The next day I was at the senate's headquarters, dressed in dark grey slacks, a deep purple buttoned up dress shirt with the first few buttons undone and a dark grey form fitting jacket which reached my thighs. Along with that, I wore a pair of black low heeled boots as well as my fedora hat, which sat on my head, hiding most of my face from view. I was greeted by Matsuda, who handed me a headset, which I put on under my hat as the two of us headed towards the stadium, sitting down at our station while waiting for the Director.
"Don't be so nervous Matsuda; this'll be a piece of cake. Just let the Director speak, we're just here to support him." I told my colleague feigning gentle smile, while covering my mouth piece, "Just sit back, relax and watch the show." After saying this, I pulled out my tablet, flipping through it as I looked over the trail I made for the person I was pretending to be. Like usual, the trail was perfect, nothing was out of place, I let out a silent sigh, feeling a smidge better about my current predicament.
As I turned to the case on hand, I felt Matsuda gaze at the screen while shifting in his seat, only to stop when I pulled up the latest episode of one of his favorite shows. We watched the show in silence, only to turn it off once other people started settling down as the Interpol began. I put my tablet on the desk in front of me, idly brining up the information that would no doubt be brought up that day.
"52 people this week, just that we know about." One of the men up front stated while as looked at the reports given to us, "All heart attacks."
"All were criminals who were on the lam or who've been captured by the police." Another spoke up, "There are also criminals whose deaths have not been confirmed."
A male from another country then spoke up, and I had the feeling that he was one of the people I would become annoyed with, throughout the day, "So then, a conservative estimate would be over 100 people?" he asked to everyone, causing me to mentally scowl at the number, for it was true.
As others talked with each other about this number, Matsuda and I looked at one another and nodded our heads, after all, I had been keeping track of all of the criminal deaths since it started. Matsuda also knew of this progress for he usually ended up at my cubical to talk and I ended up explaining to him what I was doing. The main reason was due to someone that I knew who was in one of the world's best confinement centers, not that anyone knew of course. From the corner of my eye I saw Director enter in his seat and sagged a bit, thanking any higher power that might exist that he was there. If he wasn't, then I would be speaking on his behalf. Apparently the Director had gotten a call from headquarters, though before he could say for what someone spoke up.
"But these were all criminals that were going to be executed eventually, anyhow." A representative from another country stated, and I found myself scowling once more as I crossed my arms over my chest, "I don't think it really matter-"
"He shouldn't be praising this killer like that." I muttered to myself while covering the mike with my hand. Matsuda and the Director heard me, both casting a sideways glance as I glared at my tablet heatedly, for I knew it was only a matter of time before they came to the same conclusion. At the same time, one of the males up front called the one who spoke an idiot, cutting the speaker off.
"Even if they're felons or prisoners on death row, if you kill them, it's murder!" he stated, making a clear point. The male who spoke earlier started up again as I let out a sigh, this was part of the reason why I avoided anything that dealt with the Interpol, they always spoke around each other.
"But we haven't determined that they've been murdered." The grey clad male said, causing the one in front to stand up angrily.
"There's no way that over 100 criminals all died of heart attacks can be a coincidence!" the more hefty brown clad male stated angrily, clearly pissed off by the grey clad male's cockiness, "Of course they've been murdered!"
"But how could someone kill such a wide range of criminals, practically at the same time?" the grey clad male asked simply, not at all put off by the anger, which was directed at him. I pinched my nose at this, another reason why I tended to avoid these situations; I got headaches easily from being around idiots for so long. It was the same at headquarters with Matsuda; I ended up leaving work with a massive headache that I had to contact people who had the same intelligence that I did, just so I wouldn't adapt to the stupidity of normal folk.
A pinstriped male then spoke up, irritation was clear in his voice as he stated that they though it must be an elaborated planned murder plot, executed by a large organization. I literally had to force myself not to snort at the absurd idea, wondering again why I had been brought there. Another male with a red tie spoke up after that accusation, stating that he couldn't help but think that the FBI or the CIA must be involved somehow, another absurd idea. This caused the male who spoke before to stand up, daring the male who just spoke to repeat himself. A third party stood up, asking them to settle down, just so there wouldn't be a fight amongst each other.
"First, we have to decide whether these were murders or just a coincidence." He stated as the grey clad male spoke up once more, really, that guy was starting to get on my nerves with his know-it-all way of speaking.
"But, according to the autopsy reports, they all died of 'cardiac arrest: cause unknown', right?" he said, which was true. I was now sporting my tablet on my lap, glimpsing at the autopsy reports that were given.
"A cause of death like 'cardiac arrest' leaves us without any clues." The pinned striped male stated when the one with the red tie started speaking again.
"It'd be different if they had been stabbed or something." He stated as the brown clad male in front started speaking again.
"In cases like this, the only thing we can do is ask L." He stated, causing the entire Interpol to quieten down and talk to their party quietly while covering their mikes to no one else could hear them. Next to me, Matsuda was looking around confused, no doubt he had never heard of L before.
"Chief... what do they mean, 'L'?" he asked quietly while leaning over to the Director, who looked at him curiously before realizing why Matsuda was asking that.
"That's right... this is your first time here isn't it?" the Director said while casting me a look, seeing that I was now paying attention by stiffly sitting in my chair, "Nobody knows L's name, whereabouts or even what his face looks like. But, no matter how difficult the case, he'll definitely solve it. He's solved countless unsolved cased worldwide. He's the secret ace of our trade, our trump card... something like that." The Director explained as I leaned over to them as well.
"Basically they go to L whenever they can't handle a case like this one and have already given up." I stated simply and gave the Director an innocent look after he shot me a sharp one, not appreciating my input. I merely shrugged at him while sitting back in my seat, looking over some information as everyone finished speaking in their groups.
"But, doesn't L only accept cases that interest him?" someone asked curiously and I couldn't help but smirk at it. This was exactly the type of case that L would take, this was a challenge, over a 100 criminals dying over the course of a few weeks, no witnesses, no suspects, nothing except for the similar deaths of cardiac arrest. As the others stated that they had no way of contacting L or even if he would take the case, quiet footsteps walked into the room without a trace of where they had been before.
"L is already moving." An older, familiar, but firm voice stated; cutting into the crowd of voices. I pulled my fedora further down my face, mentally cursing the fact that he was already here in Japan. Everyone was silent as they turned to the front, watching as a dark grey clad older gentleman, whose face was covered by a grey fedora and a grey trench coat, which had the collar pulled up to hide his face walked onto the stage, standing in front of the blinding symbol of the Interpol, "L has already begun investigating this case." He stated as murmurs ran through the crowd.
Next to me, Matsuda repeated the name 'Watari' in a questioning tone as I stared at the male, my contact coloured eyes sparkling a bit in recognition under my own fedora. The Director explained to Matsuda who Watari was, stating that he was the sole person capable of contacting L, even though his identity remains a secret also.
"Silence please." Watari said drawing everyone's attention as his eyes swept over the congress. I felt his eyes linger on my form for a moment, as if trying to figure out who I was, which he couldn't do, due to the fedora and shadows shielding my face, "L will now speak." He declared while placing his briefcase on top of the desk and opened it, pulling out a mike. The screen turned white with the letter 'L' written Old English style font and the screen behind him lit up with the same screen. I found myself straightening a bit at this while tucking my tablet out of sight.
"Everyone at the ICPO, I am L." A mechanical, distorted voice said over the intercom of the room. My eyes narrowed almost into slits as my fingers curled together as I rested my elbows on the desk, pressing y hands against the lower part of my face as we all listened to L, "This case is of unprecedented scope and difficulty. It is an atrocious crime of mass homicide that must be stopped! To solve this case, I would like to confirm the total cooperation of the ICPO at this meeting. No... Of all the investigative agencies of the world and, I especially request the cooperation of the Japanese police department." I winced at that, mentally cursing as Matsuda stood up in surprise.
The Director stood up also, containing some of his surprise as he asked why Japan. I kept my head down and my lips sealed as the eyes of Watari looked at me, curiously again. He was probably wondering why I wasn't surprised by this turn of events while my two co-workers were. I had only closed my eyes, trying to find some type of plan to keep me out of the eyes and ears of L, at least until I was called upon.
"Whether the culprit is a group of people or only one, the likelihood that he is Japanese is extremely high." After L had said this, both the Director and Matsuda looked even more surprised as they casted me a quick look, to which I merely shrugged my shoulders at their unasked question, "If not Japanese, then at least he is hiding in Japan." This statement seemed to have frustrated the Director, for the tone of his voice had a bit more of an edge to it.
"What grounds do you have for this conclusion?" he asked as I opened my eyes to look at him from the corner of my eye. I noticed that his eyes were slightly narrowed and that his posture was more ridged than before.
"Why Japan?" L asked, almost amused sound, though it was hard to tell through the distortion, "I believe I can soon show you in a direct confrontation with the culprit." The Director repeated L in slight confusion, wondering what L was planning, "At any rate, I would like to locate the headquarters for the manhunt in Japan." No, the Director was not at all pleased with this turn of events, not that I blamed him. After all once word got out, we would be in danger.
Once the senate was finished, the Director, Matsuda and I stayed behind, if only to give Watari what room we would be in at headquarters before leaving. The drive back to headquarters was quiet and once we were there, I went to my desk. I soon began working on some suspicions I had and saw that a name had been given to the killer, 'Kira'. Not very imaginative, but I suppose it did fit the profile of what this person was doing. Yes, I thought it was only one person doing these crimes, a person who only needed the name and face of a criminal to kill them. I never brought this suspicion forth, for I didn't have any hard evidence.