"There sure are a lot of people..." Mori Kogoro let out a soft breath as he glanced over the conference room, already half full and buzzing with voices.
Ever since he had quit the profession, he truly had not seen a scene like this, with police officers from all over gathered in one place, for many years.
"Can't be helped. This case involves too many locations. Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Nagano, and the victim from a few days ago... The crime scenes alone involve police from several different regions, not to mention the hometowns of many victims..." Wataru Takagi, who had been mainly responsible for introducing Mori Kogoro to everyone else, shrugged with a wry smile.
Conan, who had secretly caught part of the conversation, made a look of realization.
This joint investigation meeting, as the name suggested, had been formed for the purpose of investigating together.
If the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had not taken the lead in linking resources and coordinating matters, relying on local police departments to consolidate all the information, communicate, and conduct interviews on their own would probably have dragged this case into next year.
Put simply, with the fifth victim appearing and clear signs connecting several cases, the pressure on the police had already reached its limit. They had no room to worry about expenses or resources anymore.
Catching sight of Tōru Adachi standing among the crowd with a paper cup of coffee, looking somewhat out of place, Conan thought for a moment, stood up, and quietly edged closer, preparing to plant a listening device on Mori Kogoro.
He needed to understand the specifics of this case. If possible, he should offer some help and assist them in solving it.
At the very least, no matter who provided the crucial clue that cracked the case,