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Fifty Days	By : sashocirrione Category: Death Note > Het-Male/Female > L/Misa Views: 2868 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, and I do not make any money from these writings.

Chapter List
- 27
- 28
- 29
CHAPTER 28: Broadcast I
When L returned to headquarters, he spent nearly an hour crouched in the exercise room, in the middle of the giant mat where he usually did his capoeira practice, not doing anything except thinking. The next move needed to be plotted carefully. Certain steps, once taken, could not be reversed. L stared at the blank white of the wall as his mind ran through possibilities and calculated the risks for each move.
When he was sure he'd thought things through well enough, he pulled out his cellphone and called Deputy-Director Kitamura.
L said, "This is L. I need you to set up a call center and staff it with at least twenty of your best and most reliable officers, ones who can keep secrets if ordered to. I am planning to broadcast a message to hopefully stop the criminal deaths and obtain evidence to prove Kira's guilt. Unfortunately, the broadcast will attract many of those crackpots who think they are Kira, so we'll need a staff of at least twenty to handle the call volume."
Kitamura said, "You're opening up the Kira hotline again?"
L said, "Yes. Even though we only obtained one legitimate tip during the ten months it was open last time, I believe this new broadcast should cause calls by those who know information about Kira. We'll have some difficulty sorting out the ones who know something from those who are merely crazy, so I'll send you a script to be used by the officers answering the phones. I'll also send instructions for setting up a database with recordings of all calls that I can access."
"I can do that, L. It should take only an hour or two to assign the men and re-open the hotline."
"There is more. The broadcast I'll create will contain a promise authorized by the NPA, offering complete clemency to any and all people who have been threatened into committing crimes by Kira, as long as they can prove Kira threatened them and they do not commit additional crimes. I believe this is a necessary measure to uncover Kira's accomplices and obtain physical evidence to convict Kira."
Kitamura said, "That could be difficult."
L said, "I realize I am asking a significant favor to offer this kind of immunity. I'll need your permission and the full cooperation of the NPA. Also, there is a danger for the NPA. If this action does not reveal any evidence and I'm forced to let Kira go, Kira might then try to take revenge on the NPA for the broadcast. For this reason I will take full responsibility for the decision by what I say in the broadcast, to try to avert Kira's anger to myself. If you do not approve of the video I send you, then don't air it, and I'll quickly get in touch to work out whatever problems there might be."
After a pause, Kitamura said, "I understand. It is better to stop this, even if we can't convict everyone involved in it."
"Thank you. I know I've put you in a difficult situation, and I appreciate your cooperation."
"Ide said you had the other Kira in custody, not just Teru Mikami. Is that true, L?"
"It was a bluff I used to try to scare Mikami into confessing, and I plan to use it again for the broadcast. I will reveal whether it is true or not once I obtain enough evidence, and then it will only be revealed to those people Interpol gives the proper security clearance to. There will probably be a secret trial to avoid creating a public panic and to prevent any rescue attempts by Kira supporters. Until the trial, information leaks only hurt the case, and each person with secret information becomes a possible target for those who are still killing with Kira's power. I do not want you to become a target, and that is why I continue to deny you full information for the time being."
Kitamura said, "Then it is true Kira can pass the power to others? How will the deaths ever stop, then?"
"Those with Kira's power can normally only pass on the power in limited amounts. They must erase their memories or die to pass on the power entirely, and so they are unlikely to make that choice. The lesser recipients of Kira's power can only kill a certain number of times before they lose the power. If we can stop the principal Kiras, no more power will be given to followers and the deaths will eventually cease. However, it is best if we can discover the identities of even the minor accomplices who were threatened into cooperating, to keep them from doing anything disastrous with the power they temporarily wield. If any of them deviate from merely killing criminals into trying to accomplish some other objective, they could hold as many hostages as they want to, and threaten the authorities into complying with any scheme."
"I understand, L. We are counting on you. Don't fail us."
L said, "I will do my best. You should receive the video to broadcast along with further instructions very soon. Goodbye."
"Wait! There's one more thing. Reina Nakano contacted us. She says she's been thinking about the large package, and she thinks it was addressed to some business with 'careless' in the title, or something like that.
What business in Japan would have a name like that, when there are so many attempts to put lucky words into company titles?
L said, "I will look into it."
With that, Kitamura ended the call.
It took less than half an hour to find a business in Tokyo that might fit. When L located it, he knew immediately how perfect it would be for Mikami's scheming and called Wedy into the room. Ryuk was drifting along behind her, looking pleased and talking about how something was finally going to happen. She was still wearing her motorcycle helmet with the darkened visor pulled down, as she had during every visit to headquarters since Ryuk had arrived.
When Wedy stopped next to L's chair, her helmet swiveled in Ryuk's direction and one foot tapped impatiently at the floor.
L said, "Ryuk, have you seen Wedy's name?"
Ryuk said, "Maybe, but it's pretty interesting to watch her walk around like this."
Wedy leaned down to read the computer screen. She said, "I don't get it. What is this, Ryuzaki?"
"It's a database I hacked into moments ago. It belongs to a business called 'A Cure for Forgetful Husbands' that sends out gifts for anniversaries, birthdays, and special events. You can even set conditions such as when a sports team wins. I think Mikami mailed his notebook there for safe-keeping."
"Why not just bury it?"
L said, "He didn't have time, and if Reina Nakano is not an accomplice, then it would be too odd to ask her to bury something. Also, I think he must have been planning for the circumstance of being forced to give up his memories."
The first database query didn't yield anything, but the second, for Mikami's home address instead of his name, showed one entry. A fake name had been entered as the gift-giver, and a misspelled version of Mikami's name, with one misplaced kanji, as the recipient. The package should still prove perfectly deliverable to Mikami's home address, since the misspelling would be a minor issue. The condition for sending the "gift" was to wait two years after killings by Kira stopped.
Wedy said, "That sneaky bastard!"
"Yes. This way, if he didn't erase his memories, he could simply go and obtain the notebook whenever he wanted, under the false name he used and by knowing the correct database number. If he did erase his memories, the notebook would automatically return at a point far enough in the future that he might not be watched closely any longer."
Have I uncovered all of Mikami's tricks? If I were dealing with Light instead, there would be at least one more hidden trap. But Mikami is not as intelligent as Light. Light would have planned for every possibility, but I've already uncovered instances of Mikami not considering all aspects of his plan.
Wedy said, "You want me to lift the notebook today?"
L said, "Yes. I cannot risk asking the NPA to seize the evidence, or the notebook may disappear into governmental hands, and then worse problems would likely arise."
"Kira's bad enough already. We don't need some suits trying to control the world. Where is it?"
L brought up an address and map on the computer screen.
Wedy said, "It caters to men who want to impress their wives without paying real attention to them? You know, there's probably a lot of high-end jewelry in there."
"Don't think about it. You can buy plenty of jewelry with what I'm paying you."
Wedy clicked her tongue and said, "I'll be good."
With that, Wedy left and L started working on the video to be broadcast. It took less than an hour to create the final version. It was the usual background with the L-logo, and with the only audio being L's computer-disguised voice.
It was a short message, saying:
This is L. I have captured Kira and the second Kira. The murders of criminals are continuing only because Kira gave a small amount of power to people who have been threatened into cooperating with Kira's plans. This is a direct message to those people who are the victims of Kira's threats. It is not your choice to kill. You do not know Kira's identity, and yet Kira knows your identity. Therefore you have been led to believe that you will die if you disobey Kira's plans. Because you have been subjected to death threats, you are not responsible for your crimes. I have received permission from the highest levels of the NPA to hold you innocent and charge you with no crimes as long as you can produce evidence that Kira threatened you into doing what you have already done. There is no need for you to kill any longer, and there is no danger to yourself. Considering the situation you are in, Kira should wish to kill you as soon as Kira sees this broadcast. The longer you stay alive, the more sure you should become that I am speaking the truth. Please do not delay bringing evidence to the NPA. The Kira hotline is open for your calls.
The phone number appeared on the bottom of the screen, and then the message continued:
If you are not one of those people threatened by Kira, please do not clog the Kira hotline with your calls. Every person who calls will be investigated by the NPA, and those lacking evidence of being threatened by Kira may be prosecuted under public safety laws.
L was satisfied when he'd edited it to that version.
This video should arrive in time for the evening news. For any unwilling accomplice, this should at least stop them from killing. A Kira supporter would not go to the police and would probably continue killing. The question is whether Mikami trusted any of these people enough to let them be true accomplices, or whether he controlled all of them. He cannot control them into killing, no matter what he wrote, but he may have controlled them into never telling any secrets and to refuse to cooperate with the authorities. If that is the case, none of them will call the hotline and all will be dead within twenty-three days. However, if any are Kira supporters, they might take some action to try to rescue Kira regardless of whether Mikami has written their names or not.
L sent Watari with a copy of the video and a letter describing everything Kitamura should do.
Shortly after Watari returned from that task, Wedy also returned, carefully holding in her gloved hands a sealed cardboard box with several bright stickers on it, with the same long string of numbers on each sticker. It was a storage box with the database number of what Mikami had sent.
Wedy said, "They had better security than Yotsuba, but it still wasn't a real challenge. I've replaced this with an empty decoy that looks identical, right down to the stickers."
L stared at the box for a few moments. Inside was most likely the other notebook, the one he'd never seen.
L turned to Watari and said, "Please take the entire package to the forensics lab and process it. We need video documentation of each step as you open the package and every test you perform. Take particular care to check everywhere for fingerprints, including individual pages. Remove fragmentary samples of the ink used to see if we can match it to pens in Mikami's house. Take high-resolution photos of all pages. If we end up destroying the notebook, we need a full record of what was written in it. Are you ready to process it now?"
"Of course."
Watari carefully put on gloves and then took the box from Wedy.
L said, "Watari, you'll miss the broadcast."
Watari said, "That is fine. I've already seen the nearly-final version."
Wedy said, "What?"
L said, "I'm baiting Kira's accomplices with a message that will appear on the evening news, in about fifteen minutes."
L couldn't see Wedy's face through the helmet, but he had the impression she was smiling. In a more cheerful tone, Wedy said, "That's what you're best at. I can hardly wait to see those idiots fall all over themselves right into your trap."
L said, "Yes. We can hope this will all end soon, as peacefully as possible."
The next few hours were filled with intense watching. L had multiple monitors turned on at the same time, viewing live news from several sources both during and after his broadcast. There was no immediate stir except by media personnel excitedly commenting on the matter, but L watched in rapt, focused awareness, in anticipation of an immediate attack, a sharp drop-off in Kira killings, or possibly both.
At the same time, L watched Mikami in his cell, Reina Nakano in her home and Watari in the basement forensics lab, as he carefully dissected the storage box to reveal a beautifully wrapped gift. Watari processed the entire outside for fingerprints before carefully unwrapping it with tweezers, revealing another box inside, and inside that inner box, at last a slim black notebook.
Matt arrived that evening, according to the delayed schedule to make sure Wammy's House residents wouldn't have any suspicions. Matt was followed upstairs by Ryuk, who was pestering him about video games. Watari was still occupied in the forensics lab with the new notebook. Checking every single page for fingerprints was truly a grueling long-term task.
Within 15 minutes, L had updated Matt on everything that had happened.
Matt replied with, "There was hacking, and I wasn't in on it?"
"It was an easy job, well below your abilities. You didn't miss out."
"I was brought here for my computer skills, and I haven't made a single impact on the case! It's like I'm not needed."
L said, "You are worth more than your computer skills, Matt. You helped us to eliminate possibilities, which is always an important part of detective work. You received training. And, if Rem decides to kill everyone she's seen, you'll perform an important function as the only survivor who was directly involved with events."
Ryuk added, "Plus, I need you to play video games with me."
Matt glanced over his shoulder at Ryuk and said, "You don't know what you're getting into, shinigami."
Ryuk laughed and said, "Don't be so sure. You're human, so you've never played the same game for months without a single break."
Matt turned back to L and said, "How do we know it isn't a decoy notebook, made to look real, as a way to trick us?"
"You'll do the same thing as before. You'll test it by having Watari obtain criminals to touch it, and then find out if they can see Ryuk."
Matt grinned and replied, "And, it'll have to be at least three of them, one to touch the cover and two for random pages inside, to make sure it isn't a decoy with some real parts."
L said, "Excellent thinking, Matt. I believe I've been underestimating you. You perform better in actual detective work than in things you know are merely tests."
Matt said, "Maybe you should assign all of us actual cases, instead of hypothetical ones or cases you've already solved. I bet Near wouldn't do so well then."
"You are correct. It is about time to create a more serious training environment. If I survive the Kira case, I will see to it. I should have the top four solving actual cases with minimal direction from myself."
"Top four?"
L said, "Linda is the fourth in rank. She never told you?"
"No."
With that, Matt wandered off deep in conversation with Ryuk about which video games were the best, and L returned to watching all the screens, putting his entire focus into it, concentrating to pick up the slightest clue, and jumpy with an electric feeling of anticipation. Everything was coming together, and things could easily explode into action at any moment.
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- 29
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Fifty Days