Between the Spirit and the Dust

Chapter Nineteen

Sophia Jones still cut an impressive figure, even with the dark circles under her eyes, her slightly smudged eyeliner and the way she kept patting down the flyaway strands of her hair. Today she was dressed in a chocolate brown trench coat, which she removed showing off the black sheath dress that she was wearing underneath.

Even though she wasn’t technically a suspect, she was still escorted to an interrogation room which had a one-way mirror. Shepherd also told her that because she was here voluntarily, she was free to leave anytime she wanted. 

Sophia Jones seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. She hadn’t even looked at Collins or Evie when they walked into the room.

Max and I were watching from behind the mirror.

Shepherd would’ve been there if not for the sudden call that he received about another team in his division who’d caught sight of Dylan Fuller and Kristen Hart. Dylan Fuller was an infamous journalist, who’d broken news of many of the political scandals this year. His girlfriend Kristen Hart was rumored to be an espionage expert and the reason for his scoops. The team needed backup and Shepherd had to leave. 

Evie cleared her throat, alerting Sophia to her presence. “Good evening, Sophia. I didn’t expect to see you.”

Sophia’s smile didn’t reach her eyes when she replied, “Good evening.”

“Why don’t you start by telling us why you called the hotline?” asked Collins, taking the seat opposite her. His tone was casual but from the way he was clenching his jaw, he was anything but relaxed.

“I have information to share with the both of you, of course,” said Sophia. “I was just wondering how to begin.”

“Let’s start with your relationship with Gabriel St. Clair.” Evie folded her arms. “You’re an intelligent woman, you must know it doesn’t look good for you to not have mentioned this earlier on.”

Sophia shrugged. “There’s not much to say. Gabriel and I used to be childhood best friends because I was only four years older than him. At that age it didn’t matter that I was the housekeeper’s daughter.”

We’d pulled up Sophia Jones’s academic records earlier on. She’d skipped three grades and graduated from high school at fifteen, finished college at eighteen and completed her master’s degree at twenty-one. She’d became a professor one year ago. 

Sophia’s smile grew bitter. “As it turned out, Gabriel was actually my half-brother.”

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that again?” asked Evie, her eyes widening. Next to her, Collins had balled his fists. 

“When Gabriel was nine years old, his mother found out that Kenneth St. Clair was my father.” She leaned forward at them, her face twisted in an ugly smirk. “Guess Kenneth couldn’t keep it in his pants.” 

Behind the one-way mirror, I took Max’s hand, getting the feeling that everything was about to go downhill with this interview. 

“Karen was livid, of course. But Karen, being Karen, decided that appearances were more important than the truth and stayed with Kenneth. And she so very generously allowed my mother to stay on as the housekeeper and talked Kenneth into slipping her child maintenance money.” Sophia barked out a short laugh. “She just wanted to keep us around so that Kenneth could have a daily reminder of the consequences of his cheating that’s all. But God she must’ve been quietly crazy with rage that Gabriel and I became friends.” 

“When did you find out about this? And does Gabriel know?” demanded Collins. He looked as though he wanted to arrest Sophia right there and then, just for being related to Gabriel. “And did you know about what Gabriel was doing? With those girls and the killings?”