“Did you ask Cardace something when you were both in the car on the way to Headquarters? And if you did, what was the question and what was the answer?”

“I asked him when he’d last seen Gaglione, and he told me he’d seen him that afternoon.”

“Did he tell you where they’d met?” I asked.

“He said they’d had a coffee in the afternoon. I don’t recall if he told me where.”

“Did Cardace want to know why you were asking him that question?”

“I don’t remember, Avvocato. Everyone was in a state. As far as we knew, Cardace was the prime suspect in a murder, and we were in a hurry to get to Headquarters to do tests. What he told me didn’t really matter – unless he’d confessed to the murder.”

“Did you ask him that?”

“What?”

“If he’d murdered Gaglione and if he wanted to confess?”

“No. Maybe I asked him if they’d quarrelled, if anything had happened. I kept things vague.”

“Did you make a written note of this conversation anywhere? In a duty report, maybe.”

“Avvocato, you know as well as I do that it’s forbidden to write down this kind of conversation.”

“You’re right.” I threw a glance at Consuelo, who gave me a sign as if to say: I also think that’s as far as you can go.

“Thank you. I have no further questions, Your Honour.”

Marinelli turned to Gastoni, who was sitting with her head down, ostentatiously making notes. She hadn’t appreciated the hasty overruling of her objection.

“Does the prosecution wish to cross-examine?”182

Barely raising her head, she made a gesture with her hand. “No questions.”

“Then the defence may call its next witness.”

183

18

The next witness was Montesano, the former head of Homicide. He hadn’t been called to testify at the original trial, probably because he’d left Bari and because giving an account of the investigation had been entrusted to the head of the Flying Squad.

“Good morning, Signor Montesano, I’m Avvocato Guerrieri and I’m representing Signor Iacopo Cardace. Can you indicate to the court your job and your rank?”

“Assistant commissioner, working with the Flying Squad in Rome.”

“Can you tell us what your job was at the time of the Gaglione murder?”

“I was working with the Flying Squad of Bari, I was head of the Homicide section.”

“So you dealt with that particular murder, is that correct?”

“Yes. I drew up the final report.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to recap the whole of the investigation. I’ve only asked you here today to clarify a few details.”

“All right.”

“Were you on the scene soon after the murder?”

“No, I was on holiday outside Bari. I was immediately informed and brought forward my return from Rome. I got here the next day.”184

“And took charge of operations.”