After the events at Fate's Carnival, the Master Detective (who has just escaped from the black ghost) travels back to Ravenhearst Manor, as freeing Emma Ravenhearst's soul has also released the bonds of Charles Dalimar, her murderer. Upon opening the gates of the Manor, Emma's ghost appears to the Detective; though she is grateful for being released, she warns that other spirits are still bound within the walls of the decrepit mansion, and that Charles will soon return.

The Master Detective breaks into the mansion and discovers a secret passage that leads to more sealed doors. The ghost of Rose Somerset, Emma's nursemaid in life, manifests and begs to be freed from Charles's hold. Spurred to help, the sleuth explores Ravenhearst's subterranean passages and Rose's prison in life, eventually discovering the maid's corpse in a coffin hooked up to strange tubing. Upon opening the coffin, Rose is finally able to escape, and gratefully asks the Master Detective for help in finding her young twin daughters, Gwendolyn and Charlotte. The girls' ghosts similarly appear to the sleuth; they both request help and warn that another Dalimar heir is hiding somewhere in the mansion. After finding Gwendolyn and Charlotte's coffin (also connected to odd tubes) and unbinding their spirits, the Detective encounters this heir: Victor Dalimar, Charles's son who, through black magic, has remained alive across the centuries.

Victor attacks and imprisons the sleuth, who quickly escapes and learns that Charles has come back to the mansion. Delving into the deepest part of Ravenhearst reveals the Dalimars' terrible secret--a machine that, with a combination of evil sorcery and technology, uses the souls of the dead to grant Charles and Victor immortality. Freeing Rose, Gwendolyn, and Charlotte has robbed the device of its power, leaving Charles helplessly suspended in a state between life and death. The Master Detective solves a final puzzle and overloads the machine, which causes a massive explosion that seems to destroy the elder Dalimar. Victor escapes using a time machine, warning that he will have his revenge on the sleuth. Undeterred, the Master Detective flees Ravenhearst and watches it burn. Rose, Gwendolyn, and Charlotte join Emma's spirit, and the four walk away from the ruins of their former prison, finally able to rest in peace.

Characters