"The bullshit overtime is happy, how can the overtime be happy, and the salary is about the same."

Shaking the thermos cup unhappily, he glanced down at the wolfberries and red dates soaked in it, and Katsumi Uehara, who was muttering for a long time, unceremoniously moved his butt and sat on the seat of Miwako Sato.

The woman's residual warmth has not completely faded, and the man who can still smell the afterglow shakes his toes with his legs crossed, pouts and gently blows on the edge of the hot cup, sipping contentedly, and chewing carefully.

The sweetness worth savoring lingered between his lips and teeth for a long time, and Katsumi Uehara, who had nothing to do, raised his eyes from time to time to look at the clock hands on the wall.

He's going to have to leave the old curator out for a little longer.

"Sato, do you have - Uehara over there? How are you? ”

After a while, a figure who hurriedly pushed the door from outside the office area went straight to the location of Miwako Sato's workstation, but after seeing that the person sitting here was not Miwako Sato, he was obviously stunned for a moment, and his tone could not hide his surprise.

Who in the entire three departments does not know that the police department has made up for the reputation of Katsumi Hara who rarely works overtime.

According to common sense, at this point, he should not be seen in the Metropolitan Police Department.

"Obviously, I'm working overtime tonight." Katsumi Uehara, who was already bored enough to start playing Snake and constantly breaking personal records, raised his head, and the new personal record in the game was terminated in an instant: "So, do you have something to do with Miwako Takagi?" ”

Wataru Takagi, along with Miwako Sato, Renzaburo Shiratori, Chiba and Shin, is known as one of the four heavenly kings under the command of the head of the three-line lineage.

Honest and diligent, although not too shrewd, but enough to support a capable.

"Uh...... Actually, it's not a big deal. ”

Looking at the proud son of the professional group in front of him, who only entered the Metropolitan Police Department a few months later than himself, Wataru Takagi, who noticed that the "game is over", didn't know what to say for a while, so he had to scratch the back of his head with an embarrassed smile: "Shiratori and Chiba can't get away for the time being, so I wondered if I could ask Sato to help." ”

"Hitch a hand? The serial murder case that Shiratori is responsible for? ”

Katsumi Uehara, who put down his phone and picked up the thermos cup, raised his eyebrows slightly, a little puzzled. Who would have thought that Takagi Wataru's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard him ask this: "That's right, that's right, it's this case, are you also paying attention to Uehara?" ”

"I haven't paid much attention to it, but Shiratori complained to me once before. What's the matter, are there new dead again? ”

"That's not it, so far there are only seven dead."

Talking about serious things, Takagi Wataru had a solemn face: "The main thing is that the workload of investigating the social circle of these 7 deceased people is a bit heavy now, and Shiratori and Chiba have not closed their eyes for a day and a night." The Twilight Police Department is busy bringing back a few Italian robbers tonight, so I wanted to ask Sato about the time. ”

"Is that so......"

Katsumi Uehara, who knew it, subconsciously put his legs on the table, and stretched out his finger to point in the direction where the door of the office area was located: "It's a pity that you're late, Sato was just caught home by her mother not long ago." ”

“……”

Wataru Takagi, who also wanted to ask where Miwako Sato was, was obviously a little disappointed.

He wanted to ask Katsumi Uehara if he had time to help, but ...... He knew a little bit about this man's temperament—

can let this man stay in the Metropolitan Police Department to work overtime, it can be seen that he is also in trouble, and there is a high probability that he will not be able to get out.

"Takagi, how is it, does Sato have time to help tonight?"

After thinking about it, Takagi finally decided to say goodbye Before he could speak, the glass door of the three-department office area had already been pushed open.

The slightly puffy eye bags caused by not closing his eyes for a day and a night made Ren Saburo Shiratori, a noble boy who has always paid attention to his appearance, look extremely haggard, and so did the fat man who walked in behind him.

Wataru Takagi, who had to answer all questions, shook his head regretfully: "No, Miss Sato has already gone home." ”

"yes, then it didn't work - huh? Uehara? Shiratori, who was holding his forehead in one hand, was just about to go back to his workstation to squint for a while, when he saw the man sitting next to Takagi, and almost thought he was hallucinating.

"I didn't dream, did I see you in the Metropolitan Police Department at almost eleven o'clock at night?" Chiba and Shin, who were also a little surprised, yawned, sleepiness written almost everywhere on his fat body.

"What, is the law that I can't work overtime?" Katsumi Uehara felt like an orangutan who was only being watched in a zoo at the moment, and he raised his middle finger angrily.

Chiba and Shin, who had worked hard for a day and a night, smiled heartily, and the mental fatigue seemed to be alleviated a lot in this smile.

"No, I can only say it's rare."

Shiratori Ren Saburo, who couldn't help laughing, echoed the sentence, and the honest man Takagi just laughed, but he didn't follow the "falling stone".

"If you're so sleepy that you're hallucinating, go home and go to sleep, your eyes are swollen and you're still happy." Katsumi Uehara, who was powerless to refute, pursed his lips and began to turn to personal attacks.

"I would have liked to sleep, but now that seven people have died in a row, I can only squint for a while even if I am sleepy." Renzaburo, who sighed, pulled over a chair and sat down casually, his expression a little gloomy.

As soon as he talked about the case, Chiba and Shin, who bared their teeth and wanted to shoot the murderer on the spot, patted their general's belly, and said helplessly: "Yes, the seven people who died can't find any intersection at the moment on the surface, and even their occupations are varied, and they can't find the killing law of the prisoner at all." ”

"We have also looked through the files of the previous serial murder cases, but we have not found any similarities with this case, and now we can only start from the occupation and social circle of each deceased." Wataru Takagi, who was also a little nerve-wracking, pulled a colleague's chair and sat down, spitting out bitterness.

The so-called three-class social circle, that is, colleagues, relatives, and friends.

The workload of the investigation and visit is not insignificant, and it is not tiring.

"Such an exaggeration, what is the situation of your case?" Katsumi Uehara, who was holding a thermos cup, was a little surprised.

"It started with what happened just before you took a vacation, and I thought it was just a simple murder."

Teaseing with his unique Coral Sea hairstyle, Shiratori Renzaburo fell into memories: "I took someone over that day when I received a report, and the first deceased was a doctor, and he was found dead in the fish tank of the apartment, and the blood stained the water red, and the scene was very bloody.

"At that time, we found the metal card with [NEXT] written on it in the deceased's wallet, but we all thought it was the deceased's own collection. But the next day, we received another report. A second deceased who died in a fish tank appeared, and his occupation was a hospital security guard. Of course, he also has a metal card in his wallet.

"And then there's the third, and then the fourth......"

Shiratori Ren Saburo's tone became deeper and lower, and the unconsciously clenched fists were enough to show that he was suppressing the anger burning in his heart.

Seeing that the situation was wrong, Takaki Wataru immediately took over the conversation, and patted his friend's hand to signal him not to be too excited: "Originally, we thought it was for the hospital, but the profession of the deceased in the follow-up is not compatible with the doctor. ”

"To be precise, only the first two deceased had jobs related to the hospital."

Chiba and Shin also looked solemn: "Doctors, hospital security guards, financial practitioners, horse breeders at horse farms, construction workers, power plant managers, truck drivers. Put these professions together, we can't find anything at all-"

"Huh? Why are you all here tonight? Don't you come home so late? ”

Chiba and Shinmasa were talking, but their words were suddenly interrupted by a puzzled voice. Several people looked at each other in surprise, and Miwako Sato, who was carrying a bag of food delivery boxes, stood at the gate of the office area, tilting her head slightly and looking at the four people sitting around her workstation as if they were in a meeting.

"Miss Sato? Didn't you get caught home by your aunt? Takagi was stunned for a moment, and blurted out the doubt that Katsumi Uehara didn't have time to stop in a hurry.

"Huh?"

Miwako Sato, who was instantly clear, suddenly locked her eyes on Katsumi Uehara, who stood up quietly and tiptoed to get ready to slip away.

"Well, I thought you would take it home with a delivery, after all, it ...... be so long"

Laughing embarrassedly, Katsumi Uehara hurriedly raised his legs and ran: "That's it, I still have a murderer to deal with, you guys talk slowly!" ”

“…… Uehara, self-denial! ”

"Oops, it hurts, it hurts! Miwako! Miwa Kowa! Miss Sato! Sato-senpai! Rely on the white birds, you people who have no conscience, just look at it! ”