Stan Lubin came from one of the better sections of Rapier City. Some distance from either Jennifer Carmel's home or the cabin in which last night the fullback football star had taken her virginity, his father, Reginald Lubin, had leased a mansion in the shelter of a vast pine forest, a mile off the main highway leading south. Reginald and his wife, Elmira, had left the house in care of their son, Stan, while they went off skiing to a chalet in Switzerland. Mr. Lubin was a wealthy man, dabbling in a collection of businesses, all loosely controlled by his one, main holding company with its address in Switzerland, chosen for its tax laws, and the Swiss skiing trip was actually being paid for by the company, as was his house and new Aston-Martin. Mr. Lubin put everything he could in his company's name; his income tax showed that he made about two hundred dollars a month personal income, and naturally he enjoyed the benefits of the tax law's loopholes.

The house itself was spacious, built in a Spanish style of white stucco and wrought iron. Wide, well-landscaped grounds bordered it, the two tennis courts, the emerald-green swimming pool and twin cabanas, and a magnificent waterfall which cascaded from a small mountain of rocks and ferns, bubbling away into a stream which meandered among the many thick bushes and exotic plants growing in profusion. It gave the appearance of a deserted island paradise if it hadn't been for the collection of hot rod cars and flashy customed autos which lined the driveway, a full volume blast of a raucous electric guitar band from the sunken living room's stereo, and the wild yells and shrieks from the eight young teenagers inside.

Eight adolescents: seven boys and one girl. The seven were the "swinging" members of the high school football team. The one girl was the lovely, radiant young Jennifer Carmel.