No appeal

Almost two months after the ruling, the duo announced they would not appeal: they respected the decision, disagreed with it, and said the lawsuit had never been about limiting humour. The case was closed. To record the news, a TV channel set up a studio in a hurry, and the director's clapperboard vanished between two takes. Nine people and a clapperboard, 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

• Arlindo, the news director: He claps the clapperboard before every report, even ones already recorded. He says it's lucky.
• Benedita, the evening news anchor: She read the story with the most neutral face she could manage. She says she practised in the mirror.
• Calisto, the camera operator: He shot the anchor from three angles. In the third you could see the clapperboard in the background.
• Dolores, the make-up artist: She touched up the anchor between takes. She says end-of-lawsuit stories call for less blusher.
• Emanuel, the picture editor: He chose the archive footage: the racetrack, the court door, a fan. Nobody knows where the fan came from.
• Filomena, the news producer: She times every report to the second. This one was a minute ten, and nobody would let her cut it.
• Gualter, the set designer: He built the studio in twenty minutes from the leftovers of a talent show. The judges' desk was still at the back.
• Hermengarda, the receptionist: She greets the guests who never get in. This time nobody came, and she was grateful.
• Ivone, the production intern: She carries the clapperboard from studio to studio. She says it's the most important job they let her do.