Part Eleven:
"Suicide"
Light reached over his desk and picked up the weight from the justice scale, it levelled again. He held the small gold item in his thumb and forefinger of his left hand for a moment and then put it down in front of him. Light saw the weight as a chess piece, a pawn, and now he had captured it.
"Mr. Nétè, what do you know about Physics?" Light queried the other.
Nétè looked confused. "Nothing really, sir," he answered. "Except for the basics. I was never into the Sciences. I was Business Major in college. Never had an aptitude for it."
"Physics," Tréy Cottré said, "is a natural science that studies matter, its motion, and behavior through space and time, as it relates to entities of energy and force." Light looked at him. Nétè did too. "Physics is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines, it's how we understand how the universe behaves."
"Correct, Mr. Cottré," Izanagi said. Light gave Demetre his props with a smile under his mask. "And through physics, we can also dwell into the mindset of humanity, what drives us to do the things we do. There's a correlation between physics and the physicality of the human psyche. Wouldn't you agree?"
Nétè shrugged. "I suppose so, sir," he said, unsure.
"And every action has equal and opposite reaction," Light further said, "that's Newton's First Law."
"Forgive me, sir. But I don't know where this is going? If there is a problem with a member of personnel, I'll deal with it, as per any instructions you issue."
As per any instruction you issue, Light repeated. What an interesting choice of words!
Light smiled under his mask. Now he had Nétè exactly where Light wanted him.
He had had planned something special for the Shinigami to entertain them, but now with Nétè here it was a perfect opportunity to issue a lesson in fidelity for an employee who wished to do harm to his company.
"I wish to show you something," Shinto Izanagi said, "and I know it will make an impact." In more ways than one, Light thought.
Light stood and picked up the television remote control from his desk. He turned on the volume. On the screen was a news channel with a sudden News Bulletin. The sound eclipsed the silence in the Study. There were squads of police cars and EMTs and media seen crowded outside a building a few blocks from Tusku-Yoki Tower. And a large crowd had formed, all looking up.
A camera zeroed in on a suicidal jumper. A reporter was speaking over the action taking place, stating there were police on the roof as well as on the ground and that they were trying to coax the man away from the edge. Nétè's eyes bulged out their sockets when he saw and even recognized the man.
The man was screaming for police officers to stay away, shouting that he had to jump, and nothing they did or said would stop him. This was clearly heard, so there was no accusation of police brutality. They were trying to save the man, but the man was clearly suffering from some form of mental illness. Due to all the issues in the media these days, and how they jumped on the police with how they handled these types of affairs, the police gave the man a wide berth and a way out if he chose to step to safety. A helicopter was showing the scene from above, all angles were being captured.
"Oh my god!" Nétè voiced. "That's…"
"Yes, Mr. Nétè," Shinto said calmly. "That is Mr. Nicholas Leandro, that man you contracted from 'Freedom First!', with whom you also chose to coalesce an illicit partnership with. We know the truth."
Nétè snapped his attention to Shinto. "Sir?"
"It didn't slip our notice that you were battling a gambling addiction, Mr. Nétè," Shinto said. "However, it was your problem until I looked into your financial records. You've been embezzling millions from my corporation and altering financial records to hide money transfers to offshore accounts. The last transfer was just this morning when Mr. Leandro arrived in Japan. You and he were going to leave Japan for some out of the way destination far away from your creditors."
Nétè gasped. "That's not true!" he said, a bit too defensively.
"Nicholas Leandro told us everything and he implicated you in the scheme. He even stated that it was all your idea, that you contacted him, a friend of yours from high school. And now, as you see, he feels so guilty he wants to end it all. He has betrayed himself, his organization: 'Freedom First!', and now you."
"T-that's a lie!"
Demetre took a step forward. "You betrayed me, Nétè. You are my assistant and I recommended Leandro to Mr. Izanagi based on information you provided to me that Nicholas Leandro could be trusted," he said. "I failed in my part to vet Leandro beforehand because I trusted you! If this ever got out, it would taint the Tsuku-Yoki Corporation and put Mr. Izanagi in a bad light. Someone must redeem for this!"
Nétè was speechless. It appeared like he was about to deny it again, when Light rotated his laptop with proof. On the screen were financial statements and the gambling debts Nétè had racked up in the hundreds of thousands of dollars in online gambling sites visited on his personal computer. The Tsuku-Yoki Tower was on a private network, but it had access to everyone's computer.
"You hide it well, Mr. Nétè, and I would not have found it if I wasn't looking for it," Light said. "And you almost got away with it." He turned the laptop back around. "With the millions were you going to get and share with Nicholas Leandro from me could have bought you a life of luxury," he said. "Now…"
Demetre continued, "A gambling addiction is a terrible thing," he said, with some sympathy. "We've been monitoring odd behaviour of the sort for the last couple of months, money disappearing from departments. Investigations were baffled, now we know the truth. You owe over $800,000 to multiple third parties. You've been re-allocating money elsewhere in an attempt to pay off your debts."
Nétè shook his head. "No, sir! I would never betray you!"
The live broadcast unfolding brought up both a close-up of Nicholas Leandro on the roof top and a reporter's overlaid voice. Nétè looked at the television screen. The reporter's voice then elevated on the television in an embodiment of shock and dismay. Leandro suddenly had something in his hand. Nétè had not been watching the television, so he had no idea as to where Leandro had gotten it!
The reporter: "What is he doing? Is that a canister of gasoline? He's pouring it all over himself! Oh my god! And he has a lighter! Someone, for god's sake…Stop him! He's going to light himself on fire!"
Light watched Nétè. The man obviously couldn't believe his eyes at what he was seeing. He opened his mouth, maybe to shout at the television to demand his friend stop from killing himself, but nothing came out of his mouth, dry as a bone, his face filled with a look of shock and horror.
To be continued...