Edina said, In the spring Dragić moved me to a cottage. Soldiers came in and out and I had to cook for them and Dragić had his way with me and then gave me to other men.

This detail was not in her witness statement and Karla had never before heard it. Edina had not told it eight years ago. She had been ashamed. Never would she have wanted Ivo to know such a thing. She had forgotten it.

Karla revealed no surprise. Always new information is the danger with witnesses. She asked Edina to verify several easier facts. She would now have to map the new location and details of Dragić’s movements. Joop was already writing notes.

She said, Please tell the court when you were separated from your family.

We were taken from our hiding place in a gully in the forest by men who were our kums.

Karla glanced up at the interpreters’ booth and as soon as the interpretation was finished she said, Excuse me, Witness, for interrupting you. I just heard the interpreter say the word neighbours in English. But when you spoke you used the word kum. Will you explain to the court what kum means in your language?

Edina answered, This is a word for someone close. A godparent or a best man at a wedding. The parents of newlyweds call each other kum.

And so you knew the man who assaulted you?

Yes. It was a shock that a kum would hurt me.

What was the date?

I left home on June twenty-eighth. I remember because it was the holiday of Vidovdan. They probably didn’t want to attack us on that day.

Edina had demonstrated an excellent memory.

She said, We were hiding in the forest and it was cold. I had a little radio and I was listening to news and when I heard gunshot from our village I woke people up and said, Let’s move further away. The others were afraid to move. They said the dogs barking were wolves and then we heard a man shout, Catch them alive. Don’t shoot. My mother told my father to run and he did and was shot before our eyes. Then my daughter and mother and three neighbours tried to hide. But a soldier, a neighbour I knew, shouted at us, Get out, balijas, a terrible word for Moslem. This is how he talked, swearing at us as if we were strangers. He had been my kum. He had eaten at my table.

Karla said, Thank you, Witness.

Judge Banda said, Recess.

Behind the glass and the blind I tried to absorb what I had heard. Beyond the pixelation and the altered witness voice and interpreter’s neutral delivery and the time delay, it was still Edina.

—

The next morning Mataruga said to Edina, You have introduced a completely new event not in your previous statements. Could you tell us something about that?

About what?

That you went with Mr. Dragić to a mountain cabin.