A week and a day after the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia, we are no nearer a solution as to who killed the journalist.

We are floundering. The enormity of the murder defies interpretation. The absence of details about the background multiplies speculation.

So on the one hand we can see the political parties using the murder to spin their arguments with more enthusiasm. But now we are seeing glimmerings of possible alternative interpretations of the murder, primarily international criminality.

Yesterday’s continual arguments in Parliament are an example of the first sort. Sunday’s massive manifestation in Valletta is another example. Many people who are non-political have said they were not prepared for what became a mostly partisan event. They have said Sunday was a lost opportunity to get a people united especially in the face of Daphne’s killing.

On the other hand it is a fact that people, not just PN supporters, are genuinely angry, upset, afraid that we Maltese are without any defence. Things are coming to a head: yesterday the Leader of the Opposition unsuccessfully tried to get an urgent parliamentary debate. Lawyers have been reported to have asked fellow lawyers to strike.

The Civil Society has asked for the resignation of the Commissioner of Police and of the Attorney General.

This seems a far cry from the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia but the route taken is a short, straight, line.

Until and unless the investigations turn up a reason for the killing and prove their point, we are doomed to see the situation deteriorate.

Maybe too, as said, there is an international dimension to the killing. The international news media speculate on various scenarios as the background to the killing – from Azeri money being laundered in Malta, to Libyan oil stolen and sold through the Mafia, to drugs, to criminal activity to finance Isis…

Whatever the cause, this was a huge blow to the freedom of the press not just in Malta but on a global level. It deprived Malta from the services of a brilliant courageous lady, the best journalist Malta has seen, the mother to her children.

It is time now to be objective about the Daphne record and to say what needs to be said. This was, after all, Daphne – a complex personality. On one day she could be speaking on a fundamental issue. Next she would be peeking on people’s Facebook pages and pictures  - a sort of Private Eye. It has to be said she many times targeted private citizens, relatives and even children who should be kept out of public debate. It is a fact that some or many of her revelations hurt people, ruined lives and created enemies without any real reason except partisan ones. It is sad that some people have rejoiced at her atrocious death but it is also a fact she created innumerable enemies.

She was completely independent – she created her blog so as to be outside any control. It is very good to be courageous but she preferred to stay outside any structures and to be free of any conditioning. Being on her own, she could be more investigative and get more results. Beingon her own made it easier to get killed.

There seems to be no way out of this morass: the two sides just hate each other and will never get together for the good of the country. Daphne was not a person to be manipulated by anyone. She was loved and admired in equal times as she was hated and abhorred. Now she is no more and we are all poorer as a result. But we are still here, engaged in our never-ending feud, and have to live with each other on this small rock.

Whether she was killed by a Maltese hand (unlikely) or by a foreign one (more likely) we who are here must somehow live together.