A/N: Reviews, comments, or any thoughts on this are always welcome :)
Nancy sighed with contentment. She was currently wallowing in the best bubble bath she'd had since far too long after a short hike up to their cabins. It was easy enough to find its location, and from there it was just a simple matter of a seven minute walk up the trail. From what Nancy could tell, most of the surrounding cabins were empty at the moment, but she was trying to stop her brain from over-analyzing everything. They were on a vacation, and Nancy intended to give her best effort in trying to avoid a mystery - it was the least she could do, with what Bess and George put up with at times. She did notice that the cabins, six in total, were significantly larger than she'd imagined. Nancy was sure that the three girls would have room to spare sharing one of the cabins.
But right now all she wanted to think about was relaxing. She could definitely get used to this, mystery or not. She didn't want to hole herself up in the bathroom the entire night though, so a few minutes later she made herself get out and towel dry. There wasn't anyone to impress other than Bess and George, but Nancy had a feeling Bess would probably demand to fix her hair if she didn't at least try to run a brush through it. Still enjoying the remaining steam in the bathroom, Nancy combed out her hair, wincing at the occasional prick of pain, and decided not to bother with make up. She would be in bed soon enough anyway. Quickly pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt, she made her way into the living room where a roaring fire was going.
Bess and George were already showered and changed, their hair drying by the fire, and they were arguing over the board game they had in front of them. Nancy smiled inwardly: she had a feeling this would be happening, but she didn't expect them to start arguing less than an hour into their stay. She intervened, then started a new game with them. Nancy had planned a lot for the week and she was excited to start them first things tomorrow morning.
"I'm getting pretty tired, so I think I'll turn in soon," Nancy yawned, an hour and 4 card games later.
"Aww, it's still early. But since you're going to bed now, make sure to wake me up as soon as you do!" said Bess, "I've got a date tomorrow with a cute guy that I have to prepare for."
"Already?" snorted her cousin. "That didn't take long."
"Hmph. Well I guess you're not interested in his attractive brother, then, are you?" countered Bess.
Leaving them to their squabbles, Nancy went upstairs to her bedroom and closed the door, starting the space heater in the hallway to chase away the lingering chill in the air. Laying down and closing her eyes, the soft bed and warm blankets soon lulled her into a deep sleep. Bess and George decided to turn in shortly after as well.
AaA
"Frank, let's get going already!" whined Joe, impatient to get a look at their living quarters during the case. They trudged through a thin layer of snow following the path to the cabins. It was barely a 10 minute walk, but by the time they reached the cabins they could no longer hear the everyday noises from the ski lifts and lodge.
Frank gave a cursory glance over the surroundings. There were six cabins in total, at least that he could see, placed in three groups. Of the six, they all appeared unoccupied except for one on the far right side away from theirs, judging by the footprints in the snow. Although he was curious as to who his neighbours were, he pushed it out of his mind and refused to consider the possibility that a certain red-headed sleuth might be close by. He had to go over the case file undistracted right now.
The resort was owned and managed by two brothers, Paul and Jack White, respectively. According to them, the sabotage was fairly small right now and spread apart in terms of time... over the course of a few weeks, only a few incidents had actually occurred. From his analysis of the cabins, it appeared that while they would be a good target for sabotage at the moment only one other was occupied.
"Hey, Joe!" Frank called. "Get your butt over here or I'm opening these without you!"
"Noooo," cried Joe, "I'm coming, I'm coming." The blond left the kitchen only slightly sadly, making sure to grab a snack first, and made his way to the living room. There, he found his older brother with the case files and documents, picked up from the front desk that morning and currently spread over the coffee table. "Alright. So what do we got?"
Frank frowned, considering. "We know that the sabotage started around 3 weeks ago, when they first began having issues with the ski lift. At first, they thought it was regular wear and tear on the machines - at least until it happened again, on the snow blowers, then again on the snow plows. Most of the vandalism was done outside, except for one case of food poisoning when a few families fell ill after eating the same meal."
"Alright, so maybe someone wants to shut the place down."
"I was considering that, but who? Right now the resort is in great shape so there's no reason the owner would want to shut himself down. There are no competitors looking to buy out the land that I know of yet, and the owner, Mr. White, didn't bring up any offers he'd received."
"A personal grudge, then, some kind of vendetta against the owners."
"Possible. But again, you'd think a guy would know if there were people out there very invested in killing him. Neither brother could provide any personal enemies, although they gave me some info on their leading competition in ski resorts. But I asked, and they haven't received contact from them in awhile."
"We'll put them on our suspect list anyway. Do you have the name of the competitor?"
"Yeah, all of the contact info is here."
"It's odd. I guess our plan of action should be to check out those sites of vandalism and see what gets turned up. Maybe if we know how professional the job is, we can narrow down the potential suspects. We'll start first thing in the morning, then."
"Alright. What are you planning for the rest of the night?" asked Frank.
"Hey, there's plenty to do here," Joe said with a grin, plopping down in front of the TV in the living room. Frank shook his head, smiling slightly. Some things never changed, whether they were at home in Bayport or up in Alberta, Canada. He would spend his evening examining the cabin - if sabotage was happening around the resort, with the customers being the main targets, there was a good chance he and Joe might encounter some problems during their stay here.
AaA
Nancy woke up freezing, despite the blankets draped over her. The curtains were open and light was spilling in through the frosted panels of glass. It was beautiful outside, but Nancy was sure she had turned on the heater before going to bed. It shouldn't have been this cold unless Bess and George had decided to turn it off for some reason. Checking the alarm clock on her bedside table, she realized it was half past six in the morning, early even for her.
Must be because I turned in so early... the flight wore me out, too... Nancy mused, as she changed into some warm clothes for the day. She expected George to be up soon, but chances were Bess would sleep in a bit later. As she made her way into the hallway, she stopped to examine the heater. It still indicated that it was turned on, but it was definitely not making any heat - perhaps it was broken? She made a mental note to bring it up to reception when she got her rental skis later in the morning.
Making her way into the solid oak kitchen, she found a pot of coffee and a note from George saying she was going for a quick hike and not to worry - she wasn't about to do anything too dangerous. George had also noticed the heater and suggested Bess have a go at fixing it.
Bess was a whiz with all things mechanical, in contrast to her more girly nature and love of fashion. Hand her a machine, and she could take it apart, fix it up, and put it back together better than before. It had come in handy on some of the cases they had worked on together in the past.
Looking out the large kitchen window into the heavily forested area, she wondered if her friend had gotten too far for her to catch up yet. Remembering her promise to Bess, though, she made her way to the blonde's bedroom and gently nudged her friend awake. As expected, she was sleeping like the dead.
"Nancy! It's freezing in here!" Bess said through chattering teeth after she got dressed. "You turned the heater on, right?"
"I'm positive. It must have stopped working midway through the night, so George and I were hoping you could take a look at it."
"Yeah, sure... after I have some caffeine in my system," she promised Nancy, yawning widely.
After finishing the coffee in the pot, Bess made her way back to the hallway outside the girls' bedroom and crouched down, manoeuvering the device so the panel on the back faced her. "Can you find me a small screwdriver, Nancy?"
"Sure, I think I saw one in one of the kitchen drawers this morning." Nancy brought the tool to her friend and watched with interest as she got to work. After double-checking the power was totally off and making sure she wouldn't be electrocuted, or end up starting a fire, Bess examined the inner workings with a thoughtful expression. Her brow furrowed, and she gestured at Nancy to look what she called the heating element.
"Right here... this looks kind of suspicious. There's a chance it's just wear and tear, or a faulty machine, but we should really bring it up to the manager. It almost looks intentionally done, but why would anyone do that?"
"Any chance of starting a fire?" asked Nancy, slightly worried.
"No, I think we're safe. Whatever the cause is, the only problem will be a lack of heat. Just to be sure, though, let's make sure no one turns this on again." The girls decided to leave it in the hallway, but unplugged. It was nearing seven thirty already, and when Bess realized the time her eyes widened and she gave a yelp. "Oh no, I've got to start getting ready or I might be late!"
As soon as Bess remembered her big date, which she assured Nancy was really only a small brunch in the caf and a coffee with a respectable looking guy, they made plans to hit the slopes around lunch when it would hopefully be less busy.
In the mean time, Nancy decided to take a leaf out of George's book and explore the local area. She grabbed her parka and put on her hat, scarf, and mittens - if it was this cold in the house, she shuddered to imagine what it would be like outside.
Leaving Bess to shower and primp, she made her way outside and looked around. It was cold, freezing, actually, but it was a gorgeous sight. There was snow everywhere, covering the surface of all the trees and blowing off the roof. Luckily it wasn't going to snow today, at least according to the weather forecast, and Nancy was excited to check out the winter activities in the area. Noticing there were new tracks in the snow near the cabins, she realized that they would be having neighbours after all. Shrugging it off, she followed the tracks made by George to see where her friend had gotten off to.
AaA
"Frank. Frank. Frank. Frank. Fran-"
"Yes, thank you, Joe, I'm up. What is it?" Frank asked grumpily. It was far too early for Joe to be up yet, although the sunlight indicated it was at least six. In fact, Frank was normally the one waking Joe up but he had trouble falling asleep last night pondering the suspect list, if it was even long enough to be called that, for their case.
"Mr. Responsible, sleeping in? Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Joe teased. "I'm just kidding. It's, like, barely dawn and while normally I would be wrapped up in the amazingly soft quilts provided by the resort, as you are doing yourself, I'm hungry."
"So?" asked Frank, confusion written all over his face. "There's a kitchen in the cabin, a fridge stocked full of food, and you can make your way to the caf in the main lodge if you're not in the mood for cooking."
"Oh," said Joe. "I forgot about that."
Seriously? thought Frank. Typical little brother for you.
"Well, since I'm up now, I'll make us something to eat. Next time though, think it through first, okay?" Frank said exasperatedly.
The brothers continued their light-hearted banter across the table during breakfast, when Joe finally brought up the girl they had seen yesterday. The girl they thought they had seen yesterday.
"I know we didn't see their faces, but what other trio of girls has a red-head, a blonde, and a brunette? They look just like them!" exclaimed Joe.
"Look, I'm not saying it wasn't them, but even if it is we need to focus on the case first and foremost. That is what we're being paid for, you know."
"Oh, I get it," Joe said, comprehension dawning on his features. "You just don't want to acknowledge your crush on Nancy."
"Wha-? I don't -" Frank spluttered, choking on a large gulp of coffee. He coughed, and continued more calmly, although Joe could see a blush forming. "I don't have a crush on Nancy. It doesn't matter, anyway. She has Ned. And she's happy with him. Whatever has happened between us in the past were just one-time occurrences, nothing more."
Joe sighed. It was true, although he would never admit this to his brother, that Frank was normally the more calm and rational Hardy brother. But when it came to his feelings, especially his feelings about a certain detective, his brother was either blind, or a willingly ignorant idiot. Joe leaned toward the latter, but he could never be sure with Frank.
"Anyway," Frank continued, "like I was saying we need to focus on the case right now. While you were doing whatever you were doing last night, I was looking over the case file again. I think our best bet would be to grab some skis and head up the slopes - the main damage seems to be focused there."
"Hey, I'm down with that," Joe grinned. "But I'll leave the skis to you. I'm more of a snowboard guy myself."
With that settled, they finished breakfast and made their way to the lodge. It was nearing brunch already and they still needed to pick up their rental equipment. Passing briefly through the caf, they got their gear and headed for the slopes. They were planning on spending a while out there to fully investigate each incident of sabotage. Well, Frank was planning to. Personally, Joe didn't see the harm in getting in a few runs in after they were done, and he would be sure to drag his brother along for the ride. The slopes which had undergone damage were currently still closed for repair, though, with the promise to open as soon as it was safe for customers.
"Frank, do you have a map of the area?" Joe asked.
"No, but I remember where we're going well enough. Why?"
"All of these sabotaged machines are basically side by side. Wouldn't it make more sense to pick and choose slopes far apart to cause damage over a larger area?"
"I've been thinking the same. It doesn't make sense, unless the security in this area is more lax than elsewhere or something," replied Frank. It was odd, but it might help give them a motive for the saboteur.
Determined to get to the bottom of all of it, the brothers began to make their way to the first run on their list.
AaA
Bess had been enjoying a perfectly good brunch date with a perfectly nice (not to mention cute) guy named Adam. Then, Bess caught a glimpse of a familiar face from the corner of her eye and almost choked on her sandwich.
"Are you okay?" asked Adam, concerned. "You can have some of my water if you need it."
"Yeah... I mean, no, thanks," Bess said, distracted. "Look, I'm really sorry but I need to go check something out."
He frowned in confusion. "Right now? Is everything alright? I can call security here if someone's bothering you."
"No, I'm fine. I just thought I saw an old friend of mine. I'm really sorry to cut our date short, but let's make it up later," Bess said, batting her blue eyes at him.
"Okay, well you have my number, so give me a call," he said.
"Sure," she promised, then hurried off hoping it wasn't too late to catch who she thought she had seen. Because if she was right, and Nancy was going to flip if she was, she had just seen Joe Hardy and his brother Frank heading to the rental shop.
AaA
There was plenty of time to kill before Nancy and George had to meet Bess for lunch, so Nancy decided that she may as well put her time to good use. Nancy was 30 minutes into her hike when she caught sight of George Fayne standing at a sign post farther up the trail. Hurrying to catch up, she made her way over and greeted the other girl, learning that George had already made her way down the main path and back. Together, the two continued down a side trail for most of the morning until they caught sight of a smaller trail and decided to follow it instead. Nancy wasn't into sports as much as George, but both loved a good challenge and making their way through a mostly snowed in path in an unfamiliar forest sounded like fun to them.
Only ten minutes later they came to a sudden halt. The trail they had been following had been climbing steadily upwards, but they now faced a drop; a large pile of snow lay at the bottom of it. Deciding to stop for a minute and catch their breath, they were about to turn away when Nancy caught sight of a flash of red in the surrounding forest of white, black, and green. She frowned. That's weird...
"Nance, something wrong?" George asked, noting the serious look on her friend's face.
"Hey, do you see that?" she replied, angling her body so her friend could follower her pointing finger. "Something red, down there in the snow."
"Yeah, it looks like... a boot?" George frowned.
How did someone lose a boot on a small trail in a mostly untouched forest? The main trails were all located on the other side of the lodge so this area had pretty low traffic, according to the pamphlet on the resort. It was at least a 20 minute walk back to the cabins, and nothing else was closer than that. No one was staying in the cabins either, although she had seen some footprints around one of them on her way out that morning...
"Let's investigate," Nancy said, a gleam in her blue eyes.
Making sure that they would be able to get back onto the trail again, and marking the way back with George's hat just in case they got turned around in the forest somehow, the girls made their way down the side of the hill. Up close, Nancy could tell George had been right: the flash of red came from the sole of a boot, sticking out of the snow. There was no way anyone could hike through snowy trails without a boot, which meant that its owner was in all likelihood still attached.
Nancy approached cautiously, making sure that if this was a crime scene, she wasn't disturbing any evidence or covering any footsteps. She gestured to George to keep back, just in case, and grabbed a pine branch nearby to brush off the snow. She had had her suspicions from the moment she confirmed it was a boot, and as she began to remove the snow, her suspicions were confirmed.
Nancy and George had just found a body.