In October 1286, the familia found a knife on a table under the portico of Giovanni Mezzovillani's house in Strada Maggiore. The record does not indicate why, but they charged a certain Giovanni di magister Alberto, perhaps because he was standing nearest. In his defense, this Giovanni argued that the weapon was in fact a tailor's knife and belonged to Giovanni Lambertini da Stifonte, who had placed it there upon returning from outside the city. Two witnesses, who claimed to have been traveling with Giovanni da Stifonte, confirmed the defendant's story. According to one of them, a notary named Mattiolo di Pietro, the other Giovanni had placed the knife on the table upon returning to the city so that he would not run afoul of the familia. However, three days later—and with no indication as to why—the judge launched an inquisition against a tailor named Guido, who lived and perhaps worked in the house Giovanni Mezzovillani, alleging that he had coached the witnesses of the defendant Giovanni to testify falsely and “free him from the statutory penalty” for the knife. The inquest did not suggest Guido's motive, but it is possible that this tailor's knife actually belonged to him, and he was loath to lose it to the commune.