LIGHT

"Why would you do this Light? What is the meaning of this?"

"I agree with your father, you've put all our lives at great risk."

"It was a necessary move, Lieutenant, for the greater good. And if you weren't prepared for it, then maybe you shouldn't have gotten involved with the world's largest manhunt."

"Yes….but….just announcing that you've brought your team to Miami in search of Kira and the Bay Harbour Butcher…seems reckless. If word gets out, either one of the could come after us."

"Not to mention they could flee Miami, making this move completely pointless."

I'm sitting in LaGuerta's office just after giving my rundown on why we've come to Miami. As I expected, the newest members of my task force are surprised by my decision to announce our arrival, but my father? After every unconventional move made by the first L, I would have thought by know he'd be expecting us to use some unusual measures.

"And that's exactly what we want" I say ignoring him, "for word to get out."

My father sighs deeply, while the Lieutenant just looks confused.

"Long ago when the first L suspected I was Kira, he came to me and told me who he was. He wanted me to panic, to slip up. Maybe to reveal myself in an attempt to come after him. This is the same tactic. While I doubt Kira will try to take us down, I don't know enough about the Butcher to make any judgements about what he might do. And if they've already met, than catching one will lead us to the other."

"And what if they haven't met, Light?"

"Then when the Butcher hears about us, he will make a decision to either find and join Kira, or to oppose him and go to war. And when Kira finds out, he will most likely hasten his attempts to find the Butcher. Either open war or a partnership between the two will make things more dangerous, but both will also make them easier to find."

"I see. I hope you know what your doing Light. I'm not sure wether the risks are worth it for the greater good. But where do we begin?"

"With James Doakes and the cabin. There's a reason Doakes was targeted by the Butcher. And there's a reason why he was at that cabin when he died. Until we start identifying potential suspects, we'll start there."

"You were a Kira suspect…? First L?" mutters the Lieutenant.

"I suppose there's a lot to fill you in on, Maria. I'll let my father brief you. In the mean time, I'll back to the hotel and finish reviewing the FBI's information on the case before we begin."

I finished looking at all the details to the case before we even left Japan. Mostly I just wanted to get back in time to see the news. But when I turn on the television, it's only soaps. Too early for the news, I'm still jetlagged. It wouldn't hurt to revise the case further.

"I was watching you" says Ryuk, hovering over my shoulder "what's the real reason you signed Miami Metro up to your team?"

"Exactly as I said, Ryuk. To let word get out. Once The Butcher learns that we're in town, he and everyone else will lose all doubt that Kira is here as well. Once they do, The Butcher will either try to contact Kira as a friend or as an enemy, or flee. In the process, we might even catch him by accident, which would only serve to hasten my plan. The best way to find him is to hunt him."

"That's it? You're just going to hunt for him as a criminal or hope that he comes to you?"

"Of course not. I have other plans, but to start with I need him to know that both Kira and the Kira Task Force are looking for him. Once I have an idea of what kind of person The Butcher is, I can put my other plans into motion"

"Other plans, huh? I can't wait to see." Ryuk whispers, floating through the door.

"And because of what the FBI's investigation turned up."

Ryuk stops suddenly, phased halfway out of the room "And what was that?"

"This agent….Lundy, believed that The Butcher was within the Miami police department. If he's as brilliant as he seems, he could have been stringing along the FBI the entire time. If not, it will be wise to keep a close eye on them. But for now, we're starting our investigation where The Butcher left it, at the cabin."

…

This Miami heat changes you. The inhabitants of this city seem fine. As the members of Miami metro show up to the ruins of the cabin a few days later, they set up like its any other day, as if what they're feeling is room temperature. But me? I'm wearing a bucket hat, a short sleeved shirt, shorts instead of my usual trousers, sunglasses and what feels like several layers of sunscreen, and I still feel like I'm about to melt. I have to say, my attire isn't a good look for the king of the new world. I feel foolish.

The rest of the original members of the task force look the same. Sweat constantly running down their faces, reappearing seconds after they wipe it off. Drinking from their water bottles ever half minute. But at least they final look like what they really are, pathetic scavengers, in over their heads trying to stop a god.

"Hey L! Looking good, nice sunglasses! YEEEEEAAH!" shouts some bald little Asian man I've only seen briefly around the station.

"Shut it Masuka. This is the guy that's gonna help us catch Kira. Show a little respect" says his friend quietly. "Now would you go start setting up?"

"Whatever." says Masuka wandering away. "I hope zombie Doakes eats your brains when you're asleep."

I turn to the stranger "Thank you…..?"

"Dexter….Dexter Morgan"

"Thank you Dexter. And what's your role here?"

"Forensics. Blood spatter specifically. I don't know if I'll be much good to you're here, most of the good evidence is probably either gone or already in our evidence locker."

"Perhaps. But we can't take any chances now."

"Yeah….I suppose."

"You don't sound very confident, Dexter."

"Don't I? I guess it's because I still believe Doakes was the Butcher?

"Do you?" I laugh. "Don't worry. Even some of my associates still feel that way., it's alright, But I suspect soon I'll prove to you that the real Butcher is still alive and killing"

"I sure hope not." mutters Dexter as he begins to walk away.

"Oh, in case you forgot," I yell after him "I'm not helping you catch Kira, you're helping me."

"He's right you know." says Aizawa joining me "You haven't proved to anyone that James Doakes wasn't the real Butcher yet."

"Have you seen the newspapers yet?" I say holding up a copy of today's. It simply reads; 'KIRA IN MIAMI?', with a subheading saying; "BUTCHER ALIVE?"

"Yes I've seen them. But people are just scared at the moment, and the media will report anything, even if there isn't any hard evidence yet."

"We'll see. Even if we don't find anything here, we just need to wait for The Butcher to react."

"Hmm. I think that….oh here comes your father Light. But he's alone, wasn't he supposed to bring the Lieutenant with him?"

My father walks over from his car, his head down looking slightly worried. He clutches a manila folder in his hands as he walks over the charred remains of the cabin to us.

"Father, isn't the Lieutenant with you?"

"No, she called me earlier this morning saying she was ill. But she said you e-mailed her asking for a full report of the cabin, which she faxed over to me." he says presenting the folder to me.

"Excellent. Her absence wont be a problem them.

Now lets see here 'No record of the cabin's existence prior to close of Butcher case. Believed to have been built illegally. Owner unknown. Police from local county kept patrol on immediate area for several weeks after close of Butcher case. Caught drug runners coming to cabin several times, anchoring boats at nearby dock. Adjacent canal investigated….site used as meeting place for local teenagers…considered similar to holy ground by Butcher supporters…cause of explosion determined to be propane tank ignited by flame on stove…'"

Every time I read it in one of the reports, it stops me dead. This alone should prove the Butcher isn't James Doakes. A killer this great wouldn't be downed by something so trivial.

'….traces of cocaine found in wreckage…' nothing I haven't already heard about the cabin" I say, flipping through the rest of the report. "Although, this site is popular with drug runners and users. This is new information to me. The cabin must have been a meeting place for drug deals. In fact, wasn't the body that was found in their with Doakes' that of a known addict?"

The hours begin to go by. Forensics teams continue to scan every molecule of what remains of the cabin. Two officers keep watch on a police boat on the canal. Criminal behavioural analysts arrive and discuss the possible significances of the location. Officers come and go in a blur. The hours turn into a day, which turns into a week, the amount of time I requested to investigate to site. And my investigation has turned up….

Nothing.

The night sets on the seventh day. I sit in Miami Metro Headquarters. Only the original members of my team are with me.

"I told you it was a waste of time." says Aizawa "You've got nothing to show us Light. This whole trip has been a waste of time! We should go back to Japan!"

"Hey! Light will find something. L trusted his instincts and so do I. We just need to keep looking" interjects Matsuda.

"Well Light. What do you have to say? Where should we take the investigation now?" asks my father.

"I…..I need some time to think" I announce.

As the Kira Task Force leaves the office I have taken up residence in, Ryuk appears by my side.

"Well, well, well. Look what's become of the great Light Yagami. Unable to hunt down a simple serial killer. Hey! What's with the smirk?"

"We may not have turned up any physical evidence, but ever since I learned of the drug related history of the cabin, all the other information I have on the case has been like playing join the dots."

"Huh?"

"Once I got back to the hotel at the end of the first day of my investigation, I did a simple search of the Miami police data base for criminals who went missing around the time of the cabin's explosion with a history of drug related offences." I say showing Ryuk a printing of all the names.

"Wow, that's a lot of people. Almost as many as in your notebook" he laughs looking at the list "So which one is it ? Mark Bartol? Sarah Lewis? Santos Jimenez? Chris Cortez? Lila West?…"

"AKA Lila Tourney. Suspected arsonist. Her loft burned down. Twice. Previously suspected of murder after her ex was killed in a fire. No charges were made after the fire was declared an accident. It fits with Doakes' death, died in an explosion."

"Ooh, go on."

"Afterwards began attending N.A. meetings to support a supposed heroin addiction. She attended these meetings for almost a year, despite never showing any addictive behaviour. Was last seen purchasing an unknown substance from a dealer."

"Interesting. And where is she now?"

"Dead. Her body was found in a hotel room in Paris, neatly placed in a body bag less than two weeks later. The information never made the rounds, her few contacts reported that she had made a sudden decision to move, no one in Miami notice she died. Best of all, she framed an officer here for rape, so her name was at the top of my search."

Ryuk laughs, "But how does she fit in with the cabin?"

"The report shows that police found several different types of tire tracks in the mud when the began their initial investigation of the cabin. They were identified, but never looked into further once they identified one as belonging to Doakes' rental car. One of them matches those on the car that Lila reported sold before her move to France. Miami Metro's evidence locker shows that a GPS was found at the scene. Someone was looking for the cabin, and no one would be careless enough to leave it there unless they had only just found the cabin, and were in a rush to get out of there. Lila was the one searching for it, and was the one to blow it up."

Suddenly I hear a shrill screaming voice I have been fortunate to barely hear since I arrived in Miami.

"Light. Light!"

"Misa…"

"Light!" she yells as she runs across the office and vaults over my desk to hug me "Light sweetie! I've missed you so much! The beach was fun but when the sun started going down I told Mogi we should come here to visit you! He said we shouldn't but I missed you so much I managed to convince him!' she says almost as if with one breath.

"Mogi…" I growl at the large man slowly strolling in after Misa.

"So Light, I couldn't really stop her."

"That's okay…" I start.

Misa interrupts "Oh you should see Mogi at the beach! He still wears a suit and pretends to be my manager. He looks silly but it makes him popular with the ladies!"

"Misa, stop it…" he blushes.

"Misa" I say firmly "Go back to our hotel, I'm just finishing up something here. I'll only be ten minutes behind you."

"Ok! I'll wait up for you Light! I've still got so much more to tell you about my day!' she says almost flying back towards the elevators with Mogi following slowly behind.

"You still can't get rid of her, huh Light?" says Ryuk.

"Keeping the second Kira with me could be useful later. And just now she's proved a very important point."

"And what's that?"

"Lila was a Butcher fanatic. Just like Misa obsesses over me and follows my every instruction, I believe that Lila thought she was in love with The Butcher. She was the one who killed Doakes, because she felt that he was an obstacle between their love."

"What kind of an obstacle?"

"I'm not sure yet. Maybe Doakes was onto the Butcher, and she killed him to protect him, or maybe The Butcher asked her to do it. There are plenty of possibilities, but they all come back to Lila's obsession with the Butcher. The key to finding him is Lila. And given that she was frequently involved with the station, we can take the next step in our investigation tomorrow."

"Excellent" says Ryuk "But why didn't you feel it necessary to share this with your colleagues? Or sooner for that matter?"

"I wanted to give the Butcher time to give me an answer. It's been a week, he must have seen the papers by now. If there's nothing in the news tomorrow, then we find out why Lila was so interested with this department and how it connects her to The Butcher."