CHAPTER 43:
"Security Breach"

The moment Light and Misa got started, Soichiro Yagami cut the video feed to the spare room with a button press of L's computer. L was sitting in front of the computer with a bag of popcorn in his hands.

"Leave them to themselves, Ryuzaki," he said. "I trust Light to do the right thing. He is of-age, but I'm trying not to think about it."

"I did buy another shock-wand, Chief," Matsuda said with a smirk. "Light took my other one on his journey into Hokkaido-Jozankei Forest, yet lost it when he went up against Ken Kuzushi. One shock from that and it'll sent him straight if he decides to go further than needed."

"My son is not a dog, Matsuda!" Soichiro said irked, his voice elevated.

"Sorry, sir," Matsuda said. "But since I can't carry a gun anymore, it's the best protection I can think of."

"Still illegal, but I won't tell anyone," Ryuzaki said. "Well, since you won't let me watch…" Ryuzaki ate a few kernels of his popcorn, swallowed. Then said, "That sounded a bit lecherous. Forget it. We'll turn our attention elsewhere. It's just a simple massage, what could happen? If you trust your son, Mr. Yagami, then… In any event, Watari will be keeping an eye on them from the secondary control room. If something untold happens, he has been instructed to let us know."

"Why does that sound even worse, Ryuzaki?" Matsuda put in.

L put up a finger, silencing the young detective.

Then: "Light and Misa are accused of being Kira and the Second Kira and to leave them alone to their own devices is to invite disaster. Someone has to watch them. But I can understand your concern, Matsuda."

Putting the popcorn down, L brushed his hands off, then began to type on his computer. He brought something up onto the large wall screen. A collage of snapshots of media reports, newspaper articles, and a few but out-of-focus and from a distance photographs.

"Recently, the media have been taking a closer look at the escape-artist exploits of our world-master thief Bryant Harvey," L began. "And Watari and I have been collecting a lot of media snippets since Harvey began what I like call his Houdini'ism—the ability to escape any trap with god-like ability. He has made off with millions in jewels and has robbed a dozen banks without being apprehended, despite chased. Mr. Harvey is a master criminal unlike any other and this is what worries me."

L brought up media reports of some of the more recent criminals that had died in prisons around the world, mainly prominent criminals.

"We know the Third Kira is active," he went on, "but why leave Harvey alone to commit his crimes? Kira has had ample time to pass his judgement on him. We know Bryant Harvey is an alias. Therefore, can Kira kill him? Kira needs a face and a person's real name to kill—fake names trip Kira up. Or, and this is a wild theory, is Kira protecting Harvey? Is Kira blackmailing Harvey? Does Kira know Harvey's real name?"

"Could Kira and Bryant Harvey really be working together?" Soichiro put in. He leaned in a little closer to look at one of the blurry pictures of what was supposed to be Harvey in the snapshot of a media report. He adjusted his glasses. "How long as Bryant Harvey been active?"

"That's the odd thing," Ryuzaki said curiously. "Since before Kira appeared on the scene. Harvey also likes to wear disguises, so his face is obscured in many of these awful pictures. There hasn't been on good picture taken of him anywhere."

"We're now in the third incarnation of Kira, so to speak, according to personality traits," Soichiro commented. "This Third Kira is different then the first two versions, just an observation. Not only is Kira murdering criminals, but there are a lot of serious accidents now involving prominent people; businessmen, even politicians, as of late—seemingly just normal people. Kira is almost acting like a hired killer."

"Yes, I've noticed that, too," L said. "Light said he was working on a theory, but he hasn't presented it yet. We'll ask him about it later. A very good theory, Mr. Yagami, and one that I think warrants investigation." Mogi was with them now, he had been doing something else with Watari when Misa came back. "Mogi, can you draw up a list of Kira's deaths from beginning to now? Then cross-reference them to more recent varying political and ecumenical factors?" Mogi nodded, and then left.

L knew it would be a large task for the big guy, but Mogi could handle it. In his profile, he graduated from one of the top schools in Japan with varying degrees in business, finance, and police foundations.

L continued, "To date, law enforcement in many countries are fearful of Kira's reprisal if they help us. Therefore, the same could be said about apprehending Bryant Harvey? Maybe they've come to the same conclusion we have? Hence, Bryant Harvey is left to his machinations. But there's a real danger with that sort of misguided mentality. What if Bryant Harvey becomes more bold, even brash, and escalates his crimes, to say, murder? He's already assaulted people, but to date, no one has been seriously hurt."

"But what can we do about him?" Matsuda asked. "I mean, it's not like we can just go up to him, and ask, 'Hey Bryant Harvey, what's your real name, and are you in league with Kira?'"

L cocked his eye, and gave Matsuda an inquisitive look.

Matsuda appeared taken aback. "What is it, Ryuzaki? What did I say?"

"Interesting choice of words, Matsuda," L said. "In league with Kira...similar to the message directed at Kira on the website Kira's Underground. If Kira and Bryant Harvey are in league with each other, then I would think at one point in this investigation our paths will cross. And I wouldn't be surprised if Kira sends Bryant Harvey against us by proxy. According to recent media reports, Bryan Harvey is currently in Japan."

"With the upgraded security features in the building, there shouldn't be a repeat like what happened with Jasper Yuta," Soichiro said. "I can't believe Watari got it up and running so fast. But there areas of the building that were destroyed in his assault that still need repair."

"And that will be done at later date," L said. "Right now, those areas are cordoned off. But the spare units on the Residential Level will do us just fine until then. Basically only Light's and my room were rendered inhabitable, the rest are still livable."

L reached into his back jeans pocket and pulled out a flip phone, opened it. A Bluetooth wireless program instantly connected it to the network.

"Recently, I've detected some disturbing activity coming from Light's phone," L said. "When it was agreed he'd work with us, his phone was connected to the network so it could be monitored. I checked it and I learned that is has been hacked. In secret, I removed all threats. Light appears none-the-ware of any of them, however I still have concerns."

"Is that Light's phone? How did you get that?" Soichiro demanded.

"I borrowed it," Ryuzaki said casually. "When I was younger, I used to pick-pocket like a pro before Watari found me, adopted me, and then set me straight, back when I lived in England. Trust me, where Light is, his phone will be the last thing on his mind. I'll give it back."

"That's not the point, Ryuzaki," Soichiro said. "If you hope to trust us, then we need to trust you."

Soichiro went to get it back, but L snatched it away.

"I borrowed it for a very important reason, Mr. Yagami," L continued. "I put a tracker in your son's phone" —L typed on his computer with one hand, accessed a special program, and noticed an unauthorized detection— "and it seems, someone has already hacked into my program. This is consistent with a phone already compromised or cloned. The main security features have a permanent back hole for hackers to spy on its user. It's like unlocking a phone someone purchases from a company retailer that they have set to only work with their network."

"Cloned? How? When?"

"Unknown," L said. "But when it was cloned, the other person had complete access to listen in on our conversions and data exchange. Every number Light has in his Directory is now in the hands of the hacker. I only noticed it after I examined Light's phone when he was incarcerated. And it looks like someone also installed aa application to track Light's whereabouts, apart from my own. So, they know where we are."

"Who could have done this?" Matsuda wondered.

L paused, then: "How well does Light know his friend Demetre Draycott? I spoke to him right after we apprehended Misa Amane. He seemed an okay person, nothing nefarious about him. Yet again, how well do we really know a person? Light did tell us that Demetre Draycott returned his phone after finding it at To-Oh University, but that was after how long? He had plenty of time to clone the phone. Kids these days are really smart and can download the technology to do such things easily. Just clone a phone onto a burner."

"Ryuzaki…" Soichiro began. "Are you accusing Demetre of cloning Light's phone? I know Demetre, and he would never do that."

"You didn't know Light's friend had joined the Savant Society, an elitist cult, either. If the cause is worthy enough, people are capable of anything. The reason remains unclear at the moment, but I would categorize this as a major security breach." L turned off Light's phone, then handed it over to Soichiro. "I would recommend Light get a new phone. And also question why Demetre Draycott did this? If we can find him?"

To be continued...