"The girls thought he was joking," Hausen continued, "and one of them put her hand on Gerard's arm to say something-- I don't recall what. But Gerard said how dare she talk down to him and he pushed her away. She stumbled back over her own foot, into the river. The water wasn't deep there, but of course the poor girl didn't know that. She screamed. God, how she screamed. Her friend dropped her camera and ran to help, but Gerard grabbed her. He held her with the inside of his elbow around her neck. She was gasping, the girl in the water was screaming, and I was paralyzed. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. Finally, I ran to help the girl in the river. She had swallowed water and was coughing. I struggled to get her to stand still, let alone pull her out. Gerard was angry that I tried to help, and while he yelled at me he held the girl very hard…"

Hausen stopped. The anguish in his eyes had spread. His brow was pale now, and his mouth was slack. His hands were trembling. He balled them to make them stop.

Hood took a step toward him. "You don't have to continue--"

"I do," Hausen insisted. "Now that Gerard is back, the story must be told. I may fall, but he must be brought down as well." Hausen rolled his lips together and took a moment to compose himself. "Gerard dropped the girl to the ground," he continued. "She was unconscious. Then he ran to the river, jumped in, and pushed the other girl down. I tried to stop him, but I lost my footing and went under. Gerard held her there"-- Hausen was pushing down with his hands-- "yelling things about American girls being whores. By the time I got up it was too late. The girl was bobbing in the river, her brown hair floating behind her. Gerard left her, pulled himself from the water, and dragged the other girl in. Then he told me to come away with him. I was in a daze. I fumbled in the dark, picking my things up, and went with him. God help me, without even knowing if the girl he'd choked was dead I left with him."

"And no one saw you?" Hood asked. "No one heard and came to see what was happening?"

"Perhaps they heard, but no one cared. Students were always shouting about something, or screaming because of the rats by the river. Perhaps they thought the girls were making love by the river. The shrieks-- it could have been that."

"What did you do after you left?" Hood asked.