Nocturne of Remembrance Read Online Free PDF

to gain by doing this?” interrupted Horai, his eyes flashing. “What could Reiji Mikoshiba, only motivated by high fees, be plotting by sticking his nose into the affairs of another law firm? Come on now, you aren’t plotting to blackmail me, are you?”
    “Well, there are probably people who’d love to blackmail a nice prosperous law firm such as yours. Unfortunately, though, all of my income is gained legally, and I never have my sights on criminal acts. If I have to reply, perhaps it’s revenge.”
    “Just what do you mean?”
    “While I was in the hospital, it seems that Horai-sensei very eagerly submitted a request for disciplinary action against me. I believe you even argued that I was a criminal.”
    “Oh, that.”
    “It is certainly disreputable and outrageous for anyone suspected of such things to complacently linger around the TBA. In my case, though, it’s just rumors. On the other hand, Horai-sensei, you’ve committed full-fledged violations of the Attorneys-at-Law Act as well as broken JFBA regulations. In which case, it is only ethically proper for me to rush to the board with this report.”
    Mikoshiba cut short his words there and waited for the other party’s reaction. Horai seemed to be confirming the particulars of the report. Finally, he raised his head and looked Mikoshiba directly in the face.
    Horai slowly shed his lawyer mask. Mikoshiba, who had seen the faces of hundreds of criminals by then, could tell. From under it emerged the mug of a beast adept at deceit.
    “It might be ethically proper, but you aren’t one to be governed by such things. Actually, you are opening your cards to me before showing this to the disciplinary committee.”
    Once again Mikoshiba gloated in his mind. Finally, Horai was looking for some kind of breakthrough. In this kind of negotiation, the one who proffered his hand first always lost.
    “Fortunately, you seem to be like me: a man who knows that there are things more important in this world than ethics and justice. Now, tell me clearly. What do you want?”
    Horai brought his face closer to Mikoshiba and glared at him.
    The man’s bad breath was terrible, and Mikoshiba looked away to flee it. “You don’t have to make such a scary face. I brought the report here to have you check the facts, Horai-sensei. If you believe that the report contains factual errors, I would put it in the shredder.”
    “So … what are your conditions?”
    “Well, now that you mention it, actually there’s a case that interests me personally. You have been the defense counsel for the Shingo Tsuda murder that occurred in Setagaya.”
    “Oh, yes. The accused made a full confession, and we are just contending the sentencing. We filed an appeal just yesterday.”
    “How about if you resign from the case and let me take your place?”
    “What? Hey, this defendant isn’t some executive, she’s just a housewife. No position, no honors, no particular assets. Me, if this wasn’t a request from a good friend …”
    “If you have no attachment to the case, switching with meshouldn’t be a bother.”
    “She, herself, admits to the charges, so there is not a shard of public sympathy for her. It’s not a case that can build your reputation even if you get the sentence shortened a bit. The appeal is being made only because she stubbornly insisted on it.”
    “If anything, defendants that have no public sympathy on their side are my specialty.”
    “Why on earth are you taking a case that won’t make a cent?”
    “Having specialized in debt consolidation, haven’t you handled clients who’ve been ripped off by fraudsters?”
    “Yes. Merely being told ‘This is bound to make money’ or ‘This is special, only for you’ often fools them into signing the contracts.”
    “If something was bound to make money, you would never tell others about it.”
    For some time, Horai studied Mikoshiba’s face trying to weigh his true motive. But eventually he just shook his head,