A/N: Thanks to the astounding patience of all my followers! To everyone reading, whether they just started or have been with me from the start, thanks so much :) I apologize for the long wait - exams coming up and all - so here's an extra long chapter just for you ;)

It was right before noon, so the lunch-time rush hadn't started to trickle in just yet, and the four friends were taking a quick break after having done a quick, but thorough investigation into their mystery man with all the resort employees that dealt with guests. Unfortunately, no one had recognized the description - at least not definitively. As it turned out, there were a number of old, large, brown-haired men staying at the resort. Mr. White, the manager, fit the description himself, as did his brother.

For the moment, they would just have to keep an eye out themselves and wait for a report from security in the hotel. Nancy wished they had more to go on, but other than what Mr. White had told Frank and Joe, they only had three things to go on from first-hand experience: the murdered man, Jake Haines; the knocked out ski lift operator; and the wolverine set loose in their cabin in the middle of the night.

"Ach-OO!" Joe sneezed violently, breaking her silent musings.

"Ergh," Frank groaned, "people eat on this table, bro."

"Yeah, yeah," he said with an indignant sniffle, grumbling, "There is no way I am coming down with a cold." He drew his black sweater closer around his shoulders, rubbing his hands together for warmth as Frank, Nancy, and George sat around the cafeteria table with him.

George smirked. "That's what you get for running off into a forest in the middle of the night, during a Canadian winter, without a coat on. You didn't even have gloves - I'm actually shocked you don't even have frost bite."

Frank chuckled. "If you think last night's weather was bad, you're not gonna like what's coming up. I checked this morning, and while the skies are staying clear for tonight they're predicting a bad storm tomorrow."

"By the way, I think it's probably a good idea if you carry this around," Nancy said, reaching into her purse to draw out a copy of a key for the girls' cabin. If anything bad happens and you need to get in, or even if one of us loses our copy, it'd be a good idea for one of you to have a spare."

She dropped the copy into Frank's outstretched hand, having asked for the spare from the front desk only that morning. Frank grinned and tucked it into his pocket. "That's a good idea. But are you sure the back door was locked when you went to bed last night?" he asked cautiously.

"I'm positive," George piped up. "I checked myself before going to bed and it was locked tight."

Bess breezed in at that moment, carrying three matching bags and wearing a devilish grin on her face as she thrust one each into Nancy and George's face. "Guess what I got?" she sang gaily.

Nancy shuddered, eyeing the cursive brand on the bag warily. "Bess, please tell me you didn't go overboard."

George stared at her bag with an apprehensive expression, wanting to peek inside but fearing her cousin's taste for the more outlandish sides of fashion. "Why did you even get these-" she waved vaguely at the bags "-for us, too? I thought this was a personal shopping trip."

The blonde smirked, and announced her big news happily. "There's a ball tonight. And I know neither of you packed anything decent to wear-"

"Hey," Nancy protested in mock anger. "I take offense to that."

Bess shrugged, not taking back her comment though giving a pointed glance at George's ratty sweatshirt and Nancy's worn out jeans.

"And what exactly do you mean by a ball, anyway? Look around, dear cousin - this is a ski resort. People come here for the slopes and the wilderness. What kind of dancers are you expecting to show up?"

"I had a feeling you would say that," she muttered under her breath. "Hey, don't take them out here!" she admonished George. "They're a surprise for tonight. And whatever you might say, this ball has been a tradition at the hotel for a while now - I was talking to some of the sales people in the shops this morning."

"Wait," Frank interjected. "While I won't deny that I am not exactly inclined towards dancing, we're still in the middle of a case. We need to find the guy from last night, before he gets up to more trouble."

"You said it yourself," Joe explained with a broad gesture of his hand. "It's the perfect opportunity - especially since it's getting colder with that storm coming. People won't be out skiing or vandalizing the resort's equipment, they'll be at the ball. With any luck, our guy will be there too."

Nancy shrugged, and glanced at George. "Well, I guess I don't have a problem with going. You?"

George still looked wary, but agreed. "If all of you guys are going, I might as well tag along. Although maybe we should find out what's in these bags before we actually agree," she added hastily. Knowing her cousin, she had probably gotten the fanciest ball gowns she could find, and George didn't do ball gowns.

"Well, we still have a couple of hours until we even need to start getting ready for the ball," Nancy said. "Let's put our time to good use."

"Woah!" Bess exclaimed. "I know all of you love your mysteries, and even I will admit we've got a tough one right now, but don't think you can just change the subject so easily," she reprimanded Nancy.

Nancy sighed half-heartedly and resigned herself to a bit more of Bess' enthusiasm. She hadn't really expected Bess to just let it drop anyway.

"This is a ball," Bess informed them flatly. "You can't go without a date."

Nancy and George glanced at each other in horror. "Oh, don't worry Nancy, you're safe. I only managed to set George up with someone," Bess explained.

"What?!" the girl in question exclaimed. She groaned, knowing that her and Bess' idea of a good date didn't always coincide. Actually, they almost never did.

"Don't worry, I've met him and talked to him and he's a great guy, just not my kind of guy. He'd be perfect for you. Cross my heart, I swear," she said, holding her hands up in defense.

Nancy smiled to herself, happy that Bess seemed to have forgotten her. All the previous dates Bess had ever set her up on had failed miserably, and she wasn't eager to go through one of them again when Frank and Joe were around.

"So since George will be going with Adam, Joe and I can go together. Which means you and Frank will just have to be each other's dates," Bess beamed.

Nancy sputtered, then closed her mouth and shot a nervous look at Frank, her pulse increasing just a touch. Was he okay with this too, or...?

Frank shot her a what-can-you-do look and grinned, saying, "I guess it's settled. Nancy Drew, would you do the honour of accompanying me to the ball tonight?"

She smiled and let out her breath in relief. "Mr. Hardy, I'd be honoured," she replied in the same playful tone of voice. "And now, if I may speak...?" she glanced questioningly at Bess, then continued after receiving a regal nod of the head from the blonde. "Back to the case, then..."

Together, they put together what they already knew about the entire case:

"First," Frank started, "random acts of sabotage have been found all around the ski resort, mainly the slopes, that caused a minor inconvenience to the manager, Mr. White."

"Right, but that stuff was all pretty harmless. The next thing we found was a body, that may even be totally unrelated to the entire vandalism," Nancy continued.

"But our murdered victim, Mr. Jake Haines, is a mystery all to himself. And Nancy found that code, which George discovered means 'Pierre' in cipher," Joe added.

"And then we have the knocked out employer, the wolverine in our cabin, not to mention that weird thing with the room heater, and the fat, middle-aged man with brown hair that was caught fleeing the scene," George finished.

"So what does it mean?" Bess asked, looking hopefully at the detectives for an explanation. "Is there a motive? An identified suspect?"

Frank grimaced. "Neither. Not that we know of yet, unless the Whites are holding back on something. Those employee lists we got didn't help too much; no incidents were reported as being too serious so it seems like no one's got a grudge against this place."

"There was that fight we overheard in their office..."

Nancy frowned in consternation. "If we could just find out what that was about, maybe check out their offices, we may be able to narrow the field down somewhat - maybe it's simpler than we think."

"So we have two places to investigate," Frank summarized.

"Two?" George asked in confusion.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Their offices, and the woods in the area we lost that man at last night." Having nothing more to contribute towards the current facts, the five split up, Nancy volunteering to head into the woods again and Frank and Joe snooping around in the lodge. Bess and George planned on doing what they had come there for in the first place: skiing, and with that settled, they each began to make their way to their respective destinations.

AaA

"Sooo..." Joe started slyly, walking away from the table with Frank.

Frank raised his eyebrows, letting the word hang in the air between them.

"Fine, then, I'll say it since you're making me. You're taking Nancy to the ball!" he grinned in glee, doing a little happy dance and silently congratulating himself.

Frank groaned. He should have known Joe would be more interested in that small detail than their plans of investigation for the day. "It's no big deal," he replied, a small voice in the back of his mind nudging at his conscience. Cut it out, he told himself firmly. She's only going with me because Bess wanted her to, nothing more.

Joe snorted. "Is that what you actually think?"

"That's what I know," Frank retorted.

Joe sighed dramatically. "Dense as you always are about women, I'm not surprised you still don't get it," he said shaking his head. "I know I was born with all the good looks and charm in the family, but I'd hoped at least some of it had rubbed off on you. Oh, woe is I!"

"Look, get to the point, Joe," Frank said in exasperation, cutting him off before he continued what would probably be a long rant on how sad it was that Frank wasn't good around girls.

Okay, so maybe it was true that he blushed and stuttered more than usual around females. And it was true that in the past he and Nancy had argued over their various cases regarding the best course of action. But in the end, they made the perfect partners, as good as Frank worked with his own brother - meaning that, despite what Joe though, he was perfectly capable of interacting with females and there equally good at understanding them.

Joe pouted briefly, but immediately snapped back into his spiel. "Here's the deal. I'm gonna spell it out, because I have a feeling that despite your experience with mysteries, which is basically your job here, actually, so I have no clue how you missed this, but-"

"Joe!"

"Right. My bad. Point I'm trying to make: Nancy likes you. And it's obvious to all of us that you like her. So ask her out already!" Joe exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down," Frank hissed. "She thinks of me as a friend, nothing more." Although when she spilled coffee on you she was leaning awfully close... The small voice in his head reminded him. "I'm not going to ruin our friendship by trying to push past her boundaries." Frank stated firmly.

"You won't, though!" Joe groaned. "I promise - swear on our bond as brothers" - Frank snorted before Joe rushed on - "I will never bring this up again, ever, if you'll just give it a chance."

Frank regarded his younger brother, his normally playful blue eyes serious as ever. "Okay, then... I promise, I'll give it a shot. Now can we get our daily quota of breaking-and-entering out of the way?" he asked, stepping into the hall outside the office with his brother.

Joe's eyes gleamed. "You got it. And trust me - you won't regret this."

AaA

"Nancy, we need to talk," Bess stated gravely.

"What's wrong?" she asked in alarm. It wasn't like her friend to act so serious... had something happened?

"Yeah, what's up, Bess?" George inquired curiously. The three girls were making their way to the cabin to put on some heavier winter gear, so that they wouldn't be outside with just their coats.

Bess stuffed her hands into her pockets, the cold wind biting at her face. She brought her shoulders up in an attempt to protect herself against the harsh cold, but to no avail. Giving up on her quest for warmth, she sighed and decided to start right away. "The ball's coming up tonight..." she began.

"Yes?" Nancy prompted, still curious but no longer concerned that something actually dangerous was happening to Bess. "What about it?"

Bess scrutinized the red-head from the corner of her eyes. What was the best way to approach this? She decided to be blunt - it was how Nancy dealt with her suspects when trying to get them to confess most of the time, and it always worked for her. "Frank asked you to go. And you said yes," she prompted her.

"Still not seeing where you're going with this, Bess..." Nancy replied, breath frosting up in the air.

"You guys are going to a ball together! A ball! Tonight!" she exclaimed in exasperation. "Nancy, you've been crushing on him for ages now, and even when you were with Ned it was obvious the two of you had major chemistry together."

Nancy snorted. "We're friends. And occasionally partners, when it comes to mysteries."

Bess shook her head, blonde hair flying and eyes fierce. "That's not true, and you know it."

George chimed in to agree with her cousin. "Sorry, Nance, but we've both noticed it."

Giving her 'friend' a quick glare, Nancy turned back to Bess. "Even if I did like him like that - which I'm not saying I do - what do you suggest I do? Run up to him and fling my arms around his neck?" Crap... she thought as Bess' face took on a delighted expression. I probably shouldn't have said that myself. It wasn't like she hadn't thought of him that way before, though. And this trip seemed to be shoving them together again and again. Maybe Bess was right and now was the perfect time to act on her feelings.

"Give it a chance," Bess said in persuasion. "It'll work out, I'm positive. And if it doesn't, he'll go back to Bayport and you'll go back to River Heights and that'll that. But it won't come to that, because he's just as much in love with you as you are with him."

In love? Nancy thought in wonder. Am I in love with Frank Hardy?

The three girls stepped into the cabin, letting the warmth envelope their bodies before grabbing their necessary clothing items. Bess and George left before Nancy, letting her grab a few more layers for the hike ahead of her.

"Just don't forget what we said," Bess called out from the door. "We're not wrong, you know."

Nancy tied her hair up in a ponytail and threw on another sweater, pulling her parka on over it and grabbing her sturdy winter boots. At the very least, this trip outdoors would give her time to think about this even if she came up with nothing.

And so, she made her way back through the woods, tracing her and Frank's steps from last night and playing back all her previous cases with him, every time they'd been alone together or he had been concerned for her safety. Before she realized it, she had trudged her way through the thick snow all the way up to the creek, now completely frozen over, that had seemed so much different in the silver moonlight than the white sunlight.

Nancy picked her way along the ice in the opposite direction Joe had gone, as he'd recounted to them that morning, and continued down the creek looking for tracks or signs of movement. Before long, she began to find broken branches and fallen pine needles, marking a faint but visible trail through the forest.

She picked up the pace with excitement - this might be the break they were looking for: if their suspect was actually hiding out somewhere in the woods (though she couldn't help but doubt the possibility of this during the winter season) they would be so much closer to finding who had let the wolverine into their cabin.

She snorted to herself, a puff of frost in the winter air. If he thought that would scare us off, he has another think coming. They had all faced much worse than a wild animal on a case before, and while it wasn't a pleasant experience to go through, she was more determined than ever to find the mystery man.

Nancy stopped short in her tracks. The steadily sloping path had suddenly stopped, the snow slanting downwards to a small clearing filled with a quaint log cabin, the signs of human activity still fresh around the door.

She had found the hideout.

AaA

Nancy hurried eagerly back to her cabin, pushing her coat sleeve back to glance at her watch.

It was almost time to meet up with Bess and George, the former insisting they spend a good long time getting ready before the ball, and she wanted to let them know what she had found out.

She hurried up to the cabin and unlocked it as swiftly as she could, despite her numb fingers. It is cold,she thought to herself.

Nancy stepped through the doorway with relief, the warmth immediately permeating through her body. She brushed the light dusting of snow off her hair and stomped the snow off her boots before pulling them off of slightly sore feet. She wandered into the living room and plopped down onto the couch, the heat from the fire immediately removing any desire to find Bess or George again.

She gave herself a few moments, shaking out her ponytail and wiggling her toes in front of the fire before hopping up to find Bess and George upstairs.

Nancy heard the two before she saw them - George's yelps of pain were audible even from the hallway. Bracing herself for anything, Nancy knocked and pushed open the door, gasping at the sight before her.

"Is it bad?" George asked with a horrified expression seeing Nancy's reaction. "It's horrible isn't it. I warned Bess this would happen."

On the contrary, however, George looked absolutely stunning in a strapless chiffon gown that reached down to the floor, made from a gorgeous forest green that set off her hair and eyes perfectly. George blushed at Nancy's speechless face, and fidgeted uncomfortably as Bess darted around her to pin her hair up properly.

"You look fantastic," Nancy said sincerely, "Bess has outdone herself once again."

Bess sighed. "I told you guys so. But you never trust me, do you?"

Nancy chuckled. "It's not exactly that we don't think we won't look great in whatever you choose out... It's more like the comfort level we expect to have for the night."

"Yeah, none," George grumbled adjusting her top with a resigned pout.

Bess laughed. "Well, it is just as much for me as it is for you - I love playing dress-up on you guys."

Nancy opened her eyes wider - in all her excitement about the cabin, she'd completely forgotten about her own bag, tossed hastily onto her bed before she'd left. She turned to her bedroom, but Bess nodded at the bag in question on her bed. "Looking for that?"

Not sure what to expect after seeing George's gown, Nancy carefully drew the dress out to examine it.

"Well go try it on," Bess called out irritatedly, eager to see the full effect on Nancy herself.

She smiled and ducked into the bathroom, quickly taking off her clothes to slip the gown on. She gaped at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, looking the exact part of a princess going to the ball. A slow smile curved up on Nancy's face - she couldn't wait to see what Frank thought of it. Especially the plunging neckline and fitted bodice. Bess knocked rapidly on the door, bursting in after only a momentary pause. Nancy glanced once more at herself in the mirror and grinned. She was going to enjoy this.

AaA

Frank grunted, shifting aside in the supply closet in the hall. Joe was just around the corner, about to create the diversion, and as soon as he lured Mr. White out of the office Frank would have maybe 5 minutes to examine it. Not much, in other words.

"HELLP!" Joe's shout rang out through the surrounding area. A loud crash followed his words shortly and the door to the office banged open shortly after, Mr. White storming determinedly out the door in the direction of the noise.

Frank darted out and slipped through the closing door. He made a beeline for the computer and grinned upon finding the password list taped to the underside of the desk. Some things were just too easy. There wasn't much on the computer: a few files, some documents for monetary transfers... He opened up the email application.

Frank furrowed his brows. One sender was persistently sending him emails, with subject lines ranging from expletives to threats of death. Frank's eyes widened. This was exactly what they were looking for: motive. His eyes drifted up to the sender, which was an unrecognized email address. He scribbled it down; maybe George could track its origin.

Shooting a glance at the door, he decided not to push his luck and quickly jumped out of the room, closing the door behind him. He ran to meet up with Joe, who was supposed to be waiting for him in the main lobby.

Showing him the hastily scribbled address, they decided to wait for tomorrow to search the brother White's office. As manager of the resort, there was a chance he also had something of interest on his computer, but there was no way they would be able to investigate it now so close to sneaking into the owner's office.

"Why don't you think they showed us these?" Joe wondered suspiciously, back in his cabin with Frank. The two were taking turns showering and getting dressed in preparation for the ball.

"It's weird, huh," Frank grimaced, towelling dry his wet hair. "Speaking of weird, how did you get these?" He gestured towards the two suits, complete with black button-up shirts and blue ties.

Joe shrugged, grinning mysteriously. "I just had a feeling they would come in handy, so I picked them up."

He had gotten them earlier that day, actually, in preparation for the ball that night. Luckily, he had remembered his brother's size right and they fit nicely.

Joe hopped into the shower and quickly ran through his usual routine before pulling on the formal wear for the night. Heading downstairs, he found Frank lounging around in the living room, looking snappy in the suit with his tousled dark brown hair.

"Yo, you ready?" he called out.

Frank snorted. "Only for the past 45 minutes. Geeze, bro, you take longer than a girl to get ready sometimes."

Joe shrugged, sweeping a hand through his blow-dried hair magnificently. "It takes time to look as good as this," he gestured to the length of his body. "Now come on. It's just about time for us to meet the girls."

They pulled on their coats and headed out, Frank slipping something into his pocket before they left. They had agreed to meet at the girls' cabin, then walk over together.

Frank strolled out, his brother just behind him, and walked up to the cabin door. Knocking loudly, they waited for close to 20 seconds when the door suddenly opened.

Standing before them was a beautiful girl, in a deep green gown that stretched to the floor. Her makeup was light, barely noticeable, but it accented all her features perfectly. The two brothers glanced at each other with raised brows.

"Um, guys? Are you planning on coming in, or are you just gonna stand around all night?" George prompted.

"George?!" Joe said incredulously, Frank equally surprised. She had done a complete 180 from the last time they had seen her - in fact, if it wasn't for her voice, he might not have even realized it was her.

She snorted, ruining her ladylike image and both brothers grinned. That was George all right. They stepped in, complimenting her dress and hair. "Sorry, but the other two might be a few minutes yet. Bess is still working Nan's hair, but they should be done soon," George shrugged, following them into the living room and plopping on one of the couches.

She was curious about their investigation, so they filled her in on their afternoon. By the time she was caught up, Nancy and Bess had finished up.

Letting Bess put the finishing touches on her own makeup, Nancy walked down the staircase cautiously, hand on the banner to support herself. While the skirt of her dress hindered her movement somewhat, the heels underneath threatened to topple her over completely. Bess' choice, once again. The noise of her descent had attracted Frank, who walked out of the living room to greet her.

His eyes widened. George had looked completely different in her ensemble, which was very pretty, but Nancy looked... gorgeous. And stunning. And amazing, and fantastic, and he was pretty sure he could rattle off adjectives all night and none of them would describe her at this moment.

Her dress was made of a soft, almost translucent fabric that gleamed like silver, the fitted bodice ending in a full skirt. The neckline plunged recklessly low, and the straps hung loosely to the sides of her shoulders, accentuating her slim and athletic figure in all the right places. She looked beautiful.

Nancy grinned at his gobsmacked expression, wondering briefly if that was what she looked like right now, when she missed the next step and her foot slipped out beneath her. Nancy yelped as she felt gravity take hold, and found herself falling the remaining distance down the stairs.

Closing her eyes, she braced herself for a hard contact with the wooden floor, but the pain didn't come. Instead, she heard the light rustle of fabric and felt the contact of warm, muscular arms reach gently around her, her own arms encircling his neck in search of safety, and the soft pressure of her mouth on-

Nancy's eyes opened in shock and she found her lips pressed gently against those of a certain dark-haired detective, eyes wide in equal astonishment. Simultaneously jerking back, she blushed deep crimson, stammering out a hasty apology without meeting his eyes. The back of her mind registered the faint scent of his cologne, the heady scent making her weak in the knees. But before Frank could speak, George and Joe hurried out of the living room, having heard her cry out, and found Nancy standing with Frank, his arms encircled around her waist and a sheepish expression on both their faces.

They moved slightly further apart in embarrassment, but Frank still left one arm wrapped securely around her waist. She leaned ever so slightly against him, allowing him to help her balance on her ridiculous heels.

Opening her mouth to speak, George was interrupted and startled as a loud bang came from upstairs: Bess, hair styled, make-up immaculate, and clad in a knee-length violet ensemble that hugged her curves, floated down the staircase to where Nancy and Frank were standing, his arm still resting on her waist so she didn't fall again.

It was Joe's turn to stand there looking like he's just been hit in the face this time. Nancy giggled: while the brothers didn't have that much in common physically, their expressions (mouth hanging open, eyes wide, eyebrows raised...) couldn't have been more similar.

Bess shot a curious look at Joe upon seeing Frank and Nancy, raising her eyebrows at him, but his attention had been caught by Frank, mouthing something furiously to Joe over Nancy's head.

"You look fantastic," Joe said to Bess.

"Not so bad yourself, Joe," Bess answered flirtatiously.

"Shall we get going, then?" George asked, oblivious to the exchanges around her.

They all agreed, and pulling on their coats, gloves, hats, and scarfs - much needed items for the cold night in only their dresses, they all made their way down to the lodge, then to the hotel where the ball was being hosted. Along the way, noticing her shivers, Frank grasped Nancy's hand and drew her closer to him, shielding her from the chilly wind.

The sky was clear, no sight of a storm at all, and the moon and stars were twinkling brightly above, the snow glittering like so many diamonds on the ground.

Bess grinned to herself. The night had only just started, and things were already off to an excellent start.

So I won't have time to proof-read this as properly as other, shorter chapters, but if I catch anything later on (or if one of you guys point out a typo, etc.) I'll be sure to fix it. To all other students, good luck with exams! :P