Accidental Death Of An Anarchist

Act II, Scene 1 begins where Act II ended, with The Fool, The Chief, Captain Pissani, and The Officer singing. The Fool applauds the song, exclaiming that the anarchist could not possibly have been “depressed” enough to die by suicide after such a performance. The Fool continues his direction of the police officers‘ transcript, prompting The Chief to claim that he was not at Police Headquarters; only Captain Pissani and lower ranking officers were present for the interrogation. Captain Pissani claims that he was joking around with the anarchist, and The Officer attests to the comedy. The Fool chastens Captain Pissani for playing around, claiming that Captain Pissani and officers like him are the reason Rome is changing the police motto to “the police is at the service of the citizens, to entertain them!” (56). The Chief doubts The Fool. The Fool claims that he was present during the “Monday League” interrogation, an event similarly cloaked with secrecy and allegations of police corruption. The Fool says, ironically, that people probably turn themselves in for crimes they haven’t just because Police Headquarters is such a fun place.

The Chief comments how cold it is in the room during the interrogation. The cold temperature was the result of the window being open when the sun set that December evening. The Fool asks if the sun didn’t set the day the anarchist died, as it is the only plausible explanation for why the window was still open at all. The Chief, The Officer, and Captain Pissani claim the window was open to air out the room from the anarchist’s cigarette smoke. The Fool continues to criticize the police officers’ weak explanations, belittling their intelligence. Before the police can become too offended, The Fool asks if an officer or footstool was used to give the anarchist a leg up to get out of the window. The window is too high for someone to jump out of unassisted. The Fool questions how the anarchist was able to jump out the window, at all. The Officer claims he grabbed the anarchist’s foot, pulling off his shoe, in an attempt to stop his jump. The Fool points out that the anarchist’s body had two shoes, so unless he had three shoes, there was no way The Officer could have one of them. The police stumble over an explanation until The Fool reminds them of the existence of galoshes that go over shoes. Perhaps the anarchist was wearing a pair and that is what The Officer grabbed. The Chief is shocked by the ridiculous suggestion, and bursts into a rage. Captain Pissani admits it was The Chief who shoved the anarchist through the window, but before the police and The Fool can quibble over more details, the phone rings. The Officer answers and announces that a reporter named Maria Feletti has arrived to interview The Chief.

The Fool announces he will disguise himself (again), so he can continue to support the police. He will disguise himself as Marcantonio Banzi Piccinni, “from the scientific division” (63). Captain Pissani points out that there is a real Captain Piccinni in Rome, and The Fool explains that this works to their advantage. If The Reporter writes something the police find objectionable, the real Captain Piccinni can testify truthfully that he was never there, thus undermining anything The Reporter might print.

The Reporter arrives, and The Chief and Captain Pissani bumble their way through greeting her. The Fool introduces himself as Captain Marcantoni Banzi Piccinni. His disguise consists of a false mustache, an eye patch, and a brown glove covering a wooden hand. The wooden hand came from a war campaign in Nicaragua. The Reporter is distracted by The Chief, and they jump into her questions. The Reporter takes out a tape recorder, and before Captain Pissani can protest, The Fool cuts in, reminding them that the interview will be fine as long as they follow the first rule of getting away with a scandal, which is never to contradict anything they have previously said. The Fool lauds The Reporter for being a “courageous woman,” willing to hold people to the truth. Briefly flattered, The Reporter turns her attention to Captain Pissani, questioning why he is known as the “window-riding instructor” (66). She pulls out a letter that details Captain Pissani’s habit of forcing suspects to sit on the window ledge, harassing them, and pushing them to jump. The Fool states that it sounds “Hitchcockian” in nature. The Reporter ignores him, pointedly, and Captain Pissani, following advice from The Fool, decides he won’t say anything. He then asks if The Reporter seriously believes he pushed the anarchist out the window. The Fool pretends to sing to himself as a way to warn Captain Pissani that she is a vulture, circling. The Reporter accuses The Fool of trying to disrupt her interview, but The Fool simply asks if she thinks they are in the business of testing anarchists on windows. The Reporter calls him clever. Captain Pissani slaps The Fool on the shoulder, prompting The Fool to tell Captain Pissani about his (false) glass eye.

Ignoring The Fool, The Reporter asks The Chief about the suspicious trajectory of the anarchist’s fall from the window. The parabola doesn’t match up with someone who fell while alive. Captain Pissani jumps in and argues that because the anarchist was thinking of suicide, he wouldn’t have tried to stop his fall. The Fool immediately contradicts him, saying that even those who consider suicide will attempt to catch themselves, thus altering the trajectory. The Chief asks The Fool if he is “crazy,” and The Fool asks him how he found out. Undeterred, The Reporter continues her questioning, pointing out that an ambulance was called at two minutes to midnight, five minutes before the anarchist leaped from the window. She also points out that there were mysterious bruises around the anarchist’s neck that don’t align with his official cause of death. She adds that the District Attorney defined the anarchist’s death as accidental, noting that a suicide is not an accident. The police respond to each of these inconsistencies, only to be contradicted or made to sound ridiculous by The Fool. The Chief again asks if The Fool is thinking absurdly, and The Fool calmly states that he has, 16 times. During this exchange, Captain Pissani accidentally knocks loose The Fool’s pretended glass eye. The Fool distracts The Reporter and the police with the task of finding it. The Chief threatens The Reporter. The Reporter ignores the threat and continues asking questions and pointing out the glaring inconsistencies in the police report. The Fool tells The Reporter that the police department’s most recent version of events is completely unreliable. The Reporter references how the anarchist’s alibi was brought into question by police because Investigators determined that the retirees who made up his alibi were old and therefore unreliable. The Fool rants about class and age, arguing that working class people are so desperate to forget about their lives that their testimony can’t be taken seriously. He continues, stating that class is everything, citing it as the reason people become private stockholders and policemen, so as to stand out from the working-class, retired pensioners and have a better life. He adds that ultimately class is what matters, not age. He uses President Ronald Reagan as an example of someone in their seventies with dementia still being trusted with power. If Reagan were an actor, The Fool points out, his dementia would be sad, but since he’s President, it’s “fine.”

Inspector Bertozzo enters with a bandage covering the black eye he received when Captain Pissani hit him in Act I. Inspector Bertozzo is delivering a copy of a bomb that exploded in the bank. The Reporter is concerned, but Inspector Bertozzo assures her it has been defused. Inspector Bertozzo asks Captain Pissani why he hit him without even saying hello, and the two briefly argue before The Chief stops them. Inspector Bertozzo notices The Fool and comments that he looks familiar. The Fool blames it on the eyepatch and introduces himself as Captain Piccinni. Inspector Bertozzo doesn’t believe him, having met the real Captain Piccinni in training. The Chief tells him to stop questioning things, desperate to have Inspector Bertozzo go along with the ruse, but Inspector Bertozzo doesn’t get the hint. The Chief, Captain Pissani, and The Fool kick Inspector Bertozzo under the table, trying to get their point across. Getting caught up in the action The Fool slaps Inspector Bertozzo and blames it on Captain Pissani. He then slaps The Reporter “on the rear” (75) and blames it on The Chief. The Chief is so busy convincing Inspector Bertozzo to play along that he doesn’t notice. The Reporter is offended but is quickly refocused on the interview as The Chief brings it back up.

The Chief prompts The Reporter to ask Inspector Bertozzo about the bomb since he is trained in explosives and ballistics. The Reporter and Inspector Bertozzo discuss the bank bombing. The Reporter asks why they blew up the bombs when they could have defused them and given them to the scientific division to examine for a clue as to who set them. Inspector Bertozzo is shocked she would ask such a thing, but before he can redirect, The Fool cuts into their conversation. He takes the box holding the bomb from Inspector Bertozzo and explains, as Captain Piccinni, that because of how complicated bombs can be, it is much safer to explode them in a controlled environment than to risk them exploding during transport. Inspector Bertozzo insists The Fool is not actually Captain Piccinni and demands the bomb back, but The Chief is confident in The Fool’s explanation, satisfied that their ploy is working on The Reporter. The Reporter is convinced by The Fool. Caught up in the excitement, Captain Pissani grabs The Fool’s wooden hand, quickly letting it go when he realizes it is really made of wood. The Fool states that all that is left is for Captain Pissani to take his wooden leg. The Chief prompts Bertozzo to add to what The Fool said, to illustrate their division’s prowess to The Reporter.

Inspector Bertozzo explains that the bomb was complex and sophisticated, indicating that whoever made it must have had some sort of military background. The Reporter questions why the police would blame an inexperienced, “forlorn anarchist group” (78) when other, like fascists, are more likely to have the necessary skills. The Fool states that Inspector Bertozzo is just a hobbyist and therefore not an expert. Bertozzo demands to know who The Fool is, and The Chief and Captain try to calm him down. Meanwhile, The Reporter points out the national police force was so focused on anarchists, that they ignored other, more probable leads. The Chief argues that the anarchists’ apparent weakness is a façade meant to prevent outsiders from realizing how dangerous they are. The Reporter counters, noting that two of the 10 anarchists that were held responsible for the bank bombing were associated with the police. One was a police plant, the other a fascist confidant.

The Chief admits to the presence of an informant, stating that intelligence gathering is essential to police investigations. He also makes it clear that the police informant was not there the day of the bank bombing. The Fool chimes in that the informant had a signed excuse from his parents. The Chief, beleaguered, warns The Fool to stop. The Reporter concludes that a judge in Rome labeled the fascist as responsible for the attack, as he was the one to come up with the idea in the first place. The Chief denies that the fascist was a confidant, but The Reporter is doubtful. The Fool shakes The Chief’s hand, satisfied with his insufficient response, and the wooden hand comes off in The Chief’s grip. The Fool quickly puts on a more “feminine” looking hand, to replace the one he has lost. The Reporter tries to get the conversation back on track by pointing out that 102 out of 173 “dynamite attacks” were caused by fascists. Others were organized by various international secret services. Captain Pissani states they’d have to verify those numbers before commenting on them. The Reporter asks them how many of the attacks they have pinned on leftist political groups were actually committed by right-wing groups.

The Fool calls the reporter mean, playing up the sight gag of his “feminine” wooden hand. The Chief points out that even communists blame the bombings on the anarchists due to their overly ambitious and adventurous political goals. The Reporter argues that those rumors originated in right-wing newspapers. The Reporter finds similarities between official police statements and the rhetorical style used by fascists and other right-wing political actors. Bertozzo is certain he knows who The Fool is, and he wants to remove The Fool’s eyepatch. The Fool ignores Inspector Bertozzo, asking The Reporter if she expected the police to admit to favoring right-wing, paramilitary politics. The Chief tells Bertozzo to calm down, that he will handle The Fool and turn him back to their side using his own confusing conversational style. The Fool tells The Reporter that she is right, but if they were actually to go after the fascists, things would get out of hand. Bertozzo is insistent that he knows The Fool but can’t place him until Captain Pissani mentions a disguise. Inspector Bertozzo quickly connects the dots and realizes the man posing as a judge is actually The Fool he interviewed earlier that day. The Fool is rambling at The Reporter, claiming that journalists cause terrorist attacks by stoking tensions in Italy. Fed up, Bertozzo pulls back The Fool’s eye patch to prove The Fool doesn’t need a fake eye. The Fool makes a joke of it, distracting The Reporter as The Chief and Captain Pissani berate Inspector Bertozzo. The Reporter and The Fool discuss what kind of scandal it would cause if right-wing influence on the police were recognized. The Reporter believes the scandal would allow citizens to feel that they live in a more just society.

The Fool debates whether people “demand a really just system” (85). He argues that if they do, the government doesn’t really have to do anything beyond promise to make reforms. People want to get rid of social classes and have a large-scale revolution, but they are easily distracted by small reforms that address part of the problem, or reforms that never really come to fruition. Captain Pissani and The Chief think The Fool reminds them of a judge that is on trial for slander. The Chief thinks The Fool might even be worse, even “crazy,” and Inspector Bertozzo is exasperated. The Fool continues stating that “the average citizen doesn’t stand to gain anything from the disappearance of dirty deals. No, he’s satisfied to see them denounced, to see a scandal break out so that people can talk about it” (86). Bertozzo, desperate for The Fool to be caught, yanks on The Fool’s leg, exposing it as fake. The Fool nonchalantly tells him it’s made of walnut. Bertozzo tries to expose that it is a costume piece, not a prosthetic. The Reporter is frustrated with Inspector Bertozzo’s attempts at discrediting The Fool.

Inspector Bertozzo attempts to explain that The Fool is not who he says he is, but Bertozzo is cut off as The Chief, Captain Pissani, and The Officer gag him. They question why Inspector Bertozzo is so set on outing their ruse with The Fool and thus the counter-investigation The Fool had claimed to be working on. Inspector Bertozzo is unaware there was a counter-investigation happening. The police argue among themselves.

The Reporter interrupts the police and tells them to relax, The Fool has explained everything, and she won’t print a story. The Fool admits to The Reporter that he is really a bishop. The Fool changes out of his Captain Piccinni disguise, revealing a Bishop’s costume beneath it. Bertozzo slaps himself, unable to believe people will go along with The Fool’s newest identity. Captain Pissani stuffs a rubber-stamping device into Inspector Bertozzo’s mouth as if it were a pacifier, quieting him. As The Fool places a large ring on his finger, he introduces himself as “Father Antonio A. Antonio” a bishop appointed as police liaison by the Pope to communicate the Vatican’s solidarity with the police. The Reporter starts to question his explanation, but The Fool explains that the police need solidarity. The Officer kisses The Fool’s ring. Captain Pissani forces Inspector Bertozzo to Kiss The Fool’s ring. Bertozzo aggressively objects that they have all been infected by The Fool’s “insanity.” The Chief and Captain Pissani wrap bandages around his mouth, while The Reporter pities Inspector Bertozzo. The Fool pulls out a syringe filled with a tranquilizer and injects Inspector Bertozzo. He also injects The Chief.

The Reporter admits that before she knew The Fool was really a Bishop, she was grateful for all the talk of scandal, thanking God for the break. Inspector Bertozzo manages to write “He’s a maniac, a nut (89) on the president’s portrait, using it as a sign to communicate. The Fool doesn’t seem to notice as he paraphrases a quote from Saint Gregory:

Like it or not, I will impose truth and justice; I will do everything humanly possible to make sure that scandals are clamorously exposed; and do not forget that, in the stench of scandal, all authority is submerged. Let scandal be welcomed, for upon it is based the most enduring power of the state! (90).

The Reporter has The Fool write out the quote. Inspector Bertozzo has ripped up the president’s portrait. The Chief attacks Inspector Bertozzo: Destruction of the portrait is going too far for him to tolerate. The Reporter contemplates the quote The Fool recited. She considers how scandal is necessary for the maintenance of power. Without scandal, there is no release of tension among the populace. The Fool states that scandal serves as a catharsis for those who are unhappy with society, and that’s why journalists must expose scandal, to keep the system going smoothly. The Reporter wonders why the government goes to extreme lengths to cover up scandals if they are ultimately helpful. The Fool says this is because Italy is a “developing nation.” He compares Italy to the United States, a more developed capitalist country. The United States has a president who contradicts himself, doesn’t respond appropriately to questions, forgets what he is saying, etc. However, the public doesn’t lose confidence in him. Rather, all the president must do is say he is rich, and both the people and the stock market support him. Not even scandals like Three-Mile Island, a police bombing (of the Black liberationist MOVE organization) in Philadelphia, and presidential advisors being indicted will disrupt the president’s position: “Scandals are the fertilizer of Western democracy” (92).

Suddenly, Inspector Bertozzo pulls out a gun, removes his gag, and demands that everyone hold their hands up, including his fellow police. He handcuffs everyone to a coat rack. Claiming that he had no other choice but to take extreme action, he threatens to shoot The Fool. He yells at him to be quiet or admit who he really is. The Fool argues that he won’t be believed in these circumstances. Instead, The Fool offers to share his psychiatric evaluations and medical files. Inspector Bertozzo retrieves them from the briefcase The Fool brought in. Inspector Bertozzo distributes the files amongst the handcuffed people, sharing his evidence. The Chief is flabbergasted, shocked that The Fool has actually been diagnosed with mental illness. Captain Pissani reads off the list of hospitals The Fool has been sent to. They all note that The Fool has added to his documents, claiming to have burned down the Library of Alexandria. The Chief states that he must put The Fool “behind bars,” but both Inspector Bertozzo and The Fool object. They explain that those who require psychiatric care cannot be arrested. The Chief fumes.

The Fool grabs the box containing the bomb and threatens to detonate it. Inspector Bertozzo calls him stupid. The Fool objects, demanding that Inspector Bertozzo drop his gun. The Chief and Captain Pissani urge Inspector Bertozzo not to do so; after all, the bomb has been defused. The Fool corrects them, showing that he has reactivated the bomb. He pulls out a tape recorder that has been recording since the start of the play. The Fool plans to make copies of the tape and send them to everyone, newspapers, political party headquarters, etc. He warns that he will set off the bomb if they try to stop him. The Chief says there is no way The Fool could do that, since many of the events took place solely because of The Fool’s false identity and provocations. The Fool, however, doesn’t care; he believes that through the tapes, the Italian people will finally become as modern and democratic as the English and Americans: “[T]hey can finally exclaim, ‘it’s true, we’re up to our necks in shit, and that’s exactly why we walk with our heads held high!’” (96).