Tokyo: Are you even a proper lawyer?

It was 11:05 PM.

Masashi Akiyama led Rio Arimura quietly around to the secluded back entrance area of ​​the hospital.

This place is close to the logistics area and abandoned old warehouses. The streetlights are sparse and the light is dim. There are also thick layers of fallen leaves and debris on the ground, indicating that it has been abandoned for a long time.

Masashi Akiyama looked around and noticed that the air was filled with a damp, musty smell and a faint lingering smell of disinfectant.

"Attorney Akiyama, is this the place?" Rio Arimura asked softly, pulling her coat tighter around herself.

"It should be." Masashi Akiyama's gaze swept across the path leading to the warehouse, which was covered by weeds. He held a powerful flashlight in his hand, but did not turn it on.

Because it was still late, the moonlight was obscured by clouds, and visibility was very low.

Just then, a low cough came from the shadows of the warehouse ahead.

Immediately afterwards, a figure cautiously emerged from the shadows.

The person who came was none other than Kobayashi Kosuke, whom I had met during the day.

He was still wearing a white lab coat with a dark coat over it, and his thin face looked even paler and more tense in the dim light.

He visibly relaxed when he saw Masashi Akiyama and Rio Arimura, and quickly walked over to them.

"You really came..."

"Dr. Kobayashi, what do you want to tell us?" Masashi Akiyama asked bluntly.

Dr. Kobayashi nervously glanced back at the direction of the hospital's main building, took a deep breath, and spoke rapidly.

"Miyuki... Nurse Nagai, she's not the murderer! She couldn't have done that! That child... she was completely terrified that night! Ever since the incident in the break room, she's been in a daze, living in immense guilt and fear every day. She almost made mistakes while dispensing medication several times, and I secretly corrected her each time."

"In her condition, her hands trembled even when she poured herself a glass of water. How could she possibly pick locks, steal medicine, and accurately locate those three patients' rooms to poison them? It's absolutely impossible!"

"What about the police's evidence? Surveillance footage and medication records?" Masashi Akiyama pressed.

"Surveillance footage?" Dr. Kobayashi's face showed a hint of bitterness.

"That surveillance camera... has a problem! The surveillance footage from that night had several unnatural jumps and blurs during key periods. The technical department came to check it and said it might be due to line interference."

"But I suspect... someone tampered with it! As for the medication records... yes, Miyuki did go into the dispensary that night, but she didn't go to steal medicine! She went... she went to get medicine for Junko!"

"Get the medicine for Nurse Imai?" Rio Arimura pressed.

"Yes." Dr. Kobayashi nodded emphatically. "Junko was in very bad shape that night. Although she went to work as usual, I could tell that she was just putting on a brave face."

"She suffered from severe insomnia, anxiety, nightmares, and sometimes brief dissociative symptoms. I... I secretly prescribed her some sleep aids and anti-anxiety medication, in very low doses, just to help her get some rest. That night, she ran out of her medication in her dorm room and couldn't sleep, suffering terribly. So she texted Meixue, asking her to go to the pharmacy at the nurses' station and use the backup password I gave her to retrieve the medication I had left in her locker. Meixue was there to get the medication for her! She wasn't going to steal any poison!"

"A backup password? A personal locker?" Masashi Akiyama seized on the key point. "Besides the three of you, who else knows about this? Hospital medication management is strict. Getting prescriptions privately and having a nurse retrieve them using a backup password is a serious violation. Dr. Kobayashi, why would you take this risk?"

Dr. Kobayashi lowered her head, her voice slightly choked.

"Because...because Junko...she's not just my colleague, we...we were planning to get married next spring."

Rio Arimura gasped, and even Masashi Akiyama's expression became complicated.

"That day in the lounge... I couldn't get there immediately..." Dr. Kobayashi clenched his fists tightly, his body trembling slightly, as immense pain and regret almost overwhelmed him.

"By the time I rushed in... it was too late... I looked at her... I..."

Kobayashi Kosuke choked up, sobbing uncontrollably, and it took him a while to recover and continue speaking.

"Afterwards, the hospital, for the sake of its reputation, tried to suppress the matter and classify Junko's incident as an accident. They only wanted to settle things with some compensation and internal disciplinary action. I insisted on calling the police and holding those bastards accountable! But the hospital's upper management put pressure on us, and the police... made slow progress..."

"Junko... she didn't want to put me in a difficult position, and she was afraid that making a scene would have a worse impact on her, so she silently endured it all. I watched her grow thinner and thinner every day, but I was powerless to do anything about it... So, I could only try to alleviate her pain as much as possible by secretly prescribing medicine, but I never expected... I never expected that this would harm Miyuki, and I never expected... Junko would ultimately..."

He covered his face in anguish.

"So, you think that Miyuki Nagai was dragged into this situation because she went to get medicine for Nurse Imai, and was either used or framed?" Masashi Akiyama analyzed.

"That must be it!" Dr. Kobayashi looked up. "Someone knew about Junko and my relationship, and knew that Miyuki was going to pick up her medicine that night! They took advantage of that time, entering the dispensing room before or after, breaking the lock and stealing the real poison, then framing Miyuki! Even... even Junko's death might not have been a simple suicide! I know Junko; even in her pain, she would never leave in that way, especially after we'd planned our future! That night she told me she would try again for me..."

"You mean, Nurse Imai might also have been murdered? And staged as a suicide?" Rio Arimura asked in shock.

"I don't know... but I suspect!" Dr. Kobayashi said urgently, "The scene was too perfect! Wrist cutting, no suicide note! This doesn't seem like Junko! And the fact that all three patients died from drug overdoses at the same time is too much of a coincidence!"

"Who do you think did it? Hospital management? Or someone else?" Masashi Akiyama pressed.

Dr. Kobayashi's face showed struggle and fear.

"I...I'm not sure. But some people in the hospital are desperately trying to cover up Junko's accident, especially the vice president and the head of security. They seem very afraid of getting to the bottom of this. And...I heard that among the three dead patients, one was named Nakamura Tatsuya. His family seems to have some connections. They came to the hospital to cause trouble before, and even demanded that Junko, who was injured, be severely punished. Not long after, he died unexpectedly. Isn't that strange?"

Dr. Kobayashi's words contained a great deal of information, and the content was quite astonishing.

If what Dr. Kobayashi said is true, then this case is far more complex than just a simple case of an intern nurse's breakdown and revenge.

Rather, it is more likely to involve premeditated murder and framing.

"Have you told the police about these things?" Masashi Akiyama asked.

"I told them! But they said my testimony was heavily biased because of my relationship with Junko Imai, and they even used my improper prescription practices to accuse me of conspiring with Miyuki Nagai!" Dr. Kobayashi said agitatedly. "They trust the hospital management more! Attorney Akiyama, I beg you, you must save Miyuki! She's innocent! And Junko... I can't let her die without knowing why!"

Just then, they heard faint footsteps in the distance, and the beam of a flashlight seemed to be flickering.

Dr. Kobayashi froze, his voice low and hurried.

"Someone's coming! It might be the night patrol security guards! I can't let them spot you and let you make contact! You need to get out of here! Just keep going down this road, it'll lead you to the outer streets!"

He finished speaking hastily, gave Akiyama Masashi a deep look, then quickly turned around and disappeared back into the shadows of the old warehouse.

The footsteps and the beam of light grew closer.

"Attorney Akiyama, let's go!"