L Lawliet sat in his armchair, knees drawn up to his chest. One of his hands was absentmindedly petting Loki, the orphanage cat. The other hand held a small paperback book – Crime Solving for the Amateur Detective. An unusual reading choice for a sixteen-year-old boy – but L was not the usual teenager.
He was an orphan as far as anyone knew, raised at Wammy's House For Gifted Children. He was even more of a genius than the average Wammy adolescent, and could solve any crime from a lost toy to a series of grisly murders.
At fourteen, he had been given his own office on the top floor of the building, although it wasn't so much an office as a cluttered dormitory where he did his serious thinking. Two years later, phone calls came in from all over the world, beseeching the young detective to put together the pieces of puzzling crimes.
It didn't bother him much that he still, technically, lived in his childhood orphanage. In fact, it was to his advantage. L knew that being a detective was dangerous, and expected his life to be endangered at some point. Carefully observing the younger Wammy children, he'd put together a list of potential successors. He kept it tucked under the seat of one of his chairs, but that didn't really matter because he knew it by heart.
1. Nate River (Near), age 6. Thoughtful and patient. Solved the "crime" of Mihael's stolen chocolate bar, without any adult help. Defended himself against accusation of eating it.
2. Mihael Keehl (Mello), age 8. Ambitious and persistent. Good at working with others. Plotted map of entire Wammy House building, in order to sneak around at night.
3. Mail Jeevas (Matt), age 8. Strategic and inventive. Thought of tapping on the walls using Morse Code, to communicate with children in other dormitories.
L jumped as someone knocked on the door. That was unusual –the Wammy House staff never bothered him in his office, and clients usually phoned him rather than personally visiting.
He opened the door to see Watari, the founder of Wammy House. He had his own office too, L remembered, on the same floor.
The middle-aged man's eyes were nervous. "L … I'm sorry to bother you, but we've got a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
"It's Near. You know, Nate River. Top of your list." Watari was the only one who knew about L's list of successors.
"What happened?" Dread crept into L's heart.
"He's … missing. Kidnapped, we think."