"Watari. It seems we have run out of milk. Would you mind fetching some for us?"
"Okay, Roger. I'll be right back." Watari put on his hat and gloves an trench coat. It was chilly, but not chilly enough for a full blown winter coat.
It was always busy in Winchester, but just busy enough to make you feel surrounded by people, it was certainly not a hinderance. That is, unless it was the first day that Twilight Saga: Eclipse was available on DVD, and you had to drive somewhere. Then it was torture. Pure hell, to put it mildly. However, the closest grocery store, was just 5 blocks away, past the old mansion, and no driving was required.
Watari passed a newstand on the way. Why not? thought Watari. He was out anyway. He bought one and saw the headline: Mansion near Jefferson's burned down.
Horrible. Burned down. This indicated that it was not an accident, but arson. Perhaps he and Roger could try and solve this case. It was something to do. Not much work was available for two elderly men. Watari wondered who had lived in the old mansion he had seen so many times on early morning walks. He could not recall seeing anyone, or any cars. Perhaps no one lived there at all. But he had lived in that part of Winchester his entire life, and seen the mansion everyday, and it did not look as though no one lived there. The paint was not chipped, and there were no spider webs, someone must have been living there, or at least doing maintenance on it.
When he was almost to Jefferson's, he looked over at where the mansion was, or rather, a more appropriate phrase would be, where the mansion used to be. The ashes lay in a pile on the ground, being picked up by cold December winds. It was pitiful. He saw a figure somewhere around the ashes. Was it a person? He could just walk by, but he knew the curiosity would eat at him later. He walked over to the grounds. Sure enough, a young boy, extremely skinny and pale, with souless eyes, and raven color hair all messy, sat there, holding a picture album. Did he live there? His fingers brushed over the charred pictures. Watari couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy. He introduced himself.
"Hello, little one. I am Watari. What's your name?" The child did not respond. He looked up for a second, and put his fingers in an L shape.
"I see. So it starts with an L?" The little one shook his head.
"L?" He shook his head vigourously.
"Okay, so your name is L. How original. I've never heard that name before. Did you live here?" The boy shook his head again.
"Hey, so how about I take you to my house, and clean you up, and get you fed?" Watari prayed the child didn't think he was a child predator, trying to lure in the poor child. The boy spoke. He was articulent, and quiet.
"My mother always advised me not to converse with strangers, let alone go into their houses." This boy used big words for a 6 or 7 year old.
"Who were your parents?"
"Lorelei Victoria Lawliet and Nigel James Lawliet." The names sounded familiar.
Watari had inherited a large amount of funds from his family. 4 years ago, he had come up with a plan for yet another invention. He had held a dinner party with his closet friends to share the news. He had a patent in case someone were to run off with the idea, but he asked people to aid him. Lorelei and Nigel had offered, and helped him, but it all turned out a failure. After that, Lorelei and Nigel moved from London to Winchester but because Watari hadn't been motivated to come up with any more ideas, and hadn't met up with his friends, and they had not shared the news, Watari didn't know they had moved, and didn't speak to them, even though they were 5 blocks away, and now, they were dead. Watari regretted never speaking to them. They had always been closest to him out of everyone, except for Roger. Watari was sad upon realizing this, but returned to the conversation with the skinny young boy.
"I knew your parents. In fact, they were some of my closest friends. They know me as Quillish Wammy, though." The boy's eyes sparked in realization.
"I think I recall them talking about a man named Quillish. They said he was intelligent, and that they should meet up with him soon, but they never got the chance to."
"Yes, so you can trust me. Would you like to come with me? I feel absolutely horrible for what happened. I'm on my way to get milk from Jefferson's. You can stay here and get anything that hasn't been damaged, and I can get you on the way back. Okay?" The little boy nodded, and Watari continued on his way. He would have to buy more than just a gallon of milk now that a child would live there. He would need clothes and food, and toys. When he got the milk he should get L, go back to the house, tell Roger, go back out with L, and purchase the things they would need. Hopefully Roger would be okay with everything.