her spare time. She likes art and history but said she wasn't good enough to do anything professional with them. I liked her humility. I used to meet women at work who were always incredibly career-driven like me. I'm sure I was just a stair on the ladder to some of them, a way to get ahead in their vocations or increase their social standing. It was nice to meet someone who was such a free spirit and didn't care about any of that stuff. Sophie made me relax. She made me see there was more to life than closing the next business deal."
"What about Sophie's friends?"
"Sophie is pretty shy. She doesn't have a lot of friends. She introduced me to her colleagues at the museum but other than those people, she hung out with Zach or preferred to be by herself. She said she was content with that but looked sad to me sometimes. Like she was lonely without acknowledging that feeling."
"What about school friends?"
"She didn't grow up in Montgomery so she doesn't have any here."
"Where did she grow up? Is she in touch with any friends on social media?"
"She was raised in Milwaukee but she and Zach haven't been back there in a long time. She doesn't have any social media presence."
I frowned. "None?"
"None at all. She said she likes real life, not online life. I know it's unusual, perhaps, in this day and age, but I don't have any social media either. I'm really not interested in seeing photos of people's lunch or engaging in one-upmanship. I'd rather pick up a phone and connect that way."
While Austen was talking, I took notes, not that there was much information to record. No family except the brother. No career and currently, no job. No close friends but a few former colleagues. An interest in theater, interior design and art. For a woman in her thirties, there wasn't a lot to Sophie. That was curious in itself, although not outside the realm of normality. It would, however, make checking up on Sophie more difficult.
"Nothing stands out as too abnormal," I told him. "But all those things added up to make you suspicious about her identity?"
"Yes, the lack of any substance behind the things she told me. And then there was the argument."
"The argument?"
"I came home early one night and instead of coming through the front door like I normally did, I walked around the back. I wanted to see how the renovation looked from the yard but when I got to the patio area, I heard voices talking. The back door was open. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I did. I listened, so yeah, I guess I did mean to. It was Sophie and Zach."
"What were they talking about?"
"He said something like 'do you really think he'd love you if he knew who you actually were?' And Sophie replied, ‘I don't know and I don't want him to ever find out but I'm not going anywhere even if this started out wrong.’ It didn't make any sense."
"Did you overhear anything else?"
"Yes. Zach said 'he'll never believe you anyway. You're crazy and you always have been. You only survive because of everything I do for you and us.' Sophie said she was staying and he should leave and Zach said, 'Maybe I should tell him all about your past and we'll see what he does about it. I bet he'd pay to get rid of you. I'm owed that money and if you screw up again, I'll get it somehow.' Sophie said that 'things have changed' and then I heard a smash and Sophie yelped. I ran around the house and rushed through the doors. I thought he hurt her."
I pursed my lips, thinking. "Did he?"
"I don't know. One of the boxes of our stuff was on the floor and Sophie was crouched over it. She had tears in her eyes. When she saw me, she looked startled and afraid. Zach had his fists clenched until he saw me and quickly said what a klutz Sophie was. I gave her a hug and told her not to worry about the stuff because we needed to get ready to go out to dinner. There wasn't really one, but I wanted Zach to leave the house in the least threatening way possible. He left and we spent the evening relaxing but Sophie was really quiet."
"Did you ask her about what you heard?"
"Yes, and she brushed it off as a silly fight, saying