So. Let's say John has a death note. Now there's a killer on the run, and John doesn't know his name and face. Now he writes the name of a criminal in his death note, to indirectly catch the killer. He writes:
Bob Zorto gets stabbed to death, at 12:30, by the serial killer, who uses the alias ''Shadow Killer''.
Could that actually work?
No, this would not work.
In chapter 45 page 17, we see how L tells us that nicknames would not work and the cause of death would turn into an heart attack. The exact quote for reference was:
It is not possible to have "Make Amane Misa talk about L and then kill her", and it would turn into a heart attack since "L" is a nickname.
