"I don't think it is as simple as that," he replied, his tone very flat. "People have managed to get some distance from the Institute on foot, at night, but they wake up in their beds in the morning with no idea how they got there. This situation also appears to extend to the town nearby: Doyleton. Patients were taken there on Saturday. If you're speaking of patients who are rumored to have been 'released'... well, release, if it exists, would certainly be conditional."

He speared a few bits of strawberry with his fork, put them in his mouth, and chewed a bit before he continued to speak. "It depends on a few factors" -- he paused to swallow -- "such as whether or not they paid much attention to my express intentions in suggesting it. But my first guess would be Light Yagami. It would be the kind of choice that group would be likely to make, and because there is an almost inestimable chance that he is Kira -- "

L gave an expansive shrug. "It explains his lack of progress on the case."