The Encounter and a Small Detour

Due to L's instinct, it was decided that L should begin to make Light's acquaintance.

"It will be much easier to follow the lad," was L's explanation.

"That's all very well, but what are you going to do about Ms. Adelaar?" I inquired. It just so happened the two of us had been conversing when we heard another bang from Ms. Adelaar's room. There was no doubt she was still attempting to escape the prison L had created for her.

"What do mean?" L responded, as if the banging provided no sign of trouble.

"Well I just mean you have a woman locked in the upstairs guest room!" I exclaimed. Nothing wrong indeed.

"It's for her own safety, Dr. Dawson. You know that," L responded.

"It's an odd way of protecting her if you ask me."

"It's the only way of protecting that viper," L replied. I made no remark to such an absurd comment. Once L realized the conversation had ended, he continued "I've scheduled a meeting with Chief Inspector Videocq today. I told him to bring his son along....apparently Light hopes to work for Scotland Yard some day...."

"No surprise there," I remarked.

"Indeed."

I will not bore with the events that happened next. After all, it merely consisted of us chattering about other subjects that are completely irrelevant to the story. Either way, we were able to encounter Chief Inspector Videocq and his son Light.

"Chief Inspector Videocq, it is nice to see you," L remarked, shaking hands with the Chief Inspector.

"Likewise," Videocq responded, "I hope you and Dr. Dawson found what you were looking for yesterday. Unfortunately, Inspector Peel and I were not so lucky."

"We believe we have a lead. I shall inform you if anything comes up," L then turned his attention to Light. "And this must be your son. It is so good you could come," L continued as he shook Light's hand. "My name is Eraldo Coil and this is my faithful assistant and dearest friend Dr. Dawson." I tipped my hat in recognition as L let go of the boy's hand. It was hard to believe that such a young fellow was Kira.

"I'm honored to make your acquaintance Mr. Coil," Light responded rather pleasantly. "Perhaps I can learn a few things from a talented detective such as yourself."

"Perhaps," L replied. "Now I suggest we make our way to one of my favorite restaurants for some lunch."

Our lunch with Videocq and his son was an odd one. To an onlooker, it appeared as though we were all very good friends enjoying a simple meal together. However, if one were to inspect his same meal possessing the correct knowledge, they would witness something completely different. Each phrase L said was planned carefully. For instance, if he were to say to Light "I can see you have a keen eye" he was really suggesting "Kira is rather intelligent and so are you". What made this sort of conversation even stranger was Light seemed to understand L's suggestions. For instance, Light would respond "I appreciate the compliment though there are probably plenty of people who are as well" as if to say "so what if I am intelligent, you have no evidence against me". These sorts of conversations took up nearly all our time. Luckily the Chief Inspector was present as well so at least I had someone to converse with. Though we had little to talk about considering we were much too fascinated with L and Light's conversation. I only hoped Videocq was unable to decipher L's conversation. Quite frankly, I did not understand the hidden meaning of this conversation until L informed me afterwards.

"The two of you seemed to get along quite nicely," I had said, "Perhaps he is not Kira after all."

"On the contrary, we were at each other's throats the entire time," L had stated.

"How so?" I had inquired and thus I was able to discover the hidden meanings behind their words.

On would think that after such a cut throat encounter, the two would distance themselves from one another immediately. However, this was not the case. In fact, just the opposite occurred. The two seemed to spend even more time together. L would offer a simple game of chess or some other activity that allowed him to observe Light a bit more closely. Strangely, Light would always accept and the two would spend their time together. Being concerned for L's safety, I naturally opposed the idea.

"You are going to get yourself killed Coil. He just needs your name. What if he were to slip something in your drink in order to obtain the truth?"

"Oh don't be ridiculous Dr. Dawson. Light would never do something so stupid. He knows I would easily detect such a trick. Besides, as the saying goes 'keep your friends close but keeps your enemies closer'. I am much safer sticking with Light as opposed to leaving him. If I turn my back he could murder someone. I suspect he's already attempted to use Eraldo Coil's name and discovered it's a fake. In fact, I hope he does just that. More evidence against him. I wouldn't be surprised if he also wrote your name Dr. Dawson." With such a strong defense, I was unable to argue my case any longer.

Since L was usually spending the day with Light, I usually remained in the apartment. However, it was rather difficult to concentrate with the occasionally banging coming from Irene's room. For a few days, I felt abandoned to be completely frank. After always being by L's side, to suddenly be separated was a rather odd feeling. But I shan't go into any further details.

One evening, L arrived at the apartment just shortly after dinner. He had just arrived on time to hear Irene throw her silverware about. After having gotten used to the sound of silverware banging, I was able to sit peacefully in a chair with the fire roaring near me. I noticed L give a small smile at Irene's fit.

"She's still as venomous as ever I see," he replied softly. His remark was so soft I was unsure if he was speaking to me or himself. I simply looked up towards her room in recognition.

"She's hasn't stopped since you locked her up in the first place," I remarked.

"Well then, I guess I have no choice but to reward her for her corporation," L stated. He then pulled key to her room out of his pocket and proceeded to release her. Just before he unlocked the door, L merely stood next to it. "Ms. Adelaar, I'm going to let you out now. Though you must promise not to release your fangs." Of course, Irene gave a rather vulgar remark however none the less, L unlocked the door. Irene possessed a sour expression on her face and of course L merely chuckled.

"Come now Irene, as a treat I shall escort you to wherever your heart desires," L said as he offered her his arm. She simply walked passed him and began to make her way out the door. "Good evening Dr. Dawson," she managed to say as she was directly in front of the door. Her tone was that of a pleasant one as though nothing had happened between her and L just a few moments ago.

"The same to you, Ms. Adelaar," I replied. She gave a small smile and was out the door.

"Irene! Irene!" L called as he raced down the stares after her. And I was left all alone.

I waited quietly for L to return. It turned out to be a rather boring experience. There was so little to do in such a long amount of time. I found myself looking over evidence out of sheer boredom only to discover nothing useful. The clock's hand hit the hour at least three times before L finally managed to return with Adelaar.

"What took you so long?" I asked, a slight hint of irritation filling my voice. However, my annoyance did not taint L's unusual glow in the slightest. His cheeks remained as red as ever (which is very unusual to begin with considering L's pale complexion).

"I apologize Dr. Dawson but it turns out we had a bit of an accident. No doubt the work of Kira."
"An accident?" I remarked, raising an eyebrow. "Do tell."

"The carriage driver suffered from a heart attack. Ms. Adelaar and I are lucky to be alive," he replied however his voice hinted no seriousness whatsoever.

"We were stuck for quite some time," Adelaar interjected, giving a glance towards L. Naturally, I did not believe such a preposterous excuse. I had no doubts about the carriage accident but the fact the two of them were stuck for at least two hours was absolutely absurd considering they appeared to be suffering from no serious injuries. I paused my thinking process, allowing pride to fill me as I admired my deductive skills. Those two were clearly doing something else during that time period and I had a pretty good idea as to what it was.

"Well, I am grateful that the two of you are all right," was all I said. And that was the end of that conversation.

But then, the unthinkable happened.