“Do you play football? Do you take part in any championships?”

He said he did. I took a photo of two football teams out of my file, the kind of photo that’s taken before matches. I asked the presiding judge for permission to approach the witness and show him the photo.

“Do you recognize anyone in this photograph?”

“Of course. That’s me, and these are the others in my team…”

“Could you tell us when it was taken?”

“Last summer, at the championship finals.”

“Do you remember the date?”

“I think it was the twentieth or twenty-first of August.”

“About a month before the robbery?”

“I think so, yes.”

“Did you know the people on the other team?”

“Some of them, not all.”

“Would you please look at the photo again and tell me if you recognize anyone from the other team?”

He took the photo and examined it closely, running his index finger over the faces of the players. “I know this one, but I don’t know his name. I think this one is called Pasquale… I don’t remember his surname. This one…”

His expression changed. He looked at me in surprise, then looked at the photo again.

“Do you recognize anyone else?”

“This one… looks like…”

“Who does he look like?”

“He looks a bit like that photo…”

“Do you mean the one you recognized in the album at police headquarters?”

“He looks a bit like him. It’s hard to-”

“It is in fact the same person. Do you remember him now?”

“Yes, it could be him.”

“Now that you’ve remembered him, can you state that the person who played football against your team that evening in August was the same person who took part in the robbery?”