The novel opens up with the character arc of Mr. Griffin. He is a vile teacher and very disliked by the students in the high school. One student in particular called Mark takes an extreme dislike to this English teacher after an onslaught of humiliation by him after he fails to deliver his homework on time. He convinces his friends, which include David, Jeff and Betsy, to kidnap Mr. Griffin to frighten and humiliate him as revenge. They convince Susan, a well-behaved and studious peer, to help them in their scheme, and she agrees because Mr. Griffin’s is the only class she gets B’s in.
They blindfold and take Mr. Griffin to the mountains without Susan, and after the teacher refuses to beg Mark, he decides that they should leave him there till the night. Their plan takes the turn for the worse after they discover that Mr. Griffin died of heart failure in the mountains. Mark convinces the crew to cover up the death and bury the body in the mountains. This ends in a disaster as Mark’s previous girlfriend discovers an item belonging to Mr. Griffin after an outing in the mountains.
The police discover the body, but the wedding ring is missing. It turns out that the ring is with David, who accidentally shows it to his grandmother, who then insist on taking it from him. After they reveal this to Mark, David’s grandmother is found murdered. David and Betsy connect the dots that Mark was the one who killed her.
Susan decides to confess everything to the police, but she is stopped by the rest of the crew. Mark tries to kill her by setting the curtains on fire, but Mr. Griffin’s wife saves her. Susan tells everything to the police, and Mark is left to face the trials for his deeds. Mr. Griffin’s wife gives a note to Susan that contains praise towards her by the late Mr. Griffin.
