When he had asked if the security was necessary, that it felt wrong, his military escort said, Yes, sir, it is. Whatever you’re feeling is probably right.

Hatred? he had asked.

Yes, sir, that might be right. We are not welcome. By the way, sir, here they do not call the town Foča. They call it Srbinje.

They drove him past two motels in town where women were imprisoned and then to Karaman’s house where Steyn was escorted down the steep driveway, through the iron gate and into the empty two-storey mountain house. The house was dirty, with old blankets in corners, dry garbage in the kitchen. Back on the road, he nodded up the hill and asked what the soldiers were looking for.

Snipers, sir. We have to leave, sir, if you want to catch your plane.

Arrests had been difficult. One accused had tried to drive his car straight into the Stabilisation Force soldiers and they shot him. The second blew himself up with a hand grenade before he could be arrested. William had worked with a lot of murderers but this was a different landscape. He asked his escort, What was your worst fear taking care of me today?

The soldier said, You’d be shot.

William asked what would happen to a woman from there if she testified and then went back.

They’d probably kill her.

Karla said, Steyn asked me to have coffee with him in his office when he got back but there were no machines and he had no cups and he had to apologize that there was nothing to drink. He pulled a chair out from behind his empty desk to face the only other chair in the undecorated room and he said, I have been tasked with leading this case.

Karla smiled ruefully and said, How often had I seen men scoop up work done by others as their own. I knew how they feign temporary disadvantage if it meant a long-term win. But I did respect that he had gone to the crime scene. I saw that he was a formidable negotiator. He asked me, What do you want?

I intended to stick to my position. I refused any silly tit-for-tat games with him. I told him I did not want a man to lead. This was no game of tactics. Even the male investigators were a disturbance to the witnesses.

I told him, I want to interview all the witnesses.

I watched him control himself and then he asked, Which of the witnesses do you think would refuse to come if they thought they would be questioned by a man?

All of them.

That was when he told me about his visit to Foča. He understood that a lot of people would prefer us dead.

He said, Karla, I want to win this case. You take the prominent role in the trial.

I insisted to him that I would not give him any of the rape victims to question. People would not respond to his American directness. Naturally, he was a little insulted by this. I knew of course he was not American but I also knew that he had learned the history of the region from a BBC documentary. Then I discovered that he was pragmatic, and fair.