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testimone di gangster

Chapter 2

Passione was a gang that had gained prominence in Italy in recent years. It appeared as if to fill the gap that the declining Cosa Nostra left behind. People said its members numbered in the tens, hundreds, or even over a thousand—even the police had no idea of its true scale. 

But Falco and his team declared that they had managed to successfully capture 32 members of the enigmatic Passione. This trial would expose Passione’s true scale; the nation’s eyes were on it before it even began. 

The one who leaked all of this information about Passione to Falco was a man named Pollo, a bank employee working in Palermo.

“I am a member of Passione. Please, you must find some way to stop this organization.”

Both Falco and the police had known of Pollo’s existence for some time. In the past, he had been arrested for the accounting work he did for a certain small gang but was released due to insufficient evidence.

He turned himself in and offered the authorities the plain truth of what was happening in his current gang. 

“Passione is starting up a massive new drug ring. They’re going to let even women, children, and innocents get caught up in it. I can’t bear this responsibility any longer…”

Pollo claimed that Passione hired him for his valuable accounting skills. He worked in money laundering for the gang. His job was to funnel money entrusted to him by Passione members to overseas bank accounts and then back into their own. Pollo had taken advantage of a loophole left by the Italian tax offices, a method that would have likely gone unnoticed for some time had he never come forward. When Italian police carried out an investigation, they found many transactions of unknown origin; there were no clear signs they traced back to countries such as Switzerland, but the gang’s transaction routes were generally exposed.

The banks of some countries such as Switzerland were not willing to divulge information about their operations to Italian police, and several transactions could not be traced back to a source, but most of the routes were discovered. The 32 gang members involved in this money laundering had been arrested all over Italy.

However, every single person who had been arrested denied any affiliation to Passione. There was also no other significant evidence that could be tied to the defendants. In 1982, Italian lawmakers passed the “La Torre” act to combat gang-related crime. This made it easier to pursue criminal charges against gangs, a difficult task up until then. With Falco’s team’s skills, the 32 defendants were able to be indicted as members of Passione.

In truth, both Pollo and the 32 people in custody were indeed members of Passione. After Pollo’s unforeseen rebellion, this came as a massive blow for the growing gang. They had an omertà, a code of silence—every member was sworn to secrecy upon joining the gang. But if somebody among those 32 broke that code, the ripple effect could shake the gang to its very core. Passione needed to find a way to stop the trial.

This matter had been left in the hands of the team that both this young man and Tizzano affiliated themselves with. At first, their leader planned to have both Pollo the traitor and Falco the prosecutor killed. Falco may have been under the police’s protection, but with the team’s abilities, getting to him would be a cinch.

But Tizzano had harbored doubts about this plan.

“If we kill Pollo and Falco, it’s the same as admitting that those 32 people are members of Passione.”

His leader asked whether he had a better idea, and Tizzano calmly spoke his reply.

“We’ll beat Falco at the trial. That traitor Pollo is going to rescind his testimony. Much of the 32 members’ indictments rests entirely on Pollo’s word. With the foundation of all those accusations destroyed, there’s no telling where the trial will go next. There’s a chance we can win.”

It sounded like a joke. The plan was about as believable as a child’s boasts that they would become a Serie A star someday. To start with, there was the fact that Pollo’s testimony would never be overturned. He was a valuable asset to the prosecution, and he was under strict protection at a prison. There was no way they could reach him.

But the leader agreed to the proposal. He assigned Tizzano to lead the operation. “I trust you,” he said, and it was decided. Until now, he had made his dislike of Tizzano obvious; the other young man was beside himself with disbelief.

Later, the leader summoned the young man alone and told him this:

“It doesn’t matter whether the mission ends in success or failure. You are to kill Tizzano when the trial is over.”

The leader had never trusted Tizzano at all. As an old-fashioned gangster, he valued violence and believed it to be the only way to run an organization. It appeared Tizzano’s suggestion that they could defeat their opponents in court had incited his wrath.

Keep up the act as if he was still working alongside Tizzano while secretly preparing to kill him—that was the young man’s mission.

Several days ago, the first public hearing took place, bringing crowds of spectators and journalists into the courtroom. The aim during this event was to help Falco believe he could win, and they had succeeded.

Upon entering the courtroom, Falco had seemed relaxed, chatting with a detective he was acquainted with.

The 32 defendants’ identities were established, and the prosecution read the complaint.

Next came the questioning of the witnesses. The one to come up to the witness’s stand was none other than the star of this case, Pollo of Passione. Prosecutor Falco attempted to begin his questioning.

But suddenly, the lawyer across the room threw his hand into the air and cried out.

“I have a declaration to make! We will prove to you that these defendants are declared not guilty!”

At this inopportune outburst, the courtroom fell into an awkward silence.

“Defense, please refrain from speaking out of turn,” warned a judge. Stifled laughter could be heard from the spectator area. The lawyer apologized and sank back into his seat, dejected. 

Tizzano, who had ordered the lawyer, sat next to him with a composed expression. It appeared the only spectator who noticed was his collaborator.

“Now, let’s all settle down.” Even Prosecutor Falco couldn’t stop himself from laughing with the rest of the court, but he put an end to it. “Mr. Pollo, I’d like to confirm your position. Please state the gang you were affiliated with for the record.”

At Falco’s query, Pollo was silent for a long time.

“Mr. Pollo? Did you not hear me? There’s no need to be nervous. Please just answer naturally and truthfully. What gang were you affiliated with?”

After another stretch of silence, Pollo answered.

“…No, I wasn’t with any gang.”

“Good. Now let’s continue… Hm? P-Pardon me, but what did you say just now?”

Pollo answered Falco’s question.

“I have never been affiliated with any gangs. Of course, the 32 people in this cage behind me are the same way! Everything I’ve said up until now was completely fabricated. All 32 defendants are not guilty—I made up the entire thing.”

Pollo, who had been an informant, was suddenly taking back his entire testimony here in court. In court, a witness agrees on the contents of their testimony with the summoning party prior to the trial. This event came as a complete shock to the prosecution.

No matter how many times the prosecution repeated their question to Pollo, he simply shook his head. He stubbornly denied every statement he had made up until then. 

After the courtroom was overtaken by chaos, a judge gave the order and forced the court to adjourn. The second public hearing had been postponed.

It was just as Tizzano had declared—the witness had rescinded his own testimony. 

But even then, the young man’s orders remained the same.

Act as calm as you like…  Once this trial is over, I’ll kill you.

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