Case NOT Closed

Half an hour quickly passed, and the personnel inside the courtroom gathered again.

Kujo Reiko straightened her clothes, took her seat, and patted her face, trying to maintain her composure.

“Kujo-san…”

Ryuuji Masami on the side wanted to comfort her upon seeing her state. However, after uttering her name, he received a fierce glare from his superior, causing him to quickly retract like a quail.

Kujo Reiko realized that she had lost control and quickly took a deep breath to calm herself.

‘I need to keep calm, I can’t fall for Komemon trick!’

She thought to herself, trying to boost her morale.

To be honest, the disadvantage from the first half had depleted almost all of her mental state. As a woman, her mood was also easily affected due to her menstrual cycle.

The losing situation had already become apparent.

With everyone assembled, the judge in the middle rapped the gavel.

“We will now reconvene! Regarding the defense attorney’s statement on the witnesses’ testimony, the prosecution is invited to express their views.”

“In this regard, the court acknowledges the opposing party’s viewpoint.”

Kujo Reiko stood up, making an effort to reorganize her thoughts.

“The testimony of the four witnesses falls under hearsay evidence. Based on the strength of the testimonies, it indeed does not reach the level necessary for convicting the defendant.”

Pausing for a moment, she continued.

“However, the defendant’s methods, verified repeatedly by the Metropolitan Police and the Prosecutor’s Office, have proven to be feasible. Therefore, we cannot exclude the suspicion that the defendant committed the murder!”

“Objection!”

Before Reiko could finish her statement, Kensuke immediately stood up.

“If people can be convicted just by reasoning techniques, then there will be a lot of unjust, false and wrongful cases in the world. Isn’t that right, Sleeping Kogoro–san?”

With a sarcastic smile, Kensuke looked towards Kogoro Mouri.

“You- you bastard, what did you say!”

Hearing his words, Kogoro felt so angry that smoke almost came out of his seven orifices. He was about to rush down from the witness stand, ready to demonstrate some judo skills on this guy.

Of course, his actions were promptly stopped by the judicial police.

Ignoring him, Kensuke just smiled faintly, directing his gaze towards the judges’ bench.

The three judges and the jury whispered among themselves for a while.

Then, the judge in the middle rapped the gavel.

“The objection is valid! The defense attorney’s viewpoint is valid! The prosecution is requested to present more substantial evidence!”

“What! How can this be valid!”

Hearing the judge’s decision, Kogoro yelled in surprise.

The judges sighed as they glanced at him.

If it were other witnesses, other detectives, they might indeed have to consider it. But this was Kogoro Mouri!

Before he gained the title of “Sleeping Kogoro,” he had worked with the police on many cases. However, the police, especially Inspector Megure, didn’t have a high opinion of him.

The comment “often leads the case into confusion” had led to numerous wrongful convictions. Thanks to this guy, the High Court had put in a lot of extra hours, reviewed many appeal cases, and the judges had witnessed many suspects being released. Trying cases involving him was simply a waste of effort.

So, Kogoro Mouri’s reputation had long been tarnished in the minds of the judges!

Watching the expressions of the judges on the stage, Kujo Reiko sensed trouble.

In Japanese court debates, although the adversarial system was adopted, the ultimate interpretative power still rested with the judges on the bench. If a judge said your objection was valid, it was valid; if they said it was invalid, no matter how well you argued, it wouldn’t matter.

Therefore, usually in judicial debates, the impression the judges had was quite crucial.

“Darn it…”

Reiko gritted her teeth, only able to bring out the last piece of evidence.

“This court requests to present physical evidence!”

Soon, a handgun was presented.

The Smith & Wesson M439, a semi-automatic pistol once used by the U.S. military, now outdated but still available through unofficial channels.

“After forensic examination, we used polymerase chain reaction technology and found a significant amount of the defendant’s DNA on the gun, particularly at the trigger. This can be used to accuse the defendant of suspicion of murder!”

Kujo Reiko waved a stack of identification reports in front of everyone.

However, her voice seemed weakened.

This physical evidence was just too weak because before the gun was submitted as evidence, it had already…

Sure enough, immediately after that, Kensuke spoke up.

“Only the defendant’s DNA? I’m afraid not, right? Is your information incomplete?”

And just like Reiko, he also produced an identification report.

“This is the identification report I obtained from the Metropolitan Police, the same one as the one that Investigator Kujo has!”

Kensuke posted the identification reports one by one on the central whiteboard in the courtroom.

“As you can see, it’s not just our client’s DNA; there’s also a large amount of other people’s DNA, such as the deceased, our dear Detective Mouri, and many others.”

Kensuke said, tilting his head, wearing a curious expression.

“So, besides our client and the deceased, why would there be someone else’s DNA in there?”

Immediately, as if he suddenly realized something, he exclaimed, “Could it be that the physical evidence was already destroyed in various ways before it was submitted? Then it can’t be considered as evidence!”

Silence filled the courtroom.

Kensuke’s words were like a well-aimed blow.

In the witness seat, Kogoro Mouri clenched his teeth.

Although Kensuke’s words just now didn’t seem to directly target him, the tone was entirely directed at him.

After all, detectives always tended to casually tamper with the crime scene before the police arrived.

Undeniably, this caused some trouble for the police’s evidence collection.

Back then, in his haste due to the murder of an important classmate, he completely forgot about protecting the evidence.

This was a negligence on his part as a detective, and at this moment, it was exploited as a fatal weakness by the opposition.

“So, does the prosecution have any other evidence?”

Without looking at Kogoro again, Kensuke smiled and turned his gaze to Kujo Reiko.

“… None.”

Kujo Reiko, realizing the tide had turned against her, sighed deeply in the end.

But she was not giving up. She asked, “Since you keep saying the defendant is not the murderer, then tell us, what is the truth behind this incident?”

“Oh, the truth of the matter? Listen well.”

At this moment, Kensuke finally revealed a victorious smile on his face.

He took out a stack of documents from the table.

It was the fax he obtained from Nakamichi house, related to the deceased Horikoshi Yumi.

“From the fax, It can be seen that the deceased was a person with a very extreme personality. The following opinions are only my personal conjecture.”

Kensuke displayed each fax to everyone.

“The pistol was brought by the deceased, not our client. The client followed the deceased back to her room, and was once again threatened by the deceased. The deceased held the pistol, stretched out her arm to her temple, and threatened the client that if he did not After meeting her conditions, she would committed suicide and blamed the person involved, which is our client. At this time, the pistol suddenly went off…”

Pausing, Kensuke smiled strangely.

“So, this is an attempt to falsely implicate through a suicide plot, but due to some accident, it end up as a genuine suicide.”