Anna's POV
"L, can't just-" I was cut off by the phone ringing. I was growing inpatient. This was our friend, we should be out there trying to find him. This was no time to be an armchair detective.
L looked at my apologetically before answering, his tone slightly annoyed but that would be lost in the scrambling of his voice, "What is it Naomi Misora?"
"Something I need to report." She was speaking lowly. L and I both had raised eyebrows at this. We hadn't expected any progress so soon. We'd only hung up with her about an hour before. This was good.
"Progress in the case? Very fast work…." I could hear the impressed undertone in his voice.
"No…" L looked at me. I shrugged, just as confused as he was. "Well, a little. I may have stumbled across a message from the killer."
"Wonderful." I said before I could stop myself from speaking.
"But it wasn't me that figured it out. How can I put this? A kind of… mysterious private detective…" Her voice trailed off and my heart plummeted from my chest to my stomach. I looked to L and it seemed he was having the same idea I was. This was Beyond. "…just showed up." Naomi finished finally.
"I see…" L said, obviously hoping to get more information. If she told us more about this so-called detective we could figure out if it really was B.
"You see, I showed him the picture of the autopsy that you gave me and he thinks the markings are roman numerals. I thought they were letters at first, but after he said it, I think he may be correct. His name is Rue Ryuzaki."
"It's a very good observation." I mumbled.
"He also had the crossword puzzle. Or at least he had a copy of it."
"A copy of the puzzle? That's very interesting." L said looking to me. We knew. There was no way this detective wasn't B.
"What should I do? Frankly, I think it's dangerous to take my eyes off him." I shook my head at Naomi's words. She was correct, it was dangerous-very dangerous. At least until we figured out how he was choosing victims.
"Was he cool?" L's question caught me off guard and judging by the confused noise from the other end of the phone, it caught Naomi off guard as well. "Was he cool?"
"Absolutely not. Creepy and pathetic, and so suspicious that if I weren't on leave, I'd move to arrest him the moment I laid eyes on him. If we divided the world into those that would be better off dead and those that wouldn't, there's no doubt in my mind he would be the former. Such a complete freak that it amazes me he hasn't killed himself." Naomi's words were harsh.
I felt anger begin to boil within me. No matter what Beyond had done, no matter what he's become, he'd been a good friend to both L and I. I moved toward the door, ready to go to the crime scene and deal with this myself when L moved from the seat he was in at a speed I'd never think he was capable of. He caught my arms and looked me in the eyes. His grey eyes were filled with concern.
"Storming down to the scene will do nothing. It will only alert B to how close we are. Let me handle this. Please take a seat." He brushed a stray strand of brown hair behind my ear, "Please?" I nodded and we took our seats at the table once again, "So, Naomi Misora, your instructions." L's fingers intertwined with mine, a silent way of asking me to remain silent.
"Yes?" She asked. I bit at my lip in annoyance, suddenly very unhappy with the sound of her voice.
"I imagine you're thinking much the same thing as I am, but let this private detective do what he likes for the moment." L gripped my hand tighter and placed his free thumb to his lips in thought. "Partly because it's dangerous to let him out of your sight, but more importantly it's important to observe his actions. I believe the credit for the deductions of the autopsy photo goes more to you more than it does him, but he is clearly no ordinary person."
"I agree." She said.
"Is he close by?" I asked as calmly as I could manage. This was no time to allow emotions to get the better of me.
"No, I'm alone. I'm calling from the bathroom, upstairs and to the back of the house, away from the bedroom."
L typed away for a moment and then sighed, "Go back to his side soon. I will follow up on him, and try to discover if a detective named Ryuzaki has actually been hired by Believe Bridesmaid's parents." L said standing up, I did the same.
"Okay."
"You can use the same line next time you call." L clicked the end call button and looked to me, "Want to pay Mr. and Mrs. Bridesmaid a visit?"
L's POV
"I feel ridiculous." I admitted, tugging at the tie Anna had tied not to long before. She had stuck me in an all-black suit and she was in a similar outfit, except she'd opted for a skirt instead of pants. She'd forced me to fix my hair, slicking it back out of its unruly state. Anna had pulled her own hair into a tight bun, pulling her bangs out of her face, her makeup was professional, yet dark-almost too dark for her pale skin. Not that I would ever tell her that.
"Suck it up, Love." She knocked forcefully on the door.
It opened quickly to reveal a rather short old woman. Her hair was up in a sloppy bun and her skin was withered and sun kissed. The woman was still in her house robe despite it being quite late in the day. She couldn't have been over five feet tall since even Anna towered over her. "May I help you?" She asked.
I noticed Anna wrinkle her noise slightly, she never did like the sound of American accents, " Mrs. Bridesmaid? We're from the FBI." She said flashing her fake badge as I showed my own. "Detective Katherine Spencer and this is my partner Detective Kyle Adams." She and I put our badges away, "We'd like to ask you a few questions concerning your son's death." I couldn't help but smile at the way she was trying to hide the soft lilt in her voice.
Mrs. Bridesmaid let us and we followed her to the living room. We sat on the old, plastic covered couches and the old woman returned with a tray of tea. "I've already been over this with the police." She said, her voice shook slightly.
"Yes, Ma'am, and we're sorry to keep bothering you, we just had a few questions." I assured. "Where is your husband?" I asked.
The old woman sighed to herself, "John is at work. He stayed home for a few days after what happened, but… why would anyone want to do that to my baby?" She looked distressed.
Anna reached out and patted her hands, "That's what we're trying to figure out, Ma'am."
"Did your son have any enemies? Anyone who would want to cause him some harm?" I asked.
She shook her head, "My son was very well liked. I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to…" Her voice hitched in her throat.
Anna pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to the older woman, "Our deepest condolences. We have one more question." She said. The woman nodded, blotting her eyes with the tissue. "We understand that you hired a private detective to take on the case. A Mr. Rue Ryuzaki?"
"Oh, yes. He promised to find the killer. The police… well the police weren't coming up with any answers. He said he could… Did he do something?"
Anna put on a false, yet convincing smile, "On the contrary, Miss. He is an old friend of ours. I'm sure he'll find the killer in no time. We're hoping to begin working very closely with him soon."
"Thank you for your time, Mrs. Bridesmaid. We'll see ourselves out." I said and got up, Anna followed closely behind me.
Once we were out the door and in the car, she ripped off her jacket and pulled her hair out of the professional bun, allowing her bags to fall back into her face, "Well, B's story checks out. Sick fuck, going to the families and promising to finds the killer."
"Yeah, I know. We have to stop him before someone else gets hurt." I said pulling my tie off and tossing it in the backseat of the car.
"Agreed. Should we go to the crime scene? Just pick him up there?" Anna asked.
I thought for a moment. It would be easy that way. Quick, efficient. "No."
"No? What do you mean no? We could prevent this from going any further." Anna claimed and then I watched her shoulders drop and her head fall to the side, watching me carefully, "Unless you can't do it."
I looked her over for a moment before starting up the car, "Let Naomi handle it." I stated plainly.
"You don't want to arrest him either. We don't have to, we could just take him back to Wammy's rehabilitate him, he's mental we can help him get bett-"
"That is enough, Anna." I barked at her, more harshly than I'd meant to. "We can't do that. We can't just go in and take him from the country. The government wants to see this crime solved and the killer behind bars. That is what's going to happen. It's inevitable, but you and I do not need to be the ones to who put him in handcuffs. We are just going to guide Misora to the desired destination. Is that understood?" I asked.
Anna looked me over before a quiet, "Yeah I understand," fell off her lips.
I ran my hands through my hair as we arrived back at the hotel. Anna was out and in the hotel before I could even get out of the car. When I did arrive up to the room, Anna was sulking. "Anna, please." I fell on the couch beside her.
She looked up from her hands, "Maybe I could go to the scene. I'll stay out of sight, B and Naomi will never even know I'm there."
I laced my fingers through hers, "You know why I can't let you do that."
She unlaced her fingers from mine and pressed a kiss to my cheek, "I have to go check in with Roger, let me know if anything comes up."