Prologue

Harold Cleverman died on a Tuesday. It was an ordinary day to die for an ordinary man in an ordinary town. He lived an ordinary life, drove an ordinary car and kept an ordinary circle of friends and family. It was all so painfully boring that when the not-so-ordinary detail of Harold Cleverman's existence showed up on the third viewing of the crime scene Lassiter was royally pissed that Shawn Spencer and Burton Guster were the ones to witness it.

"What are you raving about, Spencer? We have real police work to do here and you're, as usual, standing in the way of it." Lassiter griped, stepping out of the way of a group of lab techs.

"Lassie, are you sure I'm not merely basking in the glow of its non-existence?" He turned on the ball of his foot and made his way to the center of the room. Short of actually lying in the outline of the body, he studied the carpet around the bloodstains. A glint of something caught his eye from underneath the ordinary sofa across the room. He rose, closing his eyes and spread his arms wide apart.

"There! There, underneath the settee!" he began, gathering the entire room's attention.

"I believe it's called a chaise lounge-" Gus interjected.

"Out of the way, Spencer. Hey, you, Nerd Boy, get in here." He crouched down and watched as the nervous lab tech struggled to pull on a pair of gloves. After the third failed try, Lassiter pushed him out of the way and took the gloves himself. He knelt further and reached under the small couch and pulled out a large, sapphire jeweled ring with a strange mark on the side.

Shawn didn't have to step closer to realize that he recognized the stone and the inscription. His blood had begun to run cold and his hands had started shaking when Gus turned to him, an ordinary look of amusement on his face.

"So, what's this clue mean, Mr. Psychic?" He asked, slightly less cheerful than usual after one-upping Lassiter. "Shawn?"

Shawn shook himself slightly and gripped Gus' forearm tightly. "It means that we have to leave."

Gus hadn't spoken a word the whole ride back to their apartment. Shawn liked to believe he was silently contemplating the scenery rolling past the Blueberry's windows, rather than quietly wondering why he'd decided to stay with Shawn in the first place. Shawn tuned the radio to a Classics station and watched Gus ignore every opportunity to sing along to the cheesy choruses.

He got fed up with the silence after about fifteen minutes. "Gus, what are you thinking?"

Gus didn't answer at first, continuing to watch the scrolling scenery. When Shawn had just about given up, he turned his head, a sad grin on his face. "I was really getting used to it, you know? I'd almost forgotten we're different now. Different people."

Shawn frowned and tried to object. "We're still us. We haven't changed, we've just… evolved."

"My mom even stopped looking at you like you corrupted me. She's even started accepting us living together, owning a psychic detective agency, being… an us." He sighed and leaned his head against the window. "It was all starting to fit together."

At that, Shawn returned his focus to the road. Granted, Mrs. Guster had been glad to find Shawn safe and in one piece, knowing that he meant a lot to Gus; she hadn't been too cheerful about the extent of their relationship. She just didn't trust Shawn not to break her son's heart so soon after it had been put back together again. It was out of love and respect for Gus that she remained quiet whenever the topic of their apartment, their job or their relationship came up. She instead preferred to think of them as extremely close friends.

Gus forced a smile and asked, "Do you think that… maybe I could get to say goodbye this time?" He cocked an eyebrow and tried to sell the idea. "I mean, wouldn't it be better? If we came up with some kind of cover story, she wouldn't ask questions…"

"You wouldn't have to lie to her." Shawn supplied. He knew without hearing it explicitly from Gus how much it hurt him to have to lie to his mother repeatedly. "Tell you what…" he turned into their apartment complex and turned off the car. "If I can solve this murder and I don't see anyone from the old… neighborhood, we can stay."

Gus frowned, doubtful. "You really think you can?"

Shawn just grinned and got out of the car. He didn't know if he could but he'd never wanted to try harder for anything else in his life.