brain activity and she's stable. So there's still hope. Let me get you a chair." He moved towards me but I waved him back into his own seat and he slumped gratefully, picking up his wife's hand.
I lifted the chair and moved it to the foot of the bed where I could talk to him more easily. "Alice told me you think this might not have been an accident," I said.
"I don't just think it; I know it," he said with conviction. He stroked his wife's hand with his thumb and sighed. "Sophie was enjoying the renovation and all the different kinds of work it entailed. She was keenly interested in interior design and thought it might be a fun career, so she called it good work experience. But I know she wouldn't have started unscrewing the banisters by herself. It just doesn't make any sense."
"Alice told me the EMTs found a broken section of the banister at the scene that could have been consistent with her fall."
Austen nodded. "Yes, but that doesn't mean it wasn’t planted there."
"Do you think that's what really happened?"
He paused, breathing in and out audibly, and watching Sophie as he thought. "Yes," he said, tearing his gaze away. "I think Sophie was pushed over the rail and someone planted that banister underneath her. I just can't work out why. She was... she is so lovely. Everyone likes her. She's kind. She's a good person." His eyes dropped to the floor and I wondered what he wasn’t telling me. There was something else; I was sure of that.
"I'd like to hear more about her, but first, can you tell me exactly what evidence you have to support your suspicion that her fall wasn't an accident?"
"I've been thinking a lot about this and even found some compelling evidence. I didn't know Sophie was taken to the hospital until a half hour after I got home that day. I switch my phone off while driving so I didn't get the calls from my foreman. As soon as I entered the house, I could see something happened and immediately concluded someone must have fallen down the stairs."
"What gave you that impression?"
“I saw the banister section on the floor, and I started to go upstairs to see what happened. I noticed some spots of blood on the stairs, on the surfaces and the risers. I switched my phone back on and all the missed calls and text messages came in. That was when I realized it was Sophie who got hurt. I jumped straight back into my car and drove to the hospital. Thankfully, Manny stayed with her."
"Manny?"
"Manny Ortega, my foreman. He was the one who found her."
"I see. Please continue."
"I stayed all night at the hospital and then, in the morning, when my wife was pronounced stable, I went home to change before coming straight back. I was so worried it took me a couple of days to think clearly again. Later, I remembered those blood drops and wondered how come I saw them on the stairs if she went through the banister, landing directly on the floor? That didn't make any sense. I thought I might have imagined it so I went back to check and you know what I found?"
"Dried blood?"
Austen shook his head, frowning. "Nothing. No blood drops at all. I thought that's it, I must’ve imagined it. I must have been that distressed. But I know I saw the drops of blood before I was told what happened. I still couldn't imagine why Sophie would lean against the banister or work on it like everyone assumed she did, so I went upstairs and examined it more closely. Ms. Graves, the banister wasn't snapped off like she leaned against it before it collapsed. The panel was purposely unscrewed! I tried to unscrew another panel and another, but it was almost impossible to turn. No way is Sophie strong enough to unscrew any of them!"
"Could she have used a power tool?"
"There weren't any closeby so I asked Manny if Sophie borrowed any tools from him and he said no. I asked him if she discussed working on the banister and he said she had an updated schedule of their projects so she knew they weren't planning to work on the entryway for another couple of weeks. He also said that when they spoke that morning, Sophie mentioned wallpaper samples and said she planned to make a choice that day so we could order it well in advance."
"That