But things were not working out that way.

“I needed the branch,” he finally said. “It’s for something. For somebody.”

“Who?” his mother demanded.

“You don’t know her,” Wunder said evasively. “She’s new in town.”

“Is it the old lady?” Officer Soto said. “The one living in the DoorWay House?”

Wunder’s eyes opened wide. He knew he should deny it, but he was so surprised that he said, “How do you know about her?”

“She’s our newest resident,” the officer said. “And we’ve had some … concerns.” He paused. “Mostly from people visiting the cemetery. It seems she invites, well, funeral attendees in. She’s been sending letters too—or having them delivered, anyway.” He raised his eyebrows at Wunder. “Some people felt like maybe she was spying on them or planning to—to coerce them into giving her money or something. I don’t know.”

“And is she?” Wunder’s mother asked. “Is she spying on people and trying to get their money?”

Officer Soto shrugged. “Well, I don’t know about that. We’ve been trying to determine if she has any legal right to be in the DoorWay House, but the records from that far back are a mess. And she’s very old. I think she’s probably just lonely.”

“But you don’t know that,” Wunder’s mother pressed.

“No,” Officer Soto said. “I don’t know that.” He cracked his knuckles, one side, then the other. “And when I spoke with the police chief in Benedict, he did say there have been other attempts to take branches from that same tree. Apparently, it’s very rare and it’s worth a lot of money.”

“Did she tell you why she wanted the tree branch, Wunder?” Wunder’s father asked.

Wunder didn’t say anything. Officer Soto’s words were playing back in his head—she invites funeral attendees in. How many? he wondered. Everyone? All the friends and families of the dead that she read about in the obituaries?

“Did she ask you to do anything else, Wunder?” Wunder’s mother asked.

Wunder thought about the letters, the dozens of letters he had delivered. Was that what the letters were for? Was she planning to ask for money on the second of November? And the DoorWay Tree? Was she going to sell the branch?

He shook his head.

“You need to look into this,” Wunder’s mother said to Officer Soto. “This old woman—it sounds like she’s preying on grieving families. She’s got some sort of—of mental issue. A sociopath maybe.”

“We’re definitely addressing the issue,” Officer Soto assured her. “But, like I said, I think she’s a lonely old woman who doesn’t mean any harm. It’s probably best if the kids stay away from her though.”

“That’s not good enough!” Wunder’s mother was yelling now. “This woman is luring bereaved, heartbroken children to a condemned house and convincing them to commit crimes for her! What would she have asked them to do next? Steal from us? Break into a store? Vandalize the cemetery?”

“Austra, please,” Wunder’s father said, his voice calm but a strained, forced kind of calm. “I’m sure Officer Soto knows how to do his job.”