People are in Conan, but Ace Attorney

Chapter 947 The Reversal of the Silk Thread (11)

—No, isn't that unreasonable?
Kogoro Maori was stunned.

Thinking about it carefully, it does seem quite reasonable.

Logically speaking, Tokudaiji Masayo, as the chairman's secretary, should have lost real power after the chairman went to prison. However, Tokudaiji Masayo's situation was completely different from the norm.

He remembered being inside the villa in Gana earlier.

Kanazan stood in the piano room, facing the corpse of Gerald Tenma.

While Kanami Saki and Kanami Hideki looked grim, Tokudaiji Masayo was still mocking Kanami Saki, saying that if things continued like this, it was hard to say who would end up with the Kanami Group.

Moreover, this kind of mockery has happened more than once or twice.

Most importantly, none of them—Chairman Yoshinori Kana, President Hideki Kana (the head of the Kana Group's affiliated publishing house), or Yoshinori Kana's wife, Misaki Kana—rebutted Tokudaiji Masayo's words.

It was as if they had all tacitly agreed with Tokudaiji Masayo's words!
From this perspective, if we consider the direction that Ritsuko Usui speculated, there might actually be such a possibility!
Kogoro Mouri was speechless for a moment.

Upon seeing this, the presiding judge couldn't help but frown.

He didn't know what was going on with the Kana Group, and he just found Ritsuko Usui's words inexplicable. But when he saw Kogoro Mouri's changed expression, he felt that something was wrong, and he seemed to have overlooked something.

Finally, he turned his gaze to Guiyue Ying, who was standing to the side, and asked in a low voice,

"Prosecutor of Ghost Month, what do you think?"

Gui Yueying paused for a moment, then nodded.

That's right, that's exactly it.

Other board secretaries couldn't do it, but Tokudaiji Masayo could.

The defense's reasoning is plausible, but refuting it is not difficult; all it takes is asking the opposing side if they have any physical evidence.

Needless to say, Ritsuko Usui could never have any evidence to prove that Masayo Tokudaiji was able to take down the Kana Group.

Even if Kana Zenori and Tokudaiji Masayo didn't have a good relationship, they wouldn't have allowed Usui Ritsuko to bring such confidential information to the courtroom and show it to her publicly.

That must be related to an internal equity dispute within the Gana Group.

Even if Kana Yoshino is willing, the other shareholders may not be, and in the end, it will still be a mess. No matter how you look at it, it is unlikely that Kana Yoshino would hand over his secrets to a lawyer like Usui Ritsuko.

However, Hotaru Onizuki did not intend to expose Ritsuko Usui's deduction at this time.

Because what she needs is physical evidence or testimony that can directly prove that Kanami Saki set up a murder trap in the piano room, and for that, she needs more information.

As the prosecutor, she was unable to ask questions proactively.

The only way is to make Ritsuko Usui suffer repeated setbacks, so that she can call out the witnesses herself, question them one by one, dig out deeper information, and find the ultimate truth.

After seeing Onizuki Hotaru, one could say that this possibility was accepted.

Ritsuko Usui breathed a sigh of relief.

She was genuinely worried that this little girl might suddenly pull a big surprise on her at this moment. Even if she could withstand the onslaught, the trial wouldn't be able to be delayed until the next day as she had hoped.

Thankfully, this middle school student is ultimately inexperienced.

She cleared her throat, coughed twice, and then said,

"Your Honor, since Prosecutor Ghost Moon also agrees that my reasoning may be valid."

"Now, the defense would like to have the witness mentioned earlier, namely Tokudaiji Masayo, the secretary of the chairman of the Kana Group, testify in court."

"I would like to ask her to describe everything that happened on the night of the incident to confirm the facts!"

Hearing Ritsuko Usui's words, the bald old man hesitated for a moment. He glanced around the other seats in the courtroom, and seeing that no one else seemed to have any objections, he picked up the gavel from the table, held it in his hand, and finally asked,
"That's not necessarily a bad thing."

"Prosecutor Guiyue, Attorney Usui now wants Tokudaiji Masayo to testify as a witness. What is your opinion on this? If you do not object, this court will grant Attorney Usui's request."

Guiyue Ying returned to her seat at the prosecutor's table, nodded, and whispered,
"The prosecution has no objection to this. Please have witness Tokudaiji Masayo testify in court."

Upon hearing this, the presiding judge stopped hesitating.

He raised the wooden mallet in his hand and brought it down directly.

Then, with a strong voice, he said,

"Please summon our witness, Tokudaiji Masahiro, to appear in court to give his testimony!"

Upon hearing this, the bailiff immediately pushed open the door to the third courtroom and headed towards the corresponding lounge.

At this point, Kogoro Mouri, who was originally supposed to be a witness, also left the scene.

However, before leaving, he was still stroking his chin, pondering the situation of the case.

Well, he felt like something was off.

But something felt off, though I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Finally, back in the lounge, Kogoro Mouri could only sit in a chair, scratching his head in frustration and muttering to himself.

"Really? You're kidding, right? I'm the famous detective Kogoro Mouri!"

"Why can't I figure out the flaw in that guy's words? It sounds so strange, yet it somehow makes perfect sense..."

After the bailiff explained the situation to Tokudaiji Masayo, who was sitting on the other side, the bailiff explained the situation to him.

The female secretary with long black hair stood up, somewhat puzzled, and prepared to go with the bailiffs to the third courtroom to give her testimony and see what was going on.

He was surprised to see that Tokudaiji Masayo had gone to the courtroom to testify before him.

Kanazen, who was standing next to him, was immediately startled and quickly stood up as well to ask,

"Officer, why is Changdai going to the courtroom to testify first?"

"As the defendant's husband, shouldn't I be allowed to testify in court first? What's going on in the courtroom right now? Why is Changdai being asked to testify and be questioned first?"

This was clearly an attempt to probe the courtroom.

The bailiff could only shake his head helplessly, indicating that he had no comment, and then took Tokudaiji Masayo directly to the third courtroom to give her testimony. Kana Zen, who had followed them all the way to the door, could only watch the two leave.

Seeing his older brother like this, Kana Hideki said with a hint of disappointment,
"Big brother, what are you doing?"

"Tokudaiji is just a secretary, after all. Why are you so concerned about her situation? Your sister-in-law is still a defendant in court, and I haven't seen you care much about her situation!"

Upon hearing Kana Hideki's words, several question marks seemed to appear visibly above Kana Yoshino's head.

Who I care about is none of your business.
Besides, do you think I don't know that you've been pursuing Misaki, who is your sister-in-law?

Kana Zen then turned to look at Kana Hideki.

The two brothers suddenly seemed to have a strong urge to argue again over a woman.

Seeing this, Kogoro Mouri, who was standing nearby, changed his position and pretended not to have seen anything.

Well, anyway, it has nothing to do with him.

(End of this chapter)