The date is set

The trial was set for June, at the Lisbon courthouse. The following weeks brought sums, witness lists and diaries to juggle. The settlement pen turned up in one office and vanished again in another. Eight people and a pen, one per row and one per column. Almost nothing is said directly: you'll have to cross everything.

Suspects

• Acílio, the trainee in charge of witnesses: He drew up the witness list. It was long, and half of it was still missing.
• Bibiana, the receptionist: She answers the phone with the firm's full name. It takes twelve seconds a call.
• Cristiano, the firm's driver: He takes documents to court and brings pastries back. The pastries always arrive first.
• Dulce, the translator: She translated an English opinion on humour into Portuguese. She says it came out more serious.
• Evaristo, the IT technician: He put the montage video on a USB stick for the court. The stick has other videos too, not for court.
• Filomena, the associate lawyer: She prepared questions for every witness. She has a folder just for the ones she won't ask.
• Gilberto, a client on another case: He came about a divorce and waited two hours because of an anthem. Now he knows it by heart.
• Hermengarda, the cleaner: She cleans the office at seven in the morning. She's the only one who sees the desks the way the lawyers leave them.