Page 109 of Until He Confesses

"Do you know him, personally?" I asked.

"No," she replied. "He contacted me through Instagram when he couldn't reach Callie. Someone must have advised him that we're close or perhaps he was even around back then."

"Right," I replied. "Can you get me his phone number? Or can you send me the Instagram profile he used to contact you?"

"Sure," she said. "Um... can I know why you would be reaching out to him?" she asked.

"To find out why he is concocting this story. My suspicion is that he might not actually be lying since he has stuck to the same story for so long."

"So, you-"

"No," I replied, knowing instantly where she was headed. "I had a twin brother. We were identical, so I’m almost certain now this is where the misunderstanding is coming from."

"Oh..." she said, and then she went quiet. "Wait a second. You have a twin brother?"

"Yes," I replied.

"You're joking?" she said, and I wondered why she was saying this. "Does Callie know about him?"

"Yes, she does," I replied.

"Oh," she said. "Phew. Haha. I thought maybe that's where the confusion was coming from."

I considered her words and realized that they made sense.

"It might be," I said.

"But she already knows about your brother."

"Yes, but I don't think she knows we're twins. We've never talked about my family in-depth, and I rarely mention him."

"Where is your brother? Can you just call him and ask him?"

"I can't," I replied.

“Are you two estranged?”

“No, he passed away a few years ago,” I said, and she went quiet.

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

“It’s alright.”

“Truly sorry. Do you… do you know though if he was gay? I mean Callie said she saw you… I mean him with another guy, not a girl.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I have no clue, but I'll look into it immediately.”

“Alright,” she said, but just before she ended the call, I stopped her.

“Can… could you do me a favor and withhold this information from Callie in the meantime? I want to launch an investigation into it, and if I come out with anything substantial, I'll let her know.”

“Sure,” she said. “I’ll keep it to myself in the meantime.”

“Thank you,” I said, and the call came to an end.

52

CALLIE

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