After fixing the fuse box, Bruce took a detour to the library. Predictably, the door was locked. He took a closer look at the keyhole, trying to determine if he could pick the lock without his usual tools.

Wait, what's that?

Bruce turned his head to the right, where he saw the distinct outline of a door against the wall. A hidden door, probably original to the castle. The illusion was probably convincing ninety years ago, but now it was so obvious, there might as well be a sign that read "HIDDEN PASSAGEWAY HERE".

Then again, Bruce supposed, he had seen more than his fair share of secret passageways, in his time.

Bruce ran his fingers along the edges, looking for a catch. Nothing. The door probably opened from the other side. If he could get a flashlight, a magnifying glass and something thin enough to fit in the door crack, he might be able to work it open.

But where did the door lead to?

The most logical guess would be the Queen's Tower, which was relatively close to the elevator. A secret entrance? Or perhaps the only entrance. Bruce hadn't seen any way to access the royal tower from the other floors, a situation he would be sure to rectify soon.

*Click*

Bruce smiled to himself, as he heard a distinct clicking sound from the door. He had found the catch, about an inch off of the floor. The door slowly swung outward, and he slipped inside, closing the door behind himself as he did so.

The hidden passageway was rather dull. Red dirt was scattered on the floor, and the gray walls were bare. Bruce walked forward, taking a second to steady himself against the sharp decline of the path. Given the length of the passage and how far down it went, he wouldn't be surprised if he was under the basement.

The passageway went straight ahead, never veering to the left or right. It was shaped like a large rectangle, and none of the walls had any decorations. Clearly, this passageway was designed for function, not for style. Bruce smirked slightly, as he mentally compared this to the Batcave, the large underground lair from which Batman operated. There was no comparison. The Batcave was far superior.

At the end of the passageway, there was a red door to the left and an open doorway to the right. Bruce entered the doorway, which led to a large room. There were a few alcoves in the walls, closed off by gate, but Bruce didn't pay attention to them.

His attention immediately went to two large suits of armor, standing in front of the left wall. Most of the wall had been carved out, and a large gate stood in its place. The gate was securely locked with a chain, to prevent access to the areas behind it.

Marie Antoinette's Tower. That's gotta be it. What else would be worth so much protection?

Bruce's eyes narrowed. Two of the bars on the left had been sawed through, in a very inefficient matter. Someone must have tried and failed to gain access to the gates. Who would want to enter the royal tower, and why? Was it related to the destruction of the library?

Closer examination revealed that the sawing had been done recently, within the last couple of days. Whoever did this was probably still at the castle, and they'd probably come back, until the job was finished. All Bruce had to do was stake out this area, until they returned. Late night surveillance was one of his specialties.

Bruce examined the gate and the lock. It was quite sturdy, despite its age. Bruce knew he could easily break it with some of his Batman tools. Too bad he had left most of his gadgets back at home, in Gotham.

Breaking open the lock now is a bad idea, Bruce thought. All that would do is help whoever's trying to get in here.

A search of the room revealed nothing else of interest. Perhaps it had once been well-decorated, when guests had been taken here to access the royal tower, but now it was unused and abandoned. Bruce noticed, with some apprehension, that there was some sort of puzzle beyond the locked gate. Clearly, the gate was not the only protective measure to prevent access to the area.

Bruce left the room and went to the red door. It was quite heavy and led to a small room. He quickly identified it as part of the elevator shaft, though it did not take a great detective to figure this out. A large red button labelled "Elevator Emergency Stop" was against the wall.

So, you can access the Queen's Tower from the elevator shaft, or the hidden passageway by the library, Bruce thought. What on Earth was Wickford thinking, when he designed this crazy castle?

A sudden movement above caught Bruce's eye. The elevator weights! They were moving downwards, right towards him! If he didn't escape in the next ten seconds, he'd be squashed flat!

Bruce hit the emergency stop button and rolled to the other side of the small room. He ended up bumping his head against two small steps that led to a metal grate. He noted, with some satisfaction, that the elevator had stopped midway between the top two floors.

Bruce cautiously got up and pushed open the grate. The grate was controlled by an old lever, and it led to the surprisingly large elevator shaft. Bruce could see nothing of interest, besides some iron rungs which led to the ventilation system. Bruce could see they were larger than normal vents, but without getting any closer, he could not tell if they would fit his sizeable bulk.

A noise from above caught Bruce's attention. There was someone in the elevator!

Bruce shrunk down, trying to remain unnoticed. He needn't have worried. The person standing on top of the elevator didn't look down. A flash of reddish-blonde hair quickly told him that it was the Drew girl.

The Drew girl looked up, towards the doorway that led to the top floor. She reached a hand towards it, then walked backwards.

Is she doing what I think she's doing? Bruce wondered.

She was. Nancy Drew, not wanting to wait for the elevator to be fixed, had decided to escape from it, by herself. She took a running jump towards the doorway, easily grabbing the ledge and pulling herself up.

Impressive. With skills like that, she could become the next Bat Girl, Bruce thought.

Bruce quickly decided it was best if he left the elevator shaft. No doubt Nancy Drew would bring the broken elevator to the attention of the grumpy old caretaker. Bruce doubted Mr. Egan would take a look at the elevator shaft immediately. In fact, he doubted Mr. Egan would take a look at the shaft, within the next week. For someone in the service industry, Mr. Egan sure had an aversion to helping clients.

Not wanting to leave anything to chance, though, Bruce made his exit. He wedged the grate firmly in place behind him. He used a bit more force than was necessary, and there was a distinct cracking noise of breaking machinery.

Oops.

Bruce inspected it. The grate wasn't broken, but he had failed to account for the fact that the grate was supposed to be operated by the lever. Someone could probably fix the stuck lever with some oil or WD-40.

Bruce shrugged. Perhaps the broken grate would stop the mysterious saboteur for a while. But though Bruce had done a preliminary inspection of the hidden passageways, he had gathered no clues to the identity of the culprit or their motive.

All he knew was that they wanted to get inside the royal tower. What they wanted from inside the tower, as well as how far they'd go to accomplish this goal, remained quite unknown.

Perhaps the answers lay in the locked library.