Seventy-five thousand

The same day, a businessman told the court he cancelled a 75,000-euro contract with the duo, and another spoke of an 85,000-euro deal that was never signed. The figures hung in the air. The fan didn't. Eight people and a fan, one per row and one per column. Almost nothing is said directly: you'll have to cross everything.

Suspects

• Almerindo, the armchair mathematician: He added 75 and 85 out loud and got 160. Nobody asked, but he was proud.
• Benvinda, a businessman's secretary: She brought the cancelled contract in a plastic sleeve. She says in twenty years she's never seen a contract so neatly cancelled.
• Clarimundo, the insurance salesman: He walked into this room by mistake and stayed. He's handed out five cards.
• Deonilde, the lift attendant: She takes people from the lobby to the second floor. She says the lift knows who'll win by the weight.
• Eusébio, the TV economist: On the one o'clock news he explained what a summer concert is worth. Nobody paid him for it.
• Fátima, the production company intern: She brought five years of concert diaries. They weigh more than the contract.
• Guido, the café waiter: He watches the figures go by in coffees: at noon everyone was paying in seventy-five-cent coins.
• Hortense, the businessman's neighbour: She came to keep him company. She says he cancels everything, even birthday dinners.