Nocturne of Remembrance by Shichiri Nakayama Read Free Book Online

standard fee is not anything that your family can afford to pay. Therefore, what you want to pay is fine. Of course, you have to pay something, but I can defend you far better than a court-appointed attorney.”
    Akiko asked, “And why is that? Why would you become my lawyer under such conditions?”
    “A selfish woman kills her husband. The public is all over it. In any world, heroes and heels are popular in the living room. In most instances, by the time the media are on it the heel is behind bars, so it’s the attorney who basks in the spotlight. They’ll come flocking with their microphones and cameras without any invitation.”
    “… Just to get your name out there?”
    “Frankly speaking, that’s correct. However, that has nothing to do with you. You need excellent counsel, and I need high cost-performance advertising. Our interests match. What else would you want?”
    After thinking for a while, Akiko nodded faintly in acknowledgment. Good for her. The woman had no other choice.
    “However, I have one condition,” Mikoshiba said.
    “And what would that be?”
    “It’s okay to be secretive and lie to the detectives or the prosecutor. As the accused, you have the right not to testify against yourself. But I want you to tell the truth to me. All of it, leaving no stone unturned. I can’t defend you if you don’t. Until you leave this detention center, Ms. Tsuda, I am your only friend in the world. You have to go so far as to think so. How about it—can you keep this promise?”
    Akiko bowed shallowly to this, too.
    “Good. Well, this ends my self-introduction. Without any further delay, let’s get to the real issue at hand. First, I want to confirm the facts. On May 5th you murdered your husband, Shingo. He was in the bath, and you stabbed him in the back of the neck with a retractable-blade box cutter. Is this correct?”
    Akiko nodded without saying anything. Mikoshiba thought she might assert her innocence, but he was mistaken.
    “Why did you kill him?”
    “He was a useless man. For three years after he was laid off from his company, he didn’t work. He just closed himself off in his room and did nothing in his role as husband and father. And I became enamored with a man named Yoshiwaki at the office where I worked part-time …”
    “So Shingo became an obstacle for you. Your dream was to leave your husband and marry that other guy.”
    “Yes, that is correct. But my husband would never let me do that. When he learned that I was dating Mr. Yoshiwaki, he severely abused and hit me. And I just flew into a rage.”
    “You just, huh …” Mikoshiba purposely trailed off.
    It was an attempt to trigger some refutation from her, but Akiko Tsuda simply waited for him to continue talking and didn’t try to revise his take at all.
    According to her, it was an impulsive act. The prosecution had jabbed at this first. They argued that it was a deliberate crime rather than one of impulse.
    “So, essentially you are saying that you did not prepare a murder weapon in advance, but that the intent to kill sprung up at that moment.”
    “Yes, just like that.”
    But the murder scene having been a bathroom had worked against Akiko. Invading, knife in hand, a space where the victim would be completely defenseless pointed to premeditation. No matter how strenuously she argued that it was impulsive, a story that lacked rationality could not win in court.
    Moreover, her action after the crime had given a bad impression to the jurors. After she confirmed that he was dead, Akiko retrieved a blue tarp from the shed and put the corpse on it.
    “When you put the corpse on that tarp, did you intend to take it somewhere?”
    “Yes, somewhere, because I thought I couldn’t leave it in the houselike that … Then his father showed up.”
    By chance, the victim’s father, who lived in the neighborhood, visited the house and discovered his son’s dead body and a bloodstained Akiko. He proceeded to call the