He did not deceive her in spite of her intelligence. He used her intelligence — let her explain the things she noticed to herself, let her own skepticism be satisfied by his explanations, let the relationship itself become the thing she was protecting rather than investigating.
—
## A Private Investigator and a Question She Already Knew Was Coming
By early 2007, after twelve years of marriage, Sandra Boss had begun to ask the question she had deferred for all that time.
She filed for divorce. She hired a private investigator and asked the investigator to find out who her soon-to-be ex-husband actually was.
The investigator found very little. There were no records of Clark Rockefeller before approximately 1993. No school records, no family documents, no verifiable history. The absence was its own kind of answer.
She filed an affidavit in probate court seeking full custody of their daughter — they had one child, Reigh, born in 2001 — citing concerns about the child’s safety with a man whose identity was unverifiable. He appeared in court to contest this but could not establish his identity. A settlement was negotiated.
Under the terms of the settlement, she received full custody. He received $800,000, two cars, her engagement ring, and a dress. He would have three supervised visits per year with Reigh.
The divorce was finalized in December 2007. Boss moved to London with Reigh, where her McKinsey work continued. In the months that followed, he made no contact with his daughter.
He was, it would later emerge, making plans.