AN: Hmm, I just realized that Rester, Gevanni, and Lidner haven't been in the story much... Well actually, not at all, for those last two. At least they were out of the action doing something useful. (*hint*read on*hint*)
About the poll... half of you said "NO!!" a really large portion of you said "YES!!" there was a single vote saying that you didn't care, and there was one very unfortunate soul that didn't know who Johnny Depp was. O.O
And for those of you really concerned about my lack of updates, I have a note at the bottom about that. But without any further ado...
March 1, 2011
1:39 PM
"Well, Ryuzaki," Matsuda asked with a bit too much enthusiasm, "what's the first step to catching Kira?"
Somehow, despite a nasty bump to the head, Matsuda remained as energized as ever about the task at hand. To his credit, he'd somehow figured out what was going on all on his own before anyone could actually explain it to him, and Yamamoto was vaguely able to pick up on the fact that "Ryuzaki" was not actually dead.
Thus, it seemed that everyone knew that the original L was really alive, with the exception of Mido (but L figured that he didn't need to know the whole story). The doctor had retreated to the basement to let them begin investigating Kira on their own.
"Actually," Near said, twirling his hair, "we already did a few computer analyses of the criminals killed as of yet, as well as a search for unusual concentrations of deaths based on several defining factors."
It took them all a moment to mentally translate what Near had said into terms they could understand.
"And? Anything?" Ide asked.
L bit into a donut in his hand. "Nothing, as of yet."
"Really? Nothing?"
"Well," L responded between bites, "it is already highly likely that this newest Kira is also in Japan simply because all three previous Kiras were here... but we haven't confirmed that yet."
Aizawa thought for a moment. "What percentage would--"
"Fifty-seven-point-two," L and Near responded at the same time.
Matsuda smiled and rolled his eyes. "You guys are so similar it creeps me out."
Yamamoto coughed awkwardly.
"The facts you should know," Near said, "are that on February 27, 2011 at 11:37 PM local time, an English inmate collapsed of cardiac arrest. Over the next few hours, at least 200 other known criminals died."
"Only 200? Isn't that a relatively small number?"
L resisted the urge to groan. "That was only during the first three hours, Matsuda-san. The death toll is probably over 1,000 by now."
"Oh... yeah..."
"After that first amount of time," Near continued, "the rate that criminals died became significantly lower and is now at the present rate of approximately twenty per day."
"Ouch." Aizawa winced. L understood how he felt: if 20 died in a day, it amounted to 140 a week, 620 a month, and more than 7,000 dead in a year.
Not that he was counting or anything.
"Although the first victim was actually in England," L said after another bite from his donut, "we can be fairly certain that Kira is in Japan because of the times of death. In Japan time, the first casualty occurred at 8:37 in the morning on February 28, and since then the deaths have been scattered around times that are generally during Japanese daylight hours."
"So we can reasonably assume that Kira is either in Japan or in another nearby time zone," Ide summarized.
"Correct. The probable chance of the newest Kira being here is, again, also significantly higher simply because the previous Kiras were also Japanese."
L looked around at the investigation team to take in their reactions. Aizawa was nodding to himself, Ide was thinking it over, Mogi was strong and silent like always, and Matsuda was puzzling it over by scratching the top of his head. But there was one person that was frowning to himself.
Yamamoto.
"Is something wrong, Yamamoto-san?" L asked.
His head snapped up, surprised. "Well, um... No, I was just thinking... Have we got any way of definitely, um, confirming Kira is here in Japan, though?"
Just then, the door to the elevator opened, and Lidner stepped out with Gevanni and Rester close behind her.
"Who're they?" Yamamoto immediately asked. He began to reach for his gun, clearly out of instinct rather than actual fear, but a firm hand landed on his arm and stopped him.
"No, wait: the rest of us met these three before when working to catch Kira," Aizawa informed him.
Well, that was certainly a way of putting it, L thought to himself. He was completely aware of what had happened at the Yellow Box Warehouse some fourteen months ago and how it must be rather awkward for the SPK members and Kira Investigation Team to see each other again like this.
"Lidner, Rester, and... Gevanni, right?" Mogi asked.
"Right," Gevanni said.
Yamamoto looked lost.
Lidner looked proud. "Well, it's done," she said, turning to L and Near.
All the investigators were confused. "What's done?" asked Matsuda.
"Oh, good," L said. "Aizawa-san, Mogi-san, Matsuda-san, Ide-san, and Yamamoto-san, we can now confirm whether this Kira is indeed in Japan or not."
On January 19, 2002, an American man named Jaymes Fosse was convicted entirely in secret for the murder of a family in Sacramento, California.
His punishment: the death penalty.
The arranged date of execution: March 1, 2011.
"Jaymes Fosse," Near said, "is a very dangerous man. He was convicted because he certainly killed at least four people, but there were several other charges brought against him in the past, including rape and assault & battery."
"There is a good chance," L continued, "that he committed these other crimes that he was never found guilty of--"
"How high is that--?"
"Eighty-three percent. With that in mind, along with the fact that his arrest and conviction were completely carried out in secret, it provides an ideal situation that we can use to our advantage."
"So... what's the plan?" asked Matsuda.
"We give the Japanese media the cover story of a dangerous criminal," Near said.
L nodded. "The SPK members have been formulating a story for tonight's news of a man on the run for the murder of some Japanese businessmen in America. Judging by the sources that will be given on the broadcast, it will appear to be a true story that actually took place earlier this week. Jaymes Fosse, meanwhile, will be under surveillance."
"When the fake story is displayed on television," Near continued, "it will only be in Japan. If Kira isin Japan, as we so suspect, there is a very high likelihood that he will kill Jaymes Fosse."
"And by doing so, he will reveal his location to us," L finished.
He half expected the investigation team to complain that what they were doing was inhumane, but to his surprise they all nodded thoughtfully. They've changed over the years, he realized.
Aizawa was the first to speak up. "Makes perfect sense," he said. "Certainly you can't pull the same stunt you did with Lind L. Tailor, but this sounds like it'll work."
At a 97% chance, anyway.
"What do we have to do?" asked Ide.
"More importantly," asked Gevanni to L and Near, "what will you be doing?"
"We," Near said, "are still going to look for any strange patterns of death that could be useful in finding Kira's identity." He turned around in his chair. "Feel free to use one of the computers."
"And, um... what should we do about this, uh, Jaymes Fosse guy?" Yamamoto questioned.
"Just watch him," L said. "If he collapses from cardiac arrest within 4 hours after the news broadcast, it means there is a 99% likelihood Kira is in Japan."
AN: Alright, now for the super-big explanation/moment-of-truth/actually-plausible-reason-for-not-updating-very-often. From about chapter... nineteen (maybe?) to the end, the plot has to fit together perfectly or I won't be happy. Spell it with me: P-E-R-F-E-C-T-L-Y. And being the perfectionist I am (plus slightly OCD at the same time), it HAS to work or I won't publish it. Now, that being said, for me to get it as good as I want to I basically have to write the whole thing out and then work out the kinks after all the chapters are done. So, contrary to any thoughts about me being a total lazy-ass for not finishing this thing, I don't put off updating because I'm lazy but because I want to make sure the darn thing WORKS. Actually, at the rate I'm going, I might not even update again until it IS finished (but hopefully that doesn't happen). So... basically what I'm saying is that if I don't update for a couple months, it's all planned. Don't freak out. AND I'M NOT ABANDONING ANYTHING. Promise: it would be really stupid to stop now because I already have literally about fifteen chapters worth of stuff written ahead.
And for those of you wondering, I think this thing will probably end up being, like, fifty chapters long. No joke. We are so NOT anywhere near the ending. (Oh God, "Near the ending"...? That was a terrible pun that was absolutely NOT intended...)
That, and... there's nothing for you to guess at for the next chapter... So if you just want to review so you can yell at me to "UPDATE PLZ!!!1!!11!" or whatever, then I suppose that's cool.
Love. Peace. L.
(Sorry Mickaroo, I just HAD to say that... :P)
CK