Chapter two:

Mello and Matt use the secret way to escape the orphanage grounds that the orphans use in secret.

A tree that they climb with a big strong branch hanging over the otherwise unscalable brick wall.

Mello and Matt hurry along knowing that their first order of business is to be able to find a place where they can set up base camp.

"I think I may know a place." Matt informs Mello who nods letting him take the lead. He takes Mello to a hotel that doesn't look expensive though also isn't one of those cheap crappy ones.

The two of them head to the lobby approaching the front desk.

"Hi. Room for two." Mello requests as the two show the IDs which makes the two of them appear to be eighteen even though they aren't yet.

Every orphan is given these so they will be okay in the world even if they decide to leave the orphanage a little early.

Mello may be only sixteen however he thinks that it makes him old enough to be able to go out on his own anyways. Especially with his smarts. He does suppose that he isn't truly alone since Matt is here with him who is currently only fifteen years old. He partially still can't believe that someone would kidnap a fourteen year old Near.

"How many nights?" The receptionist inquires after confirming that the IDs are legit.

"If we say a week would we be able to extend it at any point?" Mello inquires getting a blink from the receptionist. "We are going around now that we are both eighteen. We are still figuring out what we want to do exactly. So we are originally thinking a week though we may wish to extend our stay." He pulls out his card with his savings that the orphans can use whenever they leave the orphanage.

"Hm. I think that will be alright. Though I cannot promise the same room if you do extend your stay."

"That is alright. We understand. We're not looking for a place to stay forever. So we can move to another room if you need when the week ends. If we do stay that is." Mello gets an approving nod from the receptionist and he pays for their stay to which they get their keycards to their room.

The two of them head to the fourth floor where their room is. They enter the hotel finding a living space is the first thing to be seen with an older looking couch facing a wooden TV stand holding a slightly older TV, a wooden coffee table between the TV and couch, a kitchen just past the living room, a way to the single bathroom across from the kitchen, and two bedrooms with each full sized bed that each have one wooden dresser that looks like it has been here for many years.

"What one do you want?" Mello looks to Matt who blinks at him despite the goggles he is wearing.

Matt glances to the bedrooms before pointing to the one that is on the same side as the kitchen; Leaving Mello with the one closer to the bathroom.

"Deal."

The two of them head into their respective bedrooms to settle in a little.

Mello glances out to what he can see of the city through the window of his bedroom. "We will find you Near. Then I will surpass you like I have been striving to do for many years." He promises in a whisper before turning away to continue getting himself settled in.

A little later…

Mello and Matt have gotten their stuff up and running.

Matt is working away on laptop to try to see what information he can gather about Near which hopefully might be able to help them.

On the other hand Mello is using a class notebook that he has repurposed into a notebook to write down his thoughts in. The blonde taps the pencil that he has against the notebook as he looks over the notes that he has already put there.

Body looks like Near but isn't Near. Purposefully designed that way? Twins? Chosen for the looks to be similar to Near? Features look pretty close making it look to be convincing to be Near. How do the kidnappers know enough about what Near looks like to be able to replace him with someone so close to looking like him?

How did the kidnappers replace Near without being found out about? Help from the inside? Fully an insiders operation? Roger was in disbelief and shock at the situation and it seemed too genuine for it to be him who was responsible. Perhaps a teacher or employee like a janitor? They would have to know when the room checks are over and when at least enough of the orphans should be sleeping giving time to break in to do the deed. Spying or truly at least a partial inside job? Digging into their personal devices and backgrounds is a must when Matt is done looking into Near for clues.

Why Near out of all of the orphans? No ransom note, plus the corpse left behind to make us all think that he was just murdered in the middle of the night, so this isn't personal against the orphanage or towards L himself. This points towards it being personal to Near specifically. Only exception I can think of is if Near was simply chosen for perhaps some sort of plan where they needed a smart person and he was just at the top of the ranks. Near doesn't really have any known friends, Linda seems to just bother him more than actually being a friend, ever since Near's only ever confirmed friends BB and A became no longer a part of the orphanage for different reasons. Could BB have come back and done this to sneak Near out of the orphanage? Should check the prison where BB is currently being held to see if he is indeed still there and hasn't escaped. A is dead from suicide so he can't be involved. Could this be something against A or BB and the only one that they can get to that is the closest to them is Near? Worth a look into that possibility. Though I doubt that it was any of the orphans. None showed any sort of hostility towards any of the three of them, at least enough to go this far for any sort of revenge. It still might be worth a look into them just in case.

Is Near still alive? Most likely. It doesn't make sense to go through the trouble of leaving a corpse of someone else behind to just kill Near elsewhere. It would have saved a lot of trouble to just kill Near right there rather than going through all of this. So he is alive somewhere. Location unknown with no clue as to where someone might go with him. It is unknown how long Near will be kept alive however.

Mello turns to glance to Matt as the other works hard with deep focus. He really hopes that the other finds something that might help them get a step in the right direction.