The Adventure of the Clouded Kokoro

"Ryūnosuke Naruhodō"

- The impact of the trial from yesterday... Is still strongly echoing within my heart, even right now. But even so... I'm not going to turn my back on it anymore. Episode 4: The Adventure of the Clouded Kokoro is the fourth episode of the game Dai Gyakuten Saiban: Naruhodō Ryūnosuke no Bōken and follows Ryūnosuke Naruhodō's second appearance in the English court. Following Megundal's acquittal and subsequent murder in the previous episode, Ryūnosuke immediately begins investigating another case. Hart Vortex asks him to defend Sōseki Natsume, whom no one will defend because he is Japanese. He once again meets the enigmatic Sherlock Holmes and his little biographer, Iris Watson.

Crime
On a cold winter's night, Sōseki Natsume was returning home after buying some books from a book store. On the other side of the road, a married couple witness the Japanese man stab a woman in the back, before running away. Sōseki is arrested by the Scotland Yard after Sherlock Holmes deduces he was on the same road that night.

Investigation
The episode starts with Hart Vortex accepting Ryūnosuke as a bona fide defense attorney. He was so impressed by Ryūnosuke's performance in court yesterday that he already has a new client lined up for him.

Vortex leaves, telling you to ask the policeman in the corner for information about your new case. The policeman is Inspector Tobias Gregson, and he tells you that the victim in this case is a woman who was stabbed in the back while walking down Briar Road. She is alive, but in critical condition in the hospital. Gregson says that Barok van Zieks will be the prosecutor in tomorrow's trial. Gregson also thinks that van Zieks arranged for Cosney Megundal's murder to protect his perfect record, but that case is not Ryūnosuke's problem for now. Gregson invites Ryūnosuke to meet his client, Prisoner 53, at the detention center.

Ryūnosuke and Susato go to the detention center to meet their client, who introduces himself as Sōseki Natsume. One year ago, Sōseki was ordered by the government to research the English language, and he has been in England ever since. On the night of the crime, Sōseki was walking home along Briar Road after buying some books at an antique bookstore. He only saw one other person on the path, a woman in a green jacket. As he was passing the woman, she suddenly screamed and collapsed with a knife in her back. Sōseki called to her, but she didn't move, so he assumed she was dead and ran away. Sōseki did not know the victim. He was woken in the morning by the police and Sherlock Holmes, who had deduced Sōseki's presence at the crime scene. Sōseki was so panicked that the only English phrases he could remember were "Yes, I do!" and "I'm fine!" Sōseki had asked several lawyers to defend him, but because he ran from the crime scene and is a suspicious foreigner, no one will take his case. Ryūnosuke agrees to help and goes to the crime scene to search for clues.

Name

 * Kokoro is a novel by Sōseki Natsume, with the title literally meaning "heart" or "the heart of things" or "feelings." Thus, the full title means "The Adventure of the Clouded Heart," referencing Naruhodō's mixed feelings about his previous trial.