Disclaimer: Anything recognizable from the TV show Psych does not belong to me. I do not earn money off this. It is purely fanmade for recreational purposes, no copyright infringement intended.
Rating: No swearing, no slash, no 'mature' romance. May be some gore and/or violence. May include kissing. Also deals with the topic of suicide.
A/N: First Fanfiction I've ever posted here! Hope you like it. Reviews are appreciated.
Juliet followed Lassiter as he strolled swiftly across the mechanic's shop, his stern features already forming a glare. Unluckily for the man they were about to question, Lassiter had not gotten his three-cream four-sugar coffee that morning.
"Head Detective Carlton Lassiter, SBPD. We're looking for a man going by the name of 'Shawn Spencer'. We have reason to believe he stopped by here within the last year, six months and five days. Have you seen him?"
Lassiter showed first his badge, then his warrant to be searching an area out of his jurisdiction, then casually pulled back his suit coat to reveal the gun he was carrying.
The man glanced at the badge, raised an eyebrow at the warrant, and completely failed to notice the gun. Or maybe he was just ignoring it. It was hard to tell.
"No. He important?"
The man's insolent tone was not helping Lassiter's mood.
"Yes he's important, why else do you think we're tracking him you over-sized-"
"Carlton!" Juliet cut off the insult, giving him a fierce warning look. She turned back to to look at the man. She smiled, leaning forward in a fashion designed to be friendly.
"We need to find him for a case we're working on. We think he may have stopped here around a year ago to get motorcycle repairs. Any information you could provide would be much appreciated."
The large man shifted his toothpick to the other side of his mouth, looking bored. "Can't help ya."
Lassiter glared daggers at him. "I am a detective from the SBPD and if you don't cooperate so help me I will have you in jail for withholding information!" Juliet grabbed his arm to keep him from pulling his gun out.
The man snorted. "Look, detective, I'm not a video camera. I don't remember customers from that far back. Go ask someone with photographic memory if you want to know."
Photographic memory. Guilt lurked at the back of Juliet's mind. She suppressed it, more out of long habit then conscious effort.
She tightened her grip on Lassiter's arm to keep him from saying anything, and pasted on another fake smile.
"Could you check your customer records, please?"
The man shifted his toothpick again. "Don't have any."
Lassiter stared at him. "What? What do you mean you don't have any? It's illegal not to keep customer records!"
"My customers pay in cash. I have no reason to keep records."
Juliet gave the man a skeptical look. What sort of mechanics shop only accepts cash?
"What about cash receipts?" She asked.
"I keep those in a pile of shoeboxes in the back room. There are a few thousand of them and they're not sorted. If you'd like to spend the next several months of your life going through them, be my guest."
Despair began to to break down Juliet's resolve. Another lead lost. At this rate, they'd never find him.
The man must have noticed the despair on Juliet's face, because he seemed to relent slightly.
"Look, I could ask my senior mechanics if they remember anything. They take over the shops for me sometimes when I'm away and one of them could have been on duty when this guy came along. I'll need a little more then a name, though. Think you can provide a description?"
Juliet nodded, a small bit of hope cutting through the despair like a blade of sunlight on a cloudy day. But just like sunlight, it vanished and the clouds closed in again.
It was her fault Shawn had left. Her fault that they didn't know where he was now. She never should have told...
Juliet was drawn out of her thoughts by the sound of Lassiter's voice.
"-going, we don't have all day."
The man gave a short nod. "This way."
He led them towards the back of the shop, past piles of broken-down junk and large containers of tools. They reached the work-area where the cars were, and the man led them over to a red sports car. A loud drilling-sort-of-sound filled the area around it, making it impossible to hear anything. The sports car was propped up, and a woman lay stretched out underneath it with a power tool.
The woman was dressed in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, both of which were covered in oil stains. Her face was a mask of concentration.
The man waved his arms at the woman to get her attention. "Jane!" He called.
The drilling-sound stopped. Jane looked up, an annoyed expression on her face.
"What?"Her irritation was clearly expressed in her tone of voice.
"Couple of detectives want to ask you some questions. Something about a customer." The man said gruffly. He turned to look at the detectives. "If you'll excuse me, I have more important work to tend to."
He left.
Jane stood up, wiping her fingers on her jeans and muttering under her breath. She walked over to the detectives and silently raised one eyebrow at them.
Juliet put on another smile and pulled out her badge. "Hi, we're detectives from the SBPD, we're tracking someone and we have reason to believe he may have stopped here. We'd like to ask you a few questions."
Jane crossed her arms and waited.
Lassiter took over the conversation. "We need to know if you've seen anyone by the name of Shawn Spencer. Average height, brown hair, green eyes. Never stops talking."
A wary look came over Jane's face. "Why do you want know?"
"None of your-"
"Carlton!"
Lassiter glared at Juliet, but fell silent. Juliet sighed.
"He's...He used to be a consultant for the police station we work at. And he's in danger. We need to find him immediately. He probably would have stopped by here around a year ago." Juliet gave Jane an imploring look. "Please, if you know anything, tell us."
Jane was silent a moment. "A Shawn Spencer did stop by here while I was on duty once, but it was over one and a half years ago."
Juliet's heart jumped. "Yes! It could have been one and a half years ago! Please, do you know where he was headed?"
Jane hesitated, then spoke. "He's dead."
A/N: How'd you like it? Should I continue it? Please let me know! :D
