Summary

As Sander prepares Maja for trial in Chapter 32, he emphasizes that her relationship with Sebastian has nothing to do with the trial and that she doesn't have to explain anything. Whenever she forgets and starts in on how she let him down, Sander ignores her. “It is not judicially relevant” (368): that's how he sums it up. Although Maja believes that she knew Sebastian better than anyone, she wants to know why what happened, just like everyone else. In Chapter 33, the reader learns that Samir survived and will testify on Monday.

The morning before her testimony she wakes up early and can't get back to sleep. Instead she plays 'what if' games in her mind about how things might have turned out differently, for example, if she had not gotten involved with Samir. She finally pinpoints the time after which she lost control of...