A Midsummer Night's Scream Part 21

Professor Steven Imry called Evelyn Chance at eleven-thirty Friday morning and told her how he'd changed the script, explaining that only two actors needed to know different lines in the final act and they'd already rehea.r.s.ed it.

"I want to see it myself," Ms. Chance said.

"Then pick up a copy in my office at the theater. I'm going home to sleep this afternoon." He hung up.

She called back, furious, and there was no answer.

Mel called Jane and asked, "Are you two going to the opening night of the play this evening?"

"Probably not for all of it. We've already seen nearly every scene, except the one Evelyn Chance insisted that Imry change. We might show up at the end, though, just to see if it makes sense."

"I hope you will. And Jane, this is going to be an imposition, but would you and Sh.e.l.ley hang around for a bit after the play?"

"I suppose so. Why?"

"I can't tell you. But I'll need both of you there."

"Okay." Jane was perplexed but knew better than to argue.

She called Sh.e.l.ley and repeated the mysterious message.

"What on earth would he need us for?" "Maybe to give some sort of information about the murderer?"

Sh.e.l.ley said, "We don't know anything worthwhile. What little we do know is about Ms. Bunting, and she's certainly not a murderer. But if he wants us there for some obscure reason, I guess we should do as he asked. Have you told him about your agent yet?"

"I haven't had the chance. He's been too busy. I don't want to give my good news to a man too preoccupied to fully appreciate it."

"We might as well turn up for the whole play," Sh.e.l.ley said.

"Oh, please no, Sh.e.l.ley. I couldn't bear it."

"Okay, but I'm going to go to see how the college handles the intermission. They might have a caterer that I don't know about."

"I'll join you then as a taster," Jane said, "and sit through the last act to see if Imry's fixed it."

Jane dutifully showed up and was horrified to see how hard it was to park anywhere near the theater. There must have been a good turnout. She supposed that all the drama students were forced to attend, as she had been when she was taking a similar course in college.

The catering at the intermission was, in Sh.e.l.ley's opinion, not good enough to even ask who they were. She told Jane that the wine was cheap, the canapes weren't very good quality, and the paper plates were flimsy. Jane, having accidentally lost her grip on her plate and dumped her too-dry tiny sandwich on the floor, agreed.

They could only find seats on the far side, two-thirds of the way from the stage. The sound wasn't very good where they sat, but they sneaked down and stood in the aisle to hear the resolution in the final fifteen minutes. It was okay. Not really good, but acceptable. When the actors came out for bows, only Ms. Bunting provoked a standing ovation.

Jane and Sh.e.l.ley knew a semi-secret way to get back behind the scenes by now without attracting the attention of anyone in the departing audience, though they discovered that quite a few other people also knew the way. The cast was still on stage. Ms. Chance and some of her benefactors were already backstage. So were some of the students of the drama school. A few of the crew members and their families showed up as well.

"We'll just stand around uhtil the crowd clears," Jane said. "Mel will find us when he needs us."

Eventually the crowd thinned. The actors returned to the dressing rooms to remove their costumes and makeup, some with haste because they had a free weekend to enjoy, since the next performance wasn't until Monday night.

Mel finally showed up. "We're having a meeting shortly in the workroom. Go wait in there, if you would," he told Jane and Sh.e.l.ley.

There were three people already there whom Jane and Sh.e.l.ley had never seen. One woman and two men. None of them showed any interest in Jane and Sh.e.l.ley nor each other.

Jane and Sh.e.l.ley took seats at the foot of the table and didn't speak a word. Nor did the two men and the woman. Professor Imry was the first familiar person to show up. He took his usual seat at the head of the table. Five or six minutes later Ms. Bunting came into the room and sat next to Imry.

She said, "What is this about? I'm tired and want to go back to the hotel."

Imry looked past her as Mel and John Bunting entered the room.

John already had found a drink to bring along. "What's going on here?"

Mel closed the door behind him and said, "I'm

here to arrest you for the murder of Dennis Roth."

Bunting spilled his drink. "That's crazy! I did

no such thing." He glared at Mel and asked,

"Who are these strangers?" indicating the two men and the woman.

"The men are plainclothes police officers who are going to escort you to jail. The woman officer will stay with your wife."

Mel read Mr. Bunting his rights as one of the men handcuffed him.

"Take Mr. Bunting away, please."

Sh.e.l.ley and Jane turned to Ms. Bunting. She was pale, but almost as composed as always. "Did he really do it?" she asked Mel in a voice that barely wavered.

"I'm sorry to say he did," he replied.

The policewoman sat down next to Ms. Bunting and offered a tissue, which Ms. Bunting waved away.

"I asked Professor Imry to sit in to a.s.sure you that the play will continue," Mel said. "The young man who plays the old butler will take over your husband's role. Professor, please confirm this before you leave."

Imry did so, then left the room after apologizing profusely to Ms. Bunting.

"What is the evidence for this?" Ms. Bunting asked.

Mel pulled up a chair from the table and turned it around to face her. "There is a lot of evidence. Are you sure you want to know all of it?"

"Yes, I do," Ms. Bunting said: "The missing golf club was found by a well-known Dumpster diver two blocks from your hotel and p.a.w.ned. There was blood in the grooves on the flat head matching Dennis Roth's DNA."

Ms. Bunting closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Go on."

Twenty-six.

I hardly know how to put this in the right order," Mel admitted. "There are a number of confirmations. The Dumpster diver knew what day he found the club and p.a.w.ned it the day after the janitor was struck. There was a bellman at your hotel the same day who saw your husband walk out with a golf club in his hand and return shortly later without it. The only reason he remembered this is because it was his last day before a short vacation, from which he returned today."

"Anything more?"

"Yes. Sven Turner, the college janitor who was attacked, has recovered his memory. Due only to his sister's determination," Mel said, looking at Jane for a moment. "He was in the audience tonight in a wheelchair in the aisle closest to the stage and clearly remembered that your husband's distinctive voice is ,one of the two he overheard just before Denny was murdered."

He went on, glancing at his notes. "In addition,we've seized the recent records of the pharmacy his old friend owns. There's a prescription that was given your husband for the same sleeping pills that were found in Dennis Roth's blood system. The doctor's name was forged by your husband's friend. He's going to be in trouble, too."

Ms. Bunting was quiet for a few minutes, and finally said, "I'm forced to believe you, but I have no idea why John would have done this. He's not a moral man, I've known that for years. But murder? Why would he murder a perfectly innocent stranger?"

As Ms. Bunting spoke, Jane rose and went to sit next to her.

Mel said, "In Denny's wallet, there was a safety-deposit box key, which was unfortunately overlooked by my staff, but found by his adoptive parents. In the box at the bank was Denny's original birth certificate and a copy of it with your husband's fingerprints on it." Mel paused for a long breath before saying, "The birth certificate named his birth parents, Susan Thayer and John Bunting."

Ms. Bunting drew a sharp breath. "Susan Thayer? I know that name. We did a play here in Chicago about twenty years ago. She had a small role in it. She was not a nice young woman. I remember, too, that John claimed he was spending a lot of time with all his old school friends. I supa pose now that was just one of his many lies. He must have been with her."

Gloria Bunting finally broke down. Her voice was clogged with horror and tears poured down her face. "It can't be John. There must be other people with the same name."

"A blood sample will be taken as soon as your husband is booked. Of course, you could be right. However, there was also two thousand dollars in the box. Your husband's fingerprints were on the first and last bill in the stack, and so were the fingerprints of his pharmacist friend. The pharmacist admits to lending the money to him because your husband told him he was being blackmailed by an illegitimate son."

The woman officer offered Ms. Bunting a tissue again. Gloria took it this time and dabbed away the tears and blew her nose. "Thank you, miss. Detective VanDyne, I hope you're wrong. But I know in my heart that you're right."

She turned to Jane and threw herself into Jane's arms.

Jane was sniffling as well. "Ms. Bunting, I wish there were some way to help you."