Tokyo: Are you even a proper lawyer?

The second trial has begun.

Miyuki Nagai did not appear in court; she was forcibly admitted to another mental health facility.

The prosecution was clearly determined to win. Their strategy remained the same: solidify Miyuki Nagai's motive, ability, and opportunity to commit the crime, and continue to use Ms. Nakamura's testimony, which was rejected in the first trial, to imply that the defense might have engaged in unethical behavior.

They summoned new witnesses who testified that Miyuki Nagai had repeatedly expressed her "hatred for the patients" after the riots.

It's the defense's turn to present their case.

Everyone assumed that Masashi Akiyama would continue to struggle within the framework of the first trial, attempting to defend Miyuki Nagai's innocence or limited criminal responsibility, or continue to dig up dirt on the hospital's management.

However, Masashi Akiyama stood up and walked to the center of the courtroom.

His gaze calmly swept over the judge and jury, finally settling on the prosecutor's bench and the faces of witnesses such as Kosuke Kobayashi.

He did not produce any new physical evidence, nor did he summon any new witnesses.

"Your Honor, members of the jury," he said.

"In this trial, the defense will no longer dwell on details such as whether the defendant, Miyuki Nagai, personally handled the specific drug or whether she committed the act of poisoning."

These words shocked the entire court.

Even the judge looked surprised.

Did Masashi Akiyama abandon the core points of contention?

Masashi Akiyama then changed the subject, "The real key isn't the labyrinth itself, but who built it, and for what purpose?"

"The prosecution charged my client with murder based on motive, opportunity, and some circumstantial evidence. But all of this is predicated on the premise that the medication that caused the deaths of the three patients on the night of the incident was indeed stolen from the dispensing room, and that it was stolen by my client."

"However, what if this premise itself is false?"

"What if those drugs weren't 'stolen' at all, but were taken away 'legally or under a pretext' by someone with the authority to control them? What if my client entered the dispensing room not because of those lethal drugs, but because she was sent there by a senior colleague she trusted under another pretext?"

"Objection!!" The prosecution attorney immediately stood up. "The defense attorney is making malicious speculations without any evidence!"

"Your Honor, my next questioning will focus on the logical contradictions and inexplicable time points in the witness testimonies, all of which are related to the core facts of the case," Akiyama Masashi said calmly.

The judge paused for a moment: "You may allow the defense counsel to continue, but please proceed with questioning regarding the evidence and the established facts."

Masashi Akiyama nodded slightly and refocused his gaze on Kosuke Kobayashi.

"Dr. Kobayashi," he began again, "during the first trial, you testified that a few days before the incident, you obtained several controlled substances from pharmacist Ms. Nakamura due to the urgent needs of a special patient, is that correct?"

"Yes." Kobayashi Kosuke nodded, his expression calm.

"Are you referring to those three patients who later passed away as the 'special patients' you're talking about?"

"Not entirely. Some of the medications were used on them, but primarily on several other patients whose conditions were unstable," Kosuke Kobayashi replied cautiously.

"Then, please list in court which other patients, besides the three deceased, received treatment with these special medications that you obtained from the pharmacy within the week prior to the incident? Can you provide their medical records, dosages, and post-treatment response records in court for verification?"

Kobayashi Kosuke's expression stiffened slightly: "This... involves the privacy of other patients, and the medication records are scattered; I need time to organize them..."

"We don't need specific names, just the medical record number and medication record. Or, could we summon the attending physicians or nurses in charge of those patients with unstable conditions in court?" Akiyama Masashi pressed on.

"Objection! This is irrelevant to the case!" The prosecutor stood up again.

"Your Honor, this directly relates to the veracity of Dr. Kobayashi's testimony and the true purpose for which he received large quantities of controlled drugs! If these drugs were not used for the patients he claimed to have received, then their whereabouts become a huge point of suspicion!" Masashi Akiyama retorted without backing down.

The judge looked at Kosuke Kobayashi: "Witness, can you provide relevant records or witnesses?"

Kosuke Kobayashi's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, but he tried to remain calm as he spoke.

"I need to go back and check the medical records to give an accurate answer, but I assure you that all medications were used for legitimate medical purposes."

"Legitimate medical purposes?" Masashi Akiyama caught the hesitation in his words and immediately pressed, "Including drug combinations that could cause acute respiratory depression and severe cardiac arrhythmias in patients? The forensic report shows that the drug combination in the bodies of the three deceased had high synergistic toxicity—this is not routine treatment! Dr. Kobayashi, you are a psychiatrist; you should be well aware of the risks of such drug combinations! May I ask, in your legitimate medical practice, what conditions require the use of such dangerous and unconventional drug combinations?"

"I...I didn't use that mixed formula! That was done by the murderer!"

"Oh? The killer did it?" Masashi Akiyama raised an eyebrow slightly. "Then, may I ask, who could have access to all the drug components that you received, the ones that perfectly constitute this deadly mixture? Who could know precisely which drugs each of the three victims needed to ultimately form that specific combination in their bodies? Was it Miyuki Nagai, a newly hired intern nurse unfamiliar with the drugs? Or... you, Dr. Kosuke Kobayashi, who is intimately familiar with the properties of the drugs and the patients' conditions, and who just received these drugs?"

"You're spouting nonsense!" Kobayashi Kosuke stood up agitatedly.

"Silence!" the judge slammed his gavel.

Masashi Akiyama ignored his agitation and continued speaking.

"Next, there's the issue of the timeline. You claim that you were organizing medical records in your office on the night of the incident until you received the notification of the commotion. Who can corroborate that?"

"I was working overtime alone that night, and no one can consistently prove it, but the hallway surveillance footage shows that I didn't leave the office area for too long," Kosuke Kobayashi replied.

"Surveillance? You mean those surveillance cameras that happen to malfunction or have blurry images during critical periods? Dr. Kobayashi, you seem to have a very good understanding of the blind spots and timing patterns of surveillance in hospitals."

"I don't understand what you're talking about!"

"You don't understand? Then let's look at another point in time." Masashi Akiyama turned to the judge. "Your Honor, I request to present the defense's first piece of evidence, a summary of Nurse Junko Imai's mobile phone communication records."

Once permission was granted, a record was displayed on the courtroom screen.

Masashi Akiyama pointed to one of the time points.

"This is the last outgoing call made by Nurse Imai's phone on the night of the incident. It was at 11:47 p.m. The call was to Dr. Kosuke Kobayashi and lasted 17 seconds."

He looked at Kobayashi Kosuke.

"Dr. Kobayashi, what did Nurse Imai say to you during this call?"

Kobayashi Kosuke's face paled. "She...she said she wasn't feeling well and asked if I could go see her. I told her I was busy and told her to get some rest."

"Uncomfortable? What exactly is she uncomfortable about? Did she mention being scared? Or did she mention anyone or anything that scared her?" Akiyama Masashi stared intently into his eyes.

"No...she just said she wasn't feeling well."

"Is that so?" Masashi Akiyama's voice suddenly rose. "However, based on Miyuki Nagai's testimony and our investigation into Nurse Imai's unusually anxious state in the period leading up to the incident, she was likely in a state of extreme fear. And her last phone call was to her most trusted lover, and then, 17 seconds later, the call ended, and a few hours later, she committed suicide by cutting her wrists."

He paused.

"A woman so terrified that she sought help from her lover, only to give up and commit suicide after a 17-second phone call? Does that make sense, Dr. Kobayashi? What exactly did you say to her in those 17 seconds?"

"I didn't say anything! I just told her to rest!" Kobayashi Kosuke's voice began to waver.

"You want her to rest?" Masashi Akiyama narrowed his eyes slightly.

"To a fearful, potentially threatened lover, your response is, 'I'm busy, you take a break?'"

"This doesn't sound like concern for a lover; it sounds more like an impatient dismissiveness. Dr. Kobayashi, were you really busy at the time? Or were you busy with something more important? Like dealing with those medications that shouldn't have been there, taken from the pharmacy? Or perhaps discussing with someone how to silence a nurse who knows too much forever?"

"Nonsense! This is slander!" Kobayashi Kosuke completely lost his composure, his finger trembling as he pointed at Akiyama Masashi.

"Whether I'm slandering her or not, let's verify it with facts and logic." Masashi Akiyama stood his ground. "You say you love Junko Imai and are devastated by her death! Then, after she suffered such humiliation, as a man who deeply loved her, as a doctor, what did you do for her? Actively push the police to investigate the patients who committed the violence? Try to soothe her psychological trauma? No! According to the existing evidence, what you did was abuse your power to illegally prescribe psychiatric drugs for her, trying to use drugs to cover up her pain and fear! What you did was dismiss her in 17 seconds on the night she sought your help! What you did was, after her death, eagerly push another innocent girl forward as the murderer and constantly shift suspicion towards your superiors!"

"Where is your love? Where is your justice? You act like a victim, like a helpless bystander, but every action you take protects the real evil! The drugs you obtained became tools for murder! Your comforting phone calls became the final straw that broke Junko Imai's back! The direction you guided in the investigation became a smokescreen to confuse the public!"

"Kobayashi Kosuke!" Akiyama Masashi suddenly raised his voice, "You're not trying to seek justice for Imai Junko at all! You're desperately trying to cover up your own potentially disgraceful or even criminal role in her death! You're not protecting Nagai Miyuki either! You're exploiting her vulnerability and the scene of the crime to find a perfect scapegoat for yourself and the possible network of interests behind you!"

"No! That's not how it is! What do you know?!" Under Masashi Akiyama's barrage of questions, Kosuke Kobayashi's psychological defenses finally cracked.

His face was deathly pale; years of suppressed fear and guilt made him blurt out:

"I didn't want to either! You forced me to! It was that old man! And those family members! They said if we didn't deal with Junko properly, if we didn't shut her up, we'd both be finished! Those drugs... I didn't intentionally use those drugs... it was them! They said it was the cleanest way! And that stupid girl Nagai just happened to walk in on it! What could I do?! I could only..."

His words came to an abrupt end.

The courtroom was deathly silent.

Everyone stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the man who had broken down in the witness stand.

What did he just admit to?

Masashi Akiyama stood still, slowly exhaling a breath of stale air.

The reversal begins.