History Main / WorkingTheSameCase

A variant is for the senior officer, fed up of the CowboyCop's attitude, to tell him he won't be involved in the big murder case, and will be investigating a break-in at a laundromat the night before. The Cowboy Cop will soon realise, possibly in a EurekaMoment, that it's the same case. He will be careful not to let anyone else in on this, assuring his superiors (truthfully) that he's still following up that laundromat robbery.

* Said word for word by Comicbook/BlackWidow in the "Death of the Dream" storyline in ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica''. She, ComicBook/TheFalcon and ComicBook/{{Agent 13}} are all looking for [[ComicBook/BuckyBarnes Winter Soldier]], but for vastly different reasons.

** This is actually averted in the very first book, when the boys think that Nancy's bad guy might be theirs as well, but he isn't.

* ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'' - whilst most of the Watch are trying to find out who killed a dwarf rabble-rouser, [[ThoseTwoGuys Fred and Nobby]] decide to investigate an art theft, with the specific intent of staying very far away from rioting dwarfs. [[spoiler:It doesn't work out that way, because it turns out that the dwarves who killed him also stole said painting, because they believed it would help lead them to the dwarf and troll corpses beneath Koom Valley.]]

* In ''Literature/Rule34'' by Creator/CharlesStross, DI Liz Kavanagh is called off her caseload of tracking down illegal 3D printers when she gets roped into a murder investigation because she spotted a similarity to a case in Germany. Her German counterpart was investigating why cybercrime is down when he realised many of the victims were spammers. In the subplots, the local 3D printer crimeboss is investigating who's killing his potential recruits, an ex-con turned {{Ruritania}}n honorory consul is trying to find out what his supposedly legit job actually ''is'' and Liz's casual girlfriend is worried her own investigation into the aforementioned {{Ruritania}}'s financial affairs has got her targeted by someone. By the end of Part One, it's clear to the reader that it's ''all'' the same case.

** In "Mr. Monk and the Buried Treasure," this is the case, with Monk and Natalie accompanying Dr. Kroger's son and his pals into the hills following a supposed treasure map, which is actually tied to a bank robbery that Stottlemeyer and Disher are investigating. The TwoLinesNoWaiting trope is clearly present, since in the first half, Stottlemeyer's and Monk's investigations are intercut.

** In "Mr. Monk in Outer Space", Monk is brought in to investigate the death of Burgerville CEO Brandon Lorber, whose shooting death he quickly realizes was actually a heart attack - and the shooter passed off the death as a murder. The next day, he is brought in to consult on an apparently unrelated incident, the shooting of ''Beyond Earth'' creator Conrad Stipe at a convention. The day after that, a cab driver named Phil Bisson is shot and killed in what Monk deduces as being a staged robbery. It is this third murder that causes Monk to deduce that Lorber and Stipe were shot by the same person - he finds a piece of chewing gum that is the same brand as a piece that Stipe was chewing before he was killed, and a wrapper from a coffee candy in Lorber's office. [[spoiler:The shooter was a hired hit man. Bisson was the cab driver who drove the hit man away after he shot Lorber's body. During the ride to the airport, the hit man lost his Blackberry, which had incriminating messages between him and his employer and information on Lorber. Stipe answered it when the hit man called it from an airport payphone. The hit man killed Stipe and the cabby as he couldn't risk that either of them had browsed his messages.]]

** In "Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse", Monk and Natalie stop by a North Beach firehouse to investigate the death of [[spoiler:Sparky]], a beloved firehouse dalmation bludgeoned with a pickaxe during an apparent break-in. They also stop by a nearby house fire in which a 64 year old woman, [[spoiler:Esther Stoval]], was killed. Monk deduces that Esther's death was actually a FieryCoverup. Her house, we learn, was one of several scheduled for demolition for a new condo complex. When Monk, Natalie and Stottlemeyer question [[spoiler:Lucas Breen, the developer]], Monk immediately pegs him as Esther's killer. After Monk and Natalie requestion a dog-loving witness who saw a man dressed as a firefighter leaving the firehouse after Sparky was killed, Monk deduces that [[spoiler:Breen]] also killed Sparky. [[spoiler:Breen left his overcoat at Esther's house. He went to the firehouse to get a coat and helmet so he could sneak into the fire and recover it without emergency crews noticing him. He didn't expect Sparky the dog, and had to take him out in self-defense.]]
** In "Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants", Monk, Natalie and Sharona look into a beating death that Sharona's husband has been framed for. When Monk and Natalie go back to San Francisco, they find themselves investigating a staged alligator attack. Monk finds evidence that ties both deaths together.
** Averted and subverted in "Mr. Monk on the Couch": Natalie helps Monk investigate a number of knifings happening in her own neighborhood. However, her own case involving a man who died of natural causes with a fake identity, is not connected to it.

* ''Series/{{CSI}}'' had an interesting subversion in that two twins who were SeparatedAtBirth were killed within an hour of each other. The causes of their death have nothing to do with one another and in fact, it seems that there are two separate murder victims, both of whom are the result of very separate lifestyles. [[spoiler: Then its revealed that the twins both used the same dry cleaner. Turns out that the one murder suspect was found out by one of the twins to be photoshopping war photos and he decided to meet her when she picked up the dry cleaning, killing the first twin (the one who wasn't his target). He then went to the real targets house to eliminate the proof of his forgery only to be walked in on the second twin (the intended target). In his justified panic, he kills her as well. Gil calls it as both, seeing as how one case was with a motive and the other was a case of wrong time wrong place, but they were both killed by one man.]]

** The season 7 episode "Castle, P.I." has Castle earn his private investigator's license so he's able to investigate along with Beckett despite the DA's edict that he can no longer work homicides. Unfortunately it doesn't work and he's still booted off the case, causing him to start his own investigation and follow a different set of leads from the NYPD team that lead him to cross paths with them several times (as well as helping to get a strong-but-wrongful suspect off the hook). Esposito and Ryan are both worried he'll crack the case before they do and try to use Beckett to weasel info out of him while he tries to weasel info out of her to continue his investigation.

** When [[spoiler:Dan]] is framed for a kidnapping, Jack ignores the theft case he is assigned to and instead pursues the kidnapping case against orders. In the end it is discovered that the kidnappers committed the theft as well so Jack is in the clear.

** In the episode "Mors Praematura" Finch and Reese are protecting an irrelevant number who has been targeted by terrorists because he got too close to their plan to kill his brother. Meanwhile Shaw and Root are trying to rescue a prisoner being held illegally by the CIA. It turned out that the CIA prisoner was the irrelevant number's brother.

* ''Series/TheExpanse'' does this with Season 1, as Miller is investigating the disappearance of Julie Mao and finds out that she was part of the crew of the ''Scopuli'', the same ship used as bait for the destruction of the ''Canterbury'', the motive behind which Holden and the other survivors of the ''Cant'' are determined to uncover. These two plot lines run pretty much in tandem but separately for the remainder of the season, until Miller and Holden run into each other at the end of the third to last episode of the season. Oh, and [[ThirdLineSomeWaiting meanwhile]], Avasarala is back on Earth, dealing with the political fallout from the above situation and trying to uncover the mastermind behind it all.

* ''Series/{{Motive}}'': In "The Amateurs", Flynn, Vega and Lucas begin investigating three separate homicides. However, forensic evidence soon shows that the three cases are linked. The question then becomes: how?
* ''Series/NYPDBlue'' introduced Detective Danny Sorenson with a particularly snarled one. On his first day he catches a case. A report comes in of a second crime which since it's related to the first becomes part of Danny's case. Yet another body is found and it may ''also'' get folded into Danny's. This is made worse in that he is taking the cases away from Diane Russell, whose husband recently died and whose place on the squad Sorenson has taken.

* ''VideoGame/PulpAdventures'' starts with the action jumping back and forth between several protagonists investigating several cases. Indiana Jones and the Shadow halt a heist in a museum. The Green Hornet and Kato investigate on mysterious (and seemingly random) kidnappings. Doc Savage has mysterious villains rading his personal asylum to free some of the brainwashed criminals being reformed inside. The Avenger and the Spider raid a warehouse used by criminals to send kidnapped people to Africa. All of this is revealed to be part of a single villainous plot.

This is a useful technique to add a minor twist to help shows with [[TwoLinesNoWaiting two concurrent cases]] feel a little less formulaic. Used at least once a season in ''Series/{{CSI}}''. Can also sometimes be used between two normally separate works for a {{Crossover}}.

** All three of Nelson & Murdock's first cases turn out to be in some form tied to Wilson Fisk: first is Karen's case, after being framed up for murder and almost killed. Then in "Rabbit in a Snowstorm," James Wesley hires Nelson & Murdock to defend one of Fisk's assassins. Then in "World on Fire", Nelson & Murdock gets hired by Elena Cardenas, an elderly friend of Sgt. Brett Mahoney's mom, on a tenancy dispute with her landlord, the sleazy Armund Tully, who turns out to be ''another'' lackey of Fisk's.

** Averted in season 3 where Matt and Karen are more open with each other and more aware of each others' investigations into Fisk.

The first team is investigating a man found shot dead downtown. In the B-plot, the second team is examining a woman found strangled dead in her bathroom. Turns out they both had the same hairdresser. Could it be that both teams are Working The Same Case?

* ''Series/TheDefenders2017'': The four Defenders first meet up in Midland Circle while investigating the same mystery surrounding The Hand, eventually stumbling upon one another in the middle of a huge fight. [[Series/IronFist2017 Danny Rand]] goes there after learning that Midland Circle is where the Hand moved a lot of money they were laundering through Rand Enterprises. Series/LukeCage2016 is led there after finding a Midland Circle valet ticket in Cole's belongings, wrapped up in a roll of cash from Cole's off-the-books job. Series/JessicaJones2015 is led there thanks to following up a lead on the suicide of an architect who was stockpiling explosives and learning that Midland Circle is one of the architect's projects. And [[Series/Daredevil2015 Matt Murdock]] is led there because he's following Jessica, having been tasked by Foggy Nelson to keep an eye on her.

* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', Comicbook/LoisLane is investigating a massacre in Africa that Comicbook/{{Superman}} is being blamed for, Comicbook/{{Batman}} is tracking down the "White Portuguese", a criminal who is planning to bring a dirty bomb into Gotham [[spoiler: or so he tells Alfred, Bruce is really attempting to track down Kryptonite to use against Superman]] and [[Comicbook/WonderWoman Diana]] is attempting to track down an old photo that Comicbook/LexLuthor has stolen [[spoiler: as it shows her as alive, and an active hero, [[Film/WonderWoman during World War One]]]]. All three cases are linked to Lex's conspiracy against Superman, [[spoiler: and the secret files he has on [[Comicbook/JusticeLeague a bunch of metahumans]]]].

** Not just with their father. During the 80s and the Present, Frank and Joe have been frequently crossing over with NancyDrew in two different series both titled ''The Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Supermysteries.'' While a certain number of the cases had them know they were working together outright, more than a few involved them arriving at the same location for different cases, finding out the other is there, meeting up to pick each other's brains, and revealing their cases are somehow threaded together.

* OlderThanTelevision: This trope has been around a while. In almost every ''HardyBoys'' book, the boys and their Police Chief father were Working The Same Case.

* ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'' - whilst most of the Watch are trying to find out who killed a dwarf rabble-rouser, [[ThoseTwoGuys Fred and Nobby]] decide to investigate an art theft, with the specific intent of staying very far away from rioting dwarfs. It doesn't work out that way.

* ''Series/TheDefenders2017'': The four Defenders first meet up in Midland Circle while investigating the same mystery surrounding The Hand, eventually stumbling upon one another in the middle of a huge fight.
** ''Series/Daredevil2015'': For the most part, the protagonist plotlines focus on Matt Murdock and Karen Page, resulting in this happening.
*** Throughout the first part of season 1, Matt and Karen turn out to both be pursuing Wilson Fisk without the other knowing it. Matt is pursuing Fisk head-on through his nighttime activities as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, while Karen is pursuing Fisk through following the Union Allied money trail with help from Ben Urich at the ''New York Bulletin''.
*** All three of Nelson & Murdock's first cases turn out to be in some form tied to Wilson Fisk: first is Karen's case, after being framed up for murder and almost killed. Then in "Rabbit in a Snowstorm," James Wesley hires Nelson & Murdock to defend one of Fisk's assassins. Then in "World on Fire", Nelson & Murdock gets hired by Elena Cardenas, an elderly friend of Sgt. Brett Mahoney's mom, on a tenancy dispute with her landlord, the sleazy Armund Tully, who is ''another'' lackey of Fisk's.
*** Through the first part of season 2, all three members of Nelson & Murdock are invested in the manhunt for Frank Castle and know that. But a case of this trope happens in "[[Recap/Daredevil2015S2E4PennyAndDime Penny and Dime]]", as Matt and Karen both find out about Frank's family at the same time and under different circumstances: Matt learns it as Frank [[ActionFilmQuietDramaScene talks to him about his family's demise in the cemetery]] while waiting for the police to arrive, while Karen learns it from [[RearWindowInvestigation breaking into Frank's house]].

*** All three of Nelson & Murdock's first clients are cases that link back to Fisk: first is Karen's case, after being framed up for murder and almost killed. Then in "Rabbit in a Snowstorm," James Wesley hires Nelson & Murdock to defend one of Fisk's assassins. Then in "World on Fire", Nelson & Murdock gets hired by Elena Cardenas, an elderly friend of Sgt. Brett Mahoney's mom, on a tenancy dispute with her landlord, the sleazy Armund Tully, who a few episodes later, they find that Tully is also a lackey of Fisk's.
*** Through the first part of season 2, all three members of Nelson & Murdock are invested in the manhunt for Frank Castle and know that. But a case of this trope happens in "[[Recap/Daredevil2015S2E4PennyAndDime Penny and Dime]]", as Matt and Karen both find out about Frank's family at the same time and under different circumstances: Matt learns it as Frank [[ActionFilmQuietDramaScene talks to him about his family's demise in the cemetery]] while waiting for the police to arrive, while Karen learns it from [[RearWindowInvestigation searching Frank's house]].

This is a useful technique to add a minor twist to help shows with [[TwoLinesNoWaiting two concurrent cases]] feel a little less formulaic. Used at least once a season in ''Series/{{CSI}}''.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': For the most part, the protagonist plotlines focus on Matt Murdock and Karen Page, resulting in this happening.
** Throughout the first part of season 1, Matt and Karen turn out to both be pursuing Wilson Fisk without the other knowing it. Matt is pursuing Fisk head-on through his nighttime activities as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, while Karen is pursuing Fisk through following the Union Allied money trail with help from Ben Urich.
** In "World on Fire", Nelson & Murdock gets hired by Elena Cardenas, an elderly friend of Sgt. Brett Mahoney's mom, on a tenancy dispute with her landlord, the sleazy Armund Tully. A few episodes later, they find that Tully is also a lackey of Fisk's.
** Through the first part of season 2, all three members of Nelson & Murdock are invested in the manhunt for Frank Castle and know that. But a case of this trope happens in "[[Recap/Daredevil2015S2E4PennyAndDime Penny and Dime]]", as Matt and Karen both find out about Frank's family at the same time and under different circumstances: Matt learns it as Frank [[ActionFilmQuietDramaScene talks to him about his family's demise in the cemetery]] while waiting for the police to arrive, while Karen learns it from [[RearWindowInvestigation searching Frank's house]].

* Happens occasionally to StephaniePlum and Joe Morelli. Tends to lead to her winding up in dangerous situations and/or blowing his case because he never tells her things she needs to know.

* In ''Series/StrangerThings'', three distinct groups of people (the kids, the sheriff, and Nancy and Johnny) all run around independently trying to figure out what is going on until converging for the Season 1 finale. Each group ends up 'specializing' in a certain area of the investigation. The kids do the most research into the science and idea of The Upside-Down, Nancy and Johnny are mostly dealing with understanding the Demogorgon, and Joyce and Hopper are largely dealing with Eleven's origins.

* In the ''Series/{{Castle}}'' episode "Double Down", Castle and Beckett have a bet with ThoseTwoGuys about who can solve their murder first. Each team finds a suspect, but they both have alibis for their respective murder. The teams call off the bet and join forces when forensic evidence is found linking the victims. Ultimately it turns out [[spoiler:to be a StrangersOnATrainPlotMurder]].

* Easily half the episodes of ''Series/TheGoodGuys'' aired to date rely heavily on this trope. Dan and Jack are intentionally sequestered in the career dead-end of small property crimes, yet as Jack attempts to do his job properly and Dan whines that they ought to be "out there bustin' punks," they inevitably stumble across a much bigger crime in progress, often the ongoing major case their lieutenant specifically barred them from pursuing.

* ''Series/PersonOfInterest:'' Fusco and Carter spend much of the first season working with Finch and Reese without either of them realizing the other is also part of "Team Machine." They finally figure it out in the season finale, "Firewall," to Finch's obvious amusement.

* ''Series/MurdochMysteries''

The first team is investigating a man found shot dead downtown. In the B-plot, the second team is examining a woman found strangled dead in her bathroom. Turns out they both had the same hairdresser. Could it be that both teams are WorkingTheSameCase?

* OlderThanTelevision: This trope has been around a while. In almost every ''HardyBoys'' book, the boys and their Police Chief father were WorkingTheSameCase.

** Through the first part of season 2, all three members of Nelson & Murdock are invested in the manhunt for Frank Castle and know that. But a case of this trope happens in "[[Recap/Daredevil2015S2E4 Penny and Dime]]", as Matt and Karen both find out about Frank's family at the same time and under different circumstances: Matt learns it as Frank [[ActionFilmQuietDramaScenes talks to him about his family's demise in the cemetery]] while waiting for the police to arrive, while Karen learns it from [[RearWindowInvestigation searching Frank's house]].