Death Note: The Seven Chapter 4, a death note fanfic

Author's Note: Now that NaNoWriMo is over I will hopefully start updating regularly.

Chapter 4 – Of Flirting and Interrogations

J thumbed through the sheets of paper attached to her clipboard. She had already done twenty interviews and every single kid was rich, arrogant, and a genius, considering those were the more or less official requirements of getting into Rice University. If Death Note had taught her anything, any one of the students could have been the next Light Yagami. She had finished her interviews for the floor and started scanning the area for Rue. Spotting him towards the end of the hallway talking with a young man, J walked over to them.

Rue was struggling to maintain his professional airs. "Has anyone been acting suspicious lately?"

"Nope." Said the young man, he leaned in closer to Rue. "Hey, after you're done with this, why don't we go out for some drinks?" A playful smirk danced across his lips.

J suppressed a laugh and added another tally to her mental list. The man reached out as if to grab Rue's shoulder. He swiftly stepped out of range, unable to suppress the glare he shot in the younger man's direction. He finished the interview curtly, saying, "Thank you for your time, sir."

Together, J and Rue started up the stairs to the top floor. Halfway up the stairs, she said, "Thirty-one."

He looked at her with a cocked eyebrow. J explained, "He was a thirty-first guy I've seen hit on you."

He gave an exasperated sigh. "I don't like anyone in that way, male or female. When will people understand that, and save both parties the trouble?"

She laughed at his frustration, and then motioned to the left as they reached the top of the stairs. "I'll take this side. Hopefully Nicole will have the lower floors done by the time we're finished."

J jotted down the apartment number on a blank form and knocked on the door. She listened intently as the tenant stirred. There was the clink of metal on ceramic, possibly a spoon on a coffee cup. The door opened and a lanky, black haired man stood in the doorframe. J plastered a generic smile across her face and said, "Hello, sir. I would like to ask you a few questions; if that would be alright."

"Sure." He regarded J with curious, pale grey eyes.

"Name, please."

"Charlie Robertson."

J jotted down the name and asked, "How long have you been living here and do you have any opinions on the late Mr. Green?"

"For around two years." Charlie mumbled, obviously tired. "Green was rather odd, snooping around in everyone else's business and always asking a few too many personal questions for my taste. His death is tragic nonetheless, leaving behind a wife and daughter like that."

As she scribbled down Charlie's answers, J surreptitiously scanned what she could see of his apartment. The interior was neat but still looked lived in. A few takeout boxes were scattered on the coffee table and dirty clothes were draped across the back of the couch. It was a rather normal apartment for a college student.

J pretended to keep her full attention on Charlie and continued with the interview. "Why did you choose these apartments?"

Charlie leaned against the wall and answered in a bored tone, "They were the cheapest around and I didn't want to actually live on campus. It costs that much more and plus you're watched really closely during class so I can't imagine how bad it is in the dorms." He was growing impatient, tugging at the loose ponytail he kept his hair in. "Is this going to take any longer? I have stuff to do."

"Just one last question." J intentionally took her time jotting down extra notes on Charlie's rather nervous behavior. His body language screamed out his urge to bolt back into his apartment. "Have you noticed any odd activity of late?"

"The girl down the hall, Scarlet." Charlie gestured down the hall. "She's always been a bit of a shut-in but lately she started not coming out at all. We have the same psychology professor and she hasn't shown up to any of her classes since this whole S-Kira business started. I'm actually a little worried about her."

J finished writing her notes and said, "Thank you for your time, sir."

She continued down the hallway. Knocking on the next three doors, J received no replies from any of them. There were no sounds of anyone moving within so she just moved on, scribbling down the numbers for future reference. Not everyone had returned back home after the panic and that could easily be the case with the three absent tenants. It was approaching the winter holidays too and many would be leaving to visit their families. J thought of her father. It had been years since they had spoken face to face and phone calls were few and far between. She made a mental note to call him in time for Christmas.

J reached the fifth and final door of the hallway. These apartments were the most spacious – if you could call any apartment spacious – and ten of them took up the top floor. A young woman with dirty blonde hair answered the door. She regarded J warily with large blue eyes. It took the private investigator a moment but she connected the face with a mental title. It was the creepy, too smiley barista from Starbucks.

She sounded as surprised as J felt. "Ms. Costa?

Recovering quickly from the mild shock, J put on her business face and asked, "Hello, would you mind if I asked a few questions concerning recent events?"

"Not at all." The young woman held the door open wider. "Would you like to come in?"

J shook her head. "There's no need, it won't take long at all."

The young woman's voice dropped to a whisper and she said, "Well, you see, there is something a little more private that I want to ask about; something too delicate for police interference."

"As you should be well aware of, my dear, I am currently working on the S-Kira case and thus do not have much in the way of free time and I spend that asleep generally."

"Please. I can't turn anywhere else." There was a genuine note of desperation in the young woman's voice.

J nodded, sighing as she gave in. "No guarantees."

J followed the young woman into the apartment. She motioned to the couch and said, "I'll go grab some tea. My name is Scarlet Clark in case you needed to know."

J wrote down the name as Scarlet went to get the promised tea. The two way communicator hidden in J's ear came to life with a small pop and Rue's frustrated voice whispered over the line, "What are you doing?"

She whispered back as softly as she could, "She needs a PI for something. No cops."

J could practically feel Rue's disapproval from all the way down the hall. He never liked it when she did any work specifically excluding cops considering it was often family work then. J turned the communicator off with a casual flick of the wrist, the motion disguised by tucking a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. Now that she could concentrate without Rue's distractions, she examined the apartment.

Everything was pristine white, flat beige, or pale blue spotted with sage green. Saying the apartment was merely neat was an understatement. Everything was put in its proper place with no room for unsightly gaps and not a spot of dirt or speck of dust could be seen. There were photos everywhere of a man, face lined equally with laugh and worry lines. J wondered who he was. His hair matched Scarlet's rather well, a little lighter to match the darker tan of his skin, so perhaps he was a cousin or even a brother.

Scarlet returned, carrying a tea tray. J accepted the cup offered to her and sipped it politely. The tea matched the apartment; unnaturally perfect for a woman Scarlet's age (she guessed the young woman was only around nineteen or twenty at the most).

J decided to get the case interview over with so Rue would not be too mad. "How long have you been living here and do you have any opinions on the late Mr. Green?"

"Over six years." Scarlet wrapped her long fingered hands around the tea cup. "As far as Green goes, he was a rather detestable man. It is almost a relief he is gone."

J nodded in sympathy and said, "I used to live here and moved out as soon as I could. I managed to crash the security system before I left though." She smiled at the fond memory. "That was fun." She got herself back on track before she digressed further. "Anyways, why did you choose these apartments?"

"Like everyone else, cheapest ones around."

J's pen scratched against the paper as she scribbled furiously. At times she was surprised she could read her own handwriting. She jotted down a few extra notes and said, "One last question; have you noticed any suspicious activity of late?"

"No." It was an honest answer, but rather curt.

J knew there was more information there, but there always was behind every word anyone said. She finished writing and set the clipboard to the side, careful not to disrupt the perfect order of things. "So, what do you need help with?"

Scarlet licked her lips nervously and said, "It's my brother. He died over five years ago."

J tried to remain as professional as she could. She did not need any pointless cases weighing her down at the moment and was hesitant to start anything new. "My condolences about your brother, but I fail to see what I can do unless there was any foul play involved. It is a cold case no matter what due to the age."

"It was cancer so I don't think there was any of that. Could you look into what he was doing for the past year or so before he passed? I can pay you."

"I'm extremely busy at the moment as you can probably tell." J set down the tea cup and laced her fingers together. "I can recommend other investigators but personally I cannot do anything for you."

Scarlet stared at the blonde with watery blue eyes. "Please, I've tried others but they've all turned me down."

J stood, clipboard in hand. She chose her words carefully. "I will contact you if I can find the time." She paused then asked, "How does lunch at Jimmy's Café tomorrow sound?"

As she started to leave, Scarlet called after her, "That sounds great. His name was Jackson."