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“She convinced you as much?”

“Yes. And I’ve done some of my own research. Like I said.”

“Good friends with my Devra, are you?” Frederick tilted his head.

“You could say that.”

The man’s stare was penetrating, heated. Bradley feared globs of sweat would come trickling down his own forehead any second now.

“Good,” Frederick said, his intense expression replaced with a soft smile. “She could use a few of those.”

Bradley cleared his throat again—was the air a bit dry in here? “Either way, for the sake of my investigation, let’s work off the premise that the curse is real. That something caused it. And if there was a specific cause, that means there’s also a specific solution.”

“A solution?” The man’s eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. “Is that what you’re after?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, I’ll be. Why didn’t you say so right from the start? This changes everything. Go on, then, ask away. Anything you want to know. I’m all yours, son.”

“All right. I have a few working theories, but I’m trying to figure out what exactly was going on in your lives when the curse began. Do you remember when that was?”

Frederick sucked in a long breath. “When did it start? A long time ago, I can tell you that much. Seems like from the moment Devra was born there was a dark cloud around the holidays. But that can’t be right, can it?” He thumped a knuckle against his temple. “The old memory isn’t as good as it used to be.”

He went quiet for a while, and Bradley did his best to rein in his desire to fill the silence.

“That house fire, perhaps. God, I remember it like it was yesterday. The fire alarm. Gathering the children in my arms. Huddling outside in the cold. Worrying. That devastated look on my daughter’s face when she saw her Christmas present. Those horrifically ugly toy ponies. Let me tell you, that look she gave me caused more pain than any heart disease ever could.”

“That’s one of Devra’s earliest memories too.” Bradley took out his notebook and jotted down some notes. “And can you think of a specific object that came into your family’s possession around that time? Maybe a family heirloom? Some old relic?”

“An old relic? Who are you, Indiana Jones?” Frederick’s forehead creased. “No wonder my daughter likes you so much.” His chuckle eased Bradley back against his seat. “Can’t say I recall much of anything that stands out.”

“Think about it over the next few days,” Bradley said. “And let Devra know if anything comes to mind. It could be important.”

Frederick nodded. “All right. What’s next?”

“I wanted to ask you…” Bradley adjusted one of the pillows on the sofa. “I wanted to ask you about Devra’s mother.”

“You mean my wife?”

“Yes, her too.”

“They are one and the same, my son. Never received any divorce papers in the mail. Nothing. Lord knows where she ended up.”

Bradley’s shoulders slumped. “I was hoping you would have some idea where she might be. There’s nothing about her on the web or social media. We’ve hit a bit of a dead end.”

“Devra’s trying to track down her mother?”

“She is. I mean, we both are.”

The man made a noise halfway between a harrumph and a grunt.

“For practical purposes, only. We’re hoping she might know something that could help us break the curse.

Frederick sighed. “My guess is she probably changed her name. She was never a fan of Harrison. Or Maddison, for that matter. Too normal, she would always say, for someone destined to be a star.”

“You never tried to track her down yourself?”

“Oh, I made the obligatory phone calls, checked in with the hospitals, but there was no mystery to her leaving, so my search was…half-hearted, I suppose. I decided to spend what energy I had then on the kids. What was the point in trying to track down someone who didn’t want to be here in the first place?” He blinked a few times, clearing images from behind his eyelids. “The kids never forgave her, but why the hell should they? Their mother abandoned them. Truth be told, it was me she wasn’t happy with, and sometimes I think she was right to resent me. I stole her chance of becoming who she was meant to be. I was fifteen years older when she got pregnant. I should have known better.” He stabbed a finger at Bradley. “This stays between us though, you hear? Don’t want my children thinking they were accidents on top of everything else. They’ve been through enough.”