Although the cops said Light had nothing to do with Kira, especially when it's about the chief's son, a conscientious kid with excellent grades, I paid great attention to L's words. Which is absurd if you think about his strange appearance, especially when he walks hunched or barefoot, his hair is a mess or he wears the same clothes every day, just a white shirt and jeans. The cops must have thought the same when they first saw him. A thought of them might be: "Why is he acting like that? How does this frog expect us to let him solve the case?" But of course, we can't just stick to what we see. I totally believed in his words, because usually, the bad guys are the ones who hide themselves through their image of being the role model. So, I wanted to confirm what I had been seeing for so many years in cinema and books. That the villain seems like a good person and is irrelevant to the case.
For several days after we met Misa, Light would come to our secret base under the pretence of helping his father at work. He wasn't alone though. It was Misa too who acted feminine or pretended to be a cat to make him notice her. We kept hearing all the time: "Light, when are we going there?", or "You said you'd take me out, Light!", "You're working all the time!", "You promised me a trip to Hokkaido!" I struggled not to shout: "Shut up already!" The rest of the group had the same expression of despair and annoyance as me. And even though Light told us not to pay attention, I still wanted to throw her off the balcony.
I didn't know why she came when he could have told her to wait for him at home instead of running after him all the time. She dogged him around, but impressively, he was still quite patient.
I haven't fallen in love yet, but if love really makes you act like that, I'd better never do it!
So one day while we talked to each other about Kira's possible ways of thinking, Misa grabbed Light by the arm, telling him she had forgotten to talk about it at home. Poor little thing, he succumbed. I quietly told the cops that I was going to get a drink of water, while my intention was to secretly follow Light and Misa.
Personally, it seemed suspicious to me that the girl behaved like that in front of Light and he just didn't say a word. The cops probably thought they were just two lovebirds. Otherwise, they would have reached the same conclusion as me: That these two are trying to hide something.
I caught them entering an empty room and tiptoed. I put my ear on the door.
"Misa, watch how you act in front of the cops. You might inadvertently drop some important information about Kira and raise suspicions."
"What are you talking about, Light? I do know what to say in front of them. I don't want you to be worried. As long as the notebooks are well hidden there's no reason to be concerned."
What notebooks? I thought.
"Yeah, I'm definitely not worried!" He answered her sarcastically.
"That you mention it... There's an itty bitty problem." said the girl hesitantly.
"Like what?"
"Well... In the last few days, I've lost my own death note and made the house a mess to find it. I couldn't though. Now I'm worried I might have taken it to work by mistake."
"Search again. You couldn't have taken such a dangerous tool with you.''
"Nah, I'll just ask Rem. It's her notebook, she'll know where it is."
"Do it then. The sooner the better for us."
I stood in the doorway my thoughts gathering quickly.
Notebooks? Death note? Rem? Interesting... Gotta tell L! He was right after all! The others didn't believe him, but now they will!
*
*
I didn't bother to tell the cops what I heard. I just waited until it was dark, go to their homes, so that I could convey the good news to L. So it happened. I told him everything as well as the death notes which might have been nothing but their tools, and Rem who was probably a helper of theirs.
"Hmm... I think the best way is to make them confess by force. We don't have to wait for them to manifest themselves. Their guilt is undoubted."
His thumb touched his lips. I had noticed him putting his thumb there when he was thinking or deep in thought.
"And what do you have in mind? Any ideas to suggest?"
"We're going to lock them in the interrogation cells in the basement for two weeks. We can even tie their hands and feet. We won't cut off their basic needs. And of course, we'll be watching their every move from a security camera."
"What if they persist and say nothing in the end"
"We'll simply keep them longer. They're not going to be released until they reveal everything."
Maybe this method was a bit harsh. Needs should never be restricted, let alone eating or sleeping. But when it comes to a crime that is worse than any crime that has ever been committed, some discipline was needed! We may not have been dealing with just one Kira after all but with two or even more!