“What did you reply?”
“I don’t remember exactly what I said, I mean the exact words, but I tried to get him to explain.”
“Why do you say you tried?”
“Because he said he couldn’t stay, he had to go. He said goodbye, went over to a car parked about thirty feet away, with another person in it, and drove away.”
“Did you take the licence number?”
“No, I didn’t even think of it. I was too astonished.”
“Did you ever meet him again after that?”
“No.”
“Would you be able to recognize him if you saw him again?”
“I think so, but I’m not sure.”
“Did you subsequently speak to your husband about this episode?”
“Of course.”
“And what did he say?”
“He was even more astonished than I was. He had no idea who this young man was, let alone who sent him.”
“I have a few more questions, Signora Paolicelli. Could you tell us the circumstances pertaining to the lifting of the sequestration order on your car?”
“Yes. Avvocato Macri said he would file a motion to get the car back. He said that since the car was mine and I had nothing to do with the crime, there was no reason why they couldn’t let me have it. He did in fact file a motion, and a few days later he told me that the prosecutor had lifted the sequestration order.”
“And then what happened?”
“We were talking on the phone and I asked him what I had to do to get my car back. He told me not to worry. He was coming to Bari in a few days and he’d go and fetch the car personally.”
“And is that what happened?”
“Yes, he collected it and brought it over to my home.”
“One last question, Signora Paolicelli. Did you ever pay Avvocato Macri?”
“No. He said I didn’t need to. He said that when it was all over I could give him a present.”
“So you never paid him, never even reimbursed him for his expenses?”
“No.”
“Did he ever say that there was someone else taking care of his fee?”
“No, not to me. I think he said it to my husband.”
“Thank you. I have no other questions.”
Mirenghi asked the assistant prosecutor if he had any questions. He shook his head wearily. Girardi told Natsu that she could go. They all watched her as she walked those few yards to the public benches, and for a few moments I felt an inappropriate sense of pride. Then I reminded myself that I had no reason to feel that, and certainly no right.
The guards brought Paolicelli into the courtroom and took up their positions around him, as was the practice. Mirenghi made him repeat his particulars and with absurd punctiliousness had him state that he was a resident of Bari but was currently in custody and that therefore his domicile was the prison. Then he advised him of his right to remain silent and asked him if he intended to exercise this right or if he was willing to undergo examination. The whole ritual.
“I wish to testify, Your Honour.”
“You may proceed with your examination, Avvocato Guerrieri.”
“Thank you, Your Honour. Signor Paolicelli, my first question is a very simple one. Are you guilty or innocent of the crime with which you are charged and for which you were first arrested and then sentenced?”
“Innocent.”
“Would you explain to the court why, after a large quantity of narcotics was discovered in your car, you made the following statement: I acknowledge that the quantity of forty kilos of cocaine was discovered in my car. Regarding this, I freely declare that the drugs belong to myself alone and that my wife Natsu Kawabata, whose full particulars have been noted in other documents, has no connection whatsoever with this illegal transportation, which is the sole responsibility of the undersigned. I placed the narcotics in the car without my wife’s knowledge. I have no intention of naming the persons from whom I acquired the aforementioned quantity of narcotics… and so on?”
Paolicelli took a deep breath and shifted on his chair before replying. “I was with my wife and daughter. The customs police said they would have to arrest both of us, because there was no way of knowing which of us the drugs belonged to. We were travelling in the same car, we were husband and wife, it was more than likely that we were in cahoots, that we were accomplices. And so they had to arrest both of us.”
“And then what happened?”
“I started to panic. I mean, I was already panicking, but the idea that they could arrest my wife, too, and we’d have to find someone to take care of our daughter, terrified me. I begged them to let my wife go, because she didn’t know anything about the drugs.”
“Whereas you did?”
“No. But I’d realized that I had no way out, that I was caught up in something beyond my control. So what I wanted first of all was to keep my wife and daughter out of it. I mean, it wasn’t my choice. Either they’d arrest both of us or they’d arrest only me.”
“Go on.”
“The customs police told me there was only one way to keep my wife out of it. I had to say that the drugs were mine, only mine, and that I’d been carrying them without her knowledge. That was the only way they’d have a pretext not to arrest her, a reason…”
“They’d have a reason they could put on the arrest report as to why they were arresting you and not your wife. Because the car was registered to your wife, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, the car is hers.”
“So you made that statement, and they let her go and arrested you. At the beginning of this examination, you claimed to be innocent. Is it correct to say that you made that statement solely with the aim of keeping your wife out of this affair?”
“Yes. The drugs weren’t mine. I never knew they were in our car until the customs police found them.”
“Are you able to explain, or surmise, when the drugs could have been put in your car?”
It was a question which, in theory, the assistant prosecutor could have objected to. It isn’t usually possible to ask a witness to express a personal opinion or to make conjectures. But this was a special case, and anyway the giant squid was there in body only. He gave no sign of having noticed. So Paolicelli was able to answer unhindered. He told the whole story of the hotel car park and the keys he’d left with the porter, and how easy it would have been to fill the car with drugs during the night. He answered well, clearly and spontaneously. For what it was worth, he gave the impression of someone who was telling the truth.
Once we had got through the part relating to Montenegro, we went on to Macri. We briefly recapped the things Natsu had said and then concentrated on the question of what he and his counsel had talked about in the prison.
“What did Macri say when you asked him who the people were who had approached your wife?”
“He told me not to worry, some friends had asked him to help me.”
“Whose friends?”
“I don’t know. He said friends, but didn’t go into any details.”
“But did you have any idea who he was referring to?”
“Absolutely none.”
“Do you, or did you, have any friends or acquaintances in common?”
“No.”
“Did you ever tell Avvocato Macri that you were innocent?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I had the impression he knew that perfectly well.”
“What gave you that impression?”
“He often said to me, I know you’re innocent, it was a bit of bad luck but you’ll see, we’ll sort everything out. Not in so many words, but that was the sense of it.”
“What did Macri say to you before your first interrogation by the examining magistrate?”
“He told me to exercise my right to remain silent.”
“Why?”
“He said there was a risk of making the situation worse. He said I shouldn’t worry, he would sort everything out. I just had to be patient.”