“Hub? But I never have.
“Where did you read about it?
“But I haven’t. Wait a minute, those people up in Canada, Dooka-somethings.”
“Doukhobors. That’s all? No bareskin swimming parties No strip poker?”
She shook her head. “No. You may not believe it but I was the kind of a little girl who undressed under her nightie.” She colored and added, “I still do unless I remember to tell myself it’s silly.
“I believe it. No news stories?
“No. Yes, there was tool About two weeks ago, I think it was. Some girl in a theater, in the audience, I mean. But I thought it was just publicity. You know the stunts they pull here.
He shook his head. “It wasn’t. February 3rd, the Grand Theater, Mrs. Alvin Copley. Charges dismissed.
“Hub? How did you know?
“Excuse me.” He went to his desk, dialed the City News Bureau. “Alf? This is Pot Breen. They still sitting on that story?…yes, yes, the Gypsy Rose file. Any new ones today?” He waited; Meade thought that she could make out swearing. “Take it easy, All this hot weather can’t last forever. Nine, eh? Well, add another Santa Monica Boulevard, late this afternoon. No arrest.” He added, “Nope, nobody got her name, a middle-aged woman with a cast in one eye. I happened to see it…who, me? Why would I want to get mixed up? But it’s rounding up into a very, very interesting picture.” He put the phone down
Meade said, “Cast in one eye, indeed!
“Shall I call him back and give him your name?
“Oh, no!
“Very well. Now, Meade, we seemed to have located the point of contagion in your case Mrs. Copley. What I’d like to know next is how you felt, what you were thinking about, when you did it?
She was frowning intently. “Wait a minute, Potiphar do I understand that nine other girls have pulled the stunt I pulled?
“Oh, no nine others today. You are” He paused briefly
“the three hundred and nineteenth case in Los Angeles county since the first of the year. I don’t have figures on the rest of the country, but the suggestion to clamp down on the stories came from the eastern news services when the papers here put our first cases on the wire. That proves that it’s a problem elsewhere, too.
“You mean that women all over the country are peeling off their clothes in public? Why, how shocking!
He said nothing. She blushed again and insisted, “Well, it is shocking, even if it was me, this time.
“No, Meade. One case is shocking; over three hundred makes it scientifically interesting. That’s why I want to know how it felt. Tell me about it.
“But All right, I’ll try. I told you I don’t know why I did it; I still don’t. I —
“You remember it?
“Oh, yes I remember getting up off the bench and pulling up my sweater. I remember unzipping my skirt. I remember thinking I would have to hurry as I could see my bus stopped two blocks down the street. I remember how good it felt when I finally, uh” She paused and looked puzzled. “But I still don’t know why.
“What were you thinking about just before you stood up?
“I don’t remember.
“Visualize the street. What was passing by? Where were your hands? Were your legs crossed or uncrossed? Was there anybody near you? What were you thinking about?
“Uh…nobody was on the bench with me. I had my hands in my lap. Those characters in the mixed-up clothes were standing near by, but I wasn’t paying attention. I wasn’t thinking much except that my feet hurt and I wanted to get home and how unbearably hot and sultry it was
Then” Her eyes became distant, “suddenly I knew what I had to do and it was very urgent that I do it. So I stood up and I…and I” Her voice became shrill
“Take it easy!” he said. “Don’t do it again.
“Hub? Why, Mr. Breen, I wouldn’t do anything like that.
“Of course not. Then what?
“Why, you put your raincoat around me and you know the rest.” She faced him. “Say, Potiphar, what were you doing with a raincoat? It hasn’t rained in weeks this is the driest, hottest rainy season in years.