Why didn't L arrest Light after he regained his memory?

[tenkensmile]

I just want to say that having no memory of committing a crime isn't a "get out of jail free" card. It wouldn't even get you labeled as criminally insane and sent to an asylum.

When Light lost his memory, there was a time where L asked him something like, "Knowing what you know about this case, your own capabilities, the fact that at one point Light

Comments

[lemmi162]

Characters in Death Note, despite their overall brilliance, lack common sense. Think back to the situation with Ray Penbar's wife whose name escapes me now, and you'll see what I mean.
I mean when somebody who he was shadowing shows up and starts pestering her, asking her about sensitive details and not letting up, you'd think that would raise a red flag. But no, all it took was a little lie about Light being on the investigation team to get her to give him her real name despite her caution before.
Even Light slips up early on a few times, proving that common sense is practically non-existent in the DN universe. And it just gets worse the further it goes, L ceasing his suspicion of Light simply being a layer in the cake.

[serria]

I think L planned on arresting Light when the time came. But he wanted to solve the case and find out Kira's secret, and that was more important than just taking out one Kira when there were multiple running around. L never once thought that Light wasn't Kira, and he's quite positive about it. Even after Light dropped that "thirteen day" rule on him, but unfortunately, it seems like at that point the rest of the task force pressured L into freeing Light. L probably thought this was only momentary, which was why he intended to test the notebook. Unfortunately, Kira offed him before he got the chance.

So my answer is, I think L was investigating further, but was content to play (somewhat) fairly in the game of L vs. Kira. So instead of just keeping Light in incarceration, he was okay just watching him from a distance, for a time, to see what he does and unravel the mystery. The problem really was that he probably was banking on actually dying.

[aiwatan]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think L did investigated in that sense the whole time. In fact Light told L several times he was not Kira annoyed by the suspicion on him while they were working together.

But it's not like Misa and Light were leaving clues everywhere. The memory loss sure is suspicious, that's why L was suspecting them, and I think also part of why L asked the question you stated. But you can't arrest and send to death someone you have not valid proof but "sure is convenient they lost their memories"
Because no memory!Light was not Kira at all in that moment, so it would be hard to give L any proof he was in the past. Maybe after he regained his memory, but L was killed too soon after it.

The fact is L never ever trusted Light even for a second. And his last words prove it.

[liam_sensei]

L did suspect the memory loss but memory is a very intangible thing. Memory isn't direct evidence unless you get a psychologist involved or a lie detector test, but even those are shaky as evidence proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. There were no grounds to arrest Light after Higuchi died because no one knew what he was doing and the 13-day-rule was supposed to clear him