As Aggie came out of her room, she was aghast to see Nancy stretched unconscious on the floor. Aggie knelt down beside her. Nancy's long brown hair was matted to her brow, she was red hot, then where Nancy's hair had fallen away from her neck, Aggie noticed a small red circle. Suddenly the doctor appeared. 'What wrong with Nancy' he said. 'I am afraid Nancy has passed-out' said Aggie 'There is a mark on her neck, I wonder what it is' 'I will have a look' said the doctor and carefully lifted Nancy in his arms carrying the sleuths limp body into her room. Out of sight of Aggie, the doctor took a pair of tweezers and removed the dart from Nancy's neck then told Aggie that he thought Nancy had been stung. 'Nancy must have fainted from the shock of being stung' he said. Aggie found it hard to believe Nancy had passed-out from an insect sting but said nothing.
Nancy was out for several hours before her eyes finally began to flutter open. As her vision slowly cleared, she saw the doctor's face and then Aggie. 'Where am I ' she thought, then remembered, her neck, have I been stung? She lifted her head, but it was pounding and she lay back down. She heard Aggie's voice, full of concern 'Nancy, how are you'. 'From my shoulders down, fine, my heads pounding and my neck, so painful, I must have fainted. Was I stung'? 'It would appear so' said the doctor 'Do you usually suffer from fainting spells, Miss Drew.'
'I do faint a lot' said Nancy – but usually after the bad guys have done something to me she thought to herself.
'I suggest you let Janet give you a thorough examination, Nancy' he said 'to see if you have some form of illness or weakness that causes these spells'.
Nancy agreed that she would let the nurse examine her, it would be a chance to ask her some question's.
The nurse put Nancy through a strenuous series of exercises, then checked her blood pressure, heart rate and pulse, Nancy was in the peak of fitness.
'Unless you have some sort of allergy to the insect that stung you, I cannot think of a reason that you keep passing-out, Miss Drew'.
'Suppose I fainted for some other reason' said Nancy 'suppose I was drugged'.
'You are being a little dramatic aren't you, who would want to drug you'.
'Just before I blacked-out, I noticed one of the blow pipes was missing, someone must have taken it and then could have used a dart tipped with some sort of knock-out drug to make me faint' said Nancy 'As a nurse, you would probably have access to drugs'.
'If I wanted to knock-you out, Miss Drew, I would just knock you on the head, a lot simpler' said Janet. 'I am sure you could, but then you could not blame that on an insect sting, could you' stated Nancy, then continued 'How long has Miss Baker been seeing ghosts'.
'You ask too many questions' said the nurse 'I have examined you, now leave'!
'At least let me speak to her' said Nancy. 'Do what you like, she is delusional anyhow'
Nancy was soon knocking on the bedroom door. 'Come in' came a frail voice.
Nancy walked in and sat down beside the bed. Miss Baker confirmed that the ghostly appearances seemed to be increasing by the night.
'I would like to stay the night in here, if that is OK' said Nancy. 'If you can shed any light on what is happening, I would be so grateful' said Miss Baker.
Nancy explained her plan to Aggie. 'Do you believe in ghosts, Nancy' said Aggie. 'No' said Nancy 'I am convinced that the doctor and Janet are up to something, I also think that I was drugged in some way before I fainted, but I have no proof'. 'Nancy, if they think you are close to discovering something, you could be in danger'! 'Don't worry' said Nancy 'I am used to that'.
Later that night, Nancy settled down in Miss Baker's room, with her bag by her side which contained everything she may need when on a case, from note pad to recorder. Although Nancy intended to stay awake, she began to doze, when suddenly something grabbed her shoulder. It was Miss Baker 'Nancy, look'. Nancy was instantly wide awake, to her amazement she saw a ghostly figure with a blue aura around it appear in the room, the figure of a young woman. Once she had recovered from the initial shock, Nancy stood and approached the figure. As she did, the figure seemed to disappear through the wall.
Nancy opened the door to give chase, with Miss Baker's warning in her ears 'Be careful, Nancy, the castle is full of secret passages and doors'. Nancy chased after the figure which always just seemed to be one step ahead. Then, at the end of the passage, there was a solid wall. Nancy warily approached, but as she came within touching distance, the figure seemed to melt through the wall! It was impossible, some sort of trick, thought Nancy.
The teen sleuth the came to the wall and started moving her hands along it, she was sure she would find some sort of panel. However, it was not a panel in the wall that opened, it was a trap door under Nancy's feet. Nancy screamed but there was nothing she could do. She fell headlong into the darkness!