The conference room was quiet, with only the sound of Shiraishi deliberately tapping the tabletop slowly with his index finger...
Just then, Ganto returned. The moment he entered, he looked at Shiraishi and said with a smile, "Honestly... I've made a spectacle of myself!"
"Not at all, not at all. The Area Chief Superintendent is simply busy with official duties..."
Someone immediately chimed in to flatter him.
Shiraishi could also tell that Ganto Kaiji had quite a few police chiefs loyal to him within the 11th Regional Headquarters. It showed how skilled he was at handling people. Rumor had it that... Ganto even had his own network of connections at the Tokyo Prosecutor's Office!
However, Ganto shook his head and said, "Ah, what busy official duties? Someone came to plead for leniency..."
The chiefs were stunned upon hearing this—was he really saying that out loud?
Could it be...
A case from another station?
Even then, there was no need to say it in front of everyone!
Whether they were going to handle it or not, whatever guiding principles the Area Chief Superintendent had should have been conveyed privately...
Wait! Could it be...
Several quick-witted people had already turned to look at Shiraishi.
"It was the Section Chief of the Secretariat Division in the Ministry of Finance's Chief of the Minister's Secretariat. His father got tangled up in a tricky case this morning and was brought to Beika Police Station to assist with the investigation..." Ganto stated it outright.
A mere "section chief" naturally did not rank among the top officials at the Ministry of Finance. However, the Chief of the Minister's Secretariat was the core of every ministry, and as the head of its Secretariat Division, he was undoubtedly in line for promotion.
In fact, as Section Chief of the