Dealings

Dealings (取引, Torihiki) is the third episode of the anime Death Note.

Synopsis
The episode opens with the police reviewing their information on the Kira case. Thousands of calls have come in regarding Kira, some from people who claim to have seen him or even are Kira themselves. They have determined that information regarding all the victims up to date was available in Japan.

One man brings up the victims’ times of death. The majority of the victims died on weekdays between 4:00 PM and 2:00 AM, and also weekends and holidays, during which the times of death were scattered throughout the day. Based on this information, L (via Watari’s laptop computer) states it is very likely that Kira is a student. The police are skeptical about this at first, but L reminds them that so far Kira has only done away with criminals, and therefore must have a strong sense of justice; perhaps he is even trying to become a god. This, he points out, is a rather childish mindset. L says that they must not rule out the possibility that Kira is a student, and that they must keep an open mind if Kira is to be found.

A man named Matsuda stands and brings up the point that since the killings began, crime rates around the world, but especially in Japan, have made a significant drop. The chief of police says that is only to be expected. As it seems he does not want to pursue that particular subject any further, he tells L that the meeting has concluded. L thanks everyone for their persistence, and asks that they investigate how the victims were announced in the media. He especially wants to know if the victims’ faces were shown before they died. With that, the meeting ends.

Outside, Matsuda meets with the chief and apologizes for bringing up the fact that crimes have been decreasing. The chief brushes it off and says it was an important fact that no one can ignore and must be laid out on the table. He commends Matsuda for bringing up a difficult subject, and says the only problem would have been if he had said that Kira should be praised for his deeds.

That night, Light is at home helping Sayu with her homework. The doorbell rings and Sayu goes downstairs to answer it. Ryuk comments to Light that he is playing the big brother role and helping his sister with homework like he has nothing to worry about. Light replies by saying he has a source of confidence that will allow him to fight even the police. It is then we find out that Light’s father is the chief of police himself.

Thanks to that, Light can always stay one step ahead of the investigation by hacking into his dad’s computer to see what they have come up with. This time, he discovers that they are already suspecting that Kira could be a student. Mentally reviewing the rules of the Death Note, he decides that he should be able to control the time of death if he writes “heart attack” as the cause of death, whereas if he simply writes the person’s name and nothing else, the death will happen 40 seconds later. He tells Ryuk that he should be able to amuse him some more. Light begins manipulating the time of death, so the criminals die while he is engaging in everyday activities at school.

The police have another meeting, where they talk about 46 new deaths that occurred the two days before, exactly one hour apart from each other. L concludes that Kira can control the time of death as well, and is showing it off. To himself, he says that as soon as he suspected that Kira was a student, murders started occurring at times that contradicted the theory. He also notes that Kira must have access to the police’s information.

Light reveals that L will soon start suspecting people in the police force. When the police discover this, they will get angry and try to find L. Light continues, saying he will not be the one to uncover L’s identity; rather, the police will. Then Light will be able to eliminate him.

Meanwhile, at the NPA, three men give their resignation letters to Chief Yagami, as they are afraid Kira will kill them. One says that L was interested in knowing if the victims’ faces were shown before they died, and they were; they are leaving because they value their lives and know that as policemen, their faces and names can be publicly known if necessary, unlike L's identity.

At Light’s school, Ryuk looks out the window and sees someone outside looking in. Elsewhere, Watari tells L that the FBI has entered Japan in order to investigate police personnel.

On the way home, Ryuk tells Light that there is someone following him. He states that he is not going to take Light’s or L’s side in this, and the only reason he told Light about it was because it was bothering him personally as it made him feel like he is being watched, too.

Once inside, Ryuk reveals to Light that shinigami write humans’ names in their Death Notes in order to increase their life spans. If a human has twenty years left in their natural life span, for example, the shingami will get those twenty years added to their own if writing that person's name down in their notebook. He then reveals something of more interest to Light: shinigami can see the name and lifespan of any human they look at. Ryuk knows exactly how much time Light has left, but says he will never tell. He then offers Light a deal: he can give Light his shinigami eyes ability in exchange for half of his remaining lifespan. Even though half his lifespan would be gone, Light does admit he would be able to use the Death Note in a more effective manner.

Ryuk asks Light once again what he wants to do, and the episode closes with the man following him looking up into his window.

Trivia

 * In this episode it's revealed that the Chief of the NPA, Soichiro Yagami is Light Yagami's father.