The laptop was shut.
The old tungsten light at the top of the abandoned warehouse swayed in the cold wind.
The sound of dripping water in the corner was the only disturbance in the deathly silence.
Jiang Shiyu was tied to a rusty iron chair.
Hemp rope bound her hands behind her back, chafing the skin off her wrists.
She couldn't feel the pain.
The words of the man before her left her far more dizzy and afraid.
Jiang Shiyu bit her lower lip.
"L, what on earth are you doing?"
"Untie me right now. Don't you know this is a crime?"
The man called L didn't answer immediately.
Barefoot, he crouched in an odd position on a swivel chair with wheels.
He took a foil-wrapped chocolate from his pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth.
Only the sound of his chewing filled the empty warehouse.
"Sorry."
L mumbled the word.
He put his left thumb in his mouth and bit the nail.
"I never meant to drag you into this."
Jiang Shiyu began to struggle.
The iron chair scraped against the concrete floor with a piercing screech.
"If you didn't want to drag me into this, then what are you doing now?"
"Kidnapping me?"
"Have you lost your mind? What are you trying to win? Who were you on that video call with?"
"Was it Kannazuki? Are you using me to threaten him?"
L stopped chewing.
He took his thumb out of his mouth and tapped his fingertips against his knee in an irregular rhythm.
"Jiang Shiyu, you're very clever."
L stood up from the swivel chair.
Hunched over, he walked barefoot across the dusty concrete floor to stand before Jiang Shiyu.
His eyes, ringed with heavy dark circles, fixed on her.
"What I'm about to say