Los Angeles BB Serial Murder Cases

The Los Angeles BB Serial Murder Cases is a serial murder investigation. It is one of the three investigative stories told to Mello by L, significant because it is the first time L uses the alias 'Ryuzaki.'

Details
Originally known as the Wara Ningyo Murders or the L.A. Serial Locked Room Killings until it was successfully solved, the Los Angeles BB Serial Murder Cases is a series of murders occurring in the Los Angeles area during the summer of 2002 (2005 in the anime). A wara ningyo (essentially the Japanese equivalent of a voodoo doll) was left at the scene of every murder, hence the name given to the murders by the media. Even after the case is solved, the media still addresses it using its original name.

Investigation
The investigation is led by L, who works as more of a consultant on the case, as he tends to only be interested in serial murder cases that have far more victims. He recruits Naomi Misora, who is on leave from her job at the FBI, to investigate for him in person.

Victims
Believe Bridesmaid – Gender: Male Age: 44 Cause of death: Asphyxiation

Quarter Queen – Gender: Female Age: 13 Cause of death: Blunt force trauma to the head

Backyard Bottomslash – Gender: Female Age: 28 Cause of death: Exsanguination

Events
July 22, 2002 (2005 in anime): a crossword puzzle is sent to the Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D.) Station.

The killer sent the crossword puzzle to show the L.A.P.D. his intelligence and superiority, since they would no doubt be unable to solve the complicated puzzle. As he suspected, none of the officers were able to solve the crossword puzzle, and so they simply threw it away.

L retrieves the crossword puzzle from a reliable source and gives it to his proxy, Naomi Misora. Hidden in the crossword puzzle is an address: 221 Insist St., Hollywood, which is where the first victim of the case lived. This specific date is suspected to have been chosen because "二十二," or 2+2, equals 4. 1+3, also equaling 4, appears like the letter B, hinting at the one who sent the letter.

July 31, 2002 (2005 in anime): Believe Bridesmaid, age forty-four, is murdered.

Nine days later, Believe Bridesmaid is found dead in his bedroom, which had been locked from the inside. His strangled corpse is discovered on his bed, facing upward. Four Wara Ningyo are found nailed to the walls of the room. Despite asphyxiation being the cause of death, there are cuts from a knife on Bridesmaid's chest, made post-mortem. The victim's shirt was changed after the mutilation, leaving only droplets of blood behind.

After Naomi Misora takes a closer look at the body, she surmises that the knife markings were actually Roman numerals. When she is joined by Rue Ryuzaki, he agrees with her theory. The Roman numerals read "XIV (16), LIX (59), MCDXXIII (1423), CLIX (159), XIII (13), VII (7), DLXXXII (582), DCCXXIV (724), MI (1001), XL (40), LI (51), XXXI (31)."

Ryuzaki and Misora observe that volumes nine and four of Bridesmaid's collection of the Akazukin Chacha manga series are missing, despite the bookshelf being full. Misora thinks this is insignificant, and that instead of the killer having stolen the books, Bridesmaid may have just not owned them. However, Ryuzaki is convinced that no one in their right mind would read Akazukin Chacha out of order, even going as far as saying that this would likely pass as evidence as court (Misora sardonically comments that this sounds like a very biased jury).

Ryuzaki tells Misora that there are 192 and 184 pages in volumes four and nine of Akazukin Chacha, which adds up to 376. Misora then observes the shelf, finding one book of the same thickness, Insufficient Relaxation, by Permit Winter, which is exactly 376 pages. The Roman numerals on Bridesmaid’s body are theorized to coordinate with pages of the book, Ryuzaki suggesting that larger numbers may wrap around.

Reading the first word of each corresponding page at a time, Misora reads the following:


 * 16 – page 16: quadratic
 * 59 – page 59: ukulele
 * 1423 (wraps around three times) – page 295: tenacious
 * 159 – page 159: rabble
 * 13 – page 13: table
 * 7 – page 7: egg
 * 582 (wraps around once) – page 206: arbiter
 * 724 (wraps around once) – page 348: equable
 * 1001 (wraps around twice) – page 249: thud
 * 40 – page 40: effect
 * 51 – page 51: elsewhere
 * 31 – page 31: name

While the words have seemingly no significance, the first letter of each word makes "Q-U-T-R-T-E-A-E-T-E-E-N," which has only a four letter difference to "Quarter Queen," the name of the next victim. However, Ryuzaki rules this out, saying that having one third of the letters be incorrect likely makes this simply a coincidence.

Misora believes this was intentional, noticing that all the letters which are wrong were for words that wrapped around. Therefore, if a page wraps around once, the second letter is used.


 * 1423 (wraps around three times) – page 295: ten a cious
 * 582 (wraps around once) – page 206: a r biter
 * 724 (wraps around once) – page 348: e q uable
 * 1001 (wraps around twice) – page 249: th u d

This means that "Q-U-T-R-T-E-A-E-T-E-E-N" is actually "Q-U- A -R-T-E- R - Q - U -E-E-N," the name of the second victim. It is a message from the killer, stating who is next victim would be.

The date of the murder was supposedly chosen because 31 is equal to 3+1, or "三十一," which when reversed is "一十三," which looks like B. This, however, was not the actual reason. The killer chose this victim because his initials were B.B. (the same as his own initials), he was an adult, and the killer needed a starting place; this was the most reasonable place. Bridesmaid was part of a cover-up of the fourth murder. The manner of his murder is partly experimental and partly due to the murderer's curiosity.

August 4, 2002 (2005 in anime): Quarter Queen, age thirteen, is murdered.

Four days after the previous event, Quarter Queen is found dead by a neighbor. Three wara ningyo are found nailed to the walls of the room. She had lived with her mother in an apartment complex located downtown on Third Avenue. She was found laying face down in the middle of their one-room apartment, number 605. The front of her head had been bashed in. Her eyes had been crushed, her contact lenses removed, and her glasses put on.

The date of the murder was supposedly chosen because 4 is 2+2, or "二十二," which could be written as 22. 4 is also 1+3, which looks like the letter B.

Misora notes the significance of the victim's initials and theorizes that the pattern of murders has the victims' bodies facing "back, front, back" in an alternating pattern corresponding with the days between murders, nine days, four days, and nine days. Ryuzaki points out that this theory is still relatively inapplicable, as the killer is unpredictable, and points out that Quarter Queen was a Q.Q., not a B.B., making it possible that she was targeted by accident.

Misora counters that the lowercase letters 'b' and 'q' look the same mirrored, which makes it likely that the killer chose to leave her face down, as it is the reverse of the letter 'b,' or the body facing up. Misora also believes that Quarter Queen was killed as a substitute for another victim with the initials B.B. based on the low probability that a person has those initials and the difficulty the killer most likely faced when choosing victims.

Ryuzaki's final rejection of her theory and his highlighting that the victim is a child causes Misora to conclude that the killer chose a child as it would match having lower case initials, and that having 'q' alliteration in her name caused her body to be positioned facing downwards.

This article is in the process of being written.