OK so they were arraigned in court, accused of murder. We will see evidence over the next few days that will justify their trial a few years down the line. We can expect that trial to confirm our initial impression that the police are reasonably confident in the evidence that they have.
It turned out the police are ready to accuse 3 persons, not 10. Frankly 3 is a much likelier number for a conspiracy of this sort. The remaining 7 are on police bail but if the police still had solid suspicions in them it is not likely that after their spectacular arrests — using drones, military gear, helicopters, sniffer dogs, bodycams, assault gear and whatnot — they would simply let them walk away. If they ever had.
There is a sense of emptiness in all this.
We do not expect the three lowlifes who have been arraigned to have even heard of Daphne Caruana Galizia until after she was dead. I am talking about expectations. I do not know what the police know about them. But I know what I expect.
These characters have been involved in criminal turf wars for years. One of them is half-blinded and with awkward mobility in half his body having survived, incredibly, point blank gunshot wounds to his head.
He is waiting trial for a casino heist some years ago because the main witness is in Australia.
The others have been caught for some lesser crimes though they could have been involved in more.
None of them are reputed for their great strategic capabilities, their complex financial resources, their bomb-making skills, and to be particularly concerned with the writings of bloggers.
Again, this is what they’re reputed for. The police may surprise us with information we cannot guess.
But we also know what to expect. We expect to understand why this crime was commissioned, quite apart and certainly more importantly than how the physical and lurid details of the crime were executed.
We do not feel closer to that this morning. We are asked to be patient, and patient we must be. Justice must run its course.
And we must continue to demand it.