diff --git a/investigator-runtime/src/detectives/case_writer.ts b/investigator-runtime/src/detectives/case_writer.ts
index e605c15..04ae51d 100644
--- a/investigator-runtime/src/detectives/case_writer.ts
+++ b/investigator-runtime/src/detectives/case_writer.ts
@@ -385,12 +385,15 @@ export async function runCaseWriter(task: CaseWriterTask): Promise<
   const systemPrompt = await readFile(PROMPT_PATH, "utf-8");
   const prompt = buildPrompt(task, scenes, evidence, witnesses, gaps, tensions, brief, lang);
 
-  // Case-writer wants more output budget than the other detectives.
+  // Case-writer wants more time + budget than the other detectives. The
+  // enriched prompt (scenes + verbatim + anomalies + witnesses + tensions +
+  // strategic brief) produces a long bilingual narrative; 300s was too tight
+  // and timed out at the claude CLI. Floor at 600s.
   const llm = await callClaude({
     prompt, systemPrompt,
     model: env.CLAUDE_MODEL,
     allowedTools: [],
-    timeoutMs: Math.max(env.JOB_TIMEOUT_SECONDS, 240) * 1000,
+    timeoutMs: Math.max(env.JOB_TIMEOUT_SECONDS, 600) * 1000,
     budgetCapUsd: task.budget_cap_usd ?? Math.max(env.BUDGET_CAP_USD_PER_JOB, 0.50),
   });
   await audit({