Chapter Seven: Gauntlet
Backup doesn't like jam.
Because jam is very sweet. And Backup hates sweets.
So why did he eat the strawberry jam L handed him?
B's reason is that he found a hint of sourness in the 99% sweetness.
Maybe it's because I hate it so much that I like it. So contradictory, yet so in love that she can't help herself.
B has felt restless ever since he heard the children from the Freedom House discussing the plan to frame L. But he didn't think they could actually do it - at least, it seemed that way.
When he entered the city with L, he considered whether to tell L about this.
Seeing that rigid face, I gave up.
L and he traveled around the city stores, where there were a dazzling array of products that B didn't like. They walked through the game arcade. The loud music could shatter the eardrums, and the people were holding up their controllers and dancing like crazy. Seeing this group of people, B wanted to use his red eyes to give them a deep warning. Even if people didn't scream when they saw his piercing glance, they would still feel as if they had seen a ghost.
They moved through the crowd like ordinary children.
"Why did you bring me here?"
This was a serious invitation. L said coldly: "I need you to help me carry the cake."
What? !
"Also, let you take a walk around. Because the time is almost over." It's almost over. "I don't know if you'll ever see these again, Backup."
In a brightly lit place, there is a sign of a pumpkin wearing a purple hat, standing in front of a pink-themed couple's cafe. Is that a festival? He was completely unimpressed. Is that a Halloween sign? That being said, it's definitely coming. This holiday for ghosts is indeed more relevant to him than a holiday for lovers.
"That's it." L's finger pointed behind the sign. "balloon."
It was a human-shaped balloon with huge outstretched arms that fluttered in the wind. "It is very cute."
B's mouth grew in shock. Why - someone like L - actually has the word "cute" in the dictionary.
"Are you kidding?"
"No." L said coldly.
They passed by a missing person notice—ah. That was actually B's own missing person notice. In the photo above, he's smiling broadly and squinting his eyes tightly - as if trying to hide their color. Except for this smile, he looks no different from a normal child. The black hair clings to the temples.
L apparently saw it too. But they all turned a blind eye and walked quickly past it.
B's hand will grab L's arm tighter, as if he is trying to pull off the fabric.
They walked through the streets, through the crowds, through the neon-lit shops. There are no shadows of clouds in the black sky, and the city is like a still picture in motion, repeating meaningless, lifeless, and idle people and things.
"L..." "What?" "How much time is left."
"5 hours, 27 minutes and 15 seconds."
"I know." They walked in silence. B didn't speak anymore. After a while, the boy spoke again, "Do you know why I walked to Skidrow that day—toward Freedom House?"
"You heard the 'teenage detective' reputation, didn't you?"
"That's really sharp. Then L, you should also have noticed that my original clothes," that is, the jacket, "had a hemp rope in the pocket. That day, I..."
Yes, that day he was planning to go -
"...I'm ready to jump to hell," he said. "Since I've been living in hell and being a red-eyed demon, I figured, it wouldn't make any difference. I decided that if I didn't see that red brick house of yours, I'd die nearby and my body would be buried No one will notice it under the ground."
"Why does it have to be me?"
"That's a coincidence. Like you, I don't have a good impression of the police or official institutions." Backup looked at the clouds in the distance. "I need a sense of surprise. I need coincidence. I like uncertainty." He said, "At this time, I happened to find your self-introduction on the Internet. A 12-year-old detective with no education, nothing, and an orphan. .I was curious, so I came to see if I could find you."
"It turns out you didn't reason about the orphans yourself."
"It's easy to reason. My talent is not in this area. But you also know that I am a genius. I devise puzzles. I lure you into jumping in. I stalk you until you accept me, and I-"
"I know, Backup." L said. As if to interrupt him and not want to listen anymore. "I know."
B was silent.
In fact, he wanted to say more, but he couldn't find the words. What he wanted to say was not of interest to L. What he wanted to say, he couldn't say.
"My situation is not as bad as you think," L said. "I'm talking about that envelope. If you think I did something shameful for this, you are wrong."
Then, L briefly explained the origin of the money—how he gained their trust and, step by step, invited them to take all the chores into his hands.
"Finally I qualified." L concluded. One from England,
"Wait a minute," B was stupid enough to say, "Isn't that similar to Freedom House?!"
"It's different. It's a formal asylum. They don't care about my past, they don't care about my achievements, they don't even care about my talent." He tapped his temple, "I think what they care about is my potential. . So fund me. It's charity, it's a gamble, it's an experiment. No one knows what's going to happen in the future."
"Ah..." B never thought of it. Where is the shelter? Who do they want to train L to be?
He wanted to ask but L walked away quickly. B had no choice but to follow quickly. Then L can realize his ideal.
But what about B's ideal?
I want to be loved forever. I want to be watched forever. I hope to climb to the top, crush the future world's best detective under my feet, and make him look up to me. forever.
But he couldn't say it, and he couldn't say it. He could only walk with L on the city streets after dark, and the noisy sounds around him gradually fell into silence. In the end, he could only hear his own boiling but hopeless heart.
When I got home, the bucket didn't fall. No other mischief occurred. The children were stiff as if they were seeing L for the first time. B walked swaggering beside L, as if after getting familiar with the environment, this red-tiled building already belonged to him.
Everyone stood up. L said very suddenly.
"Freedom House is disbanding."
"What!?" "What, it's not as promised."
"I'm leaving."
like a statue. They are not the homeless, the violent, the truants, the runaways, the children who escaped from juvenile detention centers, orphanages, rebellious children and orphans. They were not familiar with L. They only knew that he could get rid of troubles from the police and could bring in funds from time to time. They don't know anything about L - except that he is L.
Someone clenched his fist angrily, "L—"
But he didn't dare to actually fight.
"Then when are you leaving?"
"Recently." "You don't care about us anymore?"
"We have nothing to do with each other, right? Freedom. Free to come and go. You are free. You can go anywhere. Well, I can give you some money."
Everyone is shocked that Freedom House is disbanding.
Mixed emotions. A surge of extremely sour emotions of love and hate.
"Then where are you going?"
"I won't appear again. At least, you won't be able to find me again. I think it's good for each other. We just live together temporarily and spend a period of life with each other temporarily. In the end," L picked up a Candy and let it fall back to the table naturally. "Everyone is flying."
"L..." L walked towards the outside. Only B chases after him. L climbed along the pipe to the roof, with B still following behind him. "L—!"
"If you really cared about justice, you shouldn't let me go."
"I thought, that's the police's job, not mine."
"..."
"Okay. Let's start from the beginning, B, if that's what you asked for."
"First of all - let me start with the 'time limit', B. You know, I am someone who often reads crime reports and news, and you showed up at Skidrow one day after the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Bradley. So, in When I saw your face, I immediately recognized you as Beyond Birthday—the missing child."
"I think you must be inextricably related to this incident. At that time, I didn't want to keep you because I was not interested in such simple murders." He held up three fingers and said, "Less than three times I'm too lazy to solve the serial killings."
What an egomaniac.
"But because of your persistence, I accepted it. I said seven days because I only gave myself seven days. By then, no matter how much information I know or whether I have solved the case, I will give up."
B opened his eyes wide. "give up...?!"
"Yes. There are more important things that I need to solve." "During the period when the Braidleys died mysteriously and the two orphans disappeared, I still had a steady stream of cases to solve. That's why I came to the city. Rich businessman They asked me to help manipulate stocks, analyze business documents, and handle legal proceedings. In short, I did it all."
"..."
"I don't understand," B shook his head and said in confusion, "How did you get noticed by them in the first place? You just..."
"Just an orphan. Yes." L said. "Self-recommendations to the police will be rejected. Unqualified, not recognized by official organizations, unknown orphans from the slums. Just like birds need the buoyancy provided by air to fly, there was a time when I faced a world without air. ."
"..."
"I spent a long time building trust among my clients. At first, I just took advantage of people's sympathy. I told them I came from a poor family and it was too cold and wanted to go in and warm up, and they agreed.
"They are gradually seeing my abilities. However, this has caused a problem." He said rationally, "The more they understand my abilities, the more they want to monopolize me. This is understandable - if I can A wealthy businessman wants to keep me by his side forever if he takes over and increases the value of his existing property by even 30%. My clients' excessive care for me has caused me a lot of trouble. But not everyone has bad intentions. Some people also treat me as a relative. However, I cannot repay that kind of feeling."
"..."
B was silent. "...You investigated those families in advance. They are all wealthy families. So is this your purpose L? You hope to be selected. You hope... to climb to the top of the class. You hope to become similar to Different."
"It's not my goal to get ahead. You're wrong, B." L sometimes looks deep, and his quiet temperament is not in line with his grade and childish face. "I just felt bored and wanted more excitement. And those detective games provided exactly what I needed. Games have goals and end points. So I set my goal to be the world's best detective."
"..."
"I challenged it. Or, I challenged the evil of the world."
"Then my incident," B finally couldn't help it anymore, he raised his voice: "Is it just a sideshow to you? Is it an insignificant case? Are you keeping me here to kill boredom?!" He said like crazy roar.
"Almost. B, I'm telling the truth."
B felt like his heart was torn apart. "You're a monster."
"I feel the same way myself." L said. "The world was too simple for me, so it often bored me. The fun of science, books, math puzzles, couldn't last long. I moved on to more complex things."
"...The human heart. It's just like that. It's so complex that even scientists can't decipher it after spending xx years, and neuroscientists can't see the mystery even if they cut open the brain." He blinked and tilted his head. . "I am very interested."
"The evil that comes from the heart, the evil that is determined by the brain, the evil that arises if left alone, and the evil within the good - I feel like evil is attracting me. Crime, murder, serial killings, blood, conspiracy and mystery Question—" He paused. "Criminals—like you, Backup. They make my stiff brain work."
"L—!"
"Let's get back to business."
L sat with his knees crossed, under the night sky. The corners of his clothes were flying again, just like when they first met B.
"Even if I don't recognize you as the missing person, there are many other clues that indicate that you are abnormal. The most conspicuous one is the blood on your body, isn't it? Anyone who sees a person covered in blood appears in In front of you, you can't help but feel curious - 'Where did that blood come from? And whose blood could it be?'"
Isn't it "so scary, he needs first aid"? ! B glared at L. But he was fascinated by the lack of empathy, curiosity-fueled, and completely rational thought patterns.
"That's a little unusual. Another thing that's unusual, you might be surprised, is that I smell it."
"What?!"
"I smelled it when I got closer to you, when I pulled you closer. In addition to the smell of blood, there was also the smell of the incinerator."
"...Looking at the tags on the clothes is just a passing thing. It's not important. Everything I do has priority, you understand, Backup?" He was still calling his fake name. "I wanted to know if it was animal blood and how long it had been coagulated - their smells were slightly different. But the results were unexpected. The mercury and lead and acidic gases I smelled were the result of an incomplete incinerator. The products of combustion."
"The weird thing is, I thought of the other child right then and there. If you hadn't jumped into the incinerator yourself, you might have been the one pushing that girl into that incinerator while you were standing over."
This kind of thinking mode is too jumpy, right? ! Do ordinary people think that way? !
"Adopted children have no relationship with their original family. This is a common thing. ... Of course, murder is not common." L said quietly. "There is another thing that deepens your suspicion."
Backup stood stunned.
"If you expend too much energy on handling the body, burying it, or burning it, your body will be very weak. And that night, when I hit you, your arm was twitching and very weak."
"What kind of evidence is this?"
"It's not. What I'm listing is the elements that make you abnormal, that give you an unusual criminal air."
"—A gas stove explosion in an apartment. It's unusual just to look at it. Their bodies were tortured. It's obvious murder. I want to confirm the real cause of their death first."
"And you had a syringe, a toy knife and a lighter in the pocket of that jacket. That was a clear clue. 'What's the real murder weapon?' That's what you want to ask."
The young detective didn't bother to explain.
"This was originally a challenge issued by you, Beyond Birthday, to me. You thought it was a perfect crime, so you gave clues. This is very naive. But I said you are very confident in your own methods. I think you are absolutely Won't get caught."
The body of sister Ellina Braidley was found by the river that night. She drowned because of cardiac paralysis. Although it looks like jumping into a river.
"Are you saying I killed three of them?"
"Yes."
"Why are you so sure?"
"Because of the blood." L said calmly. "The clothes you took off have been collected by me. I will hand them over to the police."
The boy looked at him with a smile on his face.
As if tired of this topic,
"I conducted a test. - A test to see if you had any malicious intent to kill. You know how to use a knife, but not very skillfully; you know nothing about hand-to-hand combat; your testimony is full of holes. As for the bruises on your legs that were shattered, I think it was done after they lost consciousness. So what's the answer?"
"The bodies of the couple were so badly damaged by the flames that they were beyond recognition, so the real cause of death is unknown. My conclusion is that they were dead before the explosion. They were first injected with a stupefying substance that was enough to make them unconscious, and then they were stabbed with a knife. Cuts all over the body, and finally the legs smashed with a bat - or some other hard object. The answer is all three. The murderer's hatred of them was enough for him to mutilate the body in the most brutal way."
B laughed softly. It was a truly demonic laugh.
"To control the explosion of the gas stove, you only need to manipulate the gas stove to make it explode at about the same time. The strange thing is that the time of the explosion is very close to the time when they died..." L's tone was very confident, Only then did a hint of confusion show. "You didn't intend to kill the girl in the first place. You took her out of the apartment - I mean pushing her in a wheelchair to avoid the cameras. You pushed her into the river and drowned her."
"..."
"I know what that means, Backup. Since you're so crazy, I'm not surprised. That look on your face is asking about evidence, right?"
L suddenly grabbed B's hair, "You have black hair in the missing person notice, so why is it this color? Flax?"
"Ellina had short hair when she died, so..."
L pulled off B's wig. The deranged murderer was indeed wearing it - wearing the hair that should have been his sister's. Showing short black hair. The soft hair was held in L's hand, like flying whiskers.
"You're really a lunatic, B."
"L is attracted to it, isn't it?"
When wearing it, the boy's hair is extremely soft, and even looks a little feminine because it hangs down on his shoulders and neck. After saying goodbye to the wig, B's facial lines became obvious and his forehead was exposed.
"...This." L held it and said, "I think it can be used as evidence."
B smiles like a god of death.
"It seems you've figured out the trick," he said. "Let's talk about the motive, L. I said that's the most important thing -"
the most important.
- They were found to be poisoned by toxins found in their bodies. The man's legs were stabbed eight times and then hit with a blunt object until the bones were shattered...
So, why did B kill his adoptive parents? Why kill the innocent sister?
Why?
"Backup, this is the tip you gave me, B. It's better to call you Beyond." L said.
"I spent seven days doing quite a lot of research about you and understanding your life. Your childhood was very tragic, especially the time before your biological parents died. That created your neurotic character and laid the foundation for violence and violence. The crazy factor allows you to actively seek pain to restore the scene at that time and heal yourself."
B was silent.
"After being adopted by Braidley, the situation should have improved, but... it didn't. Your sister has limited mobility and has severe intellectual disabilities due to congenital diseases. Backup, you probably want to say - you are regarded as As a substitute for a sister, Mr. and Mrs. Braidley have projected all their hopes for their daughter onto you."
"And you have indeed responded to their expectations. Your grades and your IQ test are flawless. Your performance in school and the number of sports medals you have won are commendable. You are a proud child, except for being a little weird." When L said this, B smiled. "You have no violation or criminal record. You have not beaten or bullied children your own age. You have just been isolated."
"Backup - you were already resentful of them having a child, and then more inciting events made you hate them. I think the reason is obvious. - Domestic violence."
"I don't know exactly how Mr. and Mrs. Bradiely beat you," L continued in a calm voice. "Judging from the injuries on your body, this kind of behavior is very frequent and not easy to bear. It makes you crazy and isolated." The helpless situation becomes a deeper burden. You will mumble when you have nightmares, and I guess he will often pull you up and beat you after you fall asleep, which in turn inspires and creates more psychological trauma... ..."
"That made you lose your mind, Backup, no, Beyond. Finally one day, you couldn't stand it anymore, so you killed them. You used the gas stove explosion as a cover, destroying the evidence on the bodies to get away with it."
"Ellina - Ellina at the center of hatred, her experience is the most tragic in a sense," L said. "You didn't paralyze her with medicine first, you pushed her straight into the water - a helpless chicken. A little girl with a disabled leg and a wheelchair. You are undoubtedly the most horrific criminal."
"Ahaha, haha, hahahaha!"
"...Is that all, L?"
The boy's scarlet eyes spoke of more emotions, but L was no longer looking at them.
"If you attacked me, or the children of Freedom House, in my sleep, I would have more evidence. But you didn't. Just in case, I would make you swallow sleeping pills every night." L said, "I I'm not afraid of you attacking me, and I'm not afraid of you escaping. I wouldn't have much interest in this case, if you hadn't insisted on staying."
Doesn't L have any problem with sleeping with a child who is believed to be a murderer for seven nights? B No one will be surprised anymore.
"We will never meet again, Beyond." L's attitude is no longer as warm as before. After finding out the truth, he lost all enthusiasm and lost interest in the boy in front of him. "You will be in a juvenile detention center until you are 18 years old, and then sentenced to life imprisonment. The incident has come to an end."
"I'll run away."
"I have notified the police. In fact," L glanced at his watch, "they will be here in five minutes, B. I trained you on running skills that day, and you can show it in front of the police car.
"...
"Do you think I can be sentenced based on this information?"
"The detective's mission is accomplished." L closed his eyes briefly. "It wasn't my job. I gave you a chance to escape. You didn't, B. Now I understand."
"The reason why you went to the incinerator was because you lost your faith in life. The day you came to me, you were going to commit suicide."
"..."
"The hemp rope you brought also hints at this. Backup. Unfortunately, this opportunity will not come again."
"Yeah?"
L expected laughter, sharp, chaotic laughter, vicious laughter. But no, there was clear confusion on Backup's face. It's like L talking about other people's things.
"Yes." B said in a daze, as if recalling his own mood at that time, "At that moment I decided that I was going to die. I was a person with nothing, a parasite in the world, a parasite in the world. The devil with red eyes is supposed to die and go to hell."
"Yes," I came to Skidrow with the twine. Originally I just planned to try my luck, but I actually met you. "
"You. - You make everything interesting. Can I really leave you? You give me new ideals, which are... fuel to continue living. It's unprecedented and exciting. The feeling of being alive."
"I don't think I'll ever forget you."
"You're very good at reasoning, L. It's really amazing to be able to find so much truth with limited clues. But."
"To be honest, there are still many loopholes in your reasoning. It is these loopholes that prevent our fate from meeting here."
B's lips curled into a smile.
"Detectives—cloaked in false justice, arrest criminals, but can they still control what happens after that? Criminals can escape the law, lie, commit evil in prison, escape from prison, and vote against the death penalty. Avoid death! After all, the world is full of filth, and no one can change it. If you think you have achieved some feat and alleviated some of the sins of the world, you are wrong... The world does not change , the law can't punish me, humans can't kill me, because I am a devil..."
The blood-filled pupils spoke the same words.
"So I firmly believe that we will meet again."
"No, we will definitely meet again."
"L Lawliet." He said the name softly, his eyes fixed on a certain area above L's head, his lips raised, and he showed the brightest smile in his life.
L's eyes slowly opened wide, and he wanted to ask something, but it was too late. The sound of distant police sirens was approaching. Due to his reputation and close connections with important figures, the police arrived three minutes earlier than the agreed time. It can be said that they have been waiting downstairs of the Freedom House to remove the red brick building. It is completely surrounded by buildings to be demolished.
The boy was subdued and taken away by the police, his broken laughter filling the air as he laughed long and wildly—as if completely broken. He shook his head and danced, and his wild laughter and the name he just spit out were constantly and compulsively replayed in L's mind. Everything came to an abrupt end until the boy's arms were suppressed, handcuffed, and put into a police car. The car drove towards the brightly lit city of Los Angeles, where there are infinite possibilities.
October 5, 1992.
Beyond Birthday was arrested at 11:59 pm on three counts of murder.