Mirenghi had said that they would be in their chamber for twenty minutes at the most. They took an hour and a half. I wondered – as I had often done during similar delays – if they were completely incapable of foreseeing how long their work would take them, or if they did it deliberately. As a petty and more or less conscious demonstration of power.
Mirenghi sat down, checked that the clerk of the court was in his seat, cast a glance at me and at the giant squid, just to make sure that we were also there, put on his glasses and read out the ruling.
“Regarding the defence counsel’s request to hear further testimony, and having heard the opinion of the assistant prosecutor, the court declares as follows. There are no obstacles of a formal nature to the request to call the defendant Paolicelli’s previous defence counsel as a witness. Considering the objections of the prosecution and the subsequent observations of the defence it is possible to state that:
“One. Given the version of the facts presented by the defence, to which we have adhered in evaluating the admissibility of the requests, Avvocato Macri’s testimony must not focus on the conduct of the aforesaid lawyer but on circumstances within his knowledge; within these limits his testimony is admissible;
“Two. There is no conflict of interest as defined in Article 197 of the code of criminal procedure: Avvocato Macri did not carry out any investigations on behalf of the defence and does not fall within any of the other conditions laid down in said article;
“Three. Lawyer-client confidentiality may be claimed in the course of the testimony but does not constitute a reason for the testimony not to be admitted.
“On this basis the request to call Avvocato Macri as a witness is therefore considered admissible.”
Mirenghi concluded the reading of the judges’ ruling with the date of the next hearing and a few further formalities, and then declared that the hearing was adjourned.
As the judges rose to leave I walked to the cage, feeling Natsu’s eyes on me. I told Paolicelli it had gone well, we should be pleased. I didn’t tell him the thought I’d had a little earlier, after his examination. The difficult part was just starting.