"We tried to trace the call, but it was blocked." Lassiter announced, approaching Juliet's desk.

"Are you getting anything, Shawn?" Juliet asked hopefully. Shawn was sitting on top of her desk, mouth pursed in thought. It was apparent that his mind was blank.

"Of course he's not getting anything. We should stop wasting time and start interrogating the employees." Lassiter said.

"Have a little faith, Lassie. I've narrowed it down for you. It had to be someone who knew that Marsh worked for Conway."

"Any of the employees could've known that. So again, your input is useless."

Shawn jumped down from Juliet's desk. "Well, I think it's about time for lunch. I'll let you know if the spirits give me any more 'useless input' that has somehow solved all of the cases that you couldn't."

Lassiter looked a little taken aback. That was a little less humorous than usual.

Gus followed Shawn out of the department, looking rather perplexed. "This is a murder case, Shawn. We need to be investigating."

"I know that. That's what we're going to do. Where do we find Conway's office?"

"Conway owned a hardware store chain. His office is in the main store here in Santa Barbara."

"Why do you know this?"

"I subscribe to Businessmen Weekly."

"Gus, reading a business magazine does not a businessman make."

"I might be, if you hadn't sabotaged my chances of getting into business school. And don't go all Shakespeare on me, Shawn. You thought Hamlet was a tiny pig."

"I sabotaged you for your own good, Gus. I didn't want you to end up having an affair with your secretary." Shawn explained, climbing into the car. "And those tiny pigs are awesome."

"Speaking of pigs, you mentioned lunch…"

"Yes, we're going to stop for a couple of those hot dogs."

"You know that's right."

~P~

Gus and Shawn stood in front of a huge gray building with a green sign that bore the words "Nail-It" in large, white lettering.

"Why have I never heard of this place?" Shawn asked in awe.

"Because you still refuse to fix that shelf in the office."

"It still holds. You just can't put anything on it, or the duct tape will break. Oh, look, Gus; they have one of those things!" Shawn pointed to the giant advertising tube man that was flapping around in the parking lot.

"Why did you point that out? You know those things give me the creeps."

"That's just irrational, Gus."

"About as irrational as your fear of tassels?"

"It's not a fear. It's more of an aversion." Shawn contended as they entered the store. "They don't serve any practical purpose. They just dangle around. That's just weird, Gus. It's weird."

"May I help you?" an uninterested employee in a green apron grumbled.

"Yes, my name is Shawn Spencer, and this is my partner Higgins Hasslefluff. We're city insulation inspectors."

"Insulation…inspectors," the man restated, his thin, pale face expressionless.

"Yes."

"But isn't the insulation…inside the walls?"

"That's correct, my good man. And we're here to make sure that's exactly where it remains. We'll need to kind of look around, investigate, poke around, if you will. Oh, and we'll also need to know where your boss's office is."

"Why?"

"Well, that's the most important place for insulation."

The employee looked unconvinced. "Look, I don't know who you guys are, but the cops have been rifling through everything. I really don't think you have any business being in there."

Shawn sighed. "Look, Larry,"

"It's Jeff."

"Look, Jeff, we're not actually insulation inspectors, though that would be a really cool job to have; am I right, Higgins?" Gus elbowed him. Shawn's expression sobered. "I'm actually a psychic detective. I'm working with the Santa Barbara Police Department. I think I could read the situation a lot better if I could be in a room that Mr. Conway was often in."

Jeff pressed his lips together tightly in thought. "Well…all right. But don't tell anyone I let you in."

"Thanks, John." Shawn slapped the man's shoulder as he and Gus passed.

In the distance, Gus overheard the man mutter, "I'm wearing a nametag!"

~P~

"If there's anything I know about seemingly perfect guys getting murdered, it's that they're always hiding something." Shawn commented as he sifted through items on Conway's large, cherry wood desk. He crouched down to examine the drawers.

"How many things do you know about guys getting murdered?" Gus replied. "I don't know, Shawn. Everything looks like it's in order."

"Exactly. That's when you know something is off." Shawn opened the drawers, running his hand under them. He smiled as his hand hit something.

"Or he's just organized."

"Or…" Shawn stood, holding up an envelope that had been taped under a drawer. "He's hiding something," he reiterated.

Gus raised his eyebrows, impressed. "What is it?"

"Nothing written on the outside…" Shawn went to open it and found that the flap was unsealed. "Looks like legal stuff. Take a look."

Gus took the papers and examined them closely. "Oh my gosh…"

"What?"

Gus looked up, wide-eyed. "Conway was going to sell the company!"

"Why would he do that?"

"Are you kidding? He was going to get a fortune for it. He'd be an idiot not to."

Shawn thought for a moment. "So why was he keeping it a secret? Maybe he was dealing with some shady people?"

Gus shook his head. "The guy that was going to buy him out is a huge millionaire. He's bought all kinds of companies."

"It just doesn't make sense…"

"What now?"

"Now? I guess we should let the police in on it."

~P~

"The spirits are strong in this one!" Shawn declared as he burst into the police station, Gus trailing behind.

Lassiter looked on skeptically. "Don't you mean the force?"

Shawn smiled. "Very nice, Lassie."

"Are you getting something about the Conway case, Mr. Spencer?" Chief Vick asked, coming out of her office.

"Yes, I'm getting…a manicure."

"You are?" Juliet asked, walking up behind Lassiter.

"Yes. Well, I'm not getting one, but I'm getting one now. I mean…I'm… The spirits are saying manicure, okay!" Juliet nodded quickly.

"Now I'm getting a chisel…no…a hammer."

"A construction site?" the chief offered.

"Uh…I'm getting…" Shawn suddenly started flailing around, like he was doing an upright worm, waving his hands in the air.

All three of them just gave him weird looks. Gus just shook his head.

"Manicure…hammer…nails!" Juliet cried. "And there's one of those wavy tube things in front of Conway's hardware store! I just passed it yesterday!"

"Yes, Jules! That's it!"

"Let's go, then." Chief Vick announced.

~P~

Shawn and Gus got to the hardware store just before Chief Vick, Lassiter, and Juliet. Shawn ran inside, not waiting for Gus. And Gus was not about to run in his new dress shoes. That was a blister waiting to happen.

"Where did he go?" Vick asked Gus as they all walked in. Gus shrugged.

"Attention everyone!" Shawn's voice resonated throughout the building. Everyone in the store looked up. Shawn was on a lift used to stock shelves, about ten feet in the air. "To the owner of the blue Chevy Volt, your car is about to be towed."

A young man took off for the door in desperation.

Shawn looked surprised. "Really? Someone here actually has one of those? You know, I heard that you hardly ever have to get gas with those things."

"Get down! You aren't authorized to be up there!" a tubby employee shouted.

"It's okay; I've used these millions of times!" Shawn called back.

"Has he?" Juliet asked Gus.

"No," Gus groaned.

"Spencer, get down from there! You're wasting everyone's time!" Lassiter yelled.

"Lassie, I'm about to have what I like to call a psychic breakthrough."

"Would you just break through already?"

"Fine." Shawn raised a hand to his temple. "I'm sensing a secret has been kept from you all. Well, not all of you, just the employees. Actually, I guess technically — "

"Mr. Spencer, will you get on with it?" Vick asked less than politely.

"Mr. Conway seemed like the perfect man, but he had a secret. And if you search his office, I'm sure you will be able to find it."

"We've already searched the office. There was nothing there." Lassiter argued.

"That's the thing about secrets, Lassie. They tend to be hidden." Shawn pressed a button, and the platform descended. "I'm sensing…it's in his desk."

Vick, Juliet, Lassiter, and Gus all made their way to Conway's office. Shawn, once he hopped off the lift, wasn't far behind.

"What are we looking for, Shawn?" Juliet asked, at a loss.

Shawn closed his eyes, then opened them again. "The writer…no, the drawer," he said pointing.

"It's just rubber bands and paper clips. Junk," Juliet replied as she dug through the contents of the drawer.

"Under…the spirits are saying under."

Juliet ducked under the drawer, and to her astonishment, there was an envelope taped there. She opened it and scanned the pages quickly. Shaking her head, she handed them to Lassiter.

"He was going to sell the company?" he surmised. "Why would he keep that hidden?"

Shawn thought for a moment. "I'm guessing someone found out, and they didn't like it too much."

~P~