“I think they can hardly be blamed for their caution, for even once Gray was gone, his cult lived on. His followers became a pestilence to the community and were routinely run off or hung. Thankfully, none of them were so strong as their first martyr had been. At least, not at the time.”

He retrieved a bundle of papers from between the mattresses and paused, hoping he’d found something of import. But upon a quick examination, he dropped them onto the nightstand and continued his quest and his story. “Now, Eden, tell me—what do you know of Avery Dufresne?”

Ah, here was the connection. “I know he was Eliza’s half brother, and that he was considerably older than she is. He had a child who was a great-grandparent of mine—or some such. The relationships confuse me. I’m not sure how it all fits together.”

“The relationships are convoluted, that much is true. Avery married Mae Jones and they had at least one legitimate child together, but Avery packed up his wife and her two sisters and headed south with the whole crew, and they were never seen or heard from again. However, the middle sister, Willa, had given birth to a child some years before that was believed to have been Avery’s as well. This child remained with relatives when Avery and his harem took off. That was James, who was your mother and aunt’s grandfather. But Avery also had another child by another woman, back before he met your grandmother. From that came a line of cousins I suppose you are unaware of.”

“You’re right—I thought we were pretty much it. You seem to know an awful lot about my family. Did you know who my father was?”

“Yes, but it was hardly my business to tell you, now was it? And it has become something of my job to know. That’s where another beginning comes in—and don’t worry, it works its way back around to Avery. I’m not going as far off topic as you think.”

“Okay.”

About that time Harry gave up on the bed and turned to the wardrobe against the far wall. In it were rows of old-fashioned dresses and skirts, jackets and robes. He pushed them aside and pulled them out a few at a time, examining them and then tossing them on the undone remains of the bed.

My luck wasn’t any better. I’d made my way through all the dresser drawers and had decided to try her bathroom. “Go on,” I said as I opened the narrow door. “I’m going to check in here, but I can still hear you.”