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Obviously, I've read several times that the WS often gets a secret cell phone after D-day.

My WH has his own cell, and he has a blackberry for work. The blackberry is for e-mail only. He says he doesn't know the phone number for it, he says it is pre-programmed to only allow him to call certain work-related numbers.

WH travels for work every week, and calls me every night.

A few nights ago, we got cut off several times. There was some storm activity in the area. He called me right back every time to re-establish the conversation. The next day, he says he called a couple of times but couldn't get a connection. I saw that he called while I was in the shower so I called him on his own cell. We talked a few minutes and then suddenly we were cut off. I waited for him to call back, which is what he would usually do. The phone rang right away, I looked at call display, it was a number I didn't recognize, I answered it, and it was my husband! I immediately said "that's weird, your call came from a different number." He said something like that is weird, and picked up the original conversation.

Obviously, my mind immediately goes to "secret cell phone." Later, I googled the number and all I was able to find out was that it was a cell phone from a city near our area with a different service than we usually use.

I didn't say anything at the time, but I brought it up later and asked him if he has a secret cell phone. He said no, he maintains that he called me from his own cell phone. He says that towers must have crossed signals or whatever, says it has to be a technical issue of some sort, was adamant that he would prove to me when he got home that he made the call from his own cell phone, the call would be in his history.

Problem - the call is not in his history.

He was really upset about this. Checking the history on my computer, I can see that he spent a lot of time researching cell calls coming from a number other than the phone being used. He also called his cell company while I was there trying to see if this was possible. They had no record of him making the call.

He told me to call the number. I have. Multiple times. At different times of the day. The customer is never available. The phone is obviously turned off. I told him that if it was him, obviously he turned off the phone, ditched it, gave it someone, etc. I told him that the only way I could see to possibly trace this phone was to hire a PI. He gave me the go-ahead to do so. However, I think it would probably be a waste of money. Can't anyone buy a cell phone without it tracing to them? Seriously, I don't know. I'm not into cell phones. I hate them. I have one for emergency only, and rarely use it, it's old and I know little about them.

Does anyone know anything about cell technology? Could something have crossed towers or wires or whatever? My #1 conclusion is that my WH has (or had) a secret cell phone, period. But even I have to admit that it would be strange for him to be talking to me on the phone which I called, we get cut off and then he picked up a different phone and called me right back, knowing full well that we have call display. It would make sense that he'd just call me back on the phone he had in his hand already, especially since I believe he was driving at the time I called.

He was super upset about this. He is saying and doing the right things otherwise. He answers all of the questions that I ask even if the answer is not anything I want to hear. He immediately brought this situation up at our next MC session, he cried, he kept asking how can I prove I don't have something I don't have?

He is lying to you. The only signals that got crossed are the ones in his head reminding him which phone to use for you and which one to use for his whorefriend.

He has (or had) a secret cell phone. If you hire a PI it will do no good if he purchased a prepaid cell with cash. If I were you I'd start digging and investigating. His affair has gone underground.

He's lying.

Im sorry.

My wife and I both have work and personal phones, we both travel constantly and also call each other from landlines in foreign cities. Never once have we experienced what you describe. It sounds bizarre. Any chance he was drinking that night? That could explain the wrong phone being used. But I'd be very suspicious. Sounds like a "burner".

He's lying but I actually don't think he has a secret phone. He called from the blackberry!

Call the number while he has the blackberry in his hand (and it's turned on).

(edited to add): You are correct! He can pick up a pre-paid cell phone anywhere and there is VERY little (if any) info a PI could find on that. But, I still say it's his blackberry.

[This message edited by Tesa at 4:29 PM, August 19th (Monday)]

I considered that it is the blackberry. However, because it's for work I don't think he'd dare turn it off.

He's lying. I'm not an expert but I'm pretty sure cell phones don't work like that.

It's probably not turned off, it's just on silent or he added your number to the "reject call list" (like after the 1st time you called the number) and it automatically goes to voicemail.

Do you know how to call from a blocked number? Try calling it from either another number or after blocking your number. Call it when he is in front of you with the phone.

I am not tech savy enough to know how to do it but I think you can get an app to add a second phone line to some smartphones. Perhaps that would explain why he got mixed up juggling the phone numbers on the same phone.

Most likely, he has a secret phone and just forgot that he wasn't supposed to call you from it when he called you back.

BUT, in his small defense, for almost 2 years now, I receive phone calls for the University of Utah's Attorney General. Somehow back in November 2011, my cell number got crossed with someone's desk number. So if their customers call 801-587-XXXX,the number on their bill collection letter, they get transferred to my cell at 214-587-XXXX.

It's crazy! No one can figure it out. Verizon gave up. University of Utah refuses to change their bill collection number. So I get people leaving me messages about their outstanding bills all the time - and some even leave their credit card numbers to pay their bills! (I call those back and tell them not to be stupid and be glad I'm honest!)

My point is - crazy shit can happen!

...I think you can get an app to add a second phone line to some smartphones

That's where I'd put my money and you'd be amazed how easy it is to do. Most apps are free and calls won't show up on the bill. There's apps for texting too. Sad really the lengths people will go to to cheat.

TextPlus is one of the more common text/calling apps. It goes around the service provider and gives a second phone number and texting number. (OW recommended it to my DD so she could text her daughter and become the bestest of friends. Little did I know she was also using it to contact my WH)

I don't know him, but his reactions sound plausible for innocence. On the other hand, I've seen some stone-cold psychopaths on this board who could lie like this no problem. But your run-of-the-mill WS would default to anger and defensiveness instead.

I'm going with the majority..he's lying. I think he brain farted for an instant and called you from the wrong phone. Losing calls happens, calls coming in with a diff #, I don't think so and the fact its not on the usage bill..nope doesn't make sense. I also agree with he's put u on the reject call list. Try it when he's holding it to see if it rings but most likely not. I'm sorry.

DO NOT give him a head's up that you're going to do this. Have him hand you the Blackberry. Call your own phone from that Blackberry, that will give you the number of it. Then call the number you suspect might be another cell phone from your own phone while you're still holding the blackberry. AGAIN, NO WARNING. Just say, "Come here, honey, I want to do something."

It would be weird to be so dense as to call from the wrong phone. I mean, you litterally have to put one phone down and pick another up in a matter of, what, 30 seconds? I'd also imagine that, if he had a secret phone, your number would NOT be in it. So erroneously using the secret phone would require him to dial a number, which I presume would be out of the norm (who dials anymore when you can save numbers in your contacts?)

But giving the phone a second number? Then I could see him easily (accidentally) toggling between apps or numbers and ringing you from the wrong one.

EIther way, it is fishy as hell, but I'd spend less time trying to find a physical second phone. I'd either focus on the Blackberry or his normal phone - but with apps.

We all know I'm suspicious, and I'm not trying to defend him, per se. Frankly, I hardly know what an app is since I'm so not into cell phones, and to the best of my knowledge, he doesn't have any either. He's not really that into cell phones either (of course I would have said he wasn't into prostitutes either - what did I know?) I'm not even sure either of his phones are app friendly. He's also one of those people who probably can't even tell you our home phone number because everything is programmed and on speed dial.

Like I said, I'm pretty sure he was driving when I called him and we were cut off and he called me back within seconds. That's why it seems unlikely that he would have dug out a different phone - first because he was driving/preoccupied and second because he called back immediately so you'd tend to think he called from the phone that was already in his hand.

Those are the things that make me think it's possible something crazy happened. Those 2 things seem logical to me. The rest of it, no.

I hate that I even have to think this way.

I will get ahold of the Blackberry this weekend, and try calling our number just to see what happens.

[This message edited by LonelySilhouette at 9:17 PM, August 19th (Monday)]

my ws has a work phone and he isn't suppose to call people with it. He has in error called me with it and I said ummmm wrong phone!

I would vote for blackberry or burner. Sorry.

He is gaslighting you.

It's either his work phone, or more likely, an app on his phone with a secret phone number.

If his personal phone is Android and he has an app like Skype or Google Voice installed, depending on how it's configured, it will ask him which # to dial from. In his haste to call you back, I suspect he chose the wrong #.

I'd suggest you grab his phone and have someone technical look at it... but it wouldn't really matter would it... because you already know the answer. A "tower glitch / wires crossed" can NOT explain all three pieces of evidence occuring at the same time. 1) A stange number on Caller ID. 2) No record of the call being made on your providers statement. 3) No record in the phone's call log.

Sorry, but he's using an app, or was stupid enough to call you back from another phone.

And the reason he is super upset about it is because he got caught on such a simple mistake.

Also, if the app is "signed out" it wont ring - equivalent of a phone being turned off. Does it go straight to voicemail, or does it play a recorded message like "The AT&T subscriber you are trying to reach is unavalible..."?

[This message edited by RavenWood at 10:47 PM, August 19th (Monday)]