It’s true, we tend to take things for granted but with this lot you have to put every minute detail under the microscope.

According to the first transcript released by the PN media, Manwel Mallia was enquiring about his daughter as late as 11pm, asking for Sheehan’s mother’s address and being told by Sheehan that the other driver had picked her up.

Had he been with him at the time of the incident this matter would have more likely been cleared immediately and arrangements made for the other driver to take over.

Moreover, according to the transcript, Mallia was already at Police GHQ when Sheehan reported that he had shot at Smith:

“F’din il-konversazzjoni wkoll Paul Sheehan jinstema’ jistaqsi biex ikellem lill-Minisru Manwel Mallia li dak il-ħin kien qiegħed fil-Kwartieri Ġenerali tal-Pulizija jattendi okkażjoni soċjali.”

http://maltarightnow.com/news/2014/12/05/dawn-it-telefonati-jikkonfermaw-il-gidba-ta-mallia-2/

That was clear to most of us on day one.

The question is not how he was driving and speaking on the phone, but assuming that he was not using a Bluetooth device (and it does not sound as if he was) how could he speak on the phone, shoot and drive at the same time?

The side mirror yarn is just not credible enough, and who in his right mind would end up near the ‘Pixxina’ car park when chased, a road that leads to nowhere but very convenient for sinister nocturnal escapades?

Then we come to the whereabouts of Mallia at the time.

Was he really at a party at Police HQ or was he on the scene?

Has the time lapse been checked? Finally why is Stephen Smith so complacent about all this even though he spent time under arrest?

To my mind we only have a fraction of this conundrum and we are still very far from the truth.

The safest place for the minister to go to at that point, without an armed driver, would have been the police HQ.

It seems that by the time the low-loader was on the scene – this happened before the media arrived in the tunnels – the Minister had been whisked away, possibly with the help of a some police car redirected to the site.

Unless, of course, he helped himself to some of Sheehan’s Red Bull which may have been readily available in the Minister’s car, and grew wings.

I do not think that Sheehan mentioned a broken mirror in the first video when he is heard shooting. He refers only to “faqghali il-karozza tal-Ministru.”

This is an important detail, especially when assessing what happened to that mirror, when, and for what reason exactly.