A Midsummer Night's Scream

need to ask. Take all the time you need.“
    Mel sat down by the door, simmering. He should try to see this from Mrs. Roth’s viewpoint. She’d lost her only child. But why did she have to be so rude? Not only to him, but to her husband.
    He only had to sit there for a few minutes before the couple emerged.
    Mrs. Roth was pale, but composed. Mr. Roth was still mopping at his eyes.
    “I’m taking you to my office in an unmarked police car. You’ll be more comfortable there,“ Mel said. “I’d like to interview you and find out what your son was like.“ As they entered the elevator, Mel added, “I’d like to speak to each of you separately. Mrs. Roth, could I order you some coffee or tea while you wait?“
    “I’m not waiting. We’ll be interviewed together.“
    “I’m sorry, but you will have to wait,“ Mel said firmly.
    “Then orange pekoe tea with sugar,“ she snapped.
    When she’d settled irritably in the outer office, Mel offered Mr. Roth coffee, which Roth accepted numbly. Mel waited for the man to speak.
    “He was our only child—we adopted him,“ Mr. Roth said softly. “Aggie couldn’t have children. I must apologize for her behavior. You mustn’t think she doesn’t care that Denny is dead. She’s simply keeping her armor on—she’s good at that.“
    He teared up again. “I loved the boy from the first. It was a little harder for Aggie. I think she thought adoption wasn’t quite ‘nice’ and that it suggested something was wrong with her. It might have been better if we’d taken a little girl instead. But he was such a good boy. I taught him to play softball. I took him to circuses. I helped him with homework. I...“
    He couldn’t go on. Mel handed him a box of tissues and went to look out the window for a few moments until Roth said, “I’m sorry. What else do you want to know?“
    “Did Denny make friends easily?“
    “Of course. Aggie and I made sure of that. She did the room-mother things, made him take dancing lessons, which, surprisingly, he liked. She threw wonderful birthdays and let him invite all his friends. And he always had lots of them. He was happy until...“
    “Until what?“
    “Until he decided out of the blue that he wanted to know who his biological parents were. Aggie was appalled. He always knew he was adopted but never seemed to care until two years ago.“
    “Did it hurt your feelings?“ Mel asked.
    “Not especially. I suspected it might happen when he grew up. I myself was adopted and had wonderful parents, and I never cared who actually sired me.“
    “Did you or your wife know who Denny’s biological parents were?“
    “No. The adoption agency offered to tell us the available adoptee’s ethnic background. We didn’t care.“
    “How did your wife take this idea of Denny’s interest in finding his genetic parents?“
    “She hated it. She felt that all that we had done for him had been wasted. She considered it a personal betrayal.“
    “Did your son have any enemies that you know of ?“
    “No. Until he got this bug in his ear about finding his ‘real’ parents, he had nothing but friends. It changed him. It became an obsession and he dropped all his friends to pursue it.“
    Mel’s interview with Mrs. Roth didn’t surprise him. First, she was outraged that she had to wait so long, “And the girl who served me tea never came back with the sugar I’d asked for.“
    So Mrs. Roth had also been rude to the young secretary who brought her tea, Mel thought.
    “Well, it’s time for your husband to sit around now. Tell me about Denny.“
    “He was such a nice boy. And we treated him as if he were a prince. He had everything he wanted. Good, expensive clothing, a generous allowance. We even bought him his first car when he turned sixteen and paid the taxes and registration fees for him.“
    “And then?“
    “He took up with the idea of being an actor, of all things. I explained how hard it was to be an actor. All those interviews and classes, and the sort of competition there was. Every good-looking young person in the world wants to be an actor or actress. Very few of them succeed. But he wouldn’t listen to me. He actually moved out of our home to stay in some dismal apartments. Can you imagine?“
    “What did your husband think of this?“ Mel asked.
    “He stayed out of it, saying Denny was an adult and had to make his own decisions. And it just became worse.“
    “In what way?“
    “He came home for a Thanksgiving dinner