Page 25 of Mission: Possible

"You didn't think she would? It seems like she was on the same page as you?"

"I thought she might want to stay closer to Zach, but yeah, turned out she was on the same page. We've been talking about starting a family and making that house our forever, family home. We didn't want to raise a family in my apartment. Even though Sophie never protested, I thought it was important for her to have her own home, and not feel like a guest in mine. I don't like Zach, I'll admit that, but I don't intend to cut them off from one another. I just wanted a little extra space for our life as a married couple, and later, for our family."

"What did Sophie say about Zach's idea to include an annex?"

"Privately, she agreed with me. She wanted more space too. She was excited about the new plans and decorating and making all the decisions. I'm not particularly interested in interior design although I like to have some input but Sophie is really creative. She loves art and she knows how to put things together, what colors work best to complement each other and things like that. I think Zach scares her sometimes, too much for her to say no to his face. So I told him. I don't mind being the bad guy in that scenario. I'm supposed to protect my wife."

"How has their relationship been since that argument?"

"Increasingly more arguments. It's been okay, mostly. Zach is still at the house quite often. He visits after work and sometimes spends his evenings with us, or Sophie when I'm not home. He just turns up and wanders in. It really annoys the work crew."

"So he still comes over a lot despite your mutual decision that you didn't want him to."

Austen nodded. "Way too much. He crosses boundaries too. I found him in my home office last week."

I frowned. "What was he doing in there?"

"That's what I asked. He said he was just looking for a pen but he had one in the pocket of his padded vest and I swear I closed my laptop when I left, but it was open. My laptop is password protected but I bet he tried to gain access."

"Do you have any idea why?"

"No, but we had a weird conversation about life insurance a couple weeks back. He asked me how much Sophie would get if I died."

"Wow!"

Austen blew out a breath. "Yeah."

"I assume you weren't talking about the benefits of life insurance because he wanted a policy?"

"No, far from it. Zach was talking about investments before the question popped out. I was surprised. He brushed it off and said he was only concerned for his sister since they didn't come from much but it seemed off." He glanced at Sophie. "Perhaps it was nothing. I'm here, I'm okay, and Sophie is the one who’s lying unconscious."

"I'm sorry if this seems indelicate, but does Sophie have life insurance?"

"Yes, she does. Before you ask, I'm the beneficiary but it's essentially just legalese. Crass as it sounds, I brought all the money into the relationship and Sophie brought all the happiness. Financially, if she died, I would receive what I already had. There's no financial motive to murder her, if that's what you're asking."

"Do you have a pre-nup?" I asked.

"I get why you're asking," said Austen, "and I'm not offended. Yes, perhaps that would give me a motive if I wanted to get rid of her without a divorce, but I can assure you I want my wife to stay alive and live well. We have a pre-nup that's airtight. My lawyers insisted on it but I gave Sophie the money to engage her own lawyer to keep it fair. I would never bulldoze her from a position of power. In short, Sophie wouldn't receive any payout until a minimum of five years of marriage unless children arrived. There isn't any codicil on having children, only a clause regarding the manner in which the marriage dissolved, if it did. I can send you the paperwork. So, you see, if I wanted out of our marriage right now, I could walk away absolutely fine. Financially and materially, I wouldn't lose a thing. I really don't harbor any motive to hurt my wife."

I had to agree; it didn't sound like Austen stood to gain anything from his wife's demise. Even though it didn't offer me any answers as to why someone would want to hurt Sophie, it temporarily eliminated Austen as a suspect. If he didn't want to be married, he could easily get a divorce without losing anything. Of course, Sophie did suffer a horrible fall but the suspicious bleaching of the stairs threw a shadow over such a basic accident. There was another consideration I hadn't explored yet: would someone hurt Sophie in order to hurt Austen? He already established that he had money and power. Did someone envy that?

"How did you two meet?" I asked.

"At the theater. We both love Shakespeare and the theater in general, and we attended a fundraiser at The Playhouse. Sophie and I happened to be seated next to each other. I was alone and so was she so we got to talking. I previously bumped into a friend and his wife in the lobby and arranged to meet them at the bar for a drink afterwards. I asked Sophie to join us." Austen smiled. "I asked for her phone number and she told me if it were meant to be, fate would bring us together. Then she disappeared into the night. I thought I'd never see her again."

"But you did," I prompted.

Austen glanced at Sophie and reached for her hand, smiling. "Two days later. It was raining and I was leaving the office. We both raced for the same cab and when I realized who she was... The rest, as they say, is history."

"Sounds so romantic."

"So long as you don't think about me getting drenched with my hair plastered to my head." Austen laughed. "Instead of taking that cab, we decided to dry out at a nearby bar and that turned into dinner. Sophie gave me her umbrella that night and told me to find a unique way to return it."

"Did you?"

"I have tried several unique ways to return it but I still have it. She just gives it back and tells me to keep trying." He laughed again, the lines around his eyes crinkling and warming his face. "I'm thinking of having it turned into an art object and installing it in the house permanently."

"That sounds fun."