Madness

Chapter 47

~Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs.~

The next morning in court, I sat at the prosecution table. I watched the trial carefully, taking notes from time to time. Steve clashed with his rivals with great ferocity. He often responded rudely to the girl's attorneys. During the trial, the widow had been wearing a mournful expression on her face all the time, which disappeared soon after the trial. When the accused was called to testify, she stood up straight and walked with her head held high. It was as if she did not care about what was going on around her. All eyes were on her with disapproval and disgust, but she had no expression of concern. She walked with great dignity. She ignored the venomous words that were whispered just low enough for the judge to hear. After she took the stand, Steve cleared his throat. He began questioning her in his usual arrogant tone.

"Mrs. Hamilton..."

"Green, my last name is Green."

"Mrs. Green, do you want to tell us exactly what happened that night?"

"I went back to the office to pick up the last few things that I had left before I left."

"And when you were stopped outside the building shortly after the murder, why did you run off without the things you said you went to get?"

The woman did not answer, but continued to stare into Steve's eyes, giving him a chance to go on.

"What about the witnesses who heard her threaten her brother?"

"These are things you say in moments of anger."

"Or because she wanted to, there's a fine line between wanting and doing, isn't there Mrs. Green?" The woman opened her mouth but no sound came out, giving Steve another chance to continue. "The most important thing to her was the money she took from the safe, was it? It was the most important to you, more important thanyour brother's life. Maybe you went to his office to steal the money from the safe, but he saw you, so you lost your temper and shot him. Then you tried to kill your sister-in-law. But the real question is: where did you hide the gun that you used to kill him, Mrs. Green?"

"Objection, Your Honor! The attorney is trying to maneuver the trial."

"I simply asked a question."

"But he doesn't have to give the answer."

"I'm not..."

"Objection sustained, attorney."

Steve raised his hands in surrender and turned around, but before he could take his seat, the woman's voice rang out clearly in the courtroom.

"My daughter! My daughter is the most important thing."

I stood there, staring at her. There was nothing to suggest that she was a murderer. She was a pretty woman, not very tall, who could look like a porcelain doll because of the delicacy of her features. Too fragile to be a ruthless murderer! I didn't understand why, but I had a feeling of pity for her, so I decided to have a talk with her. So, without telling anyone, I went to the place where she was being held in the afternoon. I had a seat at the visitors' table and waited for the prison guards to bring her in. When she arrived, she sat down in front of me with a furrow in her brow. I could see through the iron bars that separated us that her questioning gaze was directed at my eyes. I felt a little uncomfortable looking at her like that, but did not flinch and tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"Hi."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Artemide Bernabei, I'm a... uh..."

"Are you a journalist?"

"No! No, actually I'm... a lawyer."

"And what do you want?"