The CW’s Nancy Drew season one episode six opens with Nancy (Kennedy McMann) trying to figure out Lucy and Ryan’s connection. Lucy seems to have stopped talking to her, so she’s at a dead end.

Nancy heads over to Ryan’s house and for some reason the door is open. She lets herself in and after calling out his name, there’s no response. There was a poem Lucy wrote for the time capsule and on the paper, there was a bird. That same bird is on an invitation to a masquerade party on Ryan’s table. That sparks a flashback to her conversation with Karen about Lucy starting to pull away after she went to this underground party.

Over at The Claw, Bess (Maddison Jaizani) is freaking out about her date with Lisbeth. George (Leah Lewis) couldn’t care less because she’s trying to concentrate on inventory. Nick (Tunji Kasim) is also there looking for Nancy; he believes he found out more about Owen Marvin.

Nancy arrives and immediately asks what they know about the Velvet Masque. Nick has no clue and George says it’s a sleazy party for the rich to stake their claim on townies. She warns Nancy to stay away from it.

Nick changes the subject and lets Nancy know the more digging he does, the more he finds out about Owen and the Hudsons. Nancy admits she always thought Tiffany’s quest was the Hudsons, and Nick thinks maybe it started out that way.

Nancy heads over to the marina and confronts Owen (Miles Gaston Villanueva). She asks about his relationship with Ryan Hudson. Were they friends? Acquaintances? Mortal enemies? He states all the above. It’s now his turn to ask questions and he wants to know if these questions have to do with a certain mechanic who’s bad at following people around. She ignores that and asks about the Velvet Masque. He says he’ll talk to her about it after dinner sometime. She offers to talk tonight (knowing the Velvet Masque is that very evening) and he says he’s busy.

Nancy returns home and before she can close the door, Ryan (Riley Smith) is there shutting it and then standing in front of it. Nancy turns around startled and is ready to stab him with her keys. She demands to know what he’s doing there and he confesses, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I think someone is trying to kill me.”

Ryan explains he really needs to talk to her dad because he heard things all night and someone broke into his house. She asks why someone would want to kill him and he admits he owes a lot of people money. His dad cut him off and he’s broke. He has coins he can sell at an underground auction tonight. Nancy says, “Let me guess. At the Velvet Masque?” Ryan tries to deny it. However, he does explain he can’t get to the coins because they’re locked up. Ryan really needs her dad’s help to retrieve them.

Nancy suggests she can get them for him because she’s good at breaking into things. He wants to know what’s in it for her and she replies, “You take me to the Velvet Masque.”

George and Nick go through papers having to do with the marina and boats. George tells Nick he wasn’t smart sending Nancy to talk to Owen.

Ryan’s still at Nancy’s house and she wants to talk to him about Lucy Sable. Upon hearing her name, Ryan looks like he’s seen a ghost – no pun intended. Lucy went to the Velvet Masque a year before she went missing and Nancy assumes he was there as well. Before she can ask anything further the doorbell rings and it’s Nick and George.

They spot Ryan in Nancy’s house and aren’t happy. Nancy talks to them outside, filling them in on Ryan’s story that someone’s trying to kill him. George is fine with that and suggests Nancy should be helping that person and not Ryan. After George reminds her Ryan most likely killed someone (Tiffany), Nancy reveals he might have killed two “someones” – Tiffany and Lucy Sable.

Nick questions what Lucy has to do this and Nancy reluctantly admits she’s being haunted by Lucy Sable. Nick’s upset Nancy didn’t tell him this morning, and George thinks Nancy doesn’t trust them. Nancy confesses she made a deal with Ryan to get her into the party, believing she’ll find clues as to what happened to Lucy 20 years ago. She asks if they trust her and Nick says 100% yes.

Nick and George are back in his truck when she questions his “100%” response. He jokes that he rounded up.

Nick’s looking through papers when he sees the Roman burial coins Ryan’s talking about are mentioned in the shipping manifest. George wonders why they’re so important and suggests they ask a maritime employee who used to date her mom.

George’s friend looks through the shipping manifest and determines it belongs to the Bonnie Scot. He explains it’s not just an old shipping manifest; it’s a record of the dead. The ship sank carrying valuables including the coins.

(We see Nancy sneaking around with said coins in hand.)

George brings up Tiffany keeping insurance checks and thinks maybe the Hudsons made an insurance claim on the coins. If that’s the case, the Hudsons could have had the ship sunk which would mean they killed dozens of people in the process. They wonder why Ryan would sell them, theorizing Ryan must not know the whole story.

Bess nervously waiting for her date, Lisbeth (Katie Findlay), at The Claw and because she’s late, Bess thinks she’s been stood up. Lisbeth finally arrives and Bess starts rambling. Ace (Alex Saxon) serves them drinks and tries to save the date by getting Bess to stop talking. Lisbeth admits she hardly knows anything about her, so Bess suggests she ask her anything. But when Lisbeth asks her what part of town she lives in, Bess just smiles.

Ryan’s waiting for Nancy at her house and when he turns around Lucy is there. Ryan can see her and she floats to him, grabbing his arms and burning him. Nancy rushes in and helps him. Frightened, he asks what that was and Nancy replies, “That was Lucy Sable. You might not remember her, but she definitely remembers you.”

Ryan is convinced it’s her house that’s haunted since this is the second time he’s seen the ghost – and both times were in her home. Nancy doesn’t think so and reminds him Lucy was haunting him last night at his place. Lucy Sable’s haunting them both and wants him to admit he knows her. Ryan confesses when they were teenagers, they went out a couple of times and that was it.

Nancy hands him Lucy’s poem about a prince and thinks he’s the prince mentioned. Nancy knows he took her to the Velvet Masque and asks what happened. He says, “Look, all I know is we had a summer fling and then it ended. She went off the deep end. Someone murdered her. That is it. End of story.”

Nick calls Nancy and asks her not to give Ryan the coins because they are their only shot at taking down whoever killed Tiffany. She tells him he’s too late; she already did. Nancy also explains those coins are also her only shot at finding out what happened to Lucy. She half-heartedly apologizes to him before hanging up.

Nick is in total disbelief. He doesn’t understand why she’s being like this but George reveals as long as she’s known Nancy, she’s always been closed off like this. “She has always had these big walls up. You can be standing right next to her and never get close,” says George.

They try to figure out how to get into the Velvet Masque themselves and Nick thinks maybe a Tandy can help.

Back at The Claw, Lisbeth’s gone when George and Nick return. George asks Bess how the date went and Bess reveals that 30 minutes in Lisbeth received a text saying her niece is in the hospital and left.

Nick asks Ace what terms he and Laura are on and Ace says they’re good right now. Nick’s happy about that because he needs a favor.

Bess is still upset about her date but her mood quickly shifts when George asks if she’d like to get a new dress and go to an exclusive rich person’s party…and maybe even steal something.

Ryan and Nancy arrive at the party and he warns her that if something happens to her, she’s not his responsibility. Nick, George, and Bess also show up but without the requisite masks. In order to avoid attention, they quickly find some.

Nancy splits from Ryan to hunt for a Pegasus, Medusa, and a Kraken from Lucy’s poem. She spots the Kraken in a room full of assorted masks. “I watched Medusa embrace the Kraken and not her husband the king,” says Nancy as she recites part of Lucy’s poem.

Owen finds Nancy and admits he isn’t surprised to see her at the gala. She asks who the Kraken is and he says it’s his Uncle Sebastian. He was that every year until he died. He wonders if it’s true she’s there with Ryan Hudson and she admits he got her in. Nancy needs to know if Owen knows anything about Ryan bringing Lucy Sable to the gala in 1999. He doesn’t because he wasn’t old enough then. No one tells stories from the parties because it’s not allowed.

Owen circles back to Ryan and asks if she knows about a certain set of coins he’s trying to sell. She confirms everyone wants those coins. He explains those coins are proof Ryan’s family double-crossed his family. The Bonnie Scot was a joint venture before it sank and killed 12 people including his Uncle Sebastian. Nancy tells him she doesn’t have the coins and Owen begs her to leave. She says, “I’ll leave as soon as you tell me where I can find a Pegasus.” Apparently, that mask isn’t in the room.

Ryan’s mother, Celia (Teryl Rothery), spots him at the party. She claims she’s been so worried about him and asks where he’s been. He replies, “I’ve been busy. Where were you when we buried my wife?” She explains she was out of town and couldn’t make it.

Celia doesn’t want her son to sell the coins and Ryan informs her his father should have thought about that when he kicked him out of the family; these are now his coins to sell. She believes his father’s just trying to teach him a lesson and he should give her the coins. That’s a solid no from him.

Nick runs into Owen and Nancy together and Owen reminds her to walk down the hallway and it’s the third door on the right. Before walking away and leaving Nick with Nancy, he says, “Remember our agreement.”

“Please don’t tell me you are here to steal the coins,” says Nancy. Nick confirms they are in fact there to do just that. She warns him not to do it because they’ll all get kicked out before she can do what she came there to do. Nick replies, “We wouldn’t be doing this if you’d just tell us why you are chasing a ghost.” She wants him to just trust her and he says, “Then trust me and let me in.”

Nancy promises she’ll reveal what’s going on soon.

Bess and George are trying on masks when Bess brings up Lisbeth. She wonders if she should text her to see how her niece is doing. George replies, “I think she is doing just fine,” after spotting Lisbeth right there at the party. Bess confronts her and Lisbeth doesn’t seem concerned. She claims she’s there for work.

Nancy finds the Pegasus and recalls Lucy’s poem: “The monsters were cruel so I did hide behind the Pegasus’ wing. I watched Medusa embrace the Kraken and not her husband the king.” Nancy begins to see what Lucy saw that night. After hiding, Lucy saw Celia and Sebastian together. Celia told Sebastian she missed him as they kissed. Sebastian then spotted Lucy and ran off. Ryan’s mother also noticed Lucy, grabbed her, and demanded to know what she was doing there. The memory fades and now Nancy is in that room with Celia who asks what she’s doing there.

Celia tells Nancy she shouldn’t be in that room. In fact, she shouldn’t even be at the party at all. (Meaning, it’s only for wealthy people which Nancy definitely isn’t.) Nancy says, “Locals like Lucy Sable?” She reminds Celia that Lucy came to that party with her son 20 years ago. Celia claims not to remember and Nancy replies, “But you would remember a girl that caught you in a compromising position with your husband’s greatest rival, wouldn’t you?”

Celia demands to know what Nancy’s hinting at and Nancy reveals she believes Lucy caught them. One year later Lucy ended up dead and so did Sebastian. “Words have consequences, young lady. Some rumors even kill. I would not take kindly to someone spreading that one.” However, she can imagine Nancy can be very discreet just like her father. Nancy wants to know what that means and Celia replies, “That means it’s time for you to go home.”

The auction starts and Owen finds Nick and suggests they should help each other. Nick stubbornly says, “Nancy and I don’t need your help.”

Bess is apparently not mad at Lisbeth for lying because they begin to make out in the middle of the auction. George screams and Ace suddenly cuts the power outside. Bess tells her she has to go and tries to steal the coins, but it looks like they weren’t counting on the power being turned back on so quickly. Bess is caught while grabbing the coins.

Owen instructs the auctioneer to let Bess go. He claims Bess and her friends are his guests and they’ll leave and never speak a word. They agree and make their exit.

Ryan’s walking down a hallway when he hears whispering. He looks in a room, sees Lucy (from 20 years ago) standing there, and enters.

Nancy steps into a room that has wind coming out of it and sees Ryan kissing ghost Lucy. Nancy briefly gets his attention and then he looks back at ghost Lucy. When he pulls his arm away, she grabs him. Nancy sees his ring light up and says, “It’s the ring!” It falls off his hand and Nancy picks it up. The engraving leads Nancy to believe Lucy and Tiffany are connected. She thinks Lucy’s trying to tell her that her death led to Tiffany’s.

Nancy accuses Ryan of lying about everything. He confesses he was sent away to boarding school when she was murdered, and after Lucy died his father told him he could never talk about her again.

Ryan’s in tears when he admits he really liked Lucy. He brought her to this party to try and impress her. He knows something bad happened that night but Lucy would not tell him. And then his parents told him he wasn’t allowed to talk to her again. They claimed they handled it and Nancy questions how they did that. Ryan replies, “The same way they handled everything back then. Carson Drew.”

Nancy makes it back home and is visibly upset. She doesn’t have time to think about everything she learned as a video chat comes in from the guy she gave Tiffany’s blood to. He informs her the blood sample will still take time. But that’s not all Nancy gave him; she gave him Lucy’s crown as well. The hair stuck in it matches two different DNAs. One is Lucy’s, of course. The other belongs to a different female. She asks if that second person is Celia.

The gang, minus Nancy, gather at The Claw to discuss the night’s events. Nick takes the blame for everything. Nancy shows up and George isn’t happy. She says things didn’t go so well for them while Nancy was too busy ghost hunting. Nancy says, “I wouldn’t say that,” and then produces the real coins. George isn’t impressed; she knows it took them getting kicked out for Nancy to help them.

Nancy tries to tell Nick she found out Lucy and Tiffany both learned things that could have gotten them killed. That’s as far as she gets because Owen shows up.

Nancy goes outside to talk to him and he reveals he was the winning bidder on the coins. He paid $1.5 million for what turned out to be regular quarters and pennies. He has a contact at the FBI and Nancy cuts him off by asking for their number. When Owen looks at her questioningly, she says it’s in case she finds them.

Lisbeth shows up with pizza on the patio. She confesses she really likes Bess and wants to start over with her. Bess agrees.

Owen tries to ask Nancy out on a date but she declines, confirming she’s not available. Nick watches all this from the window but can’t hear what they’re saying.

Of course, the episode can’t end on a normal note. As it finishes up, the coins that are still on the table suddenly stand up on their sides all by themselves.

• Season 1 Episode 1 Recap
• Season 1 Episode 2 “The Secret of the Old Morgue” Recap
• Season 1 Episode 3 “The Curse of the Dark Storm” Recap
• Season 1 Episode 4 “The Haunted Ring” Recap
• Season 1 Episode 5 “The Case of the Wayward Spirit” Recap