I got angry. And yes, it was predictable, and yes, it’s my go-to emotion, my own particular default mode. But if I was right, someone or something was suffering for Mary Sudbury’s sins. If you ask me, heaven and hell have a lot to answer for. “Do you know where she is now?”

Emma Sudbury gave me a stricken look. “Gone. I tried. All these years, I’ve tried to provide for her. God knows, I’ve suffered.”

“But she met someone, didn’t she?” Cody prompted her. “Someone like her?”

She nodded again. “She said it was love. True love, even though it was forbidden to the likes of them.”

I glanced at Stefan. “Forbidden?”

He shrugged. “Ill-advised, for reasons you and I have discussed. No doubt that is why Ray confided only in a mortal companion. Had I known, I would certainly have done my best to end it.”

“What can you tell us about him?” Cody asked. “Name? Description? Where did they meet?”

“She said his name was Raymond.” Emma shook her head. “But I’m afraid there’s not much I can tell you. Mary was . . . secretive. Most of the time, she was docile. But every year, around the anniversary of . . . of her son’s death, it got bad. I couldn’t control her. I’d find her . . . I’d find her in places where you’d find children. Playgrounds, schools. Staring at them with that . . . that hunger.” She shuddered. “And I was always afraid . . . She didn’t, did she? It’s not a missing child you’re looking for, is it?”

“No, ma’am,” Cody said. “It’s nothing like that. We’re actually looking for this Raymond. We think your sister may be with him.”

A measure of tension went out of her body. “Oh, I’m sure of it. She said he would provide for her, for both of them. She said she knew what a burden she’d been to me, and that it wouldn’t go on any longer.” She smiled with sorrow, gazing into the distance. “It’s true; it got harder and harder as I grew old and Mary remained unchanged. I worried terribly about what would happen when I was gone. And yet, now that it’s Mary who’s gone, I fear and worry nonetheless, and there is no one to take the fear away.”

“You took a heavy burden on yourself,” Stefan said to her. “One no one was meant to bear alone.”

“She was my sister,” Emma Sudbury said simply. “And there was no one else. It wasn’t her fault she was broken.”

“No,” he agreed. “It wasn’t.”

Cody cleared his throat. “Any information you have might be helpful to us, ma’am. Any detail, no matter how small. Do you have any idea where Mary is now?”