As what Eric says in the margins,

“S. accepted into the group”

Ostrero and Pfeifer turn less cautioned. “who are you, then?” Stenfalk asks S. Thinking about what Maelstrom and Sola said, S. hesitates to provide an answer. He takes what he knows about himself and others into consideration, including the “possibly imagined nod” from the detective up on the roof.

Furthermore about Eric’s comment about “S. accepted into a group” may be a theory

“that VMS was part of a writers’ collective committed to political change (and/or subversion of power). Likely that a few of the candidates were in the group.”

Jen points out that

“Desjardins seems pretty sold on Ekstrom [being Straka]”

Eric points out that

“he [Desjardins] hedges on whether Ekstrom was Straka or just closely connected to him.”

Later, Eric says he got a package from Desjardins:

“A stack of docs + one of the Obsidian pieces, too.”

A note of Desjardins is included in the book.