Chapter 29

Daisy Winston looked at her husband Brian as he took the next turn on their way to London. They didn't get a chance to go to London often, prices being what they were, but at least once a month they had a date night where they'd take in a nice dinner and perhaps a show if they could get tickets. She smiled at him as he took a moment to look in her direction, pipe dangling from his lips and the aroma of cherry flavored tobacco circling the car. She turned her attention back to the road and noticed what looked like a bundle of clothes lying to the side up ahead. Upon further scrutiny she realized it was more than just a bundle of clothes.

"Brian there's a child lying there!" she cried pointing to the bundle on her side of the road. Startled Brian hit his brakes, his eyes flying to where she was pointing. She was right, there was something lying there, all he could see was a coat, black pants and what appeared to be blonde hair on the other end.

"I told you Brian I saw a child lying here!" Daisy cried again as they got closer. She practically leaped out of the car when he pulled aside the bundle.

"Alright, I see him, be careful though." He cautioned taking a long drag on his pipe.

"Careful of what he's just a child! Here now, dear what's happened to you? Are you alright?" The bundle rolled over as she took his shoulders to see if he was injured. She looked down into a pair of frightened green eyes barely visible under the fringe of blond hair that hung down to his shoulders. The child looking no more than 13 or 14 looked at both of them in fear and then sat up and scooted away from them.

"Please don't hurt me, I didn't do anything!" he cried wrapping his arms around himself.

"Now now we're not going to hurt you there, son, we 're going to try to help you if we can. Now tell me, what's your name?" Brian asked gently, kneeling down to the child's level.

"Matthew, sir. I just want to go home, I'm cold and I've been out all night…." Tears began to roll down the child's face as he began to tremble.

"What happened to you that you were out here all night?" Daisy asked alarmed. For a moment the child looked embarrassed and then answered quietly.

"I was made at my dad and I ran away, but I got lost and now I don't know how to get back to Haymarket. I kept trying to get a ride but nobody would…would stop for me they kept driving by!!" he burst into tears again; clutching what appeared to be a few belongings against him. Both Daisy and Brian looked at each other and then nodded.

"Well Matthew we'd be happy to get you to Haymarket if that's' where you need to be. Are you parents there?" Matthew nodded, wiping his eyes.

"My dad works in a theatre there, in the box office. He'll be there by now, and then he can call my mum to come and get me. Could you really give me a ride?" He asked through his tears, eyes shining with hope.

"Well of course. We're headed that way at any rate so it should not be a problem. I bet you'll think twice before running off on your dad again won't you son?" Brian answered reaching down and helping Matthew to his feet. The child nodded furiously.

"I..I had to sleep in a barn with animals, and it was so cold. I just wanna go home, please." He said. The couple led him to their car and slid him into the back seat, Daisy pulling out a tissue and wiping his face before she got back into the front seat.

"Thank you so much," Matthew said, "I didn't know what I was going to do.." Daisy turned to smile at him as her husband started to car.

"Just promise you won't do anything so very foolish again and that will be thanks enough for us." She said. The child nodded again and leaned back against the seat, obviously tired and worn from his ordeal. Daisy turned back to face the front and patted her husband's hand.

"Right then," Brian said, "What theatre is it we're dropping you off at?"

"Oh that would be Her Majesty's Theatere, Haymarket." The child related with no hesitation. Brian nodded and looked at the child thru his rear view mirror. Such a handsome young man, almost girlish features. He seemed to be calming down, he wouldn't be surprised if he fell asleep. He wasn't sure at first if this child was just a really good con artist, but he felt if he'd had anything up his sleeve he would have tried it by now. Still, it wouldn't hurt to be wary until he dropped him off.

"Alright, Her Majesty's it is then. Relax, son ordeal's almost over." Matthew nodded and settled into the seat. Daisy stared ahead until she heard a loud snap from behind her. Turning she saw the young boy had taken a large bite out of a candy bar he must have had in his bag. Sweet thing, she thought and turned back around.

"I bet your mom's frantic wondering where you are, most likely have called the authorities to look for you. I know that's what I'd do."

"Yes, most likely" Mello said contritely, "I hope she's not too mad with me."

"I think she'll be so glad to get you home safely she'll get over whatever anger she has"

"I hope you're right, " Mello whispered.

If she hadn't turned around she might have seen the smirk on the young boys face, hidden by the hair hanging as he looked down at his candy bar.

Matt sat across from Near at dinner and watched him stack dice at the table rather than eat anything. He'd been like this since they'd began working in L's apartment, totally obsessed with trying to put the Kira case together and Matt knew this was the way Near thought. He had been able to put together when exactly the deaths had started and why L had centered on Japan, but that was easy, as they had even watched as L had taunted Kira on television and told him what he had learned. He sighed, had that really been that long ago that they were sitting in Dr. Thompson's living room watching that unfold? He and Mello…he sighed again, the pain in his chest starting up again every time he thought of Mello. He wondered if he'd forgive Mello for leaving him the way he did, when he needed him the most. Not that he didn't understand in one way, but why would he want to be alone at a time like that? And why was he so unwilling to work with Near all of a sudden? He always knew the animosity between the two might explode at any minute but not when L had wanted them to all work together. He smiled sadly to himself, that was the answer. With no L as the glue Mello felt no need to be there. He looked over at Near again who was staring at the stacks.

"Figured out something new, Near?" he asked. Near nodded and looked up at him.

"Something that wasn't let out to the general public, Kira was experimenting with how to control the types of death I believe. Remember those inmates that seemed to do odd things before they died? I believe it was Kira testing his boundaries; it makes sense." Matt nodded sipping at his drink.

"It does. But there isn't a lot more information after that. I guess they all went to ground with L to hide from Kira while they searched. And that's the information we're going to need."

"That information is somewhere, we'll find it. What we'll have to do is track down all the police involved with the Kira case from the beginning and try to follow their movements. From this I feel we'll be able to find which ones were actually on the task force and which ones were not. Then from there we can try to follow what happened after that. I think we must also get into the FBI files somehow…but I don't think their files will be as easy to get into as the Japanese police. We will need to contact them directly most likely. But not until I get enough evidence and information to make it worth their while to help us. ".

"I'll take this information to Dr. Thompson later and tell her what my ideas are for pursuing this. Is this agreeable to you, Matt?" Matt nodded and stood up, shutting his game off for a moment.

"You go ahead and do that, I need to take a nap before we get started again." Near nodded and left the table leaving the dice behind. Matt then left and went back to their room where he opened a bottom drawer and fished around clothes till he found what he wanted. He pulled out the cigarette pack and matches, removed one and stuck it in his mouth. He lit it, took a deep breath and lay back on the bed. He knew he'd get into trouble for this, but this was the only thing that calmed his mind lately. One of the other kids had suggested it when he noticed how touchy Matt had become after everything had happened. The kid had told him that smoking made you physically calm down in order to do it, and was very relaxing it. Matt had to admit he was right, just the act of inhaling, taking that deep breath, slowed everything down for him. Yes, this was just what he needed.

Christine stood up from the ground from where she had been sitting, next to L's grave. She had placed flowers on both his and Watari's graves and had then been compelled to sit down next to L's and talk to him about what the boys had been doing, what their progress was. She didn't know why, but somehow it made her feel as if he were listening and taking it all in, and it simply made her feel better. She sat with her arms wrapped around her knees to help keep her warm. Her talking out loud seemed to clear her head and certain things began to make sense. But now she was done talking and it was time to go back in and wait to hear what the boys had come up with, if anything. They were working like dogs and she felt bad for the hours they were putting in, but she could only help so much, not being the genius that those two were. She was more of a soundboard for what they could come up with than anything else, and a constant cheerleader.

"I hope you can see what they're doing and you're sufficiently proud, L." she said as she began to walk away, "They'll succeed I'm sure…eventually." She grinned to herself and headed back towards the building, she was sure that Kira was living on borrowed time.