- On the trail of the Frozen Hearts Killer, Nancy and her friends follow a surprising lead from a podcaster at an annual convention for amateur sleuths - where they find themselves unraveling ghostly clues about a homicide from the 1950s.
- On her podcast, Laci McCallister discusses the case she has been investigating: Joe Kasey, an immigrant who worked at a factory in Poughkeepsie was convicted of killing a night watchman in a botched robbery and put to death in the electric chair. Laci believes that Joe was innocent but the only remaining evidence is in a box which ended up in Horseshoe Bay. She has made a deal with "someone with municipal connections" to provide her with the box in exchange for information Laci has unearthed about the Frozen Hearts Killer.
Nancy steals the box of evidence and she, Ace, and George go on a road trip to deliver it to Detective-con an hand it over to Laci. Meanwhile, Nick is working hard to get his youth center up and running, while Bess has begun a job as a temporary caretaker of the archives. Addy Soctomah, the woman who Bess had bailed out of a date with, shows up at the archives, looking for records related to the local Passamaquoddy Indians. They bicker and insult each other as Bess retrieves the records.
As they drive to Detective-con, Nancy can't resist the temptation to open the box, despite warnings from George. She reviews the case file, finding that the night watchman was struck with a hammer from behind and that Joe had confessed, despite efforts of an unnamed coworker to prove him innocent. The trio smell something burning and, worried that it might be the car's electrical system, pull off at an abandoned factory. As they try to figure out the problem with the car and debate the contents of the box, a ghost appears and menaces them. Nancy doesn't have any service on her cell phone and they decide to go into the factory and get higher up in order to get a signal. When they do, the door closes and locks behind them, causing George to fling the box, and its contents, high into the air.
The three of them gather the strewn contents of the box, following it onto an upper floor. They see the murder weapon, a hammer, lying on the floor. The hammer begins levitating and the ghost of Joe Kasey appears, showing them a vision of how he committed the murder. When the ghost rushes at them, Nancy falls off a balcony and is barely rescued by George and Ace.
Reviewing the case files again, Nancy determines that Joe couldn't have committed the murder because he was left handed while the killer must have been right handed. They realize that, for some reason, Joe Kasey does not want them to solve the crime and exonerate him. Trapped in the factory, they call Bess for advice. Bess says that destroying the evidence might appease and dispel the ghost of Joe. Nancy says that they promised to give the contents of the box to Laci. Bess then suggests that, since Laci doesn't know what the box contains, they could substitute any period appropriate items. Nancy, Ace, and George burns the box contents and are released from the factory. Bess gathers some 1950s era items from the archives and has Nick give her a ride to Detective-con to meet up with the others.
At Detective-con, George is surprised to find that Nancy is not a celebrity. Meanwhile, Ace begins acting strangely and speaking in Yiddish, Joe Kasey's native language. They realize that Joe is possessing Ace and that there's still work to do. Walking around Detective-con, George is praised for her "costume" and discovers a booth selling mock ups of her waitress uniform and other merchandise related to her. George discovers that these people are "Fan-fans". Someone has been anonymously publishing stories about how George came back from the dead and now solves supernatural crimes with her "plucky sidekick" Nancy Drew. Nick buys some "Fan fan" merchandise online and discovers that the payment account is linked to someone he knows.
Nancy gives the box to Laci. Laci says that she did a podcast about the killer where she said that he had stopped killing after accidentally freezing off two of his fingers and offered up a psychological profile of him as someone who is very disciplined and detail oriented. She says that afterwards she was contacted by the killer, who praised her for "getting it right". She was eventually able to determine that the killers name was Richard Trott. Nancy says that she already knew that, but Laci says that Trott's real name is Rodrick T Hartt. She says that the killer still sometimes leaves positive reviews for her, including after a previous convention.
Nancy realizes that Hartt might be attending the convention. Laci realizes that the contents of the box are faked. Nancy pleads with Laci to help her draw Hartt out and Laci reluctantly agrees. They hold a public discussion where Nancy gives a disparaging profile of the killer as sloppy. After leaving the convention hall, Nancy is approached by Hartt. Before he can do anything, he is confronted by the Drew Crew. As he's lead away by the police, Hartt tells Nancy that he's "part of something bigger".
Back in Horseshoe Bay, Nick and George confront her sister Ted, the author of the George Fan stories. They agree to let her continue writing and selling merchandise. Bess meets up with Addy at the archives, and after proving that she's not as shallow as Addy initially thought, they make out. At Detective-con, Nancy and Ace are introduced to Laci's grandmother who recognizes a matchbook which Ace had saved from the evidence box. They learn that the grandmother had been the co-worker who tried to prove Joe's innocence, a cause Laci had taken up. The grandmother and Joe had been lovers, but had to keep their relationship secret. The grandmother expresses her gratitude to Joe, at which point the matchbook immolates itself and Joe's ghost walks away, appeased. Ace congratulates Nancy on solving the cases. Nancy, however, worries about Hartt's final words, that he was part of something larger.
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What is the Spanish language plot outline for The Testimony of the Executed Man (2021)?
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