“I don’t think so. The letter doesn’t say and I think it would if they had to strip.” She paused. “I don’t get it. When I interviewed Coach Buck he insisted he doesn’t tolerate hazing.”

“Naked Twister sounds like more fun.” Phyllis downed the last bit of sausage. “Do you think they really do this stuff?”

“I don’t know what to believe. Whoever’s writing these letters sure thinks something’s going on.”

“It could be somebody with a grudge,” suggested Phyllis. “Somebody who wants to make trouble for the new coach.”

“Or the school,” said Lucy. “This could be a really big story if the hazing is actually taking place.”

“Uh-oh,” said Phyllis. “Here we go. Lucy Stone, investigative reporter, tackles another challenging case.” She held up a stack of papers. “But before you do, would you mind sorting these press releases for me?”

“I bet Woodward and Bernstein didn’t have to sort press releases,” grumbled Lucy, taking them to her desk.

That night, after supper, Lucy managed to get Sara and Zoe to agree to make doggie biscuits, so long as no raw liver was involved. She’d been assigned to produce thirty dozen of them and she needed all the help she could get.

“It’s a different recipe,” promised Lucy, “with cooked chicken livers.”

“Eeeuw,” chorused the girls.

“How about I cook the livers and you take it from there? Please?” Lucy was tired and didn’t want to spend the entire evening on her feet, rolling out dog biscuits. “I’ll double your allowances this week.”

The girls agreed and set to work sifting flour and measuring wheat germ while Lucy browned the chicken livers. Libby was standing by her side, in hopes that a tasty tidbit would come her way.

“This is a better recipe,” said Sara.

“Libby likes them,” said Zoe.

“She’s going to miss you girls once school starts again,” said Lucy, turning the livers over.

“It’s too bad dogs can’t read,” said Zoe. “Then she’d have something to do while we’re gone.”

“Are you sad summer’s ending?”

Zoe nodded, stirring the dry ingredients together. Sara, breaking eggs into a bowl, shook her head. “I’ll be glad when school starts. I’ll see more of my friends and I won’t have to work at the inn anymore.”

“What about school? Are you excited about starting high school? Choosing electives? Writing term papers? Doing science experiments in a real lab?”

“Nah. School’s boring. But I am excited about cheerleading. I can’t wait for the first game.”

“Yeah. That’ll be fun,” agreed Lucy, whizzing the livers in the food processor and adding the resulting goo to the dough. “Do you know any of the boys on the team?”

“Sure, Mom. I’ve been in school with them since kindergarten.”