False Witness

by Pearce Arturo

Father Paul Bronstein once sought to rid the world of evil. He was defeated by L. Now L needs his help on the Kira investigation, but Bronstein has an agenda of his own. AU

I Cannot Tell a Lie

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. This, I believe, is the most serious of the commandments, for the sin it speaks against is, I believe, the gravest of all sins," declared Father Paul Bronstein. He knew that this might border on heresy, but then again, far worse heresies were spoken on a regular basis as standard fare in modern masses. And if what he was saying was indeed heresy, it was because the Church was wrong. "It is the lie that obscures the nature of evil, that can cause a good man to do evil and the evil man to prosper. It is for this that Satan is called the Prince of Lies. In the Garden of Eden, he tempted both man and woman with lies, and in so doing he led them to lie to God Himself who knows all things. And that is the root of man's sinful nature. That he lies to his himself, his fellow man, and God."

The truth was that Father Paul didn't like giving homilies. He always got nervous when talking to more than five people at once, and this wasn't helped by the fact that most of his audience on the Wednesdays on which he said mass were teenage boys who were probably searching the homily for some unfortunate turn of phrase that they could make crude jokes about. But today he actually felt quite passionate about his homily, and didn't care what inferences anyone would draw, or what a bloody bore Father Callahan would call him. He had come to doubt some of the basic doctrines of the Church, but he believed that there must be a God, and that, more importantly, that God must embody truth above all else. He just wished that God would help him to sort Truth from Lies, because he felt like he was surrounded by lies, and it made him unable to see the truth.

"Ryuzaki, you have to believe me, I am NOT Kira!" Light said desperately. He truly believed this, because a few seconds ago he had deliberately relinquished ownership of the Death Note, giving his memories of the notebook of death as well. As far as he was concerned now, he was being totally and completely honest with L. "Zoom in on my eyes if you want! Do these look like the eyes of someone who's lying?". "I don't understand it," L said to himself. Light apparently sincerely believed that he was not Kira, in spite of all the evidence pointing to him. But L had to admit, there were holes in that evidence, most notably that he had absolutely no way of knowing how Kira killed. And that was the problem, wasn't it? Yet he couldn't accept what Light was saying at face value. The truth, L thought, was that Light was used to being dishonest. As one who prided himself on his ability to seek out the truth even when it was buried in lies, L could not discount the possibility that Light was talented enough as an actor to fake sincerity in his lies.

Thinking back on it now that criminals had started dying again, L was even more perplexed. If only there was someone who couldn't be fooled, and could get the whole truth out of an individual, even a practiced liar like Light Yagami.

But L could think of one person who could never be fooled. Who could not be lied to. He had experienced the power this man had over others. He was, after all, the one who caught this man. And as he thought to himself, he considered how he might bring Paul Bronstein, known to most simply as the Confessor, into this case. Why hadn't he thought of it before? If he could get Bronstein here, under the right conditions, there was at least a 50% chance that the Kira investigation could be wrapped up entirely. He'd have to pull some strings with the US government, of course, but it would be doable…But the truth was, he was also a little afraid of Bronstein. Because L himself was often a liar, and Bronstein could just as easily extract the truth from him as anyone else. And he had extracted a little more truth from L than L was comfortable with last time, some truth that could be particularly dangerous if Light Yagami was indeed Kira, and became aware of this information.

Father Paul Bronstein (now defrocked) woke up after an uneasy sleep in his cell. He had been dreaming about the homily again. He didn't know why he dreamed about the homily. He thought that a far more important event in his own life was that episode in which actually gained his unique power, this gift from God Himself that he had used, for two years, to act as God's holy instrument upon this earth, seeing through the lies of evildoers and subsequently cleansing the world of their filth. Of course, one might point out that this gift, and how Father Paul had used it, had landed him in a prison in an undisclosed location, probably never to be released. But he was confident that, like Joseph, who had been a slave and prisoner in Egypt, he would ultimately be vindicated before the end. Besides, it had only been two years since he had been brought here. In the eyes of eternity, that was hardly a blink of the eye. He only wished that he could continue his holy work sooner.

To his surprise, a voice came in over the speaker. Normally they didn't speak to him. While he actually had to speak directly to a person, rather than through a speaker, for his power to work, the guards at the prison had an almost superstitious fear of his power, and typically avoided talking to him even from the safety on the other side of a speaker. He didn't mind. He was content to read, and to watch the news. One of the upsides of guards having a superstitious fear of one's power (and being a priest, albeit one deposed and rejected by the Church) was that one got a few privileges that other prisoners didn't get. He surmised, however, that if they did talk to him, it was probably about something important, so he was naturally a bit apprehensive.

"Bronstein," the voice barked, "L has requested to speak with you. I advised against allowing this, but the anonymous bastard went over my head. And his word is law, as far as the FBI is concerned, especially when he mentioned this in connection with the Kira investigation. Who knows," the voice said with a little amusement, "maybe he thinks you're Kira. Maybe he'll get your news cut off and see what happens." Bronstein knew the voice, whom he simply referred to as The Warden, was trying to provoke him. But he was a hard man to provoke. And he knew that if L suspected him of being Kira, he would only talk to him as a last resort. Besides, Father Paul knew he wasn't Kira, although he had followed the case with some interest. "Fine, I'll talk to him," said Bronstein. "Good, because you really don't have a choice, now do you?" said the Warden.

A few seconds later, "Hello, Father Paul Bronstein." "You don't have to use that particular honorific anymore, L," said Bronstein, "according to the Church, I stopped being a priest when I started punishing sinners, rather than absolving them. But I certainly don't mind if you continue referring to me as such." "Yes, well, Father Bronstein, I have a proposal for you." "A proposal? About what, pray tell?" In Japan, before speaking into the microphone, L considered his next words carefully before speaking, "Tell me, do you know of the Kira investigation?" "Only what I read and see on the news, which isn't much, I'm afraid." L followed, "Considering that you and Kira both share, ah, somewhat similar goals, do you sympathize with him?" Bronstein was puzzled now. Did L (whose secret name was Lawliet) really think he might be Kira? He would have thought better of the stony-eyed detective, the worthy opponent who had brought him down in the first place. "L," began Bronstein, "I killed those who had not been punished, who had evaded justice through lies and continued to spread evil. And I only used this punishment on those who truly deserved it, such as murderers and other grievous criminals. Kira, from what I've heard, has gone so far as killing purse snatchers, something I would never have done. I am insulted, frankly, that you think I would sympathize with such a monstrous individual."

Of course, L had never thought that Bronstein could be connected to the Kira killings. Bronstein lived by a very strict code of honor, and he typically only punished those who he believed had evaded justice and were continuing to commit crimes. He wouldn't have killed imprisoned men, for example. And besides, he killed in fairly traditional ways. Guns, knives, clubs, garroting, but never heart attacks. And of course, Bronstein was in a maximum-security prison, under 24-hour surveillance, so he wouldn't have even had the chance to do any of the things Kira had done unnoticed, even if he had somehow gained that power. L continued, "My team here in Japan has a suspect. Two, actually, but one that I am particularly interested in interrogating. Your unique power is well-suited to this situation, but I had to ask about your personal feelings concerning Kira. After all, if you decided not to use your power on the suspect I have in mind, because you sympathize with Kira's actions, there would be no point in what I'm proposing. I want to bring you to Japan to interrogate these two suspects. If one of them is indeed Kira, they will not be able to resist your power, and they will be able to tell you how it is that Kira kills."

"Not to be crass, L, but what is my incentive, other than getting out of this cell for a while?" "Now that you mention it," L replied, "I've pulled a few strings. If you agree to this, and it turns out that one of these suspects is Kira, you will be released from prison. Of course, you will remain under surveillance, but you can travel anywhere, subject to approval of course, and get away from the Warden you hate so much. You could find a nice place in the mountains to live out your days, or even a small, out-of-the-way town. You could do it. Your identity was never made public, which is probably why you're still alive. I don't think Kira knows who you are. However, I must warn you: One of the two suspects, I believe, needs only a face to kill. If that person was to become aware of your past actions, given that you typically acted outside the sanction of the law…" "I understand," said Bronstein, "but I accept. In truth, I don't even need that incentive. I want to catch Kira. He deals out punishments that a far disproportionate to the crimes. He is evil." L realized he would need to be careful with Bronstein. There was no telling how far he might go. "Very well," L replied, "I will make the necessary arrangements. You will be put on a secure plane to Japan tomorrow."

Lawliet, my old friend thought Bronstein, I know that you can't be so foolish as to think I won't exploit this opportunity to escape. You will undoubtedly be on your guard. And, in all fairness, you did win the last round. However, this time, victory will be mine, because God has chosen me as His instrument. And if I must destroy the sinner who stands athwart God's will, I will do so.