Consultant

Komikado won the case again and identified the real culprit.

However... the twists and turns of the case, especially the fact that Tsubokura's intentional homicide charge had not been dropped but merely reduced to "attempted," greatly eased the pressure on the police.

Of course, Komikado would insist that the prosecution's charge was improper and keep bargaining until it was reduced to "intentional injury."

At Tokyo High Court, Komikado left in high spirits, while Dai looked somewhat dejected.

They had won, but... the truth left Dai, who had previously believed their client, deeply ashamed.

Although they had won, when facing the reporters outside, Komikado had his personal "informant" deliberately create a disturbance and lure them away before calmly leaving—Komikado did not like drawing attention to himself, since such things did nothing to help him win cases.

"I never expected... Tsubokura really was lying to me." Dai was still brooding over it.

"What are you talking about? Plaintiffs and defendants alike, it's perfectly normal for them to be full of lies. As lawyers, we don't need to think about that!" Komikado took it in stride.

"Huh? Aren't we lawyers supposed to uphold fairness and justice..." Dai clearly was not used to that way of thinking.

"Are you the heroine of some morning drama? You're just a lawyer. Your job is to win for your client... And I haven't even mentioned that if you'd told me those things earlier, Mr. Tsubokura would already be out by now!" Komikado launched straight into a lecture.

"You..." Dai was furious, but then seemed to remember something and asked instead, "But even if you say that, deep down... you still hope for fairness and justice, don't you?"

"Huh? Amazing! Can you see things no human being can see?" Komikado mocked her mercilessly.

"But... you defended Chief Shiraishi before, didn't you? That shows you also..." Dai still wanted to present evidence. This was one of the few decent things she had seen Komikado do.

Komikado laughed in exasperation, but before he could speak, his phone rang...

"Hello... That's right, wonderful... This is truly a wise decision! The Suzuki Group certainly won't regret today's decision... All right, I'll go sign the contract right away... Hahaha... You're too kind, it was nothing!" Komikado beamed as he spoke on the phone.

After hanging up, Komikado even held up his phone and told Dai, "If putting in a good word for someone can get me a contract as the Suzuki Group's special legal consultant, make sure to call me!"

Dai: ???

That was right. Komikado had helped Shiraishi out for a very simple reason...

Although he was only an outside legal consultant, the monthly pay was considerable, and besides... this was practically free money!

After all, the Suzuki Group had a massive legal department of its own. Why would it need to consult an outside legal adviser?

Komikado could never have too many contracts like this!

As for what relationship the Suzuki Group had with Shiraishi Kuro, Komikado did not care in the slightest...

Meanwhile, Shiraishi also received a call from Iwata.

"I've seen Shirai's transfer order. It's basically confirmed that he'll report to the General Affairs Department's Public Relations Division at the Metropolitan Police Department, along with three other transfer orders..." Iwata spoke in a strictly businesslike tone.

Still, Shiraishi said, "As expected of Iwata... I owe you for all this. Drinks are on me tonight."

"Oh? Getting promoted really does make a difference!" Iwata deliberately teased him.

Shiraishi had always been rather frugal. After all, he had only been a police inspector before, and he had donated quite a bit of money to the orphanage. While he was not exactly strapped for cash, he had always spent each month's salary by the end of the month.

"Of course, of course. Now that I've added up my police rank and position pay, I realized I'm part of the high-income group too." Shiraishi joked deliberately.

After all, he had been promoted two ranks in a row, so his salary was now considerably higher than Iwata's as a superintendent and Metropolitan Police Department section chief.

After chatting for a few moments, they returned to the main topic—the three people being transferred to Beika Police Station!

Shirai, the current chief of the Criminal Affairs Division, was definitely being transferred away. Shiraishi had not accepted his resignation, instead asking Iwata to help arrange for him to be "put on standby."

In reality, that just meant sending him somewhere to coast until retirement and collect his pension.

In addition... Shiraishi had taken the chance to transfer away two detectives from the Haitani Unit as well.

Shiraishi had already felt that their abilities and mentality were not well suited for detective work. Moreover, during Shirai's improper interrogation this time, they had performed especially poorly, even giving false testimony in an attempt to cover for him. Therefore, Shiraishi took the opportunity to transfer both of them away.

As for the position of chief of the Criminal Affairs Division, Haitani had also been ordered to reflect behind closed doors, so he was definitely out of the question. Akasaka and Aoki... were still a little lacking as well, so Shiraishi did not force his own people into the position and instead requested a transfer from the Metropolitan Police Department.

Although the official appointment had not yet been announced, Iwata naturally had his own channels and already knew who had been selected...

After hearing Iwata's introduction, Shiraishi froze. "Huh? Someone from the Public Relations Division is being transferred here to be my Criminal Affairs Division chief?"

So the price of transferring Shirai to the Public Relations Division to coast until retirement was that they had to find me a division chief from the Public Relations Division?

I'd be better off trying to promote Aoki or Akasaka myself!

"I found it strange too, but I heard it was a direct transfer order from 'higher up,' so I specifically looked into it... Don't be fooled by the fact that Superintendent Kunikida is currently in the General Affairs Department's Public Relations Division. I checked his personnel transfer records. Six years ago, he was the chief of the Sixth Unit of the First Investigation Division. Because of a certain case, he was transferred to the Public Relations Division." Iwata was as reliable as ever.

Clearly, Iwata had been puzzled from the start and had even investigated what was going on for Shiraishi.

"First Investigation Division? Six years ago..." Shiraishi pondered it. That would have been when he had just joined the force, no wonder he did not know him. He then confirmed, "A certain case?"

"Yes, a murder case. The defendant never confessed in the end, but was convicted because the evidence was clear... Although the file didn't explicitly say anything, I later checked the case records and found that the perpetrator in that case committed suicide in prison not long afterward. And... the Sixth Unit once applied to the Prosecutor's Office for a supplementary investigation, but was refused. After that, Superintendent Kunikida voluntarily asked to resign, but was retained and transferred to the General Affairs Department." Iwata did not spell it out too clearly.

But Shiraishi already understood what he meant...

After all, it was very similar to what had just happened at Beika Police Station!

Iwata had also asked some old hands in the First Investigation Division. Kunikida had been a "hardliner" back then too, and in the end... his hardline methods had gone wrong!

The difference was that Shirai had been exposed by others for improper interrogation, while Kunikida had discovered the problems with the case himself, only to have his request for a review blocked. Judging by the Prosecutor's Office's attitude this time, it was easy to guess what had happened six years ago!

The case had ultimately never been classified as a wrongful conviction. Rather, the already-convicted prisoner had committed suicide in prison.

But Kunikida himself could not accept that outcome. After his resignation was rejected, he went to the General Affairs Department's Public Relations Division to "recuperate."

With that, Shiraishi could understand why "higher up" had transferred him here!

A unit chief in the First Investigation Division was undoubtedly a frontline backbone. Leaving him idle for six years was already wasteful. Now that the Shirai incident had happened and Shiraishi needed to reform the Criminal Affairs Division and emphasize proper procedure, sending Kunikida over was only natural—Kunikida now surely cared most about whether investigative procedures complied with regulations.

"The other two detectives are pretty good too. They meet your requirements and are both young. One is a promising rookie, and the other was also transferred down from the First Investigation Division." Iwata had looked into them all for Shiraishi.

"Transferred down from the First Investigation Division? Don't tell me there's some flaw with him too?" Shiraishi immediately picked up on that.

The First Investigation Division might have been the Metropolitan Police Department's elite, but... being "transferred down" often meant there was a problem. Shiraishi was not in the business of picking up other people's leftovers!

"It's not really a flaw. This Kogure participated in solving quite a few major cases while he was in the First Investigation Division, it's just..." Iwata lowered his voice. "I heard that after his fiancée dumped him, something went wrong in his head. They're giving him a new environment to recover for a while. He should still be usable!"

That was information Iwata had dug up through gossip! It definitely would not be written in the files...

"So he's a simp..." Shiraishi curled his lip.

As for the "promising rookie," Shiraishi did not ask much. Since he was a rookie, Iwata naturally would not know much about him either...

Dongdong: Tomorrow is Monday, so there'll be an extra update again. Three chapters at midnight to push the rankings.

A little spoiler: the first female lead will start appearing much more in the next chapter~