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Warnings: Mention of non-consensual lime. If the idea or proximaty of rape or molestation bothers you, please skip the part I indicate. It is small and non-graphic but you have been warned. Bad Language.
Chapter 6: Five Percent
Light Yagami had arrived at the Heathrow airport in London only to be greeted with rainy skies. He sighed and managed to locate the baggage claim with little difficulty. It's not like this was his first time being in the phenomenal city.
Brushing aside some of his feathery hair, he looked for a taxi to take him to a hotel before he went to Scotland Yard.
As soon as he was outside the airport a man in a British officer uniform met him. It took a moment for Light to separate the man's syllables as he wasn't used to hearing British English.
"Are you Senior Superintendent, Light Yagami?"
"I am."
"Then will you please follow me. We have already prepared a ride for you."
Light bowed slightly and followed the man to an unmarked police cruiser. It seemed that his being here was more important than he had originally guessed.
He idly wondered what was exactly required of him as he was driven through the streets of London. He had been ordered to leave immediately and pack lightly.
...
"Right now?" Light asked incredulous.
"Yes."
"Commissioner… this a bit sudden and to London? Of all places why…?"
The Commissioner looked at Light sagely from behind his desk. He was a stout man with steely eyes and entirely white hair. From behind the oak furnishing he looked ready to burst.
Standing he walked around the desk to sit on the edge in front of the younger man.
It made him feel old knowing that not just so many years earlier the young man had been receiving a promotion that would start a chain of events in climbing the ladder of police ranks. Yagami had been so young and zealous then. He was still just as wily, the commissioner huffed in thought.
"I know you want a reason as to why you are being sent. All I know is that, from what I've gathered, there is a series of murders and now the latest person to go missing and yet to be found is the son of some sort of official."
Light thought for a moment. "Did they send anything to you, a fax or something with the case information?"
"No." The man said gravely.
The very thought had the young superintendent blinking. The case was that important?
...
Again, Light wondered why this case was so secret; if the string of cases had been going on so long, why all the secrecy now?
The New Scotland Yard building was impressive but nothing that seemed overwhelming. The building was standard size for investigative agencies that handled vast amounts of cases and information.
He was escorted to an office by another well-mannered officer and asked to, 'please wait here.'
He adjusted his usual dress and tie as his golden eyes observed all the objects in the room.
Plaques and photos lined the walls with certification papers, and other materials sat nicely on the mahogany desk. The office had a wonderful view of the street outside which bustled with people.
Light had a strange feeling as he watched them. They all seemed to be staying as far from the other individuals as was possible while going to do their business. An officer seemed to be escorting a group of high school students across the walkway.
What is going on here?
"Good evening Mr. Yagami." Light turned to see a stern looking man with a bushy mustache closing the door with a thick file in his hand.
"Good evening, Mr. …?"
"Tomlin. I'm Chief Tomlin." He bowed slightly and then shook the others hand.
Standing by the window with Light he looked out as well. "What are you thinking, Mr. Yagami?"
"They look scared." He replied and when he heard the sigh of the man next him he decided to take a seat. He was a bit tired after the plane ride.
Following suit, the chief smoothed down his mustache as he thought. The man reminded Light of his father when he did that. It had been a couple of years now since his death but the young man still felt like a child when he thought about him.
"I apologize for the rush at which we needed you to be here. I understand you must be tired so I will try to keep this briefing as short as possible."
Light nodded.
"I was told I was requested." He stated matter-of-factly.
"Yes. Now, as to the reason you were asked to come here, there has been a chain of murders that span a period of eleven years. The person responsible has been disappearing after every few victims to avoid capture."
He laid the thick file on the desk in front of Light and opened it.
"As you can see, the MO has been strangulation with a common type of chord. All victims have been about late thirties and older."
"The chord matches the color of their eyes." Light uttered as he read. "So the recent victim, the diplomat's son, he was about thirty I presume." But the Chief was already shaking his head.
Rummaging through the photos the officer located the latest victims. "Before the one you speak of, these were the first three victims who went missing."
Light grimaced at the pictures both before and after death. He easily made the connection and the chief was slightly impressed. It had taken him an entire staring match to find it.
"The killer had the last victim in mind when he attacked these others. Black hair and green eyes are traits attributed to the client's son." He puzzled for a moment. "They're very pale too."
Another photo was about to be handed to him when the action was halted. Golden-brown stared at the hard dark eyes across the desk.
"This is the only photograph given to us by the latest victim's family. It is highly secret and will not leave your possession. Nor will you have any copies made without express permission." Chief Tomlin's speech left no room for argument.
And only after Light affirmed he understood was he given the picture. Uneasiness crawled up his spine as he looked at the boy but couldn't place the reason. He caught Tomlin regarding him with new interest.
The briefing took a full hour and a half. At the end he was allowed to leave and shown to a hotel where his belongings were already waiting. He placed the case file next to him on the night stand and dressed for bed. There was no sense in working while tired and his mind needed to be focused when looking at the evidence.
His last thoughts had him only guessing why the last victim was so precious.
…
The alarm went off and Light stirred groggily. Despite what people have assumed he was not a morning person.
He stretched, turned on the television and went to take a shower. After he was finished he toweled off and wiped the steam off the mirror when he started to brush his teeth.
Listening to the morning news was a bit disorienting after he remembered he was no longer in Japan.
He went into his room and called for room service to deliver him breakfast. When he sat down to his meal he had grabbed the case file and started reading from the very beginning.
After munching some of his hash browns and taking a drink of juice his brows came together in confusion. Someone had been investigating this case before he had and it wasn't someone in the local law enforcement.
The agency was listed and no attempt was made to conceal the officer's names; however, there remained several small blotches to the paperwork where something or someone's name had been carefully hidden by a sharpie.
Hmm… that's interesting.
Light was still musing over the paperwork when the door to his room echoed with a knock.
Chief Tomlin had came and excused the early morning visit and entered the room followed by a couple of officers.
"Sorry to bother you so early in the day, Mr. Yagami."
"It's fine. Please." Light indicated the chair.
"How is the case coming?"
"Slow. I started reading from the beginning and I can appreciate exactly why this man is hard to capture. Disappearing periodically after every few murders, leaving fluids and other evidence but no hits in AFIS or any other national searches." Light chuckled without humor.
"This may take a bit longer than I expected but the evidence gathered by your officers and the former investigator for this case will help me, especially the evidence given by the former case handler."
Amber eyes searched for any hint of duress at the mention of his predecessor. And he found it, a subtle whitening of knuckles on the arm of the chair and a blank look was put in place.
"Yes. We are glad that the information will be helpful." The dark haired man replied stiffly.
Light stared at the man in front of him a bit longer before nodding curtly.
Tomlin returned his stare distinctly understanding that the man in front of him was looking for something because he had sensed the secrecy. The silence was only broken when the chief's mobile rang.
"Excuse me." He stated as he walked towards a secluded area of the room to take his call.
Light quickly learned that majority of his time on the case would be done in a meeting room within the police station.
There he was able to create a diagram of the murders and a timeline. On the marker board starting on one wall to another trailing to the third wall, Light had managed to hang up pictures with a series of lines connecting them to info about the victim, how they were discovered and what date they were discovered. The marker on the fourth wall was only partially written on where he had decided to place theories or ideas.
He sat in the leather chair staring at the third board. His dark beige jacket hung on the back of his chair, his usually neat hair was rumpled and countless paper cups littered the table behind him from where he had consumed copious amounts of coffee.
A week… he had been here a week. And it was driving him insane. Usually his cases were solved in two to three weeks but he always had a lead by his first week. He was nowhere near a lead at this point and the damn secrecy concerning the diplomat revealed to him that, not only were the documents blacking out entire sentences, but they had deigned to take away some of his evidence.
The picture of the woman in front of him was prime example. Something had been burned into her forehead but the mark had been blurred digitally. The symbol burned there had its description blacked out on the documents.
Finally pissed off enough he asked for the Chief to meet him in the room at lunch.
When Tomlin walked in, he automatically noted how the usually clean white room comprised with cushy chairs and a long oak table was askew. One look at the room's single occupant lead him to believe that Mr. Yagami's generous mood was about to crack altogether.
He pulled a seat up next to the man and sat.
"I'm amazed how methodical your examination of the case is. A wall of diagrams… incredible."
"Mr. Tomlin,' Light began, his fingers were steepled in front of the lower portion of his face, elbows on his knees as he spoke, 'I need the rest of the evidence."
"I can't do that."
"I repeat,' the auburn haired man spoke with strained calm, 'I need the rest of the evidence."
"I said I can't provide it." Chief Tomlin said in the same manner.
Light's calm demeanor finally cracked and he stood abruptly, knocking over his chair and ripped the photo of the Whitechapel woman off the wall and slammed it on the desk.
"The key to this whole investigation is on this woman's forehead!" He ripped another photo down. "As well as this shoe and no one is telling me what it is!"
"Mr. Yaga-…"
"NO. I am not having this discussion. You said I was sent for. You said that you needed my help. You need me so why are you taking away my means to get this criminal?" He huffed and ran a hand through his hair.
Dark eyes watched as the frustrated figure went to the board and pointed a finger.
"Right here. Right here is where things went from bad to worse. There is an event that has taken place that results in the increased violence." Light walked towards the end of the diagram and picked up a bright colored marker and circled Billy Ghallager.
"This boy is the finally step before the diplomat's son disappeared. This boy,' Light circled doubly the picture of the last victim, 'is the boy who appealed enough to the killer for him to practice on three other victims before him."
His eyes observed the picture. He could see what the killer saw. He could see why he would be the victim. The picture showed the face of a young boy approximately fourteen years of age looking over his shoulder with a warm smile on his face. Startlingly green eyes stared out of a dark set of windblown bangs and the boy's ivory complexion was flushed with a slight pink blush.
"The killer thought he was pretty." Light said softly causing the Chief to rise and stand beside him.
There was no information written about the boy to the side other than he was kidnapped from his own home and there was evidence of a great struggle. No ID was or could be written.
Tomlin sighed.
"I will talk to the official. He was very distraught when this happened and left the speaking to someone else after he handed me this picture." The older man pulled the picture gently from the board while Light studied his face.
"You knew him." He finally said.
A smirk lifted the edges of the man's mustache.
"Not the boy but I know his father."
Light shook his head and sat back down. "Can you tell me anything about him? Does he have many enemies?"
The man holding the picture guffawed and looked at Light. "You could say that almost everyone is his enemy." He chuckled at the startled look he received.
"He's a good man. A fierce individual who takes what he does very seriously and makes some dangerous decisions every now and then when he thinks the situation merits it.
"You must understand it is the existence of these enemies that keep much of this information from you and majority of this police force. He has to maintain utter secrecy and though at the moment he could care less for his own safety, there are those who continually must remind him of the situation at hand."
This was interesting to Light. Who could be so important and have so many enemies? Who could keep this much secret? A slight whisper from the past echoed in his mind of one person who was capable of such a thing.
"You said you could contact him? Tell him this; I think that wherever his son is, he is still alive."
A comical look of surprise showed on the Chiefs face. His mouth popped open slightly as he mouthed the words as to why he would believe that.
"All the victims belonging to the perpetrator usually turn up anywhere from eighteen to fourty-eight hours after initial abduction. Some hadn't even been reported missing before they were found dead. It has been ten days since his disappearance." Light walked to a fourth board and started listing things.
Day 1: He vanished from his home with signs of struggle.
Day 2: Notified NPO and requested agent. Agent left that day.
Day 3: Agent arrives in England.
Light didn't bother writing the rest of the day except for a line drawn to that day's date.
"As you can see, he has yet to be discovered and the handling of the boy murdered before he was abducted was a few hours over the 48 hour mark. If anything, this man makes certain that his victims are always found and he doesn't like to keep them longer than a designated time."
"Why not?"
"If he keeps them longer someone will notice. I believe that was how he avoided capture from the detective before me. The longer a victim or body is held, the more suspicion surrounding a particular individual in accrued."
So he would have to get rid of them before too long. Serial killer or not he is conscientious about his victims and how long he keeps them around.
Warning: Non-con
The first thing he could think of was that his head hurt.
Green eyes slid open and tried to focus. Everything was so blurry that he figured his eyes must be dilated. Before he was force fed the drugs through his vein J recalled the way the room had looked when he came to the first time.
It was a bedroom with off-white colored walls and imitation wood furnishings. The dressers were covered in everyday knick-knacks and neck ties. He guessed he was in a house somewhere on the outskirts of London.
His training as a detective had him analyzing every little detail that first day. Not that he even knew what day it was today or how many days he had been there, J was painfully aware of one thing. There were cars just beyond the window that drove back and forth every day. At night they were barely heard and when he thought about it he was more likely in a suburb.
He glanced up with tired eyes to look at his hands. They were bound to the iron head board with white zip ties. He had tried struggling out of them before but he only succeeded in making them painfully tighter.
He thought it somewhat amusing that that bastard had to use several of the damn things to bind him. But J guessed he couldn't fault him for that since he had tried to take his head off when he kidnapped him. The guy had a pretty ugly bruise on his jaw from the ordeal.
J, however, got the worst of it.
"Well, look who's awake." The voice said and J stiffened.
He glared at the man from the bed as best he could. The drugs were still addling his brain.
The man smiled at J and sat next to him on the bed. The boy tried to shake off the man's hand but couldn't as it caressed his face almost lovingly. He shouted through his gag and loud muffles could be heard.
"Now now, don't be that way.' The hand went to his neck and up his tattered shirt on his chest as J just squirmed all the more. 'I've narrowed down where to finally put you. I'm stuck between two places, well, three actually."
The man spoke as if he was talking about the weather as his hand stroked the boy's skin.
J shuddered and with great effort stopped any tears from welling in his eyes as a rough and calloused finger danced over his nipple.
Emeralds burned at the amused face of the man. They turned an even darker shade when the cocksucker tilted his head to expose the pale flesh just hiding behind some of his dark locks and began to sample the vein pulsing beneath his skin.
As teeth began to gnaw and mark him J squeezed his eyes shut as he thought about what was to happen. Even if the man had only ever focused on the upper portion of his body so far, he had a feeling that it would soon change.
His mind was screaming that he had to get out of here but a stone of hopelessness had already girded itself around his chest. As the sensations continued his mind kept on its hopeless screaming for this to over.
Unaware he was squealing around his gag, J had buried a portion of his face in one of his bound arms and started to cry. He wouldn't open his eyes.
He squeezed them shut so hard he saw white when he felt fingers at the hem of his jeans.
The button was snapped open and when J finally looked up and saw the hand hovering above it and the man hovering over him, panic set in and he thrashed violently. The action threw the man off the bed.
"Little shit!" He forgot how strong the brat was. But right now he needed to quiet him. He hadn't stopped thrashing or screaming even though he was gagged.
He went to the dresser and drew up a shot of the sedative. He managed to get the drugs in J but because of all the movement, the needle broke off in his arm.
Doesn't matter anyway. It'll just be one more thing for L to be tormented about when I dump this kid.
He soothed J's sweaty hair to his face with soft murmurs of 'hush now,' as he calmed against his will. The gag was removed. Even though his body was shutting down, he could not shut off the screaming in his head.
Before the image of the man faded and he slipped back into sleep, the young detective had one thought… his mind was no longer screaming to be let go and for this to be over, it was screaming for L.
"Daddy…." It was barely audible but the man heard it.
End: Non-con
Light had finally gotten some restrictions removed on his actions. He was cleared to go the morgue where the forensic analyst was waiting for him.
When he entered the room his eyes swept the walls that had cabinet like fixtures to house the bodies of many people. There were metal slabs in the center of the room with shower like heads hanging above them and little metal trays with glass bowls and beakers sat atop them.
His eyes ended up fixing on the plump woman behind the desk whose eyes were also surveying him. She seemed to like what she saw and shoved her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"Mr. Yagami? I'm Patricia Maxwell. Chief Tomlin told me to expect you." She stood up from behind the desk and shook his hand.
"Yes. I was wondering if I could gather some evidence from you since some of the material has been conveniently lost." He admitted and Patricia could see he looked incredibly tired.
She sighed and waved him over to a file cabinet. She pushed the manila folders back and Light observed her with interest as she reached and pulled out a series of envelopes from the very bottom.
He opened them and studied the contents. Anger flashed on his face. It was the same damn thing that Tomlin had tried to give him.
"I don't see how they think I can run an investigation without giving me what I need! What is wrong with the police here?"
Patricia looked startled. "You're on the case now, what happened to…." She cut herself off and her gaze grew steely.
Light whipped his head around at her statement. "What happened to…what?"
Her eyes looked at the envelopes in his hand for a long time. "Mr. Yagami,' she started somewhat sadly, 'I believe this has gone on long enough and they can't pay me enough, not that they've tried, to keep me silent any longer."
Gold eyes grew concerned and they sat down at the desk.
"I have to admit something Mr. Yagami. I cannot mention names but I can affirm what you are saying about the evidence. Without the missing items in those documents there is nothing you can do." She leaned forward and continued speaking.
"Did you know there was someone working the case before you? Good. To tell the truth I am surprised that you are and then again I'm not. The person who usually collected evidence here and brought it back to their superiors has not been around for some time and it was only after the last victim was discovered I spoke to them at all."
"What do you know Mrs. Maxwell?" Light asked. Something in her tone lead him to believe that she was about to confess something important.
"He had beautiful green eyes and dark hair. His skin was almost porcelain-like. Very intelligent it seemed, which is why I believed he had accompanied him."
"Mrs. Maxwell, I don't understand."
"There is a fourth boy missing. That boy was here not too long ago with the man who picked up the evidence. That is all I can tell you Mr. Yagami but know this, the man who gathered the reports from me, is a well known figure though-out the world. Especially, law enforcement."
As Light walked down the road he had much to think about. It was around noon and the sun was high in the sky. For once London was blissfully cloud free. He tilted his head up and allowed his face to drink up the rays and let his mind wonder.
He would go back to the station, only a block away in the center of the sprawling metropolis, and continue to brew over what he had been given. That was when he overheard the news.
He walked to the patio of a café which had an outdoor TV set up for customers during the day. All of his body strained to hear the words being spoken by the news anchors. The report was about a Quillish Whammy and his late donations to a certain number of charities. But what truly grabbed his attention was the photograph of the man. He looked maddeningly familiar to him and something started clicking out of sync in his head.
He ran the rest of the way to the station with his mind in overdrive.
In the room he was working in he had tossed papers around and looked up the picture on his computer that had been displayed on the news.
"I've seen him before but… where?" he muttered to himself. He was about to slam his hand down on the table in frustration when he caught sight of an older man talking to his co-worker outside the door.
It was the man's white hair that made it click and like a series of tumbles that fell into place, Light promptly fell off his chair.
...
Tomlin was startled out of his reverie when his office door was slammed shut and there stood an outraged superintendent.
"What is the meaning of this?" He stood but was immediately cowed back into his chair when Light slammed a folder full of pictures and envelopes on his desk.
"Where is he?" The voice was low and filled with a dangerous calm.
"I don't know what y-!"
"The hell you don't know what I'm talking about!" Light shouted.
His hands scrambled around the desk and pulled out the picture he printed of Whammy and the photo of the boy. He then slammed the blanked documents on the desk and pointed to each one as he spoke.
"There is a series of one-letter wide mark-outs on the documents, one letter. This man who just passed was the right hand man of the investigator before me. And this boy is running out of time." He breathed out harshly.
Tomlin's stare was hard as Light finished his sentence. The Chief remained stubbornly quiet and the other detective used the same method as the pathologist to get his attention.
"He has grey eyes that could be mistaken for black in the right lighting. He has a sickly pale complexion and horrible posture. He stoops when he walks." Tomlin's eyes were growing wider and Light continued.
"I can tell you personally that he is an insomniac, has been for many years. He has an ungodly addiction to sweets and an IQ that rivals Einstein. He is the one who police forces all over the world run to when they need help. He is the only being alive who can erase his own existence and still roam the streets without a care. I don't think it is necessary for me to go on Chief Tomlin."
The man behind the desk lowered his eyes and shook his head. Light leaned in closer.
"Chief Tomlin, please, if this boy is who I think he may be then make that phone call."
Tomlin said nothing as he picked up his cell phone and hit one number. He handed the blackberry to the other man.
After a few rings a mechanical voice answered. "Yes, Tomlin?"
Light smirked. " Ryuuzaki, you have a less than five percent chance of being the London Strangler."
A/N: Review Replies-
blacknightjoker: I'm not sure how much I'm going to put in about J's mom but if you would like more about her I can cook something up. ^^
ShatteredKnight: I could see also that it was dragging. I'm trying to improve that but am not sure how. Could you suggest a way that could help or refer me to a beta? Mine has not replied to anymore of my messages. Also, glad you liked the ending and I can see what you mean about the suspense. I wanted to go ahead and get Light out there in the story. As far as the closeness of the death and kidnapping...I wanted to create that sensation of "When it rains, it pours." But since you pointed that out, perhaps when I'm finished with the story and do a reconstruction I will fix that. Thanks so much and I would love to see how your art has improved. I always look forward to your comments because you make me think.
xallfalldownx: Haha. There won't be much left of him when L gets his hands on him. (winkwink)
DeathZoom: Thank you! I thought it was.
Now...tell me what you think and get COOl POINTS! REVIEW! P.S. If you would like to Beta this story or my other please send me a message. If you would like to Beta specific chapters, that is also fine.