A/N: Reviews, comments, and general feedback are always appreciated! Much thanks to everyone who followed and/or favourited :) Obviously, none of these characters are mine and I own nothing of either franchise.
Also, I'm incredibly sorry it took me so long to update - school work is getting pretty heavy, unfortunately, so I'm trying to squeeze in some writing time wherever I can. Thanks to everyone still reading!
[Note: I ended up editing the end of this chapter slightly to fix word choice - don't worry, though, no storyline changes occurred :) ]
With Bess' charm, George's stubbornness, and Nancy's skill in getting people to reveal information, they pieced together the entire story pretty quickly as the boys left to meet with their bosses, the Whites, and get an official report.
Normally there was always at least two, if not three, employees working in the ski booth at a time. It was considered an easy job, for the most part: start the ski lift, stop the ski lift, and make sure beginners don't have any trouble getting on the ski lift. For the less busy slopes, like this one, it wasn't unusual for just one person to man the controls.
Tonight was one of those occasions. And unfortunately, it meant that no one knew what had happened in the booth or why someone had knocked someone out just to stop a ski lift for a few minutes. Nancy and Bess split up to search the area and talk to the skiers, hoping that maybe someone had seen something or noticed something suspicious.
In the meanwhile, George slipped in to the control booth, glancing around to satisfy herself that no one had seen her. She doubted it would matter too much if she was caught - after all, it was perfectly understandable that a passing skier might be curious about what was going on - but if she was found in this kind of situation again, that would be harder to explain. If someone recognized her as the girl who reported the body, questions might start being asked and that would hinder the investigation no end. And while George didn't exactly consider herself a detective, she wouldn't ruin Nancy's case by being clumsy.
George stepped in and carefully shut the door behind her, deep brown eyes surveying the scene. The unconscious worker was gone, along with the medical squad, and the police hadn't arrived yet. There was a chance they wouldn't be called though - after all, the more police hanging around meant more of a chance that reporters would catch on to what was happening. And it wouldn't be good for business to get the vacationers here worried. As far as she knew, the dead body was still pretty much a secret too.
Despite her slim frame, there was barely room to turn around in there. It wasn't a surprise the workers chose to put one person on a shift at a time - it would be way too crowded otherwise. From what George could tell, the worker had been sitting in the chair with his back to the door when he was hit. So how come he didn't notice his attacker come in? She frowned in thought.
The door had squeaked upon opening, and made a slight noise when it closed. There was a chance the victim must have know his attacker, she surmised. If not that, then something was distracting them from the door - a disturbance, maybe, or a loud noise of some kind.
George chewed her lip in frustration. There wasn't much to be found here: nothing that had fallen from the attacker, no sign of a struggle even, except for the turned chair. Someone had come in, someone who the employee had known or expected, and they had hit the worker over the head hard enough to render them unconscious.
She caught sight of Bess and Nancy outside the booth and hurried to join them. Hopefully they had learned something from the employees around here.
AaA
Frank and Joe made their way into the ski lodge, deciding to wait to discuss what had happened until they were alone. They paused briefly outside the door, not sure what to expect from the two brothers that had hired them. But as Joe lifted his hand to knock, Frank suddenly caught his arm and placed a finger on his lip. Trying to look as unsuspicious as possible, which wasn't really that unsuspicious considering he was eavesdropping in public, Frank casually leaned against the door and angled his ear towards the sound of raised voices. Someone was having an argument, and by the sounds of it, it was the two brothers.
Unfortunately, it was too quiet for either Hardy to make out the heated words. Deciding they might as well knock, and maybe catch them off guard, Joe rapped shortly three times on the door. Frank raised his eyebrow as the voices immediately stopped. A few seconds passed in silence, Joe shrugging at Frank, before the older Mr. White opened the door.
"What do you want- Oh, it's you two. Yes, yes, come in, hurry up, now," he ushered them through the door, not looking like a man who'd just been in a fight with someone. The other Mr. White was already seated behind the desk, and his brother joined him while Frank and Joe stood opposite them side by side.
"So have you boys uncovered anything new?" he asked hopefully. "Things just seem to be getting worse and worse... and now one of our own employees was hurt! It'll be disastrous if we don't find anything out soon."
"Of course, sir. We have a list of suspects at the moment, but no conclusive proof that solidly indicates anyone," Frank stated. "We're going to need a list of your employees on the ski slopes that have been affected, both past and present."
"And if there have been any incidents with them, we'd like to know about them too," piped in Joe. It would take a while because the owner and manager didn't personally deal with their employees. But in the interest of containment, they forbade Frank and Joe from going to anyone else while investigating unless it was just to question them normally or unless they had cleared it first. In Joe's opinion, it didn't make total sense but he wasn't about to start an argument with the guy letting him stay at a ski resort for free. Heck, he was being paid to stay at a ski resort.
They got all the necessary information and headed back to the cabins, hoping to meet the girls along the way.
AaA
Nancy glared at nothing in particular. No one had noticed anything. Or seen anything. Or heard anything. There was no evidence of a struggle in the booth, according to George, and it appeared as though the attacker had slipped in, hit him on the head with a blunt object, and then shut the ski lift down and left.
But there was nothing to explain why, no witnesses that could further explain the event, and no discernible reason someone who had been sabotaging machinery would suddenly up and start hitting people on the head - or worse, leave them stranded in the cold winter night to die.
The three girls were making their way dejectedly back to the cabins: there was nothing further they could learn from the ski booth, and their night of skiing was essentially ruined. They made a quick stop at the lodge to return their skiing equipment, and Bess stopped for a moment to speak to another resort stayer.
Nancy caught the name Adam, and realized it was the guy Bess had made a brunch date with earlier. Considering she was dating Joe now, at least based on what she and Frank had decided, she figured that this guy was still interested in Bess. Guys naturally came up to her: with her curvy figure and dimples, Bess Marvin turned heads wherever she went. Poor Adam, Nancy chuckled. Hopefully Bess let him down easy.
She and George continued on their way, giving Bess a chance to talk by herself, and walked together slowly in amiable silence until Bess caught up with them. "Hey," she called out. "I think I just found a date for George for the winter ball!"
Nancy furrowed her brows. Winter ball? What on earth is Bess going on about now?
George just groaned. She knew her cousin had been plotting something evil on the ski lift, and she'd been absolutely right. She hated dancing. The only reason she ever liked attending those formal wear events was for the food. And now Bess had set her up with a guy who was probably just mooning over her cousin anyway. Lovely.
An evil grin split Bess' face at the look on her cousin's face. She wanted Nancy and Frank to get together first and foremost, but she would never pass up the opportunity to see George dance with someone, especially a male someone. As for herself, she and Joe had already decided they would go together, to make it seem natural for Nancy and Frank to go together as well. And Bess already had the perfect outfits picked out for the three of them.
But before Bess could get around to explaining it fully, Frank and Joe ran up to them and fell in with the group. "So we just got back from meeting them," Joe said brightly. "And we got a list of employees around here, which is more than we've had to go on in a while, soo..."
Frank smiled slightly. His brother was right, but it still wasn't that much of a lead. "We're going to go over them tonight in our cabin... do you want to take a look through just to familiarize yourself with the names?" he asked Nancy. It probably wasn't really necessary for her to help out, but he wanted her company for a while and it would make the boring task more fun to do with her. "There's also a list of incidents that we need to go through," he offered.
"I'd love to," Nancy replied without hesitation, smiling widely. "Meanwhile, George, can you get a start on those symbols we found?" she said, turning to her friend.
"On it," George replied with a snap of her fingers.
Bess wrinkled her nose and sighed. "You guys are all gonna be busy sleuthing tonight, aren't you?"
Joe smirked. "Well, seeing as how Nancy's helping out Frank, we don't really need to have three people looking over the information."
"Perfect," Bess smiled happily. They needed some time to plan out what they were going to do at the ball with Frank and Nancy. This was their perfect chance, and there was no way they were going to miss it.
And so the five friends split up into three groups, Bess and Joe hanging out in the girls' cabin, George moving to her bedroom to do some research on her laptop, and Nancy and Frank heading back to Frank's room to go over the new information.
Frank sat down on the floor, taking the stack of papers and splitting it into two piles. Nancy knelt on the ground across from him and the two started going over the lists of names, occupations, and incident reports. Unfortunately, the resort was big: even though the information only covered a fraction of the slopes, it would take a while to review.
The two worked in companionable silence, glancing through names and trying to place them to the faces of everyone they had interviewed or questioned during that time. Nancy stood up to stretch her legs, her jeans hugging her athletic figure and drawing Frank's attention before he checked himself and glanced back down at his papers.
"I need a cup of coffee," she said. "Do you want me to get you anything?"
"I could definitely do with some caffeine right about now," Frank replied gratefully, yawning slightly as he stretched out his arms. They had been working for just under an hour, now, and it was already getting late. He wasn't sure what the others were doing at the moment, but he hoped they were at least doing something productive.
Nancy returned shortly, a cup of coffee clutched tightly in each hand. She frowned, trying to navigate around the papers strewn across the floor. Frank immediately stood to help her when he saw her predicament, and reached forward to take a cup just as Nancy moved to hand it to him.
Their hands collided with a crash and the burning coffee spilled down the front of Frank's sweater. "Ow! Hot, hot, hot!" Frank yelped, the boiling liquid scalding his skin through the fabric.
Nancy gasped and apologized, quickly turning to set the coffee onto the desk and turning back to Frank. "Um..." she started frantically. Hot coffee could do incredible damage to the skin, even through a layer of clothing. "Right. Shirt off. Now." Nancy fought back a nervous giggle: she hadn't pictured her night ending up like this.
Frank complied, and she helped draw his sweater over his head, unbuttoning his shirt quickly and taking that off too as he sat down on the bed. Nancy grabbed the Kleenex box on the desk and began wiping his bare chest, resting her hand on his thigh and leaning forward. His solid chest was proving to be a slight distraction, but Nancy was more concerned with making sure he was all right. His embarrassment barely registered as she continued to dry him off.
Nancy groaned. "I am so, so sorry. Are you all right?" she asked, bending down in front of him and lightly resting her fingertips on his chest, already turning red. She gave the floor a cursory glance and let out a sigh of relief that at the very least, she hadn't ruined the papers too.
Frank winced, but other than the red splotch on his skin, the hot coffee hadn't done any serious damage. He opened his mouth to reply, when Nancy looked up at him with her sapphire blue eyes. Frank paused, speechless, and suddenly the rest of the room disappeared and it was just the two of them. He leaned ever so slightly closer, and Nancy wet her lips involuntarily, tilting her head up to his. He reached out to brush back a strand of her strawberry blonde hair, and ever so slowly-
Suddenly, George burst into the room and they sprang apart, blushing bright red. Why exactly is Frank shirtless? Next time, knock first, George berated herself with an inward shudder. That could have been all kinds of awkward. She caught sight of his sweater, stained and lying on the bed next to him, the smell of coffee permeating the room. "Um, am I interrupting something?" George asked, slightly mortified.
"Yes, I mean, no! No, we were just reviewing these," Nancy said, flustered, with a vague gesture at the mess they had created around the room.
"She spilled coffee on me," Frank volunteered, seeing George's still bemused expression.
"Right... Well, anyway, I just thought you guys should know I found out what type of cipher it is," George replied, deciding not to dwell on what else they may have been doing before she burst in.
Frank moved to his closet and pulled on a clean t-shirt over his head, ruffling a hand through his dark brown hair and wincing slightly at the lingering pain. Nancy picked up on his discomfort and remembered that he needed some ice for his chest. She had gotten... distracted... before George had come in, and had forgotten the standard treatment for minor scalding. "Give me a second, George, I'm just going to grab an ice pack from downstairs."
Nancy returned in a under a minute, handing the ice pack to Frank and letting him treat the affected area on his chest. She apologized heavily again, but he brushed it aside with a laugh. "We always seem to get a bit more clumsy around each other, huh, Nance?"
She laughed as well. "You can say that again. First the glove, now this... Although, a cold hand is nothing compared to a coffee burn," she said remorsefully.
"I'm fine," Frank assured her. "So George, let's hear it. What did you find out?"
"It's actually a pretty common one, although it goes by a few different names: most people call it a pigpen cipher, but it can also be referred to as a masonic cipher, Freemason's cipher, or tic-tac-toe cipher," George explained quickly. "It assigns a symbol to each letter, based on a sequence that utilizes grid spaces and dots."
"And it said?" Nancy prompted.
"Pierre. Does that mean anything to you?" George asked tentatively.
The two sleuths considered it, and finally shrugged. "There are 2 workers named Pierre that I saw, if I recall correctly, but neither are outstanding in any way and they haven't ever had any troubles," Nancy offered.
"So why did we find it in our murder victim's room?" Frank thought out loud. "A clue as to who murdered him? A reference to a friend? And why would it be hidden under his bed in the first place?"
"Well, I also did some more research into the resort and I found out a few interesting things. First of all, this isn't really important, but this place has been around for ages. It started much smaller, as a nature retreat, but it grew hugely into a large resort over the last 15 years or so. That hotel was the first thing built, although it was expanded later. But the actually interesting news is that there are a few trails and runs with the word Pierre in the name: and one of them is right in the area that's been experience sabotage in the weeks before."
Nancy grinned. "Good work, George." That meant that there was a very good chance that Jake Haines, the murdered man, had been related to the sabotage in some way. Now they just needed to find out how exactly.
Frank was about to speak when a yawn overtook him. He checked his watch: almost midnight. They'd been working for a while now and after the day they'd had, it was about time for all of them to get some sleep. Nancy took the cue and helped gather up the employment data spread out across the floor. She and George bid Frank good night and left to their cabin, finding Joe and Bess sprawled out, asleep, on the living room couches.
Nancy smiled to herself as they woke both blondes, sent Joe to his cabin, and got ready for bed. They had been so close to... something... before George had come in. That feeling she got when she was around Frank was getting stronger the more and more time she spent with him. And although they hadn't seen in each other in a while before this case, she was already extremely accustomed to having him around to ask advice from and joke around with, and even spill coffee on. She fell asleep thinking about how amazing he looked without a shirt on.
Frank laid on his bed, the lights off, thinking about that night. He liked Nancy. There was no doubt about that now, and the night's events had only strengthened his belief. He really liked Nancy. Even when they were being clumsy and having accidents around each other, even when they were arguing over a case and what should happen, he found that he wanted to be with her more and more. And by tomorrow, he would see if she felt the same way. Once the timing was right, that is...
AaA
Bess and Joe burst into giggles yet again, shooting back and forth increasingly ridiculous ideas for setting Nancy and Frank up.
"Ooh! We should lock them into a closet and leave them there for a few hours!" Bess exclaimed.
"Or, we should get them to go skiing together again and push them into each other on the slope!" Joe cackled triumphantly.
"Actually, they could probably get seriously hurt doing that," Bess said regretfully.
"Dang. Hmm..." Joe leaned back on the couch, suppressing a yawn. "Maybe we should get them to go that restaurant at the hotel, the fancy one they advertise in the pamphlet."
"Hey, that's an idea!" Bess said excitedly. "They'll already be dressed up for the ball, so after we go there, we'll just drag them along with us!"
The two grinned happily, knowing their plans would soon come to fruition. Although, now that Joe thought about it, Frank didn't even know about the dance yet... and did Nancy and George? He voiced his question to Bess, who considered for a moment, and remembered that she hadn't gotten a chance to fully explain it but they knew what was up. "So we just need to convince Frank..." Joe mused.
"I also set George up with that guy I met earlier, since we're going together," Bess giggled. "I can't wait to see if she likes him. He's pretty good with technology, too, just like George, so I'm hoping they might just hit it off."
"Oh? Not planning on keeping him for yourself?" Joe joked, eyebrows raised.
"Hey, I've got you, right?" Bess replied mischievously. She yawned, and let her head fall back on the couch. As she and Joe continued to talk, she drifted to sleep accidentally. Joe gave a small smile and settled a blanket over her shoulders before falling back on his couch and promptly joining her in sleep. There would be a big day tomorrow, and they'd need a lot of rest to get through with it...