asleep, they break into the house and look through Fenton's office. Frank and Joe, having heard something, start down the stairs and go into the office. They are attacked by the intruders, who manage to get out of the house.

Frank, in his pajamas chases them on his motorcycle. He loses them and is brought home by the police.

They tell the cops about the break-in and Joe says that a fingerprint he found on the filing cabinet matches the print from the car. Frank knows the license plate of the car and the cops promise to keep a lookout for that car.

The cops leave and Frank is reminded of the notebook that their dad keeps about his cases. They find a note for a meeting at 2am that morning with someone named Sonny at a haunted house in Brookdale. It also mentions the Emmetville Cemetery and the name Bronson.

Frank and Joe decide to go to the meeting with Sonny. Arriving at the haunted house, they note that their dad's car is not in the parking lot. They wander through the haunted house, through secret passages and a mirror maze until they find themselves in a restaurant with a band.

They ask a waitress, Madge, if Sonny is there and when she goes over to a man in the corner, he makes a run for it. Joe and Frank chase him outside and split up to look for him. Sonny attacks Frank, but stops when he finds out he is Fenton's son.

However, when they get back to the parking lot, Sonny sees a white-haired man in a car who he seems to recognize and thinks he has been set up and runs for it. Frank tells Joe to go back into the house to see if their dad shows up and then goes after Sonny.

Back in the warehouse, Fenton tells the men that he knows they're FBI or CIA or something of the sort. They tell him they're part of the Navy and that Sonny was a Navy attaché working out of NATO and was privy to a lot of important secrets. He went missing for 48 and when he returned, he didn't remember who he was, and then escaped from a navy hospital. They think he is beginning to remember because he did not remember the name Bronson before. Fenton agrees to bring Sonny to them.

The two Navy men don't fully trust him however and one of them goes to follow him. The other says he is going to "do something" about the grave, so the whole thing doesn't blow up in their faces.

Fenton radios Aunt Gertrude from his car, who tells him about the burglars and Joe and Frank going to the Haunted House. Fenton tells her he is going back to the Emmetville Cemetery, but not to tell Frank and Joe.

When Fenton doesn't show for the meeting before closing time, Joe leaves the haunted house and goes after Frank and Sonny on his motorcycle.

Sonny returns to the parking lot, but is confronted again by the white-haired man and runs into the house.

Frank and Joe are reunited and head back towards the house.

The white-haired man follows Sonny into the house. The staff close up for the night, turn off the lights, and lock the doors, with Sonny and the white-haired man inside. Once they're gone, the white-haired man turns the lights on again and goes after Sonny, calling him 'Will.' Since Sonny has been working at the Haunted House, he knows his way around and is able to stay out of the white-haired man's sight.

Joe and Frank return to the house, but the door is locked. They find a small open window and slip inside. They and the white-haired man wander around looking for Sonny. All four of them end up in the mirror maze together, but because of the reflections they don't know what is a real person and what is merely a reflection.

The white-haired man sees that Sonny recognizes him and says that that's "too bad." He begins smashing mirrors and Sonny quickly pulls Frank and Joe out and they manage to get away in their car.

Fenton is in the Emmetville Cemetery and is grabbed by someone from behind.

Aunt Gertrude radios Frank and Joe and tells them she spoke to Fenton. She reluctantly tells them he's gone to the cemetery and they decide to go there too.

On the way, Sonny tells them what happened. He went missing at the same time as some important files when missing and when they found him, he didn't know anything - he didn't even know who he was. To avoid the international embarrassment that someone had sold out their allies, the Navy leaked the story that they had found Sonny dead. Sonny is being chased by the one who actually sold them out, but he doesn't know who it is.

Frank asks Sonny to describe the man, but Sonny refuses because if he tells them, the man will be after them too.

They arrive at the cemetery. Frank goes to check it out, telling Joe and Sonny to stay in the car and leave if he isn't back in five minutes. Joe soon follows him, leaving the keys with Sonny so he can leave if they don't come back.

Frank is looking for the Will Bronston gravestone when Joe finds him. Frank sends Joe back to get Sonny and soon after falls into an open grave, where he finds his dad with tape over his mouth. They exchange information and Fenton goes to get help, telling Frank to stay put since he twisted his leg falling down.

Sonny gets out of the car and is confronted by the white-haired man - who he calls 'Commander.' This Commander, who was like a father to Sonny, was the one who sold the secrets. He says it was only because of blackmail and forces Sonny to come with him with his gun.

Joe returns to the car and sees the commander going off with Sonny and goes after them.

Sonny struggles with the commander in the car and gets the gun. The commander escapes and they chase him into the cemetery. The commander falls into the grave with Frank.

In the Hardys living room, the Naval officers Rigby and Stratton tell them that the grave was dug up because they knew Fenton would want to check in out and if it was found empty, the cover story of Will Bronson's death would be blown.

Sonny explains that he couldn't believe that his commander - and father figure - had sold out the secrets and just "cracked," which explained his mental state when he went missing.

The Hardys are thanked by Rigby and Stratton for their help. Callie calls Frank a hero and kisses him on the cheek, to which Joe protests "Hey, what am I, chopped liver over here?" Aunt Gertrude gives him a hug and everyone laughs.

## Locations

* Bayport
	+ Hardy Home
* Brookdale
	+ Haunted House
* Emmetville
	+ Black Hawk Hotel
	+ Emmetville Cemetery

## Quotes

**Frank:** *"Even if he didn't level with us, I don't feel right following my own father."*

**Joe** about the man starting to follow **Fenton**: *"That doesn't seem to bother him."*

**Frank:** *"Callie, he must've said something. Even if it didn't seem important at the time, try to remember."*

**Callie:** *"If it didn't seem important at the time, why would I remember?"*

**Officer Harlen:** *"In the meantime, you fellas, you stay off the streets in your pajamas."*

**Fenton:** *I've been a cop for twenty years, I'm getting pretty good at reading cards. I'd say you're about to show me your badges.*

**Rigby:** *"Badges?"*

**Fenton:** *"CIA. FBI. Military intelligence, I'd say Navy first. The shoes, the haircut, you've got a navy insignia on your lighter. What did I stumble into?"*

**Stratton:** *"A mess."*

**Joe:** *[lost in the haunted house] This is becoming monotonous!*

**Frank:** *And redundant!*

**Frank** to the **commander** when he falls into the grave with him: *"Hi there!"*