A Midsummer Night's Scream

butler will take over Mr. Bunting’s role. And someone else will fill in as the butler, which is a minor part of the play without many lines to learn. Of course, you won’t be expected to perform on Monday night—“ Mel started to say to Ms. Bunting but was cut off.
    “An actor never abandons a commitment to a role he or she has agreed to do. Unless, of course, they’re in jail. I’ll finish my obligation. Officer Tanner, I’ll just get my purse and come with you.“
    When Ms. Bunting and Officer Tanner had gone, Mel said, “I’m sorry to have subjected you two to this. But I knew she would need friends present. More than ever before in her life. And you’ve been good friends to her.“
    “We’ll continue to be as long as she needs us,“ Shelley said, and Jane nodded agreement.
    Mel got up and said, “It’s time for all of us to go home. I have more to tell you, but not tonight. We’ll talk again tomorrow—I might have to make a hard decision eventually, and I’d like your advice.“
    “What decision?“
    “That rests on a DNA match with Bunting and Denny. Which I’m quite certain there will be. But I’ll tell you more tomorrow.“
    It wasn’t until late afternoon Saturday that Mel had the free time to talk to Jane and Shelley.
    “The DNA tests won’t be in for a while, but it seems that even Ms. Bunting realizes that the other evidence is enough to get a conviction. She’s really a tough old lady, isn’t she?“ Mel said.
    Jane, Shelley, and Mel were sitting outside at Starbucks again. It was overcast and a little windy, and nobody else was nearby.
    “She is,“ Jane agreed. “We’ve already asked Bitsy Burnside who her divorce attorney was. He took her husband to the cleaners. We’ve given her two other names as well if she doesn’t like him.“
    “I still have a problem to deal with and need your advice,“ Mel said. “It’s Denny’s parents. The ones who raised him.“
    “What kind of problem?“ Shelley asked.
    “Both of them have told me they never wanted to know who his biological parents were and still don’t want to know. So how do I tell them whom I’ve arrested? And that their beloved son had his original birth certificate and was blackmailing his biological father without telling them who the father was?“
    Jane and Shelley looked at each other, and Jane said, “You probably wouldn’t have to give them the name, but you would have to tell them the motive, wouldn’t you?“
    Shelley said, “Maybe they wouldn’t believe it.“ Mel said, “That’s a lot of help.“
    “Mel,“ Jane said, “you’re going to have to wait for the DNA results anyway to be sure. Then contact them and sort of feel your way through the conversation. They deserve to know the truth, but may not want to. Let them ask what they want to know.“
    On the way home, Shelley said, “I’m wondering about something I think is too bizarre to even mention to anyone but you.“
    “I love your most bizarre ideas. Shoot.“
    “Okay. Since John Bunting got the forged prescription from his old druggist friend, what else might he have gotten under the table years ago?“
    Jane thought for a moment. “Something to create a miscarriage? Or even three of them? Jeepers, Shelley. My grandmother told me there used to be a woman in town who grew rue plants to give girls who were ‘in trouble’ to get rid of unwanted pregnancies. She said that some part of the plant, crushed up, could do that.“
    “Which part?“
    “I don’t know. She didn’t go that far. Maybe the flowers, or the leaves or the roots. Or it could just be an old wives’ tale.“
    Shelley actually slowed down the minivan and pulled into a parking lot and came to a full stop. “Should we tell Ms. Bunting this?“
    “No. She’s as smart as we are. And if the miscarriages happened when they were in or near Chicago, instead of Europe, when she did carry to full term, she’s capable of figuring this out herself. Especially since she knows what her husband and his druggist friend did recently. She knows how to use the Internet; she could figure this out. In fact, I was looking up herbs once, and think I ran across a warning about rue regarding the various dangers of it. Something about mucous membranes.“
    “I can’t believe we’re sitting here in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart talking about mucous membranes,“ Shelley said with a shudder. “So we won’t mention this to her. Unless she wavers about the divorce.“
    “Shelley,