Page 111 of What Happened to Lucy Vale

@spinn_doctor:jfc

@spinn_doctor:you people really never learn, do you?

@spinn_doctor:have I taught youNothing?

Still, as finals approached, Alex Spinnaker wound down the homework ring. For years we’d pushed assignments to the athletes in exchange for spending money and the occasional smile or acknowledgment in the hall. Unsurprisingly Spinnaker blamed liberal culture for souring the atmosphere and making it too dangerous to conduct successful business.

@spinn_doctor:admin is going to come down hard

@spinn_doctor:just wait for it

@lululemonaide:so it’s official? Administration knows?

@highasakyle:that the swimmers don’t do their own homework??

@highasakyle:of course they know

@highasakyle:when’s the last time you’ve actually seen Hammill in class?

@spinn_doctor:fair. But now they actually have to do something about it

@kash_money:better than admitting that our best swimmers are hopped up on human growth hormones and veterinary medicine

@spinn_doctor:everyone uses performance enhancers nowadays

@spinn_doctor:it’s the only way to stay competitive

@kash_money:“and the sun never sets on the empire ...”

We tried to keep up with the outpouring of new information, a cataclysmic volume of new headlines, TikTok videos, hashtags, and podcast episodes. Our server was a deluge of informational threads—about supposed sightings of Lucy Vale, about advances in the Faraday case, about the penis now defacing the statue of Coach Steeler in Byron Park, about the growing clamor to have the statue removed. Nate Stern told us the cops were still combing the state park with cadaver dogs. We didn’t know which girl they were looking for anymore.

Woody Topornycky—town drunk, petty criminal, UFO enthusiast, and occasional drug dealer—was suddenly a local superstar. Nick told us that his uncle had spent an hour walking the sheriff around the Woodward parking lot, detailing the spot where he’d last seen Nina Faraday. He was, according to Nick, the key to the entire investigation.

@nononycky:he’s our most important witness

@bassicrhythm:no offense, but he was tripping balls that day

@nononycky:doesn’t matter. He knows what he saw

@safireswiftly:right. An alien landing craft

@nononycky:He saw lights. Machinery. Activity on the construction site

@nononycky:and a man taking Nina’s car

@brentmann:I thought the cops cleared all the construction workers

@brentmann:they were off-site by 5 pm

@nononycky:exactly. So why did Coach Steeler tell the swimmers that he was delayed because of construction issues?

@badprincess:is that what he said?

@nononycky:according to Daniel Frisker.

@stopandfriske:do we trust Daniel Frisker?

@nononycky:do we trust Coach Steeler?