“No, no, he wasn’t a dealer. We’d meet and I’d ask him if he had anything. If he had, he’d say yes and give it to me and I’d give him the money. But we’re talking about nothing, just a few joints.”

“Of course, small quantities. Apart from pot, did he have other narcotics?”

Another hesitation. A longer one. This time Consuelo waited.

“Sometimes he had pills,” Arcidiacono said at last.

“By pills you mean Ecstasy?”

“Yes.”

“Did you ever purchase any?”

“I think so, a few times. At the disco.”

“When was the last time you met Iacopo?”

He sniffed, as if to summon up courage. “I saw him the day … the day the thing happened.”

“Are you referring to the murder of Gaglione?”

He nodded.218

“You need to speak out loud, for the transcript.”

“Yes, yes, that day.”

“Can you tell us what you remember?”

“Nothing really, I was outside the cafe and he passed and we said hello.”

“Why were you there? Were you working in the area?”

“No. My boss had sent me there because I had to look at a car that had been in an accident, for an estimate.”

“Was Iacopo in a hurry? How was he walking when you met? Quickly, slowly, normally?”

“Normally.”

“It didn’t strike you that he was in a hurry?”

It would have been natural for Gastoni to object to this question. Consuelo was asking him for an opinion, and opinions, in general, are forbidden. But Gastoni said nothing and the examination continued without interruption.

The witness shook his head. “No, he was walking normally.”

“He was walking normally and you said hello. And then?”

“I asked him if he fancied a coffee and we went into the cafe.”

“In the cafe, did you sit talking?”

“Yes.”

“About what?”

“I don’t remember … this and that.”

“Is it possible you also talked about drugs?”

Arcidiacono stared at Consuelo, who returned his gaze and gave him an imperceptible nod of encouragement.

“Yes,” he said at last.

“Did Iacopo have something?”

“Yes.”

“What?”219

“Pills.”

“Did he have them with him?”

“Yes.”

“Did he give them to you?”

“He asked me if I wanted to try them. They were new.”

“And what did you reply?”

“That I didn’t have any money. But he said he’d give me one, and if I liked it I could buy the others.”

“Did you accept?”

“It was for free,” he said as if apologizing.

“Of course. Had Iacopo ever given you anything for free before? Pills or anything else.”

“A few times. He wanted to sell, so first he had to get the new stuff known about. It’s normal to give away a taster.”

“I’m sorry, I’m going to go over this for a moment to see if I’ve understood correctly.”