Sorry for the great delay in posting on here. I've been going through quite a bit of real-world drama that's kept me away from writing. I'm going to make a habit of working on a chapter each week, and I'll try my best to post one every weekend. Even more than that when I have free time.

The Nabootique – 7:45 A.M.

Light and L had waited for a good fifteen minutes before the front door to the Nabootique was opened by a tall man with a moustache with a face that reminded Light of a man's thigh. It was so blank, if it wasn't for that cappuccino stain on his face he may as well have been a pink balloon on a decapitated body.

"Hello there," said Howard, surprised to have two customers so early in the morning, Vince was still sleeping upstairs. "Are you two sirs here to make a purchase? I've only just woken up. Would you like a warm cup of tea, perhaps the most recent issue of the Global Explorer?"

"That is very generous, but-." Began Light, only to be interrupted by L.

"I am actually quite partial to a cup of tea." Said the detective, chewing on the skin around his thumb as he pushed past Howard and hunched forwards into the Nabootique. "But only if it has plenty of sugar." He added with a childish smile.

"Of course," said Howard, a bit surprised at how eager the raven haired male seemed to be. "My roommate eats nothing but sweets, so we have plenty of those as well."

L's grin widened, Light inwardly shuddered in disgust. The detective's smile was even more hideous than a shinigami's.

"I'll take all of them." He replied, pulling out a large bag of British money that L insisted would be used on a gift for Light because of all the trouble he was going through to come along.

"Really?" Asked Howard, surprised that somebody had a sweet tooth stronger than his friend's.

"Howard, what's all the ruckus about? I'm trying to straighten my hair." Called the British accented voice of Vince as his head poked out from around the corridor that led up the stairs.

"Vince, these are our customers. I'm making the biggest sale of the week to this lovely gentleman." Replied Howard, voice strained.

Vince rolled his eyes but vanished, after several minutes of Howard and L trying to work out a reasonable price for all the candy and Light sitting around bored to death, Vince finally reappeared. Wearing his red boots, black drainpipes, a leather jacket (complete with his KISS ARMY badge), and a Rolling Stones T-shirt he strutted down the stairs with a light smile gracing his face. The smile vanished when he saw the ratty appearance of one of their customers, and all of his sweets in a bag being held by the ugly man.

"Howard!" choked out the king of the mods. "What the bloody hell are you doing!?"

L looked up, eyebrow raised, and Vince quickly looked away. Howard grunted and approached Vince.

"What are you doing, you bitch? I'm trying to earn us some money."

"Why are you selling to that man, look at his outfit. Where's his style? His look… he doesn't even have a look. He's.. he's worse than you Howard! Look at that old ratty t-shirt and that pale skin. He's not even trying to pull off the vampire look. He smells like a rotting fish and looks like the underbelly of a porcupine. It's awful." Vince continued rambling, not even glancing at L. "If we keep rubbish like that in the shop it's sure to scare away even more customers than your jazz."

"Vince is it?" asked L, approaching the two, Vince instinctively took two steps back.

"Yes." Said Vince in reply.

"I do believe you should mind your own business since it's obvious you are not the owner of the shop, I think Howard here is doing a fine job." L then looked at Howard abruptly. "Light and I will be needing a room. We have no place to stay during our trip around Britain."

"Ah, yes, of course. Feel free to stay as long as you'd like, as long as you can pay for food you're free to use the spare room."

Vince had wandered over to Light out of instinct, seeing the well-dressed and exceptionally good looking male sitting alone.

"I do quite love your hair." Vince said, looking at the light reddish brown locks. "And that brown suit you're wearing? It's like a dangerous mix of casual and formal. And those shoes are genius."

Light rolled his eyes and rose to his feet, following L into their new room and leaving Vince and Howard alone.

"What the hell was that, Vince? And you said I scare away our customers, at least I don't flirt with them!"

"I wasn't flirting."

"Then what was that?"

"Well you weren't exactly hospitable or nice. Selling off all my Wine Gums and Licorice Bootlaces when I wasn't looking."

"Get over it, Vince."

Upstairs L and Light were discussing what to do with the two men. They needed a way to figure out whether they really were the ones committing the crimes, or if they were just horribly wrong. But it was going to be difficult. Because L had dealt with men like this before. And it appeared to L, that these two British men, were criminal masterminds. As dangerous as they are smart. Sure, they didn't seem like it, but L had dealt with many criminals that turned out to be smarter than they seemed at first. That Vince man, he was possibly even more intelligent than Light – who seemed just as mad at any rate. This was definitely going to be one tough case.