Chapter 3 - The Dead Woman Was Not Sophie
We went to the police station.
Not home.
Sophie insisted.
Detective Lena Ortiz had worked the original fire.
When she saw Sophie, she sat down without speaking.
Fingerprints confirmed her identity.
Then DNA did too.
The woman declared dead after the warehouse fire had never been genetically identified.
I had been told identification was made through jewelry, dental comparison, and personal effects.
That was only partly true.
The body was severely burned.
Dental records were incomplete.
The wedding ring found nearby matched Sophie’s.
A necklace carried her initials.
The medical examiner listed identification as presumptive pending additional confirmation.
Somewhere between that report and what reached me, “presumptive” disappeared.
I signed cremation authorization believing the body was my wife.
I had mourned a stranger.
Ortiz reopened the file immediately.
Then Sophie asked, “Where is Adrian Cross?”
My brother.
I had not spoken to Adrian in almost two years.
He left Colorado after the fire investigation ended.
May you like
Sophie stared at me.
“He’s the reason I couldn’t come home.”
