Soichiro stepped into the hotel room, carefully closing the door behind him.
"I have an announcement to make."
The members of the Investigation team turned from their various tasks, respectfully giving their attention to the Chief. L swiveled in his chair, halfway through a large, brightly colored lollipop.
"I received a call from Kaito Yammamoto."
"What did he say?" Light asked, wondering what a business tycoon would want with the Chief of Police.
"He invited us to a dinner party," said Soichiro, sounding as if he did not quite understand the words he was speaking.
Matsuda jumped in the air. "Woo Hoo! Par-tay!" He began to dance wildly.
L was not quite as enthusiastic. "Why?"
"I don't know, but it's a very hard offer to turn down. He's a very rich and influential man."
Biting his thumb, L replied, "I doubt that this is for social purposes..."
"Aw, c'mon Ryuuzaki, it'll be fun!" said Matsuda, temporarily pausing his dancing.
"I think we could all use a break," Light said. Everybody nodded in agreement.
The Investigation Team waited patiently for an answer as L poured himself some tea, stirred in several sugar cubes with his lollipop, then said, "I suppose it is only one night."
Matsuda hugged a wide-eyed L, and then began skipping around the room singing, "We're going to a party, we're going to a party, we're going to a party!"
"Formal attire will be necessary Ryuuzaki," said Soichiro.
"I don't think I own any formal attire..."
Just then, Watari's laptop flickered to life.
"I have taken the liberty of buying you some clothing that would be appropriate for tonight's event, Ryuuzaki."
"Thank you, old friend."
The laptop went black once more.
L sighed, obviously displeased. "I do not like parties."
"We're here," said Soichiro, pulling into the parking lot of a large, modern -style building. L's eyes darted back and forth, searching for any possible signs of a trap.
"Is there going to be dancing?" asked Matsuda, practically bouncing in his seat.
Aizawa rolled his eyes. "I don't know Matsuda..." They had been answering questions like this for the entire car ride.
Soichiro parked the car, and Light, Matsuda, Aizawa, and Mogi, along with the Chief, stepped out. They were all dressed similar in black suits, slacks, shirts, and ties, except for L, who was wearing a white suit, white shirt, white tie, and slacks.
"Don't you like color L?" Matsuda asked. He himself was wearing a bright pink tie.
"Not particularly, no." L said, as he poked the pavement with his bare toes as if testing the water in a pool.
Matsuda looked at L's feet, then shivered. "Aren't you feet cold?"
"Aren't your feet hot?"
Matsuda shut up after that.
When the group reached the entrance, security checked that they were on the guest list, than they were led to their table
The inside of the building, like the outside, could best be described as large and modern. The round tables were spread around on the bottom floor, and two spiraling staircases led up to a second floor that overlooked the first, so that it resembled a large balcony from below.
To Matsuda's dismay, there was no dance floor.
Immediately after the Investigation Team was seated, waiters brought the first course. Sushi, with crab legs and sea urchin.
L leaned closer to his plate, then lightly touched the sushi with his tongue. He immediately recoiled, and his tongue shot back into his mouth.
"Who are those seats for?" Aizawa asked, pointing to two empty seats at the other side of the table.
His question was immediately answered. Two very strange looking people sat down in the seats. The first was a young looking figure, with a head of white hair and white linen pajamas. The second appeared to be very angry, and was dressed entirely of black leather. He apparently did not like sushi, as he was crunching loudly on a bar of chocolate.
L eyed the chocolate bar enviously.
In an attempt to be friendly, Light put out his hand. The hand was stared at by the two strangers, until the one wearing pajama's shook it cautiously.
"I'm Yagami Light."
"I'm Near."
"I'm Mello," said the man next to Near.
Codenames? That's strange... Light thought.
The Investigation Team sat in silence, the only noise being provided by chattering guests, and a quartet consisting of a cello, violin, viola, and harp that played softly in the corner.
"Ahem," the host, Kaito Yammamoto, clinked his spoon against his class. Once silence had fallen, he began.
"Gracious guests, I have brought you here today to-"
He was interrupted by total darkness. All the lights went out simultaneously, which caused a great portion of the female (and of course, Matsuda) guests to scream loudly.
It was over almost as soon as it had begun, and everybody was beginning to settle down when someone sitting next to Kaito Yammamoto shouted,
"He's dead!"
This caused twice the amount of commotion that the light failure had, and it definitely earned some very high pitched screams (of which Matsuda's was the highest).
The Investigation Team's police instincts kicked in, and they ran over to the head-table. Several people, presumably family members, were crying, while others were simply in shock. Kaito Yammamoto was dead alright, dead with a steak-knife through his heart. His white shirt was stained red, blood flowering out from the wound. It slowly dripped off the blade, falling to the floor with a faint plip, plip, plip.
A single tear rolled down Mogi's cheek.
L lightly tapped Kaito's silver watch. "Five minutes off."
"I hardly think that matters now, Ryuuzaki," said Soichiro. But, his words were lost. L had entered the zone.
"Mogi, Aizawa, check all the plates at this table for the absence of a steak-knife. Soichiro, Matsuda, you check all the other tables," L ordered, still tapping the watch. "Hurry."
Light immediately realized L's plan. "Whoever doesn't have a steak-knife is the murderer, correct?"
L bit his thumb. "Hopefully, but I doubt that this will work. This was a very well executed assassination. I would be surprised if whoever did this hasn't thought this far ahead."
"Everybody has their steak-knife," said Soichiro.
"Same here," said Aizawa. He frowned. "Why did you check the other tables?"
"The knife could've been thrown."
"True," Light said, "But look at the angle that the knife is in. If it was thrown, it could have only been thrown from the right side of the room."
"But, if he was stabbed by somebody at his table, then the murderer could've put it in at whatever angle they wanted, trying to throw us off his trail," said Mello, the pleasant young man they had met at their table earlier. The Investigation Team was a little surprised to see him, but they quickly realized the sense of his statement, and moved on.
As the group thought about this, Matsuda stared at Aizawa intently.
"What?" Aizawa asked, even though he could see what was about to happen.
Matsuda pointed an accusing finger at Aizawa's face."Murderer! Why did you do it Aizawa! Confess!"
"Matsuda! Stop fooling around! This is serious." said Soichiro, giving Matsuda the death glare.
"Actually, it is not possible for any of us, including Mello or Near, to have been the murderer, as we were sitting on the left side of the room," said L.
"Sure... that's just what you want us to think, isn't it Aizawa?" Matsuda began to slowly walk away, casting suspicious glances over his shoulder every few steps.
"I suppose the logical thing to do now would be to start interrogating every on the right side of the room," said Light.
"Not yet. First we need to make sure that nobody leaves," said L. HIs lack of emotion made this statement sound rather sinister.
"How will we do that?" asked Aizawa, as the guests all seemed to be very disturbed and eager to leave.
L answered by reaching into Soichiro's pocket and pulling out his police badge. He held the police badge over his head.
"We have the situation under control," L said, loud enough so that everybody could hear him, "But, we must ask that nobody leave this building. If you leave, you will be treated as the murderer fleeing the scene of the crime, and you will be placed under arrest." L handed Soichiro his badge back. None of the guests made any attempt to leave from then on.
"Thank you," said Soichiro.
Suddenly, the room was swarming with waiters. They had apparently decided to continue on with course two. Matsuda returned to the table, and was wolfing down everything within reach.
Aizawa, Mogi, and Soichiro, rushed back to stop him, leaving the three geniuses alone with what had been Kaito Yammamoto.
Author's Note: Hope you liked this murder mystery, the two following chapters will contain more action (and more Near, don't pretend like you weren't wondering where he was) and hopefully more humor (for you people who are reading for the humor part of the humor/mystery). REVIEW!
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, and I do not own any of the characters from Death Note.
