The fat, ungainly kensatsukan (検察官, prosecutor) rises and, without speaking, niramu (にらむ, glares at) the hikokunin (被告人, defendant). For a fleeting instant the chinmoku (沈黙, silence) in the hōtei (法廷, courtroom) is so deep that when Reiko Keyes, one of the six saibanin (裁判員, lay judges), inadvertently coughs slightly, the saibanin next to her starts almost as if a bomb has gone off.

"Nikunde ita (憎んでいた, You hated her). Correct?"

If the prosecutor hoped to kowagaraseru (怖がらせる, intimidate) the young defendant, he miscalculated — the hikokunin meets his gaze coolly enough.