Best Laid Plans
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Viz Media. I don't own them; I just examine all their possibilities.
This story contains details and background stories I have given to individual characters. As a result, any character details that differ from canon are the result of my background stories and not a lack of knowledge about canon. Any comments correcting me or debating with me on this will be deleted without reply.
Chapter 9: Watching the neighbors and accomplices
November 21, 2004
Tokyo
11:17 a.m.
A tone emitted from the phone and it shook on the vanity. Misa looked down at it briefly as she finished applying her red lipstick. It was probably from Light; a follow-up message after that morning's phone call was inevitable.
She picked the phone up, opened it, and opened the message.
Misa you were perfect this morning, thank you.
Expect two more messages from me in the coming days, but these will be the last. I know this is hard for you, but this will all be clear soon.
XOXO
She stared down at the phone for a moment. The tip of a long fingernail poking her scalp brought her gaze away with a small yelp.
"Oops, sorry," Ryuk said, the tugging sensation indicating he went back to braiding.
Misa felt the back of her head around the Shinigami's claws and felt the left braid was nice and even.
"It's okay," Misa said. "You're learning this really quickly."
"Henh thanks," Ryuk said, going back to what he was doing. "You know, this is kind of fun."
Another tone emitted from the phone and it wiggled a little in Misa's hand. She looked down at it, a tiny voice in her head not wanting to answer but a louder voice wanting to know what it was. She sighed softly and opened the message, feeling Ryuk looking over her shoulder.
One more thing:
From now on do not make any sudden moves. If you make any changes or major actions, do them after a number of days unless I specifically tell you otherwise. Don't tell me when you will do them or do them in any pattern. I trust your judgment on this.
XOXO
Misa stared at the message already feeling like she wanted to cry.
"But how many days does he want me to wait to do stuff," Misa whined, tossing the phone back on the vanity. "How many days will be enough?"
"He said he trusts your judgment on this," Ryuk said, braiding a few more strands before stopping. "I think he just wants you to wait as many days as you want before doing something. He doesn't want anything to look suspicious you know."
Misa took an elastic off the vanity and put it around the end of the braid before dropping her hand to her lap.
"Yeah that makes sense," Misa said. "He doesn't want me to do anything Ryuzaki can follow."
Misa put an hand on her head and sighed again.
"Now, now, Light said this will all be over soon," Ryuk said. "Look at it this way: you'll soon see what he's been cooking up and you'll get to be a part of it. You will be really helpful to him no matter what."
She dropped her head back against his bony chest, feeling elongated fingers awkwardly pat the top of her head.
"You know what Ryuk, you're a great guy," Misa said.
"Aww gee, you're gonna make me blush now," Ryuk said.
November 22, 2004
Tokyo
6:53 a.m.
She watched the white envelope slide under the door, but didn't hear any footsteps walking away. She almost wanted to get up and see if she could catch a look at the messenger's face; but Light wouldn't be too happy if he or she were to have some accident, then again he might not have cared.
Misa stayed in her reclined position, burying her face in the pillow pretending the message wasn't there. She hoped she would look up and it wouldn't be.
This is all for Light, she told herself. You need to do this for Light, he knows what he's doing.
Ryuk was sprawled out on the couch asleep. She was tempted to wake him so he could get the envelope, but this message was for her. She had to take care of it; Light wanted her to. This was all for Light.
Misa sat up in bed and looked at the clock: 6:43. Those numbers said 4:30 the last she looked at them; another sleepless night. This couldn't go on, she was meeting with her manager today, then a shoot tomorrow and a commercial the day after. Fortunately she knew how to apply make-up in such a way to cover the dark circles.
She thought about turning over and going back to sleep; the envelope could wait a few days. That's how long Light wanted her to wait after all, what difference would it make if she ignored the envelope for a week.
No, this was all for Light. Repeating the words gave her inspiration as did imagining his beautiful face and his smooth, sexy voice. She was the one with the problem, Light needed a strong consort.
Misa threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up too fast, her head spun for a moment but she stomped over to the door and snatched the envelope from the floor. This one was a plain white envelope with "Misa" written on the back. No hearts, no colored pen, just black ink. A hard item, likely a DVD, was inside.
She gave a long sigh. The thought of having to sit through another one of these was almost unbearable but she needed to know the ending of this story; that was what Light wanted her to know wasn't it? Light wanted her to kill the murderer, or maybe he had another purpose to this she would know if she did what she was asked.
Misa ripped the envelope open, revealing a plain white disc; a heart was drawn on it in black ink. All she could do was sigh.
She scooped up her Choco-Cat notepad from beside bed and walked over to the TV. She thought about watching this on her computer, but didn't want to chance how her laptop would react to a melting disc. It was easier to replace the DVD player if it came to that. She walked past the couch and turned on the TV, turning it to Video.
She turned on the DVD player next, opening the drawer and taking a look back at Ryuk. He was still lightly snoring; hopefully he would stay that way. She really didn't need his commentary right now, or maybe it would end up being the best thing for her.
Misa put the DVD in the tray and shoved it into the player, the hand holding the remote starting to shake and sweat forming on the back of her neck. This was all for the greater good, just remember that.
Misa's aching legs came to a sit on the floor and she took the notepad in hand, feeling a rock in her stomach. She closed her eyes and drove the Play button down with her finger, slowly opening her eyes to be ready for the image. She had to concentrate; this was important information. Light wanted her to know this no matter what.
I know this is hard on you, but this will all be clear soon.
The image on the screen was pitch black with the sound of clicking and rustling in the background; she liked this even less.
"June 21, 1986, Interview with Madeline Seely. The time is 9:05 a.m.," a male voice said. White letters in Japanese appeared on the screen corresponding with the words.
This would apparently be an audio-only feature; this development made her cringe a little.
"Mrs. Seely could you state your full name and address for the record please," the male voice continued.
"My name is Madeline Annette Seely, I live at 234 Holman Court in Leduc, Alberta," a female voice followed with corresponding translation.
"And for the record. Mrs. Seely has consented to be interviewed without presence of counsel."
"That is correct, just a nice little chat."
"Of course. Mrs. Seely how long have you lived at the Oak Ridge Park?"
"Since last October. Fred, my husband, and I moved here from Beaumont; closer to work for both of us. We read an ad for the park. It was a nice opportunity for our own place; the kids are grown, we wanted a place to ourselves."
"Are you familiar with Emil 'Low-lee-ay,'" the kanji still said "male victim."
"Yes he was my next door neighbor. We got along fine, every time I saw him he was a nice guy. I occasionally would watch kids if he had an errand to run or something, they're great kids I never minded."
Misa felt sick, but knew she needed to keep watching.
"So by and large a friendly relationship."
"Yeah I'd say so. Never had any spats with him. Occasionally he would have too many people over at his house, you could tell they'd be drinkin' and gettin' a little rowdy."
"How often would you say this occurred?"
"At least every other week I'd say, lately it's been, or I should say it was closer to a few times a week. Nothing too big, if the music or the game got a little too loud, you just needed to tell him and he's bring the volume right down."
"How was he around his kids, did you notice?"
"Papa bear, that's the first thing that comes to mind. Oh you could tell he loved those kids and those kids just thought he was the greatest. He'd be out there workin' on his bike and at least one of them would be lookin' over his shoulder. Very easy going, you could especially tell with the older boy, but he was Mr. Softie with his little girl and the younger lad."
Remember he sold drugs, he disobeyed police officers, he was a criminal: Misa repeated the words in her head over and over, but somehow they were holding less weight. They didn't know their dad was a criminal, they were better off…she needed to pay more attention to the recording.
He probably beat them, he probably molested them, that's what criminals did to their kids. It was impossible for them to love them and hug them and give them birthday parties and tuck them in with a story and take them on ski trips…
Focus, Misa, focus.
"Do you know if they were ever around when things got rowdy?"
"I never saw them outside when things got loud, but I was never in the house when they were partying. Maybe they were used to it, maybe he sent them to another neighbors, I don't know."
"Did you have any reason to suspect he might be doing anything illegal, like any involvement with drugs or guns? Maybe had some people over who were drinking underage?"
"I know nothing about that, Inspector, honest to goodness. In this neighborhood you learn when to reach out to your neighbors and when to keep your head inside. You just know when there are things goin' on you'd rather not get mixed up in, if you know what I mean."
"Did you ever fear for your safety while living in this neighborhood?"
"Yes and no. There have been a few times when you know someone's gettin' into a row. Fred and I have spent many nights with a hand close to the phone wonderin' if we needed to call you guys. Usually the stuff just blew over, but you got used to hearing it."
"Did you know if anyone in the neighborhood might have had a beef with Mr. 'Low-lee-ay,' a neighbor or someone who regularly came by?"
"No one in particular. Like I said it wasn't unusual to hear some sort of fighting when some drinking was involved. If any one in particular had a special grudge, I couldn't tell you. He seemed to have a lot of friends, whether one of them had it in for him I didn't know."
"Were you familiar at all with Ms. Amos?"
"Not personally. I remember Emil introduced me to her once. Seemed like a nice lady, very polite. I saw her over there occasionally, mostly hangin' out with his buddies a couple times they'd be neckin' by the door."
"Did you hear anything around the neighborhood about her?'
"No, nothing. I'm pretty sure she didn't live in the park. All I heard about her was when she visited next door."
"The night of the 17th, did you know that anything was going on at Mr. 'Low-lee-ay's' home? Did you hear anything, see anything?"
There was a pause for a moment.
"Oh God, no, I seriously can't recall anything, no kiddin'. Me and Fred turned in around 8. Though…now that you mention it I did hear some yelling outside. All I heard was a 'Fuck' or an 'Asshole.' I do think I heard a woman yelling. The rest was pretty garbled, in fact I think I fell asleep right after. Living her for a while, you get used to hearin' stuff like that to the point where you don't notice it unless it's in your face. Oh God, now that I think about it…I could say I could have intervened or called you guys. But I can tell you that would only have made it worse. I didn't hear any screaming or gunshots."
"It just seemed like background noise to you at this point."
"Yeah that pretty much sums it up."
"Now describe to me the events the morning of June 18, what lead you to find Mr. 'Low-lee-ay' and Ms. Amos?"
"Well I got up around quarter to 5, I had to be to work around 6:30. So I got up, showered, and sat by the window with my morning coffee and smoke. Fred was still asleep, I tried not to wake him. I looked out the window, had a clear view of Emil's trailer too. I think this was around 5, quarter after. I was looking out the window and I saw Emil's little boy Liam outside. I kept an eye on him for a while, seeing that he would out there alone. He was kind of shambling around the trailer, shufflin' his feet, lookin' all over the ground. It looked like he lost something.
"I kept an eye on him, making sure everything was okay. Then he turned a certain angle. There was blood all over the front of his dungarees; all over the knees, the shins. He had these little white sneakers on, soles just covered. That's when I got scared. I put my smoke out, threw on a shirt over my pajamas, and ran outside. I didn't know if he got hurt, maybe his dad wasn't around or it just happened. I went out to him and I said 'Are you hurt? Did something happen?' He kind of glanced at me, I could see his hands and the cuffs of his shirt were covered in blood and I knew something was very wrong."
Misa wanted to stop the DVD, she had to stop this; she couldn't take this any more. No, there was a reason for this; she stopped the DVD she would never know what Light was trying to tell her. She would let him down, she would be useless to him. No matter what, she had to continue.
"He turned around and started walkin' to the backyard, not saying a word. I followed him."
The neighbor paused and sighed hard.
"And that's when I saw it; two people sprawled out on the lawn covered in blood."
Hot, stinging tears poured from Misa's eyes. It sounded like the woman was fighting back sobs too, making Misa's eyes sting even more.
"One of them was Emil, I recognized the clothes and the hair. Same build. His forehead was…crushed. I hope I never have to see anything like that again, it was just horrible. I recognized Cheryl right off, at least by that curly, bleached hair. She was face down about a meter from him, skin all black and blue, shoulder all bent weird. Blood just soaked through the grass, like someone poured a bucket of paint all over the lawn but it was everywhere."
She paused again.
"I'm sorry, it's just…it's just hard to think about let alone repeat it."
"It's all right, take as much time as you need. Do you need a break?"
"No, no, it's okay," the woman said, taking a few hard breaths. "It was hard for me, but I don't even want to imagine what it was like for Liam. What is he, six, seven?"
"I believe he's six. Damn, damn shame. Any reason to believe he wasn't the first who found the bodies?"
"If he wasn't, whoever did must've taken off. Oh God, poor baby. He was just dazed; he didn't even look at them when I got there, he just stood off to the side. Then he…he said 'I checked for a pulse, can't find any.'"
Misa buried her mouth in her hand and sobbed. She had to keep paying attention, but it was futile at this point. Her eyes stayed on the screen to read the translation.
"I think those words are going to stay in my gut as long as I live. I…I just screamed, screamed bloody murder. I picked up Liam in my arms and ran back to my house. He put is arms around my shoulders, I could feel him shaking. He's a little thing too, skinny like his dad. He was just shaking like a leaf. I ran in the house and called 911. Fred Must've been awake. I screamed at him to go next door, make sure Sherry and Allen didn't leave the house and see their dad like that. I called 911 and told them what I found, I don't even remember what I said, I was in hysterics. I called and I kept Liam by my side. Kid didn't say anythin' else. He wasn't crying, wasn't talking, nothing. He just looked at the floor like he was in a daze.
"That's when I heard the sirens and went outside. The whole neighborhood was coming out at this point. Then I saw one of your constables go into the house." She gave a sob. "Can you tell me where the kids are now? Do they have any relatives to stay with?"
"Unfortunately, we haven't been able to locate any. We don't believe Emil or his late wife had any family in the area. The kids went with Family Services and I believe they've been placed with some families around here. We are still looking for any relatives who can take them."
"Oh God, that's just awful. I heard about their mum from a few people, sounded like such a nice lady. Oh God such a shame. You guys really need to get the bastard who did this; the son'va bitch deserves to get locked in a hole for the rest of his miserable life for doing this."
"Believe me, Mrs. Seely, we're looking. We are going to catch whoever did this, I can assure you."
The translation stopped and the screen turned to static.
"No!" Misa yelped, feeling ready to gag when the characteristic whine emitted from the DVD player.
She tried to get up, but didn't have the strength in her legs to do it. Misa felt a shifting off to the side and the whining stopped with the sound of the DVD tray popping out.
"Looks like it melted like the others did," Ryuk said from the side.
Misa had no idea he was awake, but then she didn't notice much else but the story unfolding. She stayed seated for a moment, eyes burning but she didn't want to cry. She was sick of crying; crying would do no good here, but then what would.
She came to her feet, ignoring the sudden dizziness, looking over at Ryuk and seeing the disc around one of his claws with the usual melt marks.
"Ryuk throw that away please," she said, tossing her notepad on the couch and walking away.
"Umm, are you okay Misa?" Ryuk said in an almost babying tone.
"I have a meeting with Hisayo this afternoon, I need to get ready," Misa said, voice determined but shaky.
She practically stomped toward her dresser, her back to the Shinigami. She wouldn't see his grin get wider or hear the breathy chuckle over the wooden thud and squeaking of opening drawers.
This show was getting even more entertaining.
12:41 p.m.
That plate of turnovers had been in front of Ryuzaki for the past hour, yet he hadn't touched any of them. He would lightly sip his tea, occasionally looking at the plate but he would look back at the computer screen. It was like a little kid pushing aside his plate of spinach.
Come to think of it, he was eating less and less in the past few days. He could usually nibble and chomp on his food all he wanted. Lately he would nibble at corners and leave the rest. Today he wasn't even making the effort.
"Have you been feeling okay, Ryuzaki," Light said quietly so no one else in the room would notice.
"Why do you ask," L said, not taking his eyes off the screen.
"I'll be honest I've been a little concerned about you lately," Light said. "You've barely been touching your food, plus you've been looking a little tired lately."
"I simply have not had much of an appetite as of late," L said. "And I'm sure this case has been exhausting for everyone."
"But the last thing you want to do is wear yourself down too much," Light said.
Playing the caring friend would only benefit him in the long run. L definitely didn't buy into it, but the Taskforce would. It would give Light more credence if he called L out on something, which unfortunately was one of his best strategies at the moment.
Light came to the conclusion that he didn't have Misa detained, though it was obvious something was in the works. The drop in killings was looking even more suspicious.
L made such a big deal about no one contacting Misa, but it was possible he himself contacted her. If this was the case, he almost de finitely contacted her as "Light" and was giving her instructions on who to kill; he could use these instructions to have her do something that would put more guilt on her. No, he was already trying to avoid implicating her, but he could have planned out these instructions to implicate Light.
Light knew he was L's prime target. He would want to put away Misa too, but Misa to him was more of a pawn; a direct path to accomplish his goals. She was easily expendable, a key to get to Light and then easily tossed away.
Her being detained wasn't the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario was he managed to steal her Death Note, have one of his cronies sneak in her apartment while she was on a modeling job and replace it with a fake. Maybe that was why he set her up with the modeling agency, he needed to get her out of the house to steal the notebook or set up cameras. He obviously wasn't there, but he probably called out operatives, Aiber and Wedy most likely, to go in with their faces concealed and do the switch.
If she was under surveillance they could write down the names she wrote in the fake book, or maybe they were instructed to write fewer and fewer; making it look like Misa was developing a guilty conscience. Someone could easily write Misa's name down, have her commit suicide after a certain number of days saying she couldn't take the guilt any more and say Light was ultimately responsible.
Light would be able to protest all he wanted and accuse L, but it was iffy if that would help. Odds were the Taskforce would see Misa as an unstable young woman throwing around accusations. If Light knew it, L knew this too and he wouldn't make any moves that could be easily blown apart.
It seemed unlike L though; L would want to win on evidence alone. Writing in the notebook would be cheating to him, but then desperation lead people to take extreme measures especially L. It seemed like he was hitting the wall, maybe he was willing to take such an extreme move if it meant finally having his victory.
The Death Note was a tempting tool for anyone. Someone as powerful as L might have been seduced by it's deadly simplicity; he could put away criminals faster, get rid of witnesses, maybe use it to control law enforcement officials he deemed worthy of sacrifice.
"If you want any of these, you're free to have some," L said.
Light broke from his train of thought and looked over to see L pushing his plate over.
"No, you need to eat something," Light said. "Besides I would feel bad if I took them with you in such a state."
Was this an act? Maybe L was trying to look more sympathetic, but would he put himself in a position to look weak? Maybe he really was ill, or maybe just depressed. Maybe this case was taking a toll on him, but Light knew better than to take L at his word.
"You are right," L said, taking back the plate. He broke a piece off one, letting some of the apple filling ooze out. "I do appreciate your concern."
"I'm just watching out for a friend," Light said.
L nibbled into the corner of his pastry, making a note of yet another pithy statement from Light. He looked at the clock on the bottom of his computer.
12:43, almost exactly six hours and he was still alive. His assumptions were correct; it was time for the next step.
L went on his computer and accessed a private window to Watari.