“I don’t remember too well, but as far as I know he was on holiday. He came back the next day, I think.”

“Thank you. Go on.”

“Yes, anyway, together with the chief and other colleagues I went to Gaglione’s apartment. Officers from the patrol cars were already there, and Forensics arrived soon afterwards. The chief gave us our instructions: question the neighbours and the local shopkeepers, locate the security cameras and get hold of the relevant footage…”

“In other words, the normal investigative procedure that’s routine in such cases?”

“Definitely.”

“Did you get hold of the security footage?”

“I don’t know. Before we could head out, the chief received a call from the intercept room. Gaglione was under investigation by the Narcotics team and apparently he’d had an argument with an associate of his a few hours earlier.”

“How do you know it was an associate?”178

“Narcotics told us, I think. Or maybe it was a client. Anyway, somebody who did business with Gaglione.”

“Was it the defendant in today’s hearing?”

“That’s right. Anyway, they told us that it was clear from the telephone calls between Gaglione and Cardace that there was some kind of … animosity between the two. The fact that the murder occurred so soon after his argument made us think right away that Cardace was involved in Gaglione’s death.”

“This happened when you’d just arrived on the crime scene? In other words, half an hour after the murder?”

“I can’t really be that exact. Maybe a bit more than half an hour. But an hour maximum.”

“And at this point, what did you do?”

“At that point, we dropped the other checks and went to Cardace’s home.”

“Did you find him?”

“No. His mother told us he’d gone out.”

“When had he gone out?”

“I don’t know.”

“I mean: when had he gone out, according to what his mother told you?”

“If I’m not mistaken, she said he’d gone out not long before, but I didn’t talk to her, the chief did.”

“And the rest of you?”

“We went looking for him.”

“How long afterwards did you find him, and where?”

“We found him almost immediately. We were told that Cardace was hanging around outside a bar in Poggiofranco, I don’t remember the name. We went to check, and he was there.”

“Did you already know Cardace?”

“Yes.”179

“How come?”

“For a while we used to go to the same gym. But I didn’t know his surname, I only realized who he was when I saw him.”

“Did you take him to Headquarters?”

“We found some pills on him, or maybe he handed them over when we asked him if he had anything on him. I don’t remember exactly. Anyway, yes, we took him to Headquarters.”

“Were you in the same car as Cardace?”

“Yes, I was.”

“Did you talk during the ride?”

“Yes, of course.”