Hallin certainly had a point there, but it was about more serious crimes than that, crimes that would remain unsolved if Sandra didn’t prove that they were all connected in this way. Something the police would never have pulled off on their own. What was more, she hadn’t given Hallin away, since there was no crucial detail relating to him personally. Funnily enough, he seemed to be reading her thoughts.

“I know you haven’t named me or anyone else involved. And I guess you probably consider the book to be an extensive, detailed police report. Smart move—and you’re generating a lot of interest around the case too. The cases, I should say. People will follow as it unfolds and find out who’s who on their own. I’ll be particularly harshly condemned in the eyes of the public since you’ve given them so much understanding of those events that you describe. That’s why I’m begging you, Sandra. Please let me set things right, but don’t ruin my life.”

“You’ve done that all by yourself,” Sandra couldn’t help herself from saying.

She said it slowly and with emphasis on every word, hoping that the message would get through, even though she was talking as if she had a mouth filled with porridge. Hallin frowned and looked at her with suspicion.

“I admit the rape,” he said unexpectedly. “I’m sorry—it was a terrible thing to do and I’m ashamed. I’m prepared to pay the child support that you’ve asked for and stay away from the boy, if that’s how you want it. But stop that serial now, give it an ending that people like, but that has nothing to do with reality. I’ll admit to the hit-and-run, if that’s important to you—but don’t force me to be pilloried as a rapist when it was just a one-time step over the line, an isolated incident. At least give me some humanity.”

He said the last bit while bending forward with his eyes fixed on hers, and with a tap on the laptop at the foot of the bed with his clenched fist. Despite the fact that she had hidden it under the covers, he had still figured out where it was. Sandra opened her eyes wide in horror and shook her head in protest at what he had demonstrated he was capable of and what he presumably intended to do.

“For the love of God, give me some humanity,” he begged again. “For what it’s worth, I also think you ought to consider very carefully whether you really want to publish this, for your own sake. Given you’ve got the wrong end of the stick in a lot of places. Especially on some of the more important stuff, I’d say. Your credibility will be gone if you pursue that line.”