‘It was me who killed Trine Rickards,’ I say, straight into his ear, as he carries me toward the door. ‘I shot her. Point-blank. Like you shot Leah. We played Russian Roulette and it was me who pulled the trigger. I saw her go from everything – every beautiful, living, irreplaceable thing, to nothing at all. I didn’t have a choice, Eirik. My mind blanked it out and Elisabeth told everyone that it was the man, Rodriguez, who just randomly shot her, but it wasn’t, it was me. He’s still doing time, for fuck’s sake. And all those years, Elisabeth kept the truth quiet, trying to protect me and it killed her, really. No, actually, that’s not true; it was basically Leah who killed her.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Leah. You and I are both Leah’s victims, Eirik. She set you up, and me. None of this is your fault. None of it. You have to listen to me. She infiltrated my life, holding the twisted beliefs that she was somehow freeing me by telling me the so-called truth. But her truths were all lies. Can’t you see? It’s all Leah’s fault. She went and found Elisabeth at Villa Vinternatt and convinced her that she should speak out about what happened to Trine, that it was me who shot her. Elisabeth then came to me, wanting to speak about Carúpano, saying she couldn’t bear to carry it alone anymore. She left me no choice, Eirik. And it was all because of Leah. It’s her fault.’

‘What do you mean, she left you no choice?’

‘I couldn’t let Elisabeth use the most personal, painful thing that has ever happened to me, a terrible trauma that’s ruined so many lives, as some kind of entertainment. And fucking stupid Leah got it all wrong. She thought that Elisabeth killed herself because she couldn’t bear keeping Carúpano secret any longer and wanted to protect me from knowing the truth. But she did tell me, and that’s why she died, not because she didn’t. And she was going to tell everyone else, splashing it out for all to see in some lurid art house picture book. Think about it. It would have cost you the elections, Eirik. Imagine the headlines – Conservative Party’s PM candidate’s wife is a teenage murderer? And think about the poor Rickards; it would have killed them. She left me no choice.’

‘No choice for what.’

‘I got rid of her, Eirik.’ He stares at me, sheer shock etched on his face. ‘I killed her. For us. Just like you killed Leah for us.’