No agreement

"No agreement could be reached." The sentence went into the minutes and the case went on to trial. At the end of the hearing, the pen nobody used left the room before the parties did. Eight people and a pen, one per row and one per column. Almost nothing is said directly: you'll have to cross everything.

Suspects

• Almiro, the court usher: He locks the room after every hearing. He locked it with the pen already outside.
• Balbina, the court clerk: She wrote the minutes with her own pen. She says she never uses settlement pens, they're bad luck.
• Cassilda, the trainee lawyer: She took notes on everything. The only word you can make out is "no".
• Diogo, the archive clerk: He came to collect the file for archiving. They told him the trial was still to come.
• Etelvina, the cleaner: She cleans the room straight afterwards. She found two empty water glasses and no pen.
• Fabrício, the freelance journalist: He waited in the lobby to ask a question. He asked it at the wrong door.
• Generosa, the café lady: She serves milky coffees to the lawyers. She can tell when hearings end by the number of pastries.
• Horácio, the court security guard: He watches the stairs. He saw the pen go down, but didn't see anyone holding it.