Summary

In November 2003, Hector arrives at an emergency staff meeting at his institution and realizes the gathering is meant to contain a scandal rather than confront it. A senior professor, Lagerhjelm, frames the “recent events” as a predictable pattern in which students become infatuated with teachers, but Hector interrupts and directly accuses him of sexual assault. Hector describes the student’s account and produces written testimony, while colleagues try to redirect the conversation toward procedure and reputational risk. The meeting ends with the clear impression that the institution will delay action unless the student files a formal complaint.

Around the same time, Anastasia receives a text from Mathias, the boyfriend whose chaos once helped derail her life. After days of resisting, she replies and agrees to meet him at Kafé Valand, hoping for closure. Mathias arrives claiming he is clean and newly religious, and he...