I Have the Right to Destroy

Chapter 04: Falsehoods

(L)

"Near, Mello, and Matt disappeared the day that Whammy's House burned down. It has been exactly fifteen days since that happened. I'm afraid that we have no idea on where they went. But as per Mr. Ruvie's instructions when we first started work… we didn't make any efforts in locating their whereabouts."

This was the report I got from one of the remaining faculty members who were in charge of the remaining children, who were now settled in a house in Worcester.

"I see. Well then, please take care of the forty-seven left in your care—make sure that each and everyone of you has a different alias by now. Furthermore, destroy all photographs, pictures, and videos with their faces on it."

"Yes sir. Thank you, Watari."

"Thank you very much," I said, and ended the transmission.

It's been fifteen days since the Whammy's House fire. It was broadcast briefly on the local news. Because the authorities who were in charge of the case knew it, three runaways were also mentioned briefly on the report.

It had also been twenty-two days since Lind L. Tailor's death. Twenty-two days since I had to work the case all by myself. Twenty-two since I made conclusions about the identity of Kira.

That's all I had been doing for almost a month, actually. Kira may think that I'd been alone for twenty-two days because Quillsh Whammy was eliminated. However, for most part, Watari was never gone. I simply had to find a replacement.

Using some of my most reliable 'trump cards,' I managed to monitor the progress of these three suspects. Mello seems to have the strongest strategy among the three—he was still in England, but he's moving fast. At first he and Matt communicated face-to-face when they were still in Winchester, but they ended up parting ways after that.

Matt and Near, on the other hand, seemed to be moving slowly. Either they had no clue on where to go, or they're taking things easy for now. This was strange behaviour for Near—although he was average when it came to speed, he seemed to be uncharacteristically vague with his movements. However, it may be because he's never done things all by himself outside of Whammy's House before. Perhaps he's still adjusting to the ways of the world.

Where are you going, Near? Where do you plan to go?

Matt has also been quite a suspicious character. Initiative was never his strong feature—I had guessed that he'd be the first one to give up and to go to Worcester. After losing track of Mello, he stayed in an inn for one whole day. And after going all over the place the next day, he was now suddenly going in one solid direction.

All three of them had equal opportunities to access names and faces of criminals through the media. And all the while, Kira's judgments continued. Nothing can be discerned from the times of death and the nature of the criminals who died.

I knew that if I just kept monitoring their movements, I would have room to make a bold move that would raise my suspicions of each suspect. However, from the start, I knew that I mustn't assume that my spies would be able to track them down for long.

For some reason, once all of them were in London, my spies lost track of all three children.

"Disappeared. My apologies, Danuve. Even with my bugs and cameras, the other spies and I were unable to find suspicious movements when they were alone. Ultimately, we lost them. It's as if they disappeared off the face of Earth," one of them reported.

"I see. Well, Whammy's House taught them well," I told her. "I have to ask you something though, Wedy. I am sending you some files. Please open Document 1 first."

"All right. This is… a news report about a suicide in London?"

"Yes. Please read it and take note of the pictures."

"An unidentified teenaged boy burnt himself to death in the alleyway in London, leaving only a few questionable words written on the wall, with his blood."

"Yes. Witnesses who saw him before the fire said that he was around 5'5" or 5'6" in height, longish hair hidden under a cap, and had on dark glasses. The authorities only have dental records to confirm his identity. So far, there are no matches found," I replied. "Please close that file and open Document 2."

"Ah, the suicide note.

Labyrinth of steel and light:

(indistinguishable text)

I will be there so catch me,

Minotaur

"That was one of the strangest things I've ever read," remarked Wedy. "Much of the note was erased by him before he died. I wonder why…"

"All right. Leave that document open, and please proceed to Document 3."

"Another news report? From Japan, this time."

"Yes, a murder this time. It happened three days after the suicide in London," I said.

"The beheaded body of a young, unidentified Caucasian male was found in a town in Chiba. The Japanese police cannot identify who the boy is, but they theorize that he was a victim of a serial killer who victimizes young American tourists. However, the note they found on the boy's body challenges this theory."

"Based on the body that was left, the boy seemed to be an average child, except that his skin is paler than usual, and he was smaller and frailer than most children. The Japanese police already took his fingerprints, but so far, no matches. So far, nobody reported a missing child in Chiba that matches this description."

"I see…"

"All right. Now, as for the note… Please close that, and open Document 4."

"Hmm…

Kill me, kill you

I will not drown in the

River of death

Alone

"The note is in English!" exclaimed Wedy.

"Yes," I said. I bit down on my thumb as I spoke to her. "The most likely thing is that the serial murderer wrote that and left it on the body. However, it's also possible that it was the victim himself who wrote that. In that case, the murderer must have committed suicide already."

"I see… I have a feeling that you're not telling me something about this case, Danuve."

"Why?"

"These notes and pictures… All you've shown me so far are news reports. I know there's something else that you found out that the public doesn't know…"

"Yes." I bit into a Snickers bar as I explained things to her. (I had to make do with mass-produced sweets for twenty-two days now.) "That is, two things tie these murders together. First are the suicide notes."

"The suicide notes? How?"

"Did you notice anything strange about them?"

"There's the fact that they're both vague and poetic… also, if you read them in another context, they do not sound like suicide notes at all."

"Very good, Wedy. Anything else?"

It took moments before she said, "Well… From the second note, I can read Kira from the first letters of each line. It's striking, but I don't think that it's a message from Kira himself."

"Why not?"

"Kira's signature is criminal death by heart attack. He or she does not need to use such a blatant signature," she answered. "I would think that this is a coincidence, or the work of a fanatic who's trying to be like Kira."

"Very good, Wedy. I expected that answer from you," I said. "But that conclusion does not tie up the Chiba death with the suicide in London."

"Well…" Again, a few moments for processing. "If you use the same reading style with the first note, it would read L IM KIRA. It can sound like L, I am Kira. It sounds a bit coherent, but it completely disregards the erased parts of the message. Plus, I don't see a connection between a suicide in London and a murder in Chiba… I think you're hiding something from me."

I tossed the candy wrapper over my shoulder. "I did say two things tied the murders together. And this second thing is the manner of death."

"Suicide? But Kira can't do that… can he?"

I sighed. "Unfortunately… it's very likely that he can."

"How could you say that?"

"Both of them died from heart attacks."

"What! How—"

"Open Document 5 if you want. Those are the autopsy reports for both cases," I said. I've committed every detail of the report in memory, and I recited, "The City of London Police wisely chose to hide the true cause of death from the public because the victim wasn't a criminal. It would have caused outrage if the public found out that the boy was probably killed off by Kira.

"The death itself is bizarre—the police theorized that the boy wrote the poem on the wall out of a whim, and when he lit a cigarette, he had a heart attack. This caused the boy to catch fire, and to be burnt beyond recognition.

"For the death in Chiba, the true cause of death was broadcast. True enough, the media went wild, saying that Kira can kill innocent people, after all. It seemed that the beheading took place after the heart attack. There are still no leads as to who the beheader is, and why it was done. It was enough to make international news."

"So… are you saying that Kira did these things to give you a message?" asked Wedy.

I answered her with another question. "Do you still think that it is Kira who did these things?"

A few moments of thinking. "Are you saying that another person has the same ability as Kira?"

"It's just as you said—Kira will not do these things because his purpose is to create what he calls a just society. And killing these two kids aren't going to help him attain that goal. So far, we cannot say if Kira has the same ability as this person. But it is apparent that this second Kira—"I'll need another candy bar for this one—"has even greater powers than the First Kira."

"How could you say that?"

"Both of the children who died are unidentified until now. While their deaths might have hindered the police to identify them immediately, it is likely that their names are not easily available. Kira needs a name and face to kill—that's a fact. However, this one seems to need only a face to kill.

"Furthermore, based on the suicide notes and their messages… I am certain that this Kira can also manipulate people's actions before their deaths."

"That's scary," she answered me, after a long period of nothing. "So the message is not just for L, but for Kira too?"

Finishing my 5th candy bar in an hour, I answered, "Yes. 'L. I will there so catch me, Minotaur.Kira.' Apparently, second Kira wants Kira and L to go to Japan."

After that, the transmission was over. Hopefully, Wedy would be quick to destroy the laptop she used to communicate with me.

I reviewed the status of the investigation, given our new discoveries. If 2nd Kira can manipulate the death the way that he or she did, is it possible that Kira has other powers he hasn't shown yet?

(Roger Ruvie definitely committed suicide, right after I spoke to him about the Kira case.)

I re-read the suicide notes again. "Minotaur…"

MI L

M IL

River

Were these merely coincidences?

London City Airport. I was no good at arranging things like fake passports and flight schedules all by myself, but I managed to ask Aiber to accompany me all the way to Japan, as well as to help me with my posture and my disguise.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me. He was tall, blond, and combed his hair. He never needed to worry about blending in when he needed to, or standing out when it was necessary. That's the kind of look ideal for his profession.

I nodded. He didn't ask me to brush my hair, but he gave me a pair of black Chuck Taylors and white socks to wear, and told me to put some amount of make-up to improve my complexion and to hide my eyebags. Furthermore, he told me to stand up a bit straighter than usual.

I could feel my reasoning ability go down by 10 percent.

"You said it yourself, you know. People can tell by your complexion that you don't go outdoors and you only face TV screens and computers all day. The strange posture will make you stand out more than usual, too. Both of them can be used against you," he explained with a wink.

I grunted. I was worried about using a public plane without Watari's assistance to get to Tokyo. If I had to stand like this and to sit like a normal man, I probably won't be observant enough to see anything suspicious…

BUMP.

"Ah, ex-cuse-o-me…"

A bit disoriented, a small, rushing Japanese girl with bleached hair bowed to me apologetically and rushed off, stroller in hand. It would seem that we were headed off to the same waiting area.

"Careful there, Luke, don't give up now while you're standing!" Aiber said. "Don't worry. Just hold out for seventeen hours, okay? And then we can meet with our friends," he whispered as an afterthought.

Heaven help me.

Seventeen hours is a long time to be up in the air. Most of the passengers, after five hours, seemed to slip into comas of their own.

Aiber and I decided not to take first-class seats, based on the reasoning that Kira and second Kira might be on the same flight (although the chances of second Kira flying to London, back to Japan, and then to London again are very small). Given that all the Kira suspects either looked or dressed distinctly, they would be wearing disguises.

We were seated at the very last seats on the plane. No-one could see me back here, except perhaps for the elderly man who entered the lavatories nearest to our seats.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I told Aiber, even though his eyes were closed.

I stood up straight and walked towards another lavatory, quickly scanning sleeping, or otherwise silent faces as I went.

When I reached the bathroom at the other end of the plane, I went in, shut the door, and sat on the toilet in my usual way.

Five of those people may have been Kira, I thought to myself.

Could any of them have it in him to dress as a girl?

Despite the situation, I smiled as I bit my thumb in thought.

As arranged beforehand, an ex-FBI agent met us at the airport.

"Good evening! I'm Micchan24 from the Mangaka Maniacs Net forum, but you can call me Maki," she said in English, bowing to us politely.

Despite being a woman, she insisted on helping me with my luggage. She then led us outside of the airport, where a car driven by a member of the Japanese police incognito was waiting for us.

Matt sat alone in the waiting area of the train station. As usual, he was leaning forward, much like Rodin's The Thinker. When Near saw him, he was staring at some young lady's back.

He must have noticed that somebody was watching him. When Matt turned and saw him there, all he could do was smile at him and go, "He, he he…" A puff of cigarette smoke floated around his face as he said, "I never thought I'd see the day."

He gestured towards Matt's free hands. "You aren't playing with your videogames."

"My DS just ran out of juice. I'm saving my PSP for the next hour on the train," he answered simply.

After that, Near didn't say anything. The bulky messenger bag made sounds—plastic hitting plastic— as he sat down a seat away from Matt. Automatically, one foot went up the edge of the seat, while the other one dangled freely, only barely touching the ground.

"You know, you're not at home anymore, Near. Plus for the first time in your life, you're wearing shoes. Maybe you shouldn't sit that way," said Matt.

"These seats were dirty in the first place. No difference," replied Near.

The goggled boy smiled again. It must have been strange for him to speak with Near so soon, when it's only been a week since their last conversation. "So you're boarding the train to London too, huh."

"Yes."

"I didn't know you ran away too."

"It was necessary for me to leave the house as well. After all, all of us back then thought that we were suspects," he replied.

"Wait, doesn't that make you seem guilty? If you're running away from L, that is."

"All of us seem guilty right now, Matt." The reflection of his dull, dark eyes shone on Matt's goggles.

For a while, only the sounds of engines, rolling suitcases, and crowds filled the space between them.

Suddenly, Near spoke. "You're searching for him too?"

Matt tilted his head in curiosity. "For Mello?"

Near didn't move.

"I lost track of Mello days ago, if that's what you're asking me," answered Matt. "I don't have a clue on where he intends to go. For all I know, he's flown out of the country ages ago."

"I see."

Thoughtful silence.

Matt took the used cigarette out of his mouth. He flicked it off somewhere. Didn't even care to look where it landed. "But you're not asking about Mello, are you?"

Near didn't answer the question.

"So you think he's the one?"

Again, Near didn't answer, but Matt could have sworn his mouth moved. He wasn't sure whether he was smiling, frowning, or whether he was thinking of something…

Before they could finish their conversation, they were called to board the train going to the London Waterloo Station.

When Near stood up, Matt had his back turned on him and was already walking away. Finally, the brown hair, stripes, and bulky backpack disappeared within the crowd.

Matt. I wonder what you would have done to me if I told you "I am Kira," he thought to himself with a devious smile before he turned around and boarded the train by himself.

- Chapter 4 end -

Notes: When it comes to L, I get tongue-tied. I guess I get too preoccupied in trying to sound smarter than usual, which is why I get more confused. Ugh! Wedy and Aiber are there so that L had somebody to talk to. I'm sure that Tsugumi Ooba would never make L do the things I did, so forgive me if I insult your intelligence!

Just in case you're getting suspicious of me, I'm not switching Kira from one kid to another, you hear? From the start, there's only been one Kira. I hope I've been consistent enough though, haha. And, hm hm hm. We have a second Kira. Haha, but I'm not going to hide who second Kira is. In fact, I'm rather excited about revealing it. Hahaha!

Finally, I also thank the heavens for the existence of Wikipedia and Google, because I've never been to England before in my life.