A Midsummer Night's Scream

replied. “Just because of Evelyn Chance’s extra guests who contributed to the college to fund this. Some of them might be businesspeople who know Paul.“
    Jane interpreted this to mean, at the least, trousers with a good blouse, and a jacket or a light sweater and even a bit of jewelry.
    When they finished their talk, Jane went to her front hall closet, the staging area for her most recent dry cleaning. She was appalled at how many things were in there. She broke down and hauled them all upstairs, ripped off the flimsy plastic, and put them in her bedroom closet, pulling out a pair of good black slacks, a matching jacket, and a pink-and-white-striped shirt. Then she went to her jewelry case to rummage. There was a pinkish opal pin surrounded by silver filigree that needed polishing. And a matching ring. These would look good if they were clean, but she didn’t want to waste time polishing them up. She’d just wear her best watch.
    She went to the computer station she’d set up on a secondhand small desk that she’d actually refinished herself—almost competently. She wrote up her bio and figured out how to do a word count and was shocked to discover that the bio was 427 words long. There wasn’t anything she wanted to cut. And it wasn’t as witty and charming as she’d expected it to be. She didn’t even save the file. She’d have to start over.
    As she rose from the desk to pace around the bedroom while she mentally composed a better bio, she spotted Max, her black, white, and gray cat—the equal-opportunity shedder—washing his paws while reclining on her black trousers. At least he hadn’t started to sharpen his claws on the fabric.

    * * *

    Mel called the Roths’ hotel number and said, “I have a court order from a judge to open your son’s safety-deposit box. I’m sorry it took me a while, but it was the only way to do it. Neither you nor your wife are signers on the box, so I have to use the document and key. Would you like to meet me at the bank around the corner from the college campus?“
    This question flummoxed Harry Roth. He had to write the directions down to the last detail. “I suppose we should be there. I can’t imagine what was so important to Denny to hide it away like this. But Aggie and I would like to know. And close out the box so we’re not billed.“
    Mel was surprised that the cost of the box was as great a concern as what was in it. For people who could take month-long vacations, the price of a safety-deposit box shouldn’t have mattered.
    The bank employee put in her key and turned it. Mel did the same with one that had been found in Denny’s billfold. The bank employee left the room.
    Mel pulled a bag of latex gloves out of his briefcase and cut it open.
    “What are you doing that for?“ Mrs. Roth asked.
    “Fingerprints. We have no idea what documents are in here. I’ll have to look at them first, if that’s all right with you.“ His tone made it clear that this was the way it would be done no matter what their answer was.
    Harry said, “It’s okay with me.“
    Mel pulled out the small box, took one of the enclosures, opened it, and pulled out two folded pieces of paper. He opened the smaller one with a pair of tweezers he’d pulled out of his pocket. He turned to the Roths. “It’s his original birth certificate with names of his birth parents. Do you want to read it?“
    Harry was firm. “No. We didn’t want to know that when we adopted him and we still don’t want to know.“
    Mrs. Roth hesitated, looking at her husband for a long moment. Then said, “I agree. But what is the other paper?“
    “It’s a photocopy of the same thing. Without the seal. I’ll need to keep both of these. If you change your minds sometime, I can provide them to you.“ He put the documents in a large envelope.
    There was another packet at the back of the box—a fat unsealed envelope—which Mel gingerly opened with the tweezers. It was full of cash. He also put this in his envelope. “There’s quite a bit of cash,“ Mel told the Roths. “I’ll need to have it fingerprinted before turning it over to you.
    “How much cash?“ Mrs. Roth asked.
    “After it’s fingerprinted, I’ll have it counted in the presence of myself and two other witnesses and let you know how much it is as soon as I can. Would you like it converted into a cashier’s check and sent to you via FedEx with copies of the witnesses’ signatures?“
    “How will we know that some of it