“Yes, I talked about it with his previous defence counsel and he told me it was better to keep this option for the trial. He said they’d never believe me while the investigation was still ongoing, they’d think I was lying, wholly or partly, in order to provide Iacopo with an alibi.”

“So the first time you made any statement about this was in court at the first trial?”

“Yes.”

“But, as you told us a few moments ago, you’d already gone over in your mind your whereabouts on the afternoon of the murder in the days immediately following. Is that correct?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Why didn’t you say that when you testified at the trial?”

“Because I got confused. The prosecutor asked me how I could be so sure of the time and, for some absurd reason, I don’t really know why, I said I was sure because that was the schedule I had with that lady at the time. Which was partly true, even though I was already occasionally doing different schedules. Basically, I didn’t explain it well.”

“To avoid any misunderstanding and to make sure your testimony today is completely transparent, I ask you now: have you ever discussed with anyone else the substance of this testimony, today’s testimony, I mean?”

“I discussed it with you.”

“Can you tell the court, in broad terms, what was the tenor of our conversation?”

“You showed me that my testimony at the trial was contradictory and that it was understandable that the judges had doubted it. You asked me to go over the whole story again 212calmly and to explain why I remembered the time so precisely. And I told you what I’ve just repeated here in court.”

“And what did I say?”

“You told me that if that was the truth, we should request that I be called again as a witness to clarify all these misunderstandings. Both about that old episode, and about the day of the murder.”

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

Marinelli nodded, half closing his eyes. I had the definite feeling that my examination of Lorenza had made an impression on him.

“Very well. Does the prosecution wish to cross-examine the witness?”

“Yes, Your Honour,” Gastoni said.

“Please proceed.”

“So, the accused is your son and naturally you want him to be acquitted, is that right?”

A flash of something I couldn’t interpret passed through Lorenza’s eyes. “Naturally,” she said after a few seconds, as if she’d had to think carefully about her answer.

“You would be prepared to do anything to save your son, I imagine.”