"Witness, what is your position?"

"Director of the Maintenance Center of the G227 Expressway."

Imanishi walked out of the defendant's dock and came to the witness stand in the middle, looking at Kuno. The eye contact between the two was unique and subtle, like a series of Morse codes sent out of thin air, converting what they were thinking into code.

Send it to the other person's heart.

“Have you seen the video taken by the plaintiff’s attorney at the G227 Highway Maintenance Center?”

"Yes, I have seen it." After finishing his words, Kuno suddenly started to shake slightly, his eyes turned red for a moment, he looked up at the judge on the trial bench, and said excitedly: "Judge, it's definitely not like the video.

As shown, they obscure the true nature of the matter."

"Okay. Now, Kuno, let me ask you a question about the content of the video involved in the case." Imanishi said, "What kind of building is the building captured in the video? Is it your office space or an accommodation for employees?"

As if he had been skillfully rehearsed, Kuno raised his head and responded methodically: "That's right. Our building is actually used for both office and accommodation. We work during the day and stay in the room directly at night. It's a highway. Construction.

In the wilderness, it would be very expensive to build more specialized staff dormitories out of thin air. Therefore, our buildings are used for both office and accommodation. However, we have a separate reception room. The location of that video did not film us.

The external reception room led directly into our staff area for internal filming.”

"Oh?" Imanishi deliberately looked surprised, as if he had discovered some treasure underground, leaning forward slightly: "In other words, the place where the shooting was taken is not just the office location, but also the place where you live and live."

"Yes, because of this, the room will look a little messy, with some food and supplies. But the place where you live will inevitably have some traces of life." Kuno emphasized his tone and turned up the volume for the purpose of trial.

All the judges on the bench could hear it clearly.

"Why do you want to drink?" Imanishi's eyes narrowed slightly.

The drinking behavior in the video is one of the core points.

As a road maintenance employee, it is outrageous that he drank alcohol.

If a maintenance employee drinks alcohol, how can he still be on duty?

Kuno coughed slightly and said: "That day, I was actually on vacation. The other five colleagues eating at the table in the video were also on vacation. My good colleague Toda, his daughter recently got engaged, and he was very happy. So,

Our colleagues who were on vacation got together and opened a few bottles of beer to celebrate. We were on vacation at the time, as evidenced by the vacation certificate the company can provide."

"In other words, the somewhat messy scene and the drinking incident in the video do not actually represent the whole picture of the Kawamoto Expressway Maintenance Center?"

"Yes." Kuno straightened his chest slightly.

Imanishi turned to face the court, "Chief Judge, regarding the messy house and Kuno's drinking in the video. It can be seen from the witness testimony just now. First, because the building photographed is also used as employee accommodation, it is normal for dinner parties to occur.

Second, regarding the drinking issue in the clip. Indeed, it is extremely inappropriate for a person in charge of a highway maintenance center to drink alcohol. However, the court is asked to consider the fact that the witness Kuno was already on vacation at the time."

Imanishi paused, pursed his dry lips, and continued: "Since the witness is on vacation, he has temporarily left his job and is not bound by the relevant work regulations. It is only inappropriate because the drinking place is inside the unit.

Although there are violations, the circumstances are minor and the court is requested to take a look at it.”

Judge Kumagai at the referee's seat nodded slightly and signaled Imanishi to continue questioning the witnesses.

Miyagawa unconsciously tightened his pen. Under his father's questions to the witnesses, it seemed that the chaos in the house and Kuno's drinking problem in the video became excusable and turned into trivial, innocuous questions.

But no matter how powerful his father is, Kuno’s action of back-signing the inspection form in this video cannot be denied at any cost.

Imanishi turned around, looked at Kuno, and continued to ask: "Next, let me ask you about the conversation between you and Suda in the video."

The witness asked questions and finally came to the most critical link.

Among the video clips submitted by Kitahara and Miyagawa, the most damaging one was Kuno's refusal of Suda's inspection request.

From a bystander's perspective, this is almost tantamount to direct proof of malfeasance.

Blatant refusal to inspect is tantamount to a direct violation of national standards that require highway inspections to be conducted no less than once a day.

"In the video, you refused Suda's request for inspection. Excuse me, by inspection, do you mean highway inspection?"

Imanishi's question seemed to evoke some kind of echo, instantly revealing a blind spot in the video that no one had noticed. Imanishi was like a magician standing on the stage, slowly removing the black draped on the box.

Cloth, the box that was supposed to be empty suddenly started to shake, and with a "flutter" sound, a group of white pigeons flew out.

The moment he heard his father's question, Miyagawa opened his eyes wide. What did his father's words mean? Did he want to deny that the "inspection" mentioned in the video was not a highway inspection?! The next second, Miyagawa noticed this

The possibility was suddenly awakened, and I discovered that the video they submitted did have this weakness. There was indeed only the word "inspection" in the video, but there was no mention of what exactly the inspection was from beginning to end.

Miyagawa seemed to see a sharp knife in front of him, facing the heavily protected knight in armor, but it plunged directly into the thin gap in the joint.

When Kuno heard this question in the witness box, it was as if he had received instructions from a general. The horn of attack was blown with all his strength, and he immediately said loudly: "Judge, I did make a mistake in this matter. But please, judge, please

Note that the inspections Suda mentioned in the video do not refer to highway inspections. We must do highway inspections every day, we cannot, and we dare not not do them."

Kuno's words were like a violent storm.

The last time I attended the trial, the citizens who watched the video couldn't help but change their expressions in the seats at the back. This witness interview... really... really reversed black and white. A seemingly impeccable video,

In an instant, the biggest flaw was exposed.

"The inspections Suda talks about are actually inspections of wild animals on the periphery of the highway. Because the G227 section of the highway has only one lane and is close to the toll station on the deceleration gate. Due to original construction problems, there may be wild animals crossing it.

problem. Therefore, we need to patrol regularly."

"This gate is close to the toll station, and most of the vehicles have slowed down to a very slow speed, so accidents have never happened before. However, the problem of animal crossing has been solved since June last year. The company installed a new type of

The protective iron net is three layers thick, making it impossible for wild animals to cross this gate, so there is no need to patrol the perimeter of this gate."

"Judge. The inspection I refer to in the video refers to the inspection of this gateway. I have previously reported to the company that there is no need for patrols, and received a verbal affirmative reply from them. It is just because the company treats

We are very serious about inspections. Any changes to the inspection system require strict approval, and the formal procedures have not yet been completed. I stopped the inspection without authorization before the company's internal system was officially changed. I was indeed wrong."

"Judge, I am willing to accept any punishment." Kuno took a deep breath on the witness stand, bent over suddenly, and bowed deeply.

Imanishi stood in front of the witness box and said in a firm tone: "Court, the witness questioning is over. The so-called recorded video submitted by the plaintiff's attorney has nothing to do with highway inspections and has nothing to do with the Kawamoto Expressway's responsibility for road maintenance in this case. It was filmed at the maintenance center.
Chapter completed!