In the office, as Shiratori laid out the snacks from the bags, a sweet fragrance filled the air.
"Daifuku and cake?" Miwako Sato helped arrange the snacks on the table and looked surprised. "Detective Shiratori, what's gotten into you? You bought so many snacks."
"Didn't the bomber plant a bomb in my car the last time? If Senichi hadn't anticipated his plan, you might not have seen me again."
Shiratori spoke with a relaxed expression, as if escaping death was a common occurrence for him.
"After my family found out about it, they insisted on bringing a token of gratitude that I brought over.
Also, Detective Senichi, my parents want to thank you in person at my sister's wedding."
"You're too polite," Senichi smiled wryly, then looked at Shiratori and said, "With the snacks and cakes you brought, it looks like we're having a tea party early in the morning."
"What's wrong with that?" Miwako Sato pinched a daifuku and took a bite, squinting her eyes. "Because it's morning, we can unabashedly indulge in sweets~"
"Oh~ is that so?" Just then, a slightly helpless voice came from outside the door, "You guys are a bit too laid-back early in the morning, aren't you?"
"Hehe, just dealt with a major headache," Miwako Sato naturally referred to the recently solved suicide case. For her, solving this case, where her respected senior lost his life, was the best way to pay tribute to him.
"After eating, make sure to clean up nicely."
Inspector Megure also knew they had been working hard lately.
First, there was the pretend bomb case turned into a robbery, followed by the appearance of a real bomber maniac. Then, numerous cases big and small happened one after another.
Just a couple of days ago, they solved an old case. Therefore, when there was nothing urgent, he didn't enforce strict rules.
Hearing Inspector Megure's words, everyone quickly chimed in, pulling him into their casual conversation.
Except for Miwako Sato, who hadn't had breakfast yet, the rest of the men were more focused on drinking tea.
Seemingly due to the recent frequent "case outputs," this time the "Grim Reaper" also fell into a longer "safe mode."
From the day Senichi started working until Friday, there hadn't been any new cases, and now it was Saturday without any incidents.
In the afternoon, as usual, Senichi arrived at the office, and it was still a calm and routine day.
Senichi picked up a book on criminal psychology and started reading at his desk.
As the others arrived, the office briefly buzzed with activity, then returned to calmness as everyone quietly attended to their tasks.
Around five o'clock, it seemed like most people had finished their work, and the office became lively again.
As mentioned earlier, due to their profession, they sometimes needed to follow media coverage of cases, including news about suspects who might be well-known figures.
There could also be unfavorable statements about the police department in the media. To stay updated, there was indeed a television in the office.
However, occasionally, this also became a form of entertainment for the detectives to pass the time when they were idle at work.
After all, in this day and age, the mainstream entertainment is not smartphones. TV is the prevalent form of entertainment for most people.
The life of a detective can be like this sometimes: extremely busy when cases are demanding, and during idle moments, as long as there's nothing urgent, chatting and doing various things are acceptable, and no one would say much.
So, halfway through the workday, when everyone's tasks were almost done, they started watching TV to pass the time.
"Any recent news?" Shiratori asked as he looked at Takagi, who was changing channels.
"Well... seems like nothing major happened," Takagi replied casually while flipping channels.
Since they were still at work, they wouldn't watch entertainment programs; most of the time, it was news or something similar.
However, there were exceptions.
When a familiar face appeared on TV, no matter the program, it would attract everyone's attention. It's a common human reaction – after all, if someone you know is on TV, you naturally want to watch.
As Takagi continued to change channels, a familiar voice suddenly caught everyone's attention from the TV. Even Senichi, who was still reading a book, couldn't help but look up at the TV.
It was none other than Kogoro Mouri.
He seemed to be participating in some event and was standing in front of a few masked muscular men. At this moment, the host was asking a question to select the "Wolf Face" who maintained an undefeated record in the Tokyo Wrestling League.
"It's Detective Mouri." Takagi chuckled while watching TV. "Quite active; every now and then, we can see Detective Mouri on TV."
"Yeah, and Detective Mouri performs well on these variety shows," Miwako Sato agreed. "He always intentionally says something funny, like a professional comedian."
"Perhaps because of that, various variety shows like to invite Detective Mouri," Shiratori commented while watching Kogoro Mouri on TV, who had quickly amused the on-site staff.
Listening to everyone's comments on Kogoro Mouri, Senichi's mouth twitched a few times, and his internal complaints began to flood his mind.
Mouri Kogoro is not one to be concerned about face or image. His personality is simply that of a carefree and casual type, and all his actions are genuine.
It's just that the other person is a famous detective, and everything he does gets interpreted by those around him as approachable and unpretentious.
In the case of Mouri Kogoro, if we were to transfer this situation to the future setting, it might be a scenario where he appears in shows like "I'm Really Not a Variety Star" or "I'm Speaking the Absolute Truth," which are essentially weak setups but are perceived by the world as something grand.
However, setting aside the criticisms, what truly concerns Senichi is not the trivial matter of Mouri Kogoro appearing on a variety show but rather the signs of a new case.
As it is well known, whenever Mouri Kogoro appears on a variety show, it often involves a case, and public deduction becomes a venue for him to boost his "reputation." So, when Senichi sees him on TV, he feels that something is amiss.
It is widely known that they are generally pre-recorded before being broadcast during the recording of variety shows.
In this case, it seems like this is a variety show released in advance for promotional purposes, specifically for a gladiatorial match.
In other words, it's likely that a case is already in progress, and Senichi fears he might not have enough time to prevent it.
Almost as if to confirm Senichi's suspicions, the phone rings at the next moment...