[author's note: I apologize so much everyone... I've been really busy and slacking on my fanfiction, and I feel really guilty for making you wait this long. I am also guilty about the shortness of this chapter. Once I get some more spare time, this story will pick up. I promise, just bear with me until! I love you guys!
-Tenshi]
"I am L," he said when he reached my presence.
"I'm Madge," I said, almost shakily.
My thoughts had to stay in the professional range. This was about the case, and nothing else. I still couldn't help thinking… But no, I mustn't.
"Nice to meet you," I added, remembering my manners.
"I'm Kym," Kaori said beside me, obviously remembering hers as well.
"And you," he said.
He said nothing about Kaori not being requested to appear, unlike his counters.
"May I see your case information?" he said, his eyes traveling to the small suitcase I still held.
"Yes, of course," I said, laying the suitcase on the table by my elbow and unlocking it. I opened the case and pulled out the file, which had already grown to considerable size with all of the information I had gained the first night of investigation.
He eyed the file and I handed it to him. He quickly picked through it with speed that made my eyes wide. If this really was L, the rumors of his greatness were certainly not lying.
"Very good," he said, "You've deduced about the same as I have."
Damn. I was hoping I'd be somewhat ahead. But no matter; at least we were at the same level now.
"It's a difficult case," I said, "Because there are so many missing links it makes me wonder if we actually have a puzzle."
"Yes, that's what I've been thinking," he said. His voice was absent minded, as if he was constantly searching for something in his head. But then again, perhaps he was.
"I'd like to just find one missing link," I said, "Because then we'd have something to go on."
"Yes," he said.
Wow. Had I ever started a conversation with somebody like that before? It was strange… As if I was already comfortable speaking with L although we had only met minutes ago.
"I was wondering," I said, he looked up from the file, "What you thought about survivors? They were believed to be insane when they were found. They were hospitalized, only to die days later? That's the part that doesn't seem to fit."
"I'd be interested on your theory on that, actually," he said.
"Well, I haven't formed an exact theory yet, but I think it's weird. I mean, if one of them died, demise being their own mental state, I would understand, but both of them dying within a day of each other, simultaneously? The probability of that happening naturally is about 20 to 100," I said.
He looked up at me, his eyes bright.
"That's a very interesting theory, I will look into it," he said, I detected a hint of excitement in his tone. I'd obviously found something worth finding.
"So will I," I said. I wanted it clear that I would not simply be a one-time resource. I never stopped when I started a case, and the fact that someone else was on it too did not bother me one bit.
"And do you have any other theories relating to this case?" he said, as he started eating a cake that Watari had brought out for him.
"Well, I'm still formulating some things, but I'd like to take a closer look, also into the cave that the victims came from," I said.
"The police have investigated the cave but..." He started.
"They might have missed something," I finished his sentence for him.
"Exactly," he said, "You're very bright, Madge," He said.
"Likewise, L," I said.
"I'd much prefer, if we are going to work on this case together, seeing how I've already seen that you're going to work on this case whether I'd approve you to or not, that you call me Ryuzaki from now on, for safety purposes," he said.
"Alright, Ryuzaki," I said. Of course. He'd probably want a code name. Hell, I was using one and he wasn't even aware of it.
Just then, the girl S, who had been having a short conversation with Kaori, came over to us. Before she could say anything, I looked over at her and said,
"S, you must have an outside code name to go by too, don't you?"
I had taken her by surprise.
"Yes, actually," she said, "And I was about to tell you."
"Okay?"
"You may call me Sayura, in confidence," she said.
"I'll remember that, Sayura."
For the next hour, we discussed the possible ways we could go about the case. It was strange. When I wasn't speaking to L, but to Sayura or Kaori, I felt like a baby bird that had fallen from it's nest when it's mother was away. Helpless. Away from the safety of my home.
But when I spoke to L (I called him that in the sanctity of my own mind, for it came easier to me than the fake name Ryuzaki), I felt as though I had found comfort. Like I was the baby bird and my mother had brought me back home.
But it was probably only because of his high detective status. I'm sure everyone else felt this way around him too, right?
"Madge?" he suddenly turned to me, while we were on the topic of the crime's setting.
"Yes?" I said.
"You seem to be right on the dot with this investigation so far... What are your thoughts on the specific location?"
"I think it has a purpose," I said, "Because had it been a normal countryside cave, then it would be assumed it was put there only to avoid witnesses. But it was an underground catacomb system, which used to run beneath a very old house that no longer stands. I think that it has something to do with the case considerably."
"That's interesting, because I too was thinking along those lines, " he said, in his absent minded voice. I mentally kicked myself. I had the thought that I was developing a fondness for it. Perhaps I was.
"So as I said before, I think our best route at the moment would be to investigate the catacombs," I said, "The scene of the crime always holds clues, as long as you look for them right."
"Yes," he said. He looked as though he was thinking very hard.
This case was definitely a difficult one, and I knew it. Whether or not working with L was going to be difficult... I was unsure.