L and Near sat watching the task force on a computer screen, Near with his wind-up toys and L with his tea and sugar cubes.
A day or so after the attack on the Mafia building, L had contacted the last two member of the task force to bring them in on the plan. His ears were still ringing from Izaowa's rebuke. Unable to tell the truth, L had stuck to the same lie he told Matsuda. Izaowa, of course, was less forgiving then Matsuda and took L to task for abandonning them and leaving them under Kira's control. L had to admit that the lie did make him sound like a jerk. In the end, however, L could hear Izaowa's relief at L's return and the detective didn't object to bugging and placing security camera's around task force headquarters so that L could keep an eye on things.
With all the task force members with the exclusion of Light in on the secret, it was time to put the plan in place.
L fixed his eyes on Matsuda. This first part of the plan was dependent upon the young detective. L just hoped picking him wouldn't prove to be a mistake.
Light entered the room with a white paper cup of coffee in hand.
Matsuda looked up from the computer he sat at. "Shouldn't you be going home soon, Light? Has Misa called yet?"
Light smiled and shook his head, "Misa has already called about five times, but she isn't even home yet. I just wanted to review Kira's latest list of victims. Maybe there is a pattern I can find."
As Light spoke, L searched his face for any sign of deception and as usual found nothing. Light really did have a good poker face. It had been that lack of deception that first caused L to give Light a second look.
Light started to turn away, but then he did exactly what L had known he would. He glanced at Matsuda's computer screen. The computer screen that was currently running the security footage from the night of L's break in.
A small start was all the surprise that Light showed. He set down his cup of coffee and pointed at the footage.
"What are you doing?" He asked casually.
"Oh, uh. I just misplaced this security footage a week ago. I am looking through it for anything suspicious. Haven't found anything, though," Matsuda said.
L wanted to reach through the computer screen and shake Matsuda. The young detective was being far too obivous about the whole thing. If Matsuda blew it now, he could ruin everything.
Light, however, seemed to take Matsuda's nervousness as anxiety over his mistake. He clapped a hand on Matsuda's shoulder.
"Why don't you let me finish going over that? I can look over the list of victims later," Light said.
Matsuda laughed, "Alright! Thanks!"
L watched for a moment as Light stared at the footage and started typing in code. He was trying to see if the footage was genuine.
L smiled and then turned to another screen.
Mello's face dominated it as he finished fixing the last security camera in Light's apartment. A part from leaving camera's in Light's apartment, Mello would toss the apartment to make it obvious that someone had been in it. The notebooks Mello would pile together on the floor would lead Light to the conclusion that the intruder was looking for the death note.
Satisfied that the other phase of his plan was going smoothly, L turned his attention to Near for the third prong of today's attack on Light.
Near caught L's look.
"Lidner, hand me a phone," He ordered.
Lidner blinked, but took a phone from the counter in front of the computers and handed it to Near.
L's eyes returned to the screen as Near dialed.
Light jumped a bit when the phone rang, but his face soon returned to its normal calm, collected mask and he looked at the display.
"It is N," He said.
Izaowa and the other task force members, including Mr. Yagami, who had been lurking in the background per L's instructions, came to stand by Light's laptop. Light answered the phone and a Calligraphic letter N appeared on his laptop screen at the same time.
"L number two, the SPK has investigated the Mafia and come to the conclusion that the mafia have no connection with Kira. It therefore makes no sense to pursue this lead any further," Near said.
Light frowned. "But that man we identified, Mello. He knew about the death note. He has to be connected to Kira. We need to find him."
"No, he doesn't have to be connected with Kira. The task force knew about the notebook as well and it is not like the original L never suspected the task force of having leaks," Near replied.
It had been so long since the day L had begun to suspect someone with a connection to the police that it took L a moment to remember the circumstances. L had revealed that he suspected a student due to the timing of Kira's murders and the day after he did, the timing had changed so that a criminal died every hour on the hour. L had known then that Kira had access to classified information.
"Are you saying that we can't be trusted?" Mr. Yagami demanded.
"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying," Near said coldly.
"So we are on our own with Mello. Fine, it is not like you have given us any reason to trust the SPK either," Light snapped then he ended the call.
Lidner frowned and took the phone back from Near.
"What was that all about?" She asked.
Near picked up a red wind-up car and began to turn the key at the back.
"What do you know about playing chess, Lidner?" L asked.
Lidner blinked.
"Not much," She admitted, "If I had to pick a board game to play it would be checkers. I don't like sitting around."
L grabbed several sugar cubes, lined a few up in a straight line then created another line behind that with the cubes from the second line touching the cubes from the first. He spoke as he did this, "A good chess player knows that the first few moves of the game are about setting the direction the game will go. That is what we are doing now with Kira."
Near finished winding up his toy and set it on the floor. He watched as it rolled across the floor, its key spinning.
"The first phase of the plan is all about pressure. We need Light to suspect that he might be going insane. This will be accomplished by pressuring him with the knowledge that there is a detective out there who somehow got a hold of L's notes. That will be combined with L's 'ghost'. The security tape was just the beginning Due to Matsuda's lack of reaction to my image on the video tape, Light will assume he is just imaging it. Especially when we replace it later with an identical tape without me in it."
"But why would Light think you have L's notes?" Lidner asked.
"Because I talked about L suspecting a leak in the task force. While it is possible that I could get a hold of information from the FBI that L suspected the NPA, no one outside the task force knew that L thought there was a leak or a suspect in the task force itself. L never told anyone but the task force that he suspected Light. For all Kira knows right now, L could have sent me some kind of message telling me about his prime suspect for Kira. If I wasn't a threat before I am now," Near replied.
L held up a hand to silence Lidner.
"Play that back," He requested.
Gevanni who had been sitting at the computer watching the exchange typed in a few commands and then the footage from a few minutes ago played.
"If you ask me, this whole situation with N is a little sketchy. The mafia suddenly know about the death note and try to grab it. N and his SPK do nothing to help. We identify a suspect and ask them to help us find and question him. N calls back a few days later to say he won't help with that either. How do we know that this N isn't working with Mello and the mafia? The SPK did ask for the death note the moment they showed up," Light said.
"N working with the mafia? For what purpose?" Mr. Yagami asked, sounding baffled.
"He could be Kira himself. I doubt Kira wants anyone else to possess a death note. The whole thing could have been a hoax to get the death note," Light answered.
L took a sip of tea and then added a few more sugar cubes to it.
Well, that had been quick. L had expected this response, but he had assumed Light would wait until there were more ties between Mello and Near before suggesting it.
The task force would do as L asked. They would pretend to work hard to find Near, but would quietly get nowhere until the time was right.
L looked at a calendar on the wall. Tomorrow was Halloween.
L had never put on a costume for the occasion or gone trick or treating, but tomorrow he would play the role of a ghost.
L sighed. He would play his role well, for his life and his investigation depended on it, but he wished that he could get a basket full of candy for it. Sadly, L would have to do the trick without the treat.
I wonder, Kira, do you believe in ghosts? L thought.