A Midsummer Night's Scream

actors. I’ve heard about him telling you off about your faulty grammar.“
    Imry all but collapsed, mumbling incoherently. “Stand up straight, Steven. Don’t be such a wimp,“ Evelyn Chance said.
    Imry stood, shaking with fury. Jane spotted Mel standing on the edge of the stage behind Imry, making notes.
    “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. But you have no right to say I’m a suspect. I’ve never even thrown a rock at a bird in my whole life.“
    “Huh?“ Shelley muttered to Jane.
    He went on. “In spite of all of you misjudging me, I do apologize. I’m under a lot of stress here. This whole production rests on my shoulders. Don’t you understand that?“
    Ms. Chance stood her ground and said coldly, “That’s not even a feeble apology. It’s simply an arrogant attempt to justify your bad temper. I saw how you behaved the day before yesterday. Now start over and do it right.“
    Finally, after dithering, Imry started over and made a semi-real apology.
    “I’m sincerely sorry if I offended anyone. As Isaid—no, never mind. I truly regret having been rude to anyone. The caterers, Ms. Nowack, and Ms. Jeffry. Ms. Tinker, Mr. and Ms. Bunting, Jake Stanton, Joani, Ms. Chance. Buddy Wilson, the head stagehand. Bill Denk, who plays the butler, and anyone I’ve left out by accident.“
    Then he turned and walked unsteadily up onto the stage and through the door to the workroom.
    “I guess we’ll have to stay,“ Tazz said. “Much as I regret it. I’d have liked to see him try to find the costumes by himself.“
    “And find caterers,“ Shelley added.
    “And substitutes for us,“ John Bunting gloated.

Nine

    When everyone had recovered from this scene, which was far more exciting and dramatic than anything in the script, the rehearsal went on. This time it was to work out where people stood or sat, or entered or left, in each scene. A sofa was represented by three chairs in a row, taken from the workroom. Three more of them represented armchairs. The placement of the doors was marked on the floors with chalk. Imry was subdued and relatively well behaved. When Bill Denk made another snide remark to the audience, Imry didn’t even chide him.
    Evelyn Chance was still sitting in the front row, and Imry kept giving her anxious glances.
    Jane and Shelley took their needlepoint materials back to the workroom, after washing their hands as they’d been instructed. They left the door to the serving room open and the back door slightly ajar so they could hear when the catering truck arrived.
    When they were seated in two of the remaining chairs in the workroom and had their canvases out, Shelley asked, “Do you think everyone who was threatening to walk out would have done so if Ms. Chance hadn’t stopped us?“
    “Wasn’t she fabulous?“ Jane replied. “I aspire to be that outspoken one day. Yes, I think they would have. All but Imry’s replacement for Denny. Most of them are volunteers. Only Tazz and the Buntings stood to lose money. And there are probably others. I don’t think you’d trust lighting to volunteers unless they were professional electricians and theater was a hobby.“
    “You’re forgetting me, Jane,“ Shelley said. “I’d have been out on the deposits to the caterers. But if he’d continued to be so obnoxious, it would have been well worth it.“
    “Do you think he really learned anything about how to behave?“
    “Not at all. He was just cornered and scared spitless.“
    “I wonder if Ms. Chance was right that he’s the primary suspect for Denny’s death? I’d guess that’s what Mel thinks. Of course, I could be wrong about that. He never really said so,“ Jane qualified.
    “Everything we know, which isn’t much, seems to point to him,“ Shelley said. “My impression of him is that he’s one of those bullies who knows deep in his heart that he’s not as smart or talented as those he’s bullying, and furthermore, thinks they won’t realize it.“
    “It was unfortunate for him that he had a replacement lined up for Denny,“ Jane said. “And stupid besides. Denny was unwise, and was being a show-off by humiliating Imry in front of everyone, but the honorable thing for Imry would have been to fire Denny before choosing a successor. And Imry should have realized that Denny was right that Imry really should brush up on his grammar or hire someone to vet the script.
    “On the other hand,“ Jane went on, “Imry didn’t seem to have the kind of courage it takes