Light's drawer trap

After gathering supplies at a department store with Ryuk, Light fits a green drawer into the upper right of his desk and conceals the notebook beneath a fabricated base. A key sits openly in the lock, and an ordinary brown diary rests inside, both meant to explain away the locked drawer and steer any searcher away from the secret compartment.

Reaching the notebook safely demands a precise routine. Light unscrews the ink reservoir from a ballpoint pen and presses it into a small hole beneath the drawer, which raises the false bottom and exposes the death note. Only someone who knows this exact method can open the cavity without harm, leaving the hiding spot useless to a casual intruder.

The design protects the notebook even against someone who discovers the hidden base. The inserted ink tube doubles as an insulator that keeps an electrical circuit broken, a role a strip of rubber performs once the false bottom is replaced. Force the drawer open the wrong way and the circuit closes, igniting gasoline sealed in a thin plastic shell and setting the death note ablaze, wiping out any trace that Light owned a killer notebook. Should anyone ask afterward, he intends to claim the drawer merely held a private diary he chose to burn. The whole contraption belongs entirely to Light Yagami.