“Alright.” He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. “So Marlene, that's what she calls herself these days?” I didn’t respond. Unease was crawling down my spine. “When I knew her, her name was Clara. Clara Maxwell. She never mentioned that?” Involuntarily I shook my head. “I met her for the first time more than fifteen years ago. In London. She was a redhead back then.” “Five seconds,” I said, “You have five seconds. What the hell are you trying to say?” Two strangers meet in a bar one rainy November night. Their conversation is the starting point for an intricate tale full of lies, doubt - and plans for a murder. How I Spend My Days and My Nights is a thrilling short story by Swedish crime author Håkan Nesser, well-known from his Van Veeteren crime series.