Causation

The ruling explains that the controversy began with the faulty broadcast of the anthem, not with the montage: the losses were not shown to be the video's fault. Lawyers on both sides read and reread the word causation. The ruling, meanwhile, left the top of a desk. Nine people and a ruling, one per row and one per column. Nothing is handed to you on a plate: you'll need more than one hypothesis to get to the end.

Suspects

• Aníbal, the trainee who printed everything: He printed the ruling three times, one for each person in the meeting room. There were four.
• Benilde, the receptionist: She took forty calls from journalists. She said "no comment" forty times, always with the same smile.
• Cássio, the civil law professor: He asked for a copy to use in class. He's already set an exam entirely on causation.
• Diamantina, the translator: She translated the ruling into English for a foreign magazine. In English, causation has fewer syllables and less weight.
• Eliseu, the firm's driver: He was sent out for champagne in a hurry. He came back with sparkling wine, which is what they had.
• Filomena, the senior partner: She read the ruling in twenty minutes and underlined one sentence. She says it's the one that will last.
• Gervásio, the IT technician: He downloaded the ruling from the platform in five seconds. Nobody thanked him, as usual.
• Hermínio, a client on another case: He was in the waiting room and heard the celebrations. He asked if he'd won too.
• Iolanda, the cleaner: The next day she found corks on the kitchenette floor. She understood everything without reading any ruling.