Phyllis shook her head. The Aqua-Net was working; not a single tangerine curl budged. “Dunno. Somebody must have pushed it through the mail slot. It was on the floor when I got here this morning.”

That wasn’t unusual. Lots of people hand-delivered letters to the paper. There was no sense wasting a stamp if you were going to be downtown anyway, plus your letter would get there faster. Lucy put it with the stack of unopened mail, mostly announcements of local events, that was waiting on her desk and poured herself a cup of coffee.

“So how are things?” she asked Phyllis, taking advantage of the fact that Ted hadn’t arrived yet.

“I had some friends over for dinner last night. We had steak and whipped cream.”

“Yummy,” said Lucy, thinking Libby didn’t have it so bad after all.

“Don’t knock it. I’ve lost another five pounds.”

Lucy looked at Phyllis, resplendent in lilac slacks and a flowered blouse instead of the muumuus that used to be her summer uniform. “You look fabulous.”

Phyllis’s cheeks grew pink. “Thanks.”

The bell on the door jangled, announcing Ted’s arrival. Lucy gave him a big smile by way of greeting and headed for her desk, where she started opening the mail. Ted was all business on deadline day.

“How’s that story on the new teachers going?” he asked, setting a cup of coffee on his desk and opening his briefcase.

“It’s almost finished. I still have to talk to Buck Burkhart; I have an appointment with him at nine.”

Ted pulled out a notebook, flipping it open. “Okay. You’ve got new teachers, the finance committee meeting, the selectmen’s meeting, what else?”

Lucy had opened the letter on the top of her pile, the one with no return address. “Maybe there’s more to this hazing than we think. Listen to this: ‘players were subjected to a number of indignities including being forced to drink copious amounts of alcohol and having their heads shaved.’ That last part is true enough. Sara told me they’d shaved their heads but she thought it was voluntary.” Lucy returned to the letter, her eyes bulging at the next sentence: “‘They were then forced to undress and required to play the game of Twister in the nude.’”

You could have heard a pin drop. Ted and Phyllis were speechless.

“It’s another one of those anonymous letters,” she said, by way of filling the silence. “And I think it’s got the ring of truth, if you know what I mean. It’s weirder than fiction.”

“Naked Twister?” Phyllis’s ample bosom was heaving. “Kids today sure know how to have fun. We thought spin the bottle was hot stuff. What did we know?”

“I don’t think it’s funny,” said Lucy. “What do you think, Ted?”