Of course. Edgeworth remembered hearing about that incident--who hadn't?--but at the time it all went down he had been buried deep in a case. Details such as the possibility of charges being brought had managed to escape him.

Hearing about it now, the incident only highlighted the reasons for his unrest surrounding the so-called superheroes that seemed to be cropping up in ever greater numbers. At the core of the phenomenon, the heroes were vigilantes, considered by themselves, the public, or both to be above the law. They got the job done and the world loved them for it, but Edgeworth learned long ago that the ends can never be held as justification for the means. Those who advocated turning a blind eye to the lawless nature of the vigilante movement because they approved of the results may feel very differently about a group whose actions were equally destructive but whose cause wasn't so lauded. It was a dangerous double standard, and true justice left no room for double standards.

"And if they hadn't? What would you have done if charges were brought?" There was a trap in the question, as glaring as a glint of metal in forest brush. As far as Edgeworth was concerned there was only one right answer--the one he had been too afraid to choose for himself once he had reasons to keep on living his life.