How could we be talking about someone trying to deflect suspicion away from herself when she wasn't even being questioned as a suspect?
We all know how this went down. The Perugia police were having an informal tea party in which they invited their friends from Rome. Amanda was invited because she could do gymnastics and everybody likes girls that do gymnastics (except perhaps older girls that can't).
Somehow the informal talk about boys drifted to discussing the case and they were asking Amanda if she knew any of the boys that Meredith knew. Of course she told them about the boys downstairs and some of the other boys that had been to the house or had met Meredith. She adds (being precise as she knows these are police she is talking to):
One of these people is Patrik, a colored citizen who is about 1,70-1,75 cm tall, with braids, owner of the pub “Le Chic” located in Via Alessi and I know that he lives in the area near the roundabout of Porta Pesa. Tel. 393387195723, pub where I work twice a week on Mondays and on Thursdays, from 22.00 until about 2.00.
Since it came up that she was supposed to be working that night, they ask why she didn't go to work. She says she got a text from her boss saying she didn't need to come to work. They ask to see the text and she says she deleted it. But they insist and ask to see the phone and she hands it over and perhaps takes another sip of her tea. It doesn't take these experts of modern technology long to find the reply message "see you later" which Amanda had tried to say in Italian since her boss didn't speak much english. The police in a good humor way replied "Ahh, so you were meeting someone, naughty naughty
" but Amanda insists she wasn't meeting anyone. The police suggest that they play a game called "lets pretend we have a video tape of Amanda crossing the street to her cottage at 8:41". Amanda doesn't want to leave the party since the tea and cakes are good so goes along with the game. So who were you going to meet? There can be only one answer to this. It has to be the person that sent the text: Patrick. And the game goes on, they entered the cottage because of course there is that video. Amanda is saying that she doesn't remember any of this but now someone else has joined the party that happens to be an interpreter and helps Amanda continue the game by suggesting that maybe she was traumatized and that is why she can't remember. So form this point in the game they can only ask Amanda what could have happened since a traumatized person can't know what actually happened. Could Patrick have gone into Meredith's room? Yes. Did Meredith scream? I don't remember hearing any screams. How could you not hear her scream? Perhaps I had my hands over my ears.
Somewhere during this evening, Amanda forgets they were playing a game. After all, it's been a very stressful week and she was up early that morning for class and now it's well past midnight. Amanda is back at her cottage, she is traumatized, she is hearing screams, Meredith is screaming and Patrick is there. Now Amanda is screaming and Giobbi even hears her screaming down the hall in the control room where they normally operate the recording equipment: "He did it, He's bad he's bad!".
(epilog)
Hearing the commotion, other officers come into the room. Seeing Amanda crying, one turns to Rita Ficarra who is standing behind Amanda and asks "What's going on here? Did you hit her?" This is of course the way they play the game. A light whop on the back of the head sometimes helps people remember facts correctly. Amanda partially regains her composure and explains her outburst as "I confusedly remember that he killed her" (although what is Italian for confusedly? "vaguely" should be close enough).
The police explain that she startled the whole department with that scream and ask her to stick around for a little longer so she can sign the report that they now have to write up.
