The First Investigative Division office, Criminal Affairs Department, Metropolitan Police Department.
Inspector Juzo Megure, a rather portly man wearing an orange suit and a matching hat, held a cup of coffee as he looked down at the document in his hand with a slightly troubled expression.
"Inspector Megure, here's your sandwich."
The ever-helpful Wataru Takagi approached with a pile of breakfasts he had bought for his colleagues and set Megure's sandwich in front of him.
"Ah, just leave it to the side, Takagi."
Megure glanced at Wataru Takagi, pointed to his desk, then said:
"By the way, Takagi, you were involved in examining the scene of yesterday's crematorium arson case, weren't you?"
Takagi, who had been about to leave with the pile of breakfasts, stopped at those words and replied:
"Ah, yes, I was there. Assistant Inspector Miwako Sato was in charge of the scene at the time, but then our seniors from the Special Organization Crime Division arrived and took over the examination. Was there a problem with the scene report?"
Seeing the report in Megure's hand, Takagi ventured a guess.
Come to think of it, this was the report he had worked on at the scene, but since he had only handled the preliminary examination, there was very little in it.
"So Sato was in charge of the scene..." Megure was familiar with Miwako Sato's abilities. "Go get Sato. Oh, right, you had a hand in this report too, didn't you, Takagi?"
"Ah, yes." Takagi scratched his head awkwardly. After all, he knew perfectly well how poorly written the report was.
"Then you should stay and listen in too."
"All right. I'll go get Inspector Sato."
Before long, Takagi brought Miwako Sato over.
Somewhat drowsy after working overtime the night before, Sato fought back her sleepiness and asked: