Miss Baxter awakes on Wednesday morning before her alarm clock, as she always does. All the weekdays look about the same for Miss Baxter — a middle-aged, single, hairdresser — but she would have paid attention to the day of the week if she were telling the story. On this Wednesday, she notices some noteworthy “news'' buried amidst all the other “news,” as she reads the newspaper over her breakfast (the news she reads is really just the comings and goings of other women in her town). The news she finds noteworthy is the announcement by a mother in the town that her young and popular daughter has married. The announcement says that the girl and her newly wed husband quietly eloped in March. Miss Baxter is sure that the eloping story is a lie to cover up a pregnancy out of wedlock. She immediately calls as many women as she can to discuss the news.

Miss Baxter spends the rest of her day travelling from client to client, discussing the scandalous elopement while also gossiping about others in the town. With each client she visits she adds new elements to all her stories. By the time she gets home for supper, she is pleasantly worn out. She feels as though she accomplished a lot in her day. She wakes up from a nap that evening and goes to pen a letter. The letter is for the girl in the marriage announcement, and says “THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH.” She’s sent anonymous letters like this to others before. She plans to send it on her way to Wednesday night worship. She knows that others can stay away from church, but she is so devout that she could never.