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MARCHING POWDER

clothes that he liked. When he pointed me out as the owner of the suitcases that contained the merchandise, he held his hand up and extended his finger a second longer than the others had, which was how I noticed it: he was wearing my gold ring.

‘That’s my ring!’ I shouted in English, forgetting that I wasn’t supposed to speak out of turn. My lawyer nudged me and shook his head for me to be quiet.

‘The defendant will remain silent,’ the judge reminded my lawyer. He never addressed me directly.

‘But he’s wearing my ring!’ I shouted again. The judge became irritated that I hadn’t obeyed him. He glared at me and his face started to turn red. However, I was one hundred per cent certain that it was my ring. I’d had it for years and it was unmistakable.

‘Tranquilo,’ said my lawyer, trying to calm me down. Even the translator, who wasn’t supposed to speak to me, tried to persuade me to keep quiet. But I wouldn’t let the matter drop. I thought that if I could prove that the police were corrupt and had stolen my property, it would help my defence that they had set me up. I kept complaining and eventually I jumped out of my chair and made a lunge for the policeman. Two guards rushed forward and pushed me back into my seat, then stood there guarding me, waiting for the judge to say something.

At that point, the judge couldn’t ignore me any longer. He was forced to interrupt the proceedings and ask the translator to explain what was happening. When the translation was made, a murmur went throughout the courtroom and everyone looked straight at the policeman. He was smart; he didn’t try to hide his hand – that would only have made him look guilty. Instead, he frowned innocently and shook his head at me like I was sadly mistaken or crazy.

The judge asked the policeman if the ring was his. He answered that of course it was and that he had bought it in a jewellery store several years before. It was made of gold and had cost him several hundred dollars.

‘He’s lying. It’s mine,’ I jumped in, even before the interpreter made the translation. ‘I can tell you what picture is on it. Ask him!’ I pointed at the policeman and the two guards got ready in case I tried to stand up again. ‘I bet he doesn’t even know.’

The judge asked the policeman to remove the ring and hand it to the clerk of the court, who handed it on to the judge for inspection.