Source: Official site
The Cold Case Investigation Division
Who would have thought that I would end up being assigned to the cold case investigation division? At first I was interested, drawn in by the way "cold case" sounded, but the more I heard about it from those around me the more I began to feel as though I wasn't exactly heading down the road to success.
My name is Koto Amekura. Looking up to my older brother, an elite detective, I, too, decided to become one. I had thought that I was a pretty elite detective myself - and now I had been assigned to the cold case investigation division. When I mentioned my next posting to veteran detectives, they smiled bitterly or sort of tried to cheer me up. Why is that...?
Uneasy, I tried to discuss it with my brother, but, since he is elite and therefore busy, I couldn't get hold of him. I decided to ask Detective Hirokawa, who is friendly with my brother and seemed to have the time to spare.
"Is there some kind of problem with the cold case investigation division, Mr. Hirokawa?"
His face grim, he thought for a moment.
"It's not that there's a problem... but it might be tough going."
"I'm confident that I can endure the hard work!"
"Oh? I wonder," Mr. Hirokawa replied with a smile. "I'm not sure what the job entails but, seeing as there's only one detective currently assigned to the department, it can't be that busy."
"What? One? You mean there's only one other person besides me!?"
What was going on?
"One!? There's no way!"
"Well, uh... the detective in charge... his name's Nanase. It's hard to find anyone who gets along with him."
"Huh... Is he strict?"
"Hmm... Not so much strict as a weirdo."
A weirdo? All alone with a weirdo... I was starting to feel depressed.
"He's not a bad guy. He's an excellent detective - just so long as he's motivated."
"So he's got no motivation..."
"He may be an excellent detective... Most of the time, though, he's either fiddling with his deck of cards or smoking a cigarette."
"Is that what you call an excellent detective?"
Mr. Hirokawa laughed. I wasn't as amused.
"Looks like something happened in his past. His girlfriend died, something like that... I'm not really sure."
"Oh, really..."
So he'd had a rough time...
"Go for it, then! Come and talk to me if anything comes up."
"I will! Thank you!"
I shouldn't be worrying about things that were none of my business. I mustn't view people with prejudice. Maybe things would go just fine with this Nanase guy. Alright! I'll give it a shot!
The next day, when I opened the door to the cold case investigation division... I was greeted by Detective Nanase, feet up on the desk, fiddling with a deck of cards and smoking a cigarette.
