December 11th, 2003
No letter yesterday. Probably a bit shaken by the close encounter—no, probably masturbating over the close encounter-
In any case. Today, he thanks me for warning him about the threats to God's justice, and that he has acted accordingly. He apologizes for his foolishness, and says that he is unworthy, and asks that I forgive his impudence, because I, in my wisdom, will surely respond to him when I see that he has earned such a reward.
I don't know what he thinks I warned him about, or what he did... Maybe he thinks that I alerted him to the police coming. What could I have done, shifted in my sleep? I presume that 'acting accordingly' refers to his leaving in such a hurry.
No matter.
I'll get him next time. I don't know how, but I'll fucking get him.
December 12th, 2003
Kira Task Force Headquarters
"33 victims yesterday?" Soichiro asked incredulously. "Are these confirmed?"
"Yes." The officer giving the report replied.
"The day before, there were only 24 victims... And the times?..."
"Completely random. It'll be quiet for a few hours, then he'll kill several at once, and then switch it up again."
"Considering that this new pattern has been going on for two week days..." One officer began. Another officer finished his thought.
"...it does poke some holes in our theory that our suspect is a student."
"Maybe not. Anybody could skip two days of school," yet another officer pointed out.
"You're missing the point." Somehow, L's irritation managed to be conveyed even through the mechanized voice. Exactly what he was irritated about, though, was unclear. "It does appear less likely now that Kira is a student, but that's not the message he's sending by doing this. Something's not right. As soon as we began to suspect that Kira might be a student, the pacing of the killings changed, as if to contradict that theory. Coincidence? No. Too convenient. This can only mean that Kira has access to police information. It's obvious, now. This is a direct challenge to me..." L trailed off, thinking. So Kira has found a way to obtain information from the Task Force Headquarters. This is one fact that cannot be ignored. But what does he get out of all this? What is he hoping to achieve, in the end?
"Um, L?" L focused back on the screen. It was the man who had pointed out the decrease in crime. What does he want?
"Yes, what is it?"
The man hesitated, rubbing his arm in what looked like a nervous gesture and avoiding 'eye contact' with both L's laptop and Watari. "Well, I'm not trying to contradict your theory, or anything, but, uh... don't you think it's all a little too random? Maybe we're giving Kira too much credit. Maybe he found out that the police suspected a student, panicked, and started killing criminals at random times in an attempt to throw off suspicion?" He finished on a questioning note, looking as if he was afraid that he would be scolded.
L thought about his words for a moment. "You have a fair point," L conceded. It was a fair point, really. But it also seemed unlikely that someone whose only prior contribution was pointing out the obvious would come up with something like that on his own. Could this man, Matsuda, be the leak? He would have to investigate the police and those close to them now, regardless. He would have this man investigated soon.
It wasn't until several hours later that something else of interest happened. Three officers approached Chief Soichiro Yagami's desk and, as one, turned over their letters of resignation.
"What's this about?" Soichiro asked angrily, refusing to touch the letters.
"With all due respect, Chief," said the one in the middle, who looked like the leader, "we're resigning. We demand that you assign us to a different case, otherwise you can have our badges right here and now."
"Why? You're good cops!..."
"Isn't it clear?" The man sneered. "It's because we value our lives, sir. If what L says is true, Kira has some ESP-like power that somehow allows him to kill people indirectly, from anywhere."
"Well, if I were Kira, sir, I'd probably want to try and get rid of the people who were trying to catch me." The one on the left spoke.
"Let's face it. He knows he'll be sentenced to death if he's caught," said the one on the right.
"We all sat here and watched when L decided to pull that media stunt and challenge Kira to kill him." The man in the middle spat the word stunt, sending a short glare back towards the laptop. "Well, it was all very impressive at the time, but then again, L never had to show his face—or reveal his name, for that matter. I'm sure you recall L's last request?" He continued without waiting for the Chief to respond. "He asked that we take a close look at how these victims' identities were made public, and specifically to determine whether photos of the victims were made public prior to their deaths." He slammed his hands on the Chief's desk. "Well, it turns out he was right! Every single one of those victims names and faces were broadcast to the Japanese public and then they died!" He straightened, composing himself into a cold fury. "Unlike someone we know, we're out there investigating this case wearing police IDs with our names and photos on them! Anybody with a computer can find out who we are. We don't hide our faces, we're out in the open."
"Sir, the truth is, we could be killed by Kira at any time."
"For these reasons, we refuse to continue working this case."
They bowed. "Excuse us, Chief."
Yagami stood as they all turned and began filing out of the room. "Hey! Stop! All of you, hold it right there!" Not one of them paused. The door clicked shut.