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De Gasperi flung a final taunt at Di Vittorio, who sat sullenly near the empty chair of Togliatti: "Before the Confederation of Labor decided to resume work, the conscience of the majority of the workers had already called off the strike." This was a telling shaft; even before the strike officially expired (Thursday midnight), workers were returning to factories here & there, shops were pulling up their shutters, and the brightly dressed creatures of Via Veneto were emerging once more from their palatial hideouts.
The government prepared a speedy trial for Assassin Pallante, jailed in Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) prison. In the Policlinico, 55-year-old Togliatti contracted pneumonia, but after massive doses of penicillin (from the U.S.) he felt well enough to ask for a newspaper. He wanted to know how Italy's star rider was doing in France's cross-country bicycle race, the Tour de France.