This chapter follows Judy Morgan, a reporter of The Westfield Gazette who doesn’t find many interesting stories. When she hears unusual rumors about Lincoln Elementary, she investigates further. Outside the school’s office, she finds a notice from Mrs. Granger about using the word frindle. She talks to Mrs. Chatham, who shrugs the incident away: “It’s nothing really. Some kids have been playing a prank, and it was time to put a stop to it” (58). Judy doesn’t believe her understatement, and she follows the story to the next lead. Mrs. Granger is proctoring detention when Judy asks to speak with her. Mrs. Granger, sharp and suspicious, gives her side of the story and soon ends the interview.

Judy meets a group of detention students in the parking lot and asks for their perspective. She inquires after the student called Nick, but a red-headed boy says that Nick probably can’t talk because “he might say something stupid and get himself in trouble” (63). The next day, Judy receives an envelope with a picture of the fifth-grade class—each student holds a pen and puckers their lips strangely. The back of the photo directs Judy’s attention to the red-headed boy she spoke to, and she realizes that he is none other than Nick Allen.