The Nancy Drew puzzle adventure games bring her stories to life, putting you in the starring role as you put the evidence together to solve crimes. But they can be tricky, so if you need a hint while playing Midnight in Salem, read on for my complete walkthrough including all puzzle solutions.
Nancy Drew Midnight in Salem complete walkthrough guide
Midnight in Salem is the 33rd game in the series, which followed Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness. Nancy investigates an arson case at a historic house connected to the Salem Witch Trials. Could there be a supernatural element?
Where there is a significant puzzle difference between Master and Amateur Sleuth, I’ve mentioned it below. Usually, it’s just a little trickier, so the solution you’ll find here (for the amateur sleuth) will cover you. Generally, there aren’t many differences as there isn’t a huge number of puzzles.
The judge’s desk
Your father has sent you to Austria to collect a book connected to the Salem Witch Trials, owned by a recently deceased judge. It was a book containing all the names of all the witches wrongly accused during the trials.
You begin by searching Judge Sewall’s effects with Dr Elisabeth Hirst. Once you’ve opened the window in his office, read the note on the table under the window, then pivot right to remove the cloth from the desk and read the note there (noting the word LIGHT is in capitals). Now zoom in on the wood detail, click the lamp, and you’ll hear a click which reveals a secret compartment.
Select the scratched right side of the desk to find a key, look at it closely in your inventory, and click it again in that close-up to open up the key to be the same shape as the keyhole on the desk. You can now use it to open the drawer, complete the simple maze puzzle, and find the book. However, it’s locked behind a cage saying AW.
Elisabeth thinks she has the tools to free the book at her shop, so you should follow her outside. But when you do, someone will sneak in through the window and steal the book! Follow them outside and into the trees. When they escape a second time, pick up the AW Key and the Torn Plane Ticket to Boston.
After a phone call from Deirdre, you head to Boston to team up with her. A friend Mai has been accused of arson after an allegedly haunted house (Hathorne House) burned down in Salem that also has Witch Trial connections. Surely no coincidence.
Arriving in Salem
Once you arrive at the Parry house and go through the introductions, talk to Deirdre and then move through to the lounge and talk to Mei. Take the Rust-B-Gone from the shelves (see below; you can also find an Easter Egg in the plant on the right of the shelves), then examine the waste bin to find a ripped-up note.
Use it in your inventory to start a jigsaw mini-game (you need to rotate some pieces but they slot together easily), which will get you the Letter.
Head upstairs and into the front bedroom and take Teegan’s Photo from on top of the chest of drawers, noting it says ‘coven’ at the bottom.
Head outside, select the car and head toward the judge’s house.
Speak to the ‘witch’ Olivia after she performs a trick that looks strikingly like the one used by the thief in Austria to escape. She’ll say you’ll learn at least one thing about witches if you go on her tour but won’t talk about the smoke trick.
Check your phone to find that Tegan is at the museum and then head into the courthouse across the street (see location above). Once inside, follow the corridor right and click the door at the end (marked below, at the opposite end of the corridor to Alicia’s office) to find the judge has locked himself in his office. You need to get the spare key from Alicia Cole.
Turn around and walk directly down the hall and through the open door to speak with Alicia. She’ll give you a Paperclip, so return to the judge’s door and use the paperclip on the doorknob to start a lock mini-game. Drag each pin upwards (from left to right) in the following order until you hear it click: 4, 3, 5, 1, 2. You can then head inside and speak to the judge.
The judge tells you that the house was about to become public property when it burnt down, and an accelerant was found that suggested it was arson. You also find out that AW stands for the Accused Witches group and that Mei has a history of fire-related crimes. Finally, he asks you for help as someone broke into the evidence room.
The Salem Museum of History
Head back outside and across the square, behind where Olivia is standing, and enter the Museum. Take a look at the books The Salem of Yesterday and Bloodline of the Accused. Now look at the book Witchcraft in the Village that’s on the counter in front of Teegan before speaking to her. She’ll give you a Tour Ticket.
Speak to Teegan once more and she’ll open a secret door behind her which allows you to go up to explore the restricted second floor. Also, ask her about the letter. She says she doesn’t recognize it but seems overly defensive.
You can also find out about pumpkin carving. Once you do, you can use the pumpkin on the counter next to Teegan and do a mini-game in which you carve it. You’ll find 12 candles around town. You can place a carved pumpkin at each candle location. If you do, you’ll get an achievement, but it is not a requirement to complete the game so can equally be ignored.
Walk behind the counter, go through the door, and then up the stairs to the second floor. Move forward and look at the book Salem and the Prohibition that’s on the shelves just to the right of the desk, noticing it also talks about AW. However, this discusses it as Another Way, which was code used by bootleggers.
Examine the notes on the desk here to find that a Reverend Samuel Parris was kicked out of Salem and never apologized for the trials. It also says some of his descendants had changed their name to Parry. Again, surely not a coincidence.
Go back outside to Olivia and you’ll overhear a conversation saying the Accused Witches are trying to lay claim to a share of Hathorne House. Use the Tour Ticket in your inventory and it will turn into a Ravencroft Witch Tours app. You now need to use it wherever you see a raven to learn about the area.
Use the app on the small black raven image by the sinkhole (by the closed road barriers near the courthouse entrance) to mark off the first location, and then head into the cemetery just to the left of the museum.
Completing the Witch Tour
Head left as you come in to get information about Judge Hathorne’s grave, then move back to the main path and go straight ahead to the Little Liberty statue to also mark it off on your app. Just forward and to the right of here, you’ll find the unmarked graves tour location, while moving forward will take you to the spot that gives you the story of Hathorne House (another tour location).
The final two tour locations are inside the museum. The Puritan Statue is right in the middle of the main room, while the Accused Witches Memorial is on the wall on the right. Once you’ve used the app in each location, Deirdre will say she’s exhausted, so it’s time to head back to the house.
Talk to Mei and she’ll also deny knowing anything about the letter. One of them must be lying. Mei tells you the judge blames her for his son going off the rails. She also tells you her sister and Olivia had a falling out and that her sister is taking the work she’s doing very personally.
Talk to Deirdre in the kitchen, and then head into town once more. Walk through the graveyard (past the Hathorne House tour sign) and you’ll get a call from the Hardy Brothers. Keep following the path and Deirdre will message you too, but after that, you can just keep walking forward until you arrive at the house.
When you arrive at the door you’ll be approached by Lauren. Run through all the dialogue options to find she has an alibi for the day of the theft in Austria, and that she can’t find Frances Tuttle’s will, meaning the town will take control of the property in a few days. You’ll then head back, speak to Deirdre, and go to bed.
Day 2: The Johnny Cakes mini-game
Head downstairs to the kitchen in the morning to find the Hardy Brothers have arrived. You now have to complete the Johnny Cakes mini-game, in which you have to make pancakes. On the first worksurface, click either a cup or the appropriately sized spoon and then the ingredient below. Once both are highlighted yellow, click the bow to add them. You’ll be done when you’ve used all of the cups and spoons:
- 1 cup of cornmeal
- 1 cup of flour
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt
It’s the same deal on the next worksurface, except you just need to choose an ingredient and click the pan the right number of times to add the ingredients:
- 1 milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 butter
- 2 vanilla
- 1 nutmeg
If you make a mistake on either section, use the washing-up sponge to start the section again. Finally, you need to cook the pancakes. This is about timing, as you need to click to flip when you see steam, but not too long after so that it burns. The amount of pancakes you need to make is written on the right of the screen and once you’ve made enough without running out of batter (listed on the left), the challenge is over.
However, you can opt to click the cooking station to make more. You’ll find a recipe book opens with a bunch of specialty pancakes listed. Making these allows you to gift them to people later, but it isn’t necessary to complete the game. If you do want to complete them all, make one of each specialty pancake (you only have to do the cooking part) and give them out as follows (note you may have to wait until the next day to give some of them out):
- Frankenstein: Frank Hardy
- Ghost: Joe Hardy
- Kitty Cat: Deirdre
- Pirate: Mei
- Pumpkin: Teegan
- Werewolf: Lauren
- Witch: Olivia
However many you decide to make, after the first batch (which is required), turn around in the kitchen and join everyone for breakfast. It seems the next steps are to collect alibis to clear people of arson, look into the judge’s burglary claims, and work out how this all connects to the book theft in Austria. After breakfast, go and speak to Mei in her usual spot. She’ll explain why she’s suspected of causing the fire but still won’t give you her alibi.
Searching Hathorne House for clues
Head into town and get the key to Hathorne House from Alicia in the courthouse. Head back along the graveyard path to the house and pick up the red Crowbar that’s just to the right of the door outside.
Try to use the key to get in, then use the crowbar, and then use the key again to go inside.
Enter the burnt-out room to your right and look in the mirror to see someone has a painted laurel on the glass.
Now look at the desk and touch the area that was reflected on the mirror with the laurel to find a Letter in a hidden compartment. It’s from Frances Tuttle to Lauren, seemingly offering her the house.
Head into the hallway and take the brand New Jacket at the bottom of the stairs. Inspect the jacket in your inventory, click the inside pocket to find a Ravencroft Witch Tours business card, and then turn it over to find it belongs to Olivia.
Investigate the break-in at the courthouse
Speak to Alicia in the courthouse about the evidence room break-in to find out that only the judge and she had access. It now has a code to enter, that only the judge has. Speak to the judge and he’ll say he’ll need to get it taken care of.
Make sure to also try to get into the evidence area by walking right up to the evidence room door (next to Alicia’s office), as this will get you a new task on your phone (Get permission for further investigation). Now you can call Dad (Carson Drew) on the phone and he’ll square it with the judge and call you back once you get near the judge’s office once more. Speak to the judge again now and, surprise surprise, he’s lost it on a Post-it note.
Look at the books on the top of the cupboard to the right of the door in his office and click the lamp to find the code, 0815. Before you go in, talk to the judge again to find you find a print-off of a list of all the evidence in the evidence room itself. You can now go into the evidence locker, so use the code on the keypad to the right of its door and go inside.
Take the evidence list from the desk next to the computer.
You now need to open the 20 evidence draws and, if you find a discrepancy (an empty draw that hasn’t been checked out on the sheet), ‘use’ the evidence list on the empty draw to mark it missing (see one checked above).
The draws you need are 6, 11, and 18.
Before you leave, select the broken window for a close-up to find there’s no glass on the floor, meaning the escape was made from the inside.
Also, look above the door on the inside of the room to examine the CCTV camera. You now have the evidence you need to speak to the judge once more. It seems the evidence taken was going to prove the AW organization did have a claim on the house. There should also be CCTV footage to look at, but it won’t be available until tomorrow.
Gather alibis for the arson and the book theft
You’ve spoken to Mei, but you need to speak to all of the following in town to put your complete alibi lists together. Note you may already have everything you need from some of them, so just keep talking to people until you run out of alibi options:
- Alicia: In the courthouse
- Damian: Call him (you’ll get his number from Teegan when she gives you her alibi)
- Jason Danforth: Outside the courthouse after you speak to the judge inside on day two (see below)
- Judge Danforth: In the courthouse (after investigating the break-in)
- Lauren: In Luminous Infusions (right of the museum entrance, see above)
- Olivia: In the gift shop on the right in the museum on day two
- Teegan: In the museum
You’ll also find out it was Olivia and Lauren who were with Teegan and Mai when the ‘coven’ photo you found earlier. When you have all the evidence you need you’ll get a call from Teegan, telling you to come to the house quickly.
Hunt for ghosts
Go into the lounge and speak to Teegan, who’ll tell you she knows about the name change from Parris and the AW. Leave the room and you’ll get a call from Frank. At this point, you temporarily get to play as Frank, who is in the cemetery on a ghost hunt.
There are three spots where you’ll find cold spots, which you need to do in the following order (see the gallery below):
- On the main path between the entrance gate and the central Little Liberty statue
- Just left of the Hathorne House signpost
- A few steps away from Joe
When you get to the hotspot, the screen will change. You then need to exactly align the green and red lines. I found it easiest to exactly align the heights first using the right-side knob and then match the amount of waves on the screen with the left. When you get them close enough the two lines will change color to white, and you’ll be asked to move to the next location. Note that on the master level, you need to use the central switch and make sure all four waves on the two frequencies are aligned, so the idea remains the same.
You’ll find a motion sensor in a tree and decide to change tactics. Head into the woods past the Hawthorne House signpost and find the fake items that have been planted around the place. When you arrive you can’t miss the Jack ‘O’ Lantern straight ahead of you.
Look right at the lantern, move forward once, and you’ll find a Fog Machine. Turn around 180 degrees on the spot here to find a Plate where herbs were burnt. Move back to the jack-o-lantern and take one step forward as if heading back to the graveyard. Turn right along the path and look for some Ropes hanging from the trees.
If playing on Master Sleuth difficulty, there is hardly any difference. You’re looking for the same number of times and they look identical. The plate is past the fog machine and to the right, rather than before it, while the rope is past the jack-o-lantern towards the house.
The codes note
Once you’ve spoken to Joe and decided it’s not real ghosts, head back towards town through the graveyard and you’ll find yourself in the museum gift shop. Pick up the Strange Note from the counter and turn it over to find what looks like a graveyard treasure map to the headstone of Abigail Hathorne Woodley.
Head back to the graveyard. Go forward, forward, right, forward. You’ll find the grave of Samuel Sewall on your right here. Make sure to examine the back of the note so that the Hardy Brothers have a conversation about the map. You can now click on the gravestone to find a box buried in the earth here.
Click the box and you’ll start to use the cipher with the other side of the note. For each of the five lines the letter on the inner ring and the symbol on the middle ring with the symbol on the outer ring so that they match the line on the decoder. See the image above for the first match (a long line with three short lines through it on the outside, the O in the middle, and the H on the inner ring).
When aligned, click where it says Select Letters in the bottom-right of the screen, and that box will change to Rotate Cipher. Now you can move the glowing triangle around the edge to match the symbols on the note, clicking when it’s in place (see the image above as I put in the first letter). When a line is done, go back to Select, set it for the next line, and so on until yuo have all five lines of code. This gives you:
- Restock wands
- Grocery shopping
- Inventory – just do it
- Cat maintenance
- Get stock from L
Once done, you’ll find Olivia on her way back from getting her stock from Lauren (the mysterious ‘L’). She admits to setting up the show, but only as a prank to help business, and swears she had nothing to do with the fire. When you get back to the house, pick any dialogue options you choose before calling it a night.
Day 3: Checking out the CCTV
After chatting over breakfast, you decide your priorities should be checking out the CCTV footage and interviewing the witnesses of this alleged ghost. Head into town and then into the courthouse. Speak to the judge (who is with Alicia in his office) to find out that Mei will likely be charged today, and that Lauren will lose the house, but on the plus side, the CCTV footage is ready to watch in the evidence room.
After speaking to your dad, head into Alicia’s office while she’s not there for a snoop around. Open the black folder on her desk to find a Demolition Offer for Hathorne House. Underneath the offer is an Access Map to the Waterworks under the house. This gives you a new task, find a Salem Map. Finally, check out the book by her monitor which details land sale legal details from colonial times.
Head into the evidence room and use the waterworks sheet on the Salem map. Move and twist the sheet and drag it over Hathorne House, showing that’s definitely where this information is about. Now to find out what’s at the marked location.
Now use the USB stick the judge gave you a moment ago on the computer to check out the CCTV footage. This is a mini-game in which each frame you pick for your timeline shoes the suspect. You need to look through the tape and find 16 clips to add to your timeline, with one every minute from minute 0 to 15. These are the cameras and frames you need to add:
- Entrance: 1, 11
- Evidence Room: 8, 9
- Hallway: 2, 7, 10
- Men’s Room: 3, 4, 5, 6
- Outside: 00, 12, 13, 14, 15
You’ll find the red car is parked right outside the courthouse. Talk to Jason (who is leaning against his car as always) and ask him whose car it is. He’ll tell you it belongs to Alicia Cole, who is quickly becoming your number one suspect. He’ll also tell you that, conveniently, Alicia is his alibi for the time of the evidence break-in. He also doesn’t think Mei had anything to do with the crimes, but won’t say anything more.
Interview the ghost witnesses
Head into the cemetery to find the Hardy Brothers. Ask what they ate or drank around the time of the ghost sighting to find out they had matcha tea with Olivia. Head into Olivia’s store by the museum and tell her you think she was poisoned with ergot. She’ll explain the water came from Lauren’s faucet.
Now go to Luminous Infusions and talk to Lauren. She tells you all her ergot was stolen in a recent burglary and that she drank tap water the previous day. Ask her about the demolition notice and she says she had no idea, despite Alicia being her lawyer.
Everything points to the water at Lauren’s house, so head there next. Examine the bush next to Lauren’s home (above) to find a hidden access point to the water supply, and then use the Rust-B-Gone to gain access to it. Click the hatch that opens to find Ergot Rye which is covered in fungus. Lauren will arrive, so you explain the connection to Alicia via the waterworks diagram. Afterward, you’ll get a call from Teegan telling you that Mei has disappeared.
Find clues about Mei’s disappearance
Talk to Teegan when you arrive back at the house. Mei’s past has been exposed in the press, which has led to her running away. Teegan also finally tells you that Jason is the person Mei is protecting. Teegan then admits to accidentally burning down Hathorne House.
Unfortunately, while she knows Mei used to have some hiding places in town, she doesn’t know where they are. When Deirdre leaves, go into the front room and move the cushions on Mei’s favorite chair to find Mai’s Phone. Messages on it are asking Jason to meet her in her hiding place.
Head outside to find Jason waiting. Talk to him, he’ll say he’ll explain everything. And you head off with him in his car. Before you get out of the car, click the glove compartment to find a plane ticket to Vienna! Confront him with the ticket and he’ll admit he was put up to it by Alicia Cole and that he stole the Book of Apologies. He’ll also admit to stealing the AW evidence and he tells you that Mei now has the book.
Finally, he tells you Mei is in the tunnels under Salem that can be accessed via the Little Liberty statue in the cemetery, so you head there with the Hardy Brothers.
Open up a way into the tunnels and find Mei
Head straight out of the cemetery and go to Olivia’s shop. Talk to her and take the Photo for Teegan, and then take the Lantern from the desk. If you look at the photo, it looks as if you can see a young Mei in the background with the other coven members.
Go back to the Little Liberty statue, use the lantern on the statue, and a tunnel will open. Click the foliage to the right of the statue to head into the tunnels. When you arrive it’s pitch black. Turn either left or right on the spot until there’s an option to move forward. You’ll now turn your phone torch on. The clues to how to progress are on your phone, but you can follow these directions to work your way through the maze of tunnels:
- Forward, left, left
- Right, forward, forward
- Left, right, forward
- Right, left, right, forward
After a chat with the Hardy Brothers, you’ll start to play as Frank once more. Again, you need to work your way through the maze but this time you’re guided by the markings left by AW in the woodwork. From your starting point, this is the route you need to follow:
- Left, right, forward
- Forward, forward, right
- Forward, forward
- You’ll now have a chat, which means you’re facing the wrong way, so turn back around and go forward once more
- Left, forward, forward
- Forward, forward, forward
This will take you to a door and you’ll find that Deirdre is stuck on the other side! Look at the note on the shelf to your right to see how to put together the door mechanism, and then click the puzzle pieces to start the mini-game. I’ve marked up the pieces in the picture below. Switch the following to complete the puzzle:
- 1 with 2
- 2 with 3
- 3 with 4
- 4 with 5
- 5 with 6
- 6 with 7
- 7 with 8
Once you’ve made all of those switches, click and hold ‘validate’ and they’ll all come together and you’ll have the Icosahedron. Use it on the door and you’ll help Deirdre get out from under a bookshelf that’s fallen on her. She’s discovered a room under Hathorne House with a strange circular device on the floor.
Solve the pressure plate puzzle
Click the book on the table to pick up the Compendium of Constellations. Open it in your inventory to find that six pages are accessible. To solve this puzzle you need to read the letter from Frances Tuttle and compare the references in each of the letter’s paragraphs to compatible references in the book. This in turn gives yuo the pressure plates you need to press on the floor puzzle.
Note that the word order is important, as you have to press the plates in the same order that the references show up in the letter:
- 1st paragraph: Midwinter (Yule) and Brightest Day (Litha)
- 2nd paragraph: Lion (Leo) and Ox (Taurus)
- 3rd paragraph: Spring (Imbole, 02-02) and Samhain (10-31)
- 4th paragraph: Home (Earth) and Free (Air)
For both the second and fourth paragraphs, you need to use the book to find the symbols required. I’ve marked all the correct buttons on the image above. Once you’ve pressed them all, a scale model of Hathorne House will rise from the center of the puzzle.
Examine the house and then do the following:
- Press the door
- Click the chimney
- Examine the top-right attic window to get a close-up
- Move the table and click the button underneath it
- Examine the roof that has opened up to find and take Frances Tuttle’s Will
Find the Book of Apologies
You’ll now find yourself playing as Nancy once more. After helping Mei onto the bench, remove the ‘premonitions’ poster on the right wall of the room to find a puzzle box.
I can’t print a solution to this puzzle here as the starting positions of the puzzle blocks are different each time you play. However, pay close attention to the shapes on each side of each piece to slowly work out what goes where. Look for the least common pieces (the left and right edges that have triangular and circular grooves) and slide them in first, as they only have one or two places they can go. The areas in the two central columns are then easier to complete.
There is a small difference between Master and Amateur Sleuth for this puzzle but the concept remains identical and, as I can’t print a solution to a randomized puzzle, you’re on your own either way.
Also note you can move the camera to get a better look, as some of the shapes can be obscured by the bad lighting. It’s a little time-consuming, but you can’t fail. Once complete, you’ll find the Book of Apologies in the draw below.
Escaping through the tunnels
After a cutscene with Deirdre and the Hardy Brothers, you’ll be back with Nancy as she tries to escape through the tunnels. Take the following route, but note that while you do need to do this quite quickly you need to take things relatively slowly too, as your movement will be interrupted by occasional dialogue that might throw you off the route. Move, wait to see if there’s dialogue, and then move again:
- Forward, forward, forward
- Forward, forward, left
- Right, left, right
- Right, left, forward, forward
Get out of the basement
At the end, you’ll get to a dark room containing some barrels. After talking to Mei (the dialogue choices don’t matter), talk to her gain to get a Lighter. Turn to the right and use the lighter to light the candles and get a better look at the wooden frame on the wall.
Turn 180 degrees, light the lantern, and take the Old Note plus the Wooden Feather. Also, click the ‘W’ on the barrel to find a loose plank and take the Metal Object from inside the barrel.
Use the old note on the four candles and then look at it again to see that you’ve revealed a diagram. Turn to look at the wall to the left of Mei and use the metal object on the correct brick (see above) to find a second Wooden Feather.
Add the two feathers to the wooden frame, dust the frame down by moving the cursor across it until it is clean (Nancy will say yes once it’s done), and then move the correct feathers to complete the puzzle:
- Extend feather 1 twice
- Extend feather 2 twice
- Extend feather 3 three times
You can now use your AW Key to open the lock that appears on the frame. A door opens, allowing you and Mei to escape. It is a good idea to save here.
Choosing your ending
The next scene finds you all back in the judge’s office. You accuse Alicia of her crimes and walk through the three areas of evidence you’ve uncovered. With the judge convinced of Alicia’s guilt, you then have three dialogue options to choose from. Each will give a different ending:
- Talk about the Book of Apologies and also the Will. This will see Lauren and Teegan share the estate.
- Only talk about the Book of Apologies. This allows Teegan to take the Estate.
- Only talk about the Will, allowing Lauren to take sole ownership.
After this, you can either say Teegan burned the house deliberately or by accident. This will decide whether she gets community service or jail time. After that, speak to everyone back at the house, and congratulations! You’ve completed Nancy Drew Midnight in Salem.
For more Nancy Drew help and information here at Pro Game Guides, check out my Nancy Drew Mystery of the Seven Keys Walkthrough or All Nancy Drew games in order!
