Hit the Jackpot? A Jackpot Dump Truck! 6k, Three Chapters

"They naturally wanted to solve the case as quickly as possible."

Fujino said quietly, "It's just that they don't want us to solve it quickly."

"What does that mean?"

Takagi frowned at that, still somewhat confused.

"..."

Fujino was speechless for a moment, his impression of Takagi as being a little slow becoming even more deeply ingrained.

Taking a deep breath, he asked Takagi, "Where are you a police officer from?"

"Tokyo?"

"And where are we?"

"Kyoto."

"There you go."

Fujino glanced at Takagi and explained bluntly, "This is a joint investigation, with one side from Tokyo and the other from Osaka Prefecture. Normally, neither side thinks much of the other."

"They have no choice but to investigate together. This is a serial murder case spanning two regions, so they have to maintain appearances and conduct a joint investigation. Cases rarely happen in Kyoto to begin with, and compared to Osaka and Tokyo, there are simply too few opportunities to earn merit here."

"Never mind cases elsewhere—since this case happened on Kyoto territory, of course they want to claim all the credit for themselves."

"So that's how it is..."

Takagi pondered this and finally understood. He had not expected there to be so much behind it.

"Normally, we should give them that courtesy..."

Fujino paused. "But judging from things now, the higher-ups' attitude is already very clear. Since they sent you here, they most likely don't want Kyoto to take all the credit."

Sato Miwako asked curiously, "Then what should we do next?"

"Just wait for good news."

Fujino adjusted his posture. "Osaka's High School Detective, Hattori Heiji, has already gone to deal with this. We needn't trouble ourselves with it."

As he spoke, he looked at the group, who seemed slightly listless and pale. "You rushed here from Tokyo