After listening to what Ai said, Keisuke Kumiko nodded.
What she said made a lot of sense.
If Conan's personality was indeed as she described—someone highly self-centered—then using the previous method of constantly mocking him for breaking the law and humiliating him with various facts about his past crimes would be difficult to make him bow his head.
This kind of egocentric person has a very "rigid" self-perception.
What he believes to be right is right, and what he doesn't believe to be right—no matter how much you talk to him until he admits his mistakes—he will only say he did it for such and such reason, that it makes sense, and that, ultimately, he wasn't wrong.
There's a very classic saying: "My heart and my actions are as clear as a mirror, and everything I do is just."
It sounds quite poetic, but in reality, it describes this type of person.
"So, Miss Magic Conch, how should this problem be solved?"
"What Miss Magic Conch! Can you stop giving me these weird nicknames?"
Ai rolled her eyes.
After a pause, she said, "If you want to use legal concepts to make Kudo lower his head, it's like talking to a cow. Because Kudo's area of expertise isn't here. He actually doesn't understand the true meaning of the law at all."
Ai spoke word by word.
"So, you have to defeat him in the area where he takes pride in himself, so that he feels frustrated."
"I see," Keisuke understood. "You mean I have to defeat him in the field of detective work?"
Ai nodded. "That's right."
"Then wouldn't that mean a lawyer like me would end up like those low-level detectives, chasing after so-called truth and competing against them?"
Keisuke sneered.
"A lawyer's duty has always been to protect their client's interests. There is no truth in the law. Shouldn't someone have told you that?"
Ai lifted her head and looked at Kumiko's face.
"In essence, you and Kudo are the same kind of person," she said.
Keisuke Kumiko turned his head to look at her with a playful expression.
"Oh? You think he and I are the same?"
"Aren't you?" Ai said lightly. "Kudo is self-centered, and so are you."
"Is that so…?"
Keisuke showed that classic smirk at the corner of his mouth.
He looked at Ai's seemingly calm face with interest and suddenly spoke.
"I have a question… Why are you suddenly so enthusiastic about making Conan and me fight? Do you gain anything from it?"
"No benefit at all."
Ai's indifferent expression changed.
A smile slowly appeared on her delicate face.
That smile was like a little devil's.
"I just thought it'd be fun to watch men fight, that's all."
Keisuke stared into her eyes.
The two locked gazes.
After a long moment, a deep and unreadable smile appeared on Keisuke Kumiko's face.
"Since you want it so much, then I'll make it happen."
Isn't that the truth?
Keisuke never cared about the truth, but that didn't mean he lacked the ability to find it.
In fact, lawyers and detectives, strictly speaking, are two professions that overlap to some extent.
However, in his previous cases, Keisuke had never focused on this overlap. He had never, like a detective, exposed the actual truth in court and talked about it.
And now, this was a new challenge.
Of course, he would still use his own unique methods.
"Let's go," Keisuke Kumiko said as he turned around.
Ai nodded and followed him.
The first place Keisuke Kumiko had to go was, of course, the police station.
Because the testimonies of all the witnesses in this case, along with their personal information, were still kept at the station.
According to Nanatsuki Koshimizu's account of the crime, besides several detectives, there were two other people involved: Hiroo Tsuchio, an actor working for a theater company, and Renzo Kotani, the housekeeper of Lavender Villa.
He first needed to obtain specific information on these two individuals.
After some twists and turns, Keisuke Kumiko arrived at the entrance of the Metropolitan Police Department.
During the case involving Nishitani Miho, Keisuke had been to this place, so he was quite familiar with it.
He had Ai wait outside the gate, went in, showed his lawyer's license, and spoke with the officer on duty about the situation. Shortly after, he obtained the relevant personnel's information.
Before leaving, he once again saw Megure and his group at the entrance.
They looked exhausted, seemingly just coming off duty.
Takagi and Chiba were escorting a suspect on either side, heading toward the interrogation room.
"Officer Megure, how are you?"
Keisuke greeted him with a smile.
Inspector Megure stopped and looked at him seriously.
"Attorney Keisuke, in the case of Nishitani Miho, you did a lot to put the criminal in jail, didn't you?"
Keisuke raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Ah, sir, you need evidence to say that."
Inspector Megure shook his head. "You don't have to pretend anymore. After you came that day, we started investigating Nagai Tatsuya's situation."
"Oh? You're being so proactive in that case."
Keisuke feigned surprise. "It seems like those tax-funded thieves who do nothing are finally doing something for the people!"
Inspector Megure ignored him and continued.
"Half of those witnesses' testimonies were false. According to our follow-up interrogation, it seems Tatsuya Nagai had never been to that shop."
"According to Tatsuya Nagai's later confession, we also learned that a man wearing work clothes once went to his home under the pretense of fixing a water pipe, took the tools he was going to use to commit the crime, and left behind a pile of pornographic DVDs and books."
The smile on Kumiko's face remained unchanged.
"So what? Didn't he admit in his confession that those were his weapons? That's irrefutable evidence!"
Inspector Megure took a deep breath.
"What I mean is that, even though you used such gray-area methods to put a criminal in jail, it's not recognized by the law! You're trampling on the dignity of the law!"
"Oh, here we go again, preaching about justice."
Keisuke Kumiko sighed.
He raised a finger and gently waved it.
"First of all, you need to understand that I'm a lawyer. In terms of legal knowledge, what qualifications do you under-trained police officers, who are below the rank of inspector and not even in the professional unit, have to preach to me?"
"Secondly, if you want to accuse me of any methods, please provide evidence."
"Videos? Photos? Do you have any direct proof of this? Or can you convict people based purely on rumors?"
Faced with Kumiko's questioning, Inspector Megure lowered his head.
After a moment of silence, he shook his head.
"We have no evidence."
"Then step aside, thank you."
Keisuke smiled faintly, pushed Megure's shoulder, and walked away with the information.
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(End of this chapter)