“What’s the deal with this weather?” he said. “There I was, planning to go skiing in Berchtesgaden, but I bet there’s less snow there than there is here!”

The room was sweltering. A large suitcase stood next to the door. From the radio came the velvet voice of Jean-Michel Damian wrapping up his show: “That’s all from me for this evening, but stay tuned to France Musique for jazz with Alain Gerber…”

Only after he had ushered me in did Alexis Clément notice the crowbar.

“What the…” He stared, wide-eyed.

This was no time for hesitation or discussion.

The first blow came almost by itself, as though someone had swung the bar in my stead. It hit him squarely in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending him reeling. The second smashed his knee. He howled.

“How dare you touch her, you fucking creep?”

Alexis reached for the counter that divided the room from the kitchenette but it collapsed with him; a pile of plates and a bottle of San Pellegrino crashed to the floor. Still I did not slow down.

I was completely out of control. By now Alexis was sprawled out in front of me, but I continued to beat him mercilessly. I rained down blows furiously, urged on by something I could not stop. Blows with the crowbar gave way to kicks. The images whirling in my mind of this bastard raping Vinca fueled my rage. I knew I was doing something that could not be undone, yet I could not regain my self-control. Caught in a spiral of violence, I was now the pawn of some malevolent, vengeful god.

I’m not a murderer.

The words echoed inside my head. Faintly. The prospect of a way out. A last wake-up call before the point of no return. Suddenly, I dropped the crowbar and stood, paralyzed.

Alexis made the most of my hesitation. Summoning all his strength, he grabbed my leg, and my slippery shoes made me lose my balance and fall to the floor. Though badly beaten, he scrabbled on top of me in an instant, turning from prey to predator. He leaned his full weight on me, gripping me with his knees so that I couldn’t move.

I opened my mouth to scream, but Alexis had already picked up a broken bottle. Helplessly, I watched as he raised his arm to drive home the shard of glass. Then time disintegrated and I felt life ebbing away. It was a second that seemed to drag on for several minutes. A second that would change the course of many lives.