it?"
"A personal one, from a Miss Sophie Gallo. Shall I forward the information? I have an email address for Katrina Halliday on record. Is that correct?"
"Yes, please do. Thank you so much for your help." I hung up before she could ask me about the donation.
"What did they say?" asked Katrina.
"The ticket wasn't a gift from the theater," I told her. "It was a gift from Sophie!"
Katrina's forehead wrinkled. "It's written on The Playhouse letterhead."
"She must have faked it somehow. I don't think it would be too hard to do. The letterhead might be real even if the message isn't from them."
"Why would she do that? Sophie didn't even know Austen then."
"That’s a very good question."
"Maybe there was another reason?"
"If there was, I'll find out," I told her. "I think I need to speak to Austen again. Until then, can you keep this strictly between us?"
Katrina contemplated that and just when I thought she would refuse, she nodded. "I'm not comfortable about keeping secrets from Austen but I'll wait until you have more information."
Katrina walked me out of the building to the chauffeur, who was waiting with the car. Even though it seemed extravagant, I appreciated it and asked him to return me to the office. The whole drive there, I wondered why Sophie would have orchestrated the meeting with Austen under the guise of pretending the theater had sent him a gift. I knew when I spoke to him that he wouldn't be happy about the subterfuge. I had to have more answers for him than that. I had to know why.
As the car rolled towards the agency, I checked my social media accounts, sucking in a breath when I saw a notification in my private messages. Annie Woodley replied, saying she was happy to talk, and wondered what I wanted to know? She included her cellphone number and told me to call her as soon as I was available. I could hardly wait until I got out of the car and hotfooted it past Jim the Doorman, jogging up the stairs.
Solomon had already left so the office was quiet. I dropped into my chair and pulled out my file, a notepad and pen before dialing the number.
"Hello?" A soft-spoken woman answered.
"Hi, Annie? This is Lexi Graves. I got your message. Thank you for taking the time to get back to me."
"No problem at all. I have to admit I was surprised. I think about Sophie a lot but no one's ever bothered to ask me about her. A few of us get together every year to celebrate her life."
"That's a lovely thing to do."
"We all miss her terribly, even though she kind of dropped out of touch when she married Zach."
"She did?"
"Yeah," sighed Annie. "Anyway, what can I help you with? I'm not sure why a private investigator would be looking into Sophie. She died... It still seems like yesterday, you know, and then I realize a couple of years have gone by and the shock starts all over again. How did you know to contact me?"
"I found your name in a newspaper report after the accident," I told her. "Sophie and Zach's name came up in relation to an investigation and I wondered what you could tell me about them?"
"Sophie? Plenty. We were close friends for years, all the way through college. We shared a lot of classes together and were roommates until our final year when we got tired of bunking with so many other girls and took an apartment together. She was the sweetest person. A little on the quiet side but passionate about so many things. She was a terrific listener and she volunteered at an old people's home once a week. I'm sorry, is that information any use to you?"
"It's great, thanks," I assured her. "What about Zach? When did she meet him?"
"I'm not sure when exactly — I think we were twenty-eight — but she told me they met at a bar one night and he asked her for a date. They had coffee somewhere and he sent her flowers the next day. I thought he was so chivalrous. He was always doing sweet stuff like that. Making dates, giving her presents."
"Sounds romantic."
"We all thought so but..." She trailed off.
"But?"
"She stayed at his house one weekend and when she came back, she had marks on her arm. Like he grabbed her really hard. She said it was nothing and I guess I figured she was right so I didn't think anything of