Use of word "followed"

[AryanM]

I recently came across a sentence that goes like this: "The investigation followed the discovery that....."
In what way is the word "followed" used here?

"A follows B...." / "A follows B that...." What comes after what? And the explanation behind it?

PS:- I am aware of the expression "followed by". A followed by B implies A first, then B

[Alan]

(Not a grammar issue, but...)

'Followed' here means simply 'occurred at a later time'.