Upon arriving in Salzburg, the large group finds that their hotel reservations have been canceled. Another Emerson student, Eric Nagy, who had been paralyzed by an accident and uses a wheelchair, is also in on the mission as his thirteen-year-old cousin is one of the children. After an attempted theft, the tour leader, professor Raymond Bagley, tells Nancy of his secret mission: to smuggle ten children aged six to thirteen out of an Iron Curtain country to relatives in England, France, and the United States.

Nancy is on a student tour of Austria with Emerson college.

The original edition cover was by Ruth Sanderson, with six internal illustrations by Paul Frame. Scholastic also released a version of the book, titled as Captive Witness Mystery. It was originally published in 1981 by the Wanderer imprint of Simon & Schuster and ghostwritten by Richard Ballard. Are the ghosts real? Has Salem’s dark history come to life, or is there someone else to blame? Time is short, and Nancy must find the answers before the clock strikes midnight.Captive Witness is the 64th volume in the Nancy Drew Stories series. As Nancy races to uncover the truth behind the arson, she discovers connections to the house’s past with the Salem trials and finds herself drawn into a struggle with supernatural events that she simply can’t explain. The ongoing investigation has turned up little evidence but concerned citizens have accused Mei Parry of arson and are pressuring the police to arrest the secretive teenager.

When Tuttle passed away, the estate became city property and while the mayor was seeking a manager to oversee the estate the home burst into flames. The Hathorne House was originally constructed by Judge John Hathorne, inquisitor of the infamous Salem witch trials and the final home to 102-year-old Frances Tuttle, his last direct descendant.

Nancy Drew unexpectedly finds herself in Salem, Massachusetts investigating an arson on the Hathorne estate.

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