Disclaimer: I don't own Psych, To Kill a Mockingbird, or The Hunger Games, nor do I own the Wikipedia excerpts, which I actually looked up on Wikipedia for the story. I also don't own Oedipus Rex, Red Fish Blue Fish, The Chicken Soup books, or Horton Hears a Who (curious yet, lol?).

A/N: I caved and am updating a bit earlier than usual, but technically, it's 1 a.m. here even if I haven't gone to bed yet, so... it's Wednesday! :) Yay, loopholes! Thank you so much for your reviews, favorites, and follows! As always, please see my replies to anonymous reviewers and the extended author's note at the end of the chapter. Enjoy, and please review! :)

The Finch and the Mockingbird

Chapter Three: Research Never Killed Anybody, But It Did Get Them Abducted

There was something that Shawn was missing. He felt it, hovering just outside of his line of sight. It was like when you see something out of the corner of your eye, he decided. Your peripheral vision allows you to spot a snatch of color or a dash of movement, and then you snap your head around... and whatever it was that caught your attention in the first place was gone, and you're left wondering if you've completely lost it.

Or at least that was how it often played out in Shawn's life. Being hyper-observant, he often noticed things out of the corner of his eye that were only there for a few seconds – a passing car, someone walking by – and because he seemed to notice things that most people didn't, he was left looking like a crazy person when he spun around to see what had been lurking just out of sight.

Now, Shawn knew without a doubt that something was off, and although he could feel it, almost taste it, he couldn't find it. And it was driving him crazy!

He unlocked his door, threw his jacket on his bed, and went to his computer. He hadn't wanted to ditch Gus like that, but the whole situation was weirding him out, and he really wanted to try to get a handle on this before he went investigating with Gus, who would be sure to notice that something was bothering Shawn more than usual. Of course, who could blame him, when dead birds were being left for him to find everywhere? But still. Shawn didn't like other people, especially those closest to him, to see him as vulnerable or uncertain. So he was going to dig a little more on his own, and then he would meet back up with Gus and they would catch that evil bird killer before he could harm any more winged wanderers.

"This is a fowl situation we've got here," he mused to himself, smirking at his humor, and then cursing himself for not thinking of and using that one at the station. It would have gotten a stellar reaction from everyone. Jules would have barely contained an amused smile, Gus would've either fist-bumped him or rolled his eyes, Lassie would have emitted a disgusted grunt, and Woody... well, he wasn't quite sure what Woody would have done. He never could tell with that guy.

His computer booted up, Shawn went to Google, thought for a moment, and then simply typed "mockingbird" into the search bar to see if anything popped up to inspire his slumbering cranium.

"Let's see... Images, Wikipedia, Eminem lyrics, 1000birds . com..." he muttered as he scrolled, and finding nothing else that stuck out to him, he clicked on Wikipedia, which Gus always gave him crap about using, but the website hadn't failed it yet, and even if it did, he would stick with it anyway, if only because Gus hated it.

The article did nothing to help Shawn's focus on the case, and he learned absolutely nothing except that whoever had written this particular piece had gone to boring school.

Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the Mimidae family. They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. There are about 17 species in three genera. These do not appear to form a monophyletic lineage blah blah blah blah blah...

In all honesty, Shawn wasn't sure if the article actually melted seamlessly into incomprehensible Charlie Brown teacher speech, because he was already zoned out. "Nope," he decided. He thought for a minute. "Someone's killing mockingbirds," he said slowly to the pineapple figurine on his desk. It didn't respond, but Shawn imagined that if it had a face, it would be supporting a reasonably impressed expression at his quick deducing. "What's the significance of dead mockingbirds?"

He Googled "dead mockingbirds."

Zilch. Just something about a band called Dead Mockingbirds and pictures of cartoon mockingbirds lying feet-up in a pool of blood. How awful. Well, this "spirit-channeling" session was turning out splendidly.

One last-ditch effort: "killing a mockingbird."

First result: To Kill a Mockingbird - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"There's a whole book about how to kill these birds?" he murmured. "That's harsh." The title was somewhat familiar, though, like maybe he'd been supposed to read it in high school and had copied Gus's book report instead. He clicked the link.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was immediately successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature. The plot and characters are loosely based on the author's observations of her family and neighbors ... blah-blah-blah-dee-blah ... The novel is renowned for its warmth and humor, despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality. The narrator's father, Atticus Finch, has served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers ... blah, blah, blah...

Yeah, now he remembered a bit about this book. He might have actually watched (slept through, same difference) the movie with Gus at one point. Gus had basically idolized that Atticus Finch character, hadn't he, which was weird, because Gus didn't normally idolize white dudes. Shawn was the exception to this rule, obviously, even if it was only in his own mind that Gus idolized him.

Maybe this case could have something to do with the novel, but it didn't make sense. If the themes of the book had to do with the issues of rape and racial inequality – horrible themes for a book, by the way, just distasteful – then Shawn just couldn't make the connection. So he had a black best friend? That didn't make sense. No, it couldn't be connected to this book.

Still, something was nagging at him, so he scrolled down a bit more, skimming over the sub-articles before something caught his eye, and he quickly scrolled back up and read:

"'To kill a mockingbird' is to kill that which is innocent and harmless – like Tom Robinson." Scholars have noted that Lee often returns to the mockingbird theme when trying to make a moral point.

Shawn wasn't sure what he had, but he knew that he had something. He could feel it – not psychically, obviously, but instinctively. This had something to do with the significance of harming something innocent.

He grabbed his coat and helmet, jumped on his bike, and headed to the library.

If he could remember where it was.

Wait. Did Santa Barbara even have a library?

He shrugged to himself, resolving to ask for directions when he stopped for a smoothie.

Fifteen minutes later, Shawn had managed to charm his way into the library with his pineapple smoothie in tow, past the "No food or drinks allowed beyond this point, no exceptions" sign. He'd found a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird but couldn't be bothered to read it because one, he didn't have the time, and two, he just really didn't want to. Besides, he didn't have a library card. So he approached the indulgent older librarian, Mrs. Moore, who was sitting at her desk. She was about ten years older than his dad, with smile dimples, kind eyes, and a motherly expression. And one heck of a granny fro.

She saw the book in Shawn's right hand and pointedly ignored the smoothie in his left. "Ah, brilliant choice," she beamed. "Reliving high school literature days?"

Shawn smiled brightly. "Of course," he lied. "All the classics... This book..." He searched his mind for titles that he was supposed to have read in high school. "Uh, the Greek one, Epidemic Sex..."

She blinked. "You mean Oedipus Rex?"

"...Sure, sure. Shakespeare. Dr. Seuss. All the classics. 'Red Fish Blue Fish' was a literary gem."

"Uh-huh." She looked a bit taken aback, but he flashed her his charming grin and she smiled back, glancing at the book in Shawn's hand and commenting, "I just love Harper Lee's narrator, Scout."

"Boy scout? Girl scout? Talent scout?"

"No, a little girl named Scout." Mrs. Moore looked at her customer strangely. "Are you sure you've read the book?"

Shawn made a show of being charmingly embarrassed. "Actually, Ma'am," he admitted, "I never got to read it. I developed major cataracts in my eyes when we were supposed to read it. It broke my heart." Poor, sweet, gullible Mrs. Moore put a hand to her heart, looking horrified. "But I've been doing some research on it."

"Before you read it?"

"Uh, that's how I read. I learn everything there is to know about a book before I even crack open the cover page. I want to be prepared."

"Interesting approach to literature. Very unique. You must be quite the scholar, young man."

"Sure," Shawn agreed amiably. "So, is there any way you can give me any significant information about the book's themes? Specifically, theories about the whole dead mockingbird thing."

"Oh, the loss of innocence," said Mrs. Moore. "A favorite topic among scholars. Mind you, there's a surprisingly small amount of academic research on this particular novel in comparison to its massive popularity. There are some interesting takes on the story, though." She leaned forward conspiratorially. "I was a college literature professor at Santa Barbara University many years ago, and I taught this book in every single American Literature course."

Not really wanting to go down memory lane with the sweet old librarian, Shawn didn't respond with anything other than a faux-interested, "Really now?"

"I assigned a paper to my students that was meant to focus on any theme they chose for the novel. Oh, most of them were average. 'Loss of Innocence,' 'Racism in the Early 1900s and Its Contribution to Bigotry Today,' etc. But there were several unique perspectives as well. One was by a brilliant little girl named Sophie Lawrence. 'Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, and Innocence Is Its Maker: Emily Dickenson and Harper Lee on the Subject of Innocence.' Brilliant work."

"Title's a little wordy, though," Shawn commented.

"Mm. And then there was this one young man whom I will never forget, poor boy. He focused his paper on Bob Ewell, the villainous, lying, abusive, revenge-seeking antagonist of the story."

"Revenge seeking?" Maybe it was somebody from a past case trying to get him back for something?

"His paper focused on the theme of revenge and retribution, and the psyche of Bob Ewell's character, and how while Sheriff Tate refused to 'kill a mockingbird' by bringing attention to Boo Radley's good deed, Bob Ewell did the exact opposite and did in fact 'kill a mockingbird' in his attack against Atticus Finch's children to get revenge for the wrongs he felt Atticus had done to him." The names meant nothing to Shawn, but he still got the message loud and clear.

Maybe this wasn't about one of his cases. Maybe it had to do with his dad.

But still, this was pretty far-fetched, basing some sort of revenge plot on the story-line of a classic book he'd never read. Although he'd based some theories on horror movies, some on comic books, and still others on his favorite 80s movies, and many of them had turned out to be right.

"Mrs. Moore, you don't happen to have a copy of that paper, do you?"

"Well, yes, but there is a student-teacher confidentiality policy, and Aaron Stevens didn't give me express permission to show his work outside of the academic arena." Yet she's parading his name around to an almost complete stranger. Ah well, Shawn thought. Better for him. Now he had a name to work with, even in the event that he didn't get a copy of the paper for a while.

"But," she continued, "that was nearly thirty years ago, and after everything that happened with that young boy, well..."

"What happened?" Shawn resisted the urge to start jumping up and down in his urgent quest for information. He had a feeling that everything was going to be coming together pretty soon.

"He was arrested."

"Reeeally now?"

"For murder."

Ding, we have a winner!

"Do you know the name of the officer in charge of his case?" He was certain it was going to be his dad.

"Actually, I do, because he was a close family friend. Although he was lead on the case, he wasn't convinced that the student had committed the murder, and I remember him telling me that he was going to keep digging even after he was convicted, try to clear his name if he could. I think he even visited him a few times in prison to check up on him. He was a good man."

"Was a good man?" From the way the librarian was talking, it seemed like the officer she was talking about wasn't around anymore, and her descriptions of the guy's heartfelt actions didn't sound like his dad at all. Maybe this was a dead end, after all. He couldn't expect to visit the library to get a little background information and end up figuring out the whole case. But still... she had taught for years at the biggest university in Santa Barbara. It wouldn't be that much of a coincidence if she'd taught the guy behind all of this at one point. This was looking to be far too convenient to just be a coincidence.

"Yes, he passed away in a car accident over twenty years ago. It was heartbreaking."

"I'm sorry," said Shawn, knowing for sure now that she wasn't talking about his father.

"Oh, but Jim Morton was a wonderful cop," she gushed. "He, along with a lot of the police department, from what he told me, didn't think that the young high school literature teacher couldn't have committed the crime. But the evidence was damning." Shawn was surprised to hear a word stronger than "golly" come out of the librarian's mouth. "I wasn't sure what to believe. One of the lead witnesses was a cop who was off-duty in the case, I think. And according to Jim, he too was adamant that my former student didn't do it. Apparently, the witness did what he could in court to help the boy, but it wasn't enough. He went away for twenty-five years. I think he was recently released on parole, but I haven't heard a peep from him since. Perhaps that's for the best, considering what he was convicted for. Still..."

Shawn wasn't sure why this grandmotherly old librarian would want a visit from a homicidal former student, but he didn't pursue the topic. Everything was finally starting to come together. He needed to see that paper, he needed to talk to Gus, and most of all, he needed to talk to his dad.

"Mrs. Moore, how soon can you get me that paper?"

She smiled warmly. "I can drop it off at your office as soon as my shift is over at nine. Where is it you work again?"

"Gus," said Shawn as soon as his best friend answered the phone. "I just got back to my place, and then I'm gonna head over to the Psych office in a few. "I've got a lead, and it's a doozy!"

"No kidding? I got nothing. Apparently, if someone wants to leave a dead bird in front of someone's building, they do it when nobody's around to see it. And I'd say it's the same at your place. And I'm also guessing that you suspected that right from the start. I'm getting the feeling that you were avoiding me."

"Sorry, Buddy. I was just trying to work some stuff out on my own first. I know how you get when dead animals are involved. Remember the sea lion?"

Gus clicked his tongue in annoyance, and Shawn clicked his right back. "Whatever. So what's your lead?"

"It's some crazy, revenge-seeking ex-literature teacher turned murderer turned birdurer, and for some reason, he's obsessed with that book you love so much."

"Chicken Soup for the Single's Soul? That's weird for a killer to use as inspiration."

"Gus, I'm going to try to pretend I didn't just hear that. I'm embarrassed for you right now."

"What's wrong with a single man looking for comfort in the stories and lives of other people like him? The Chicken Soup books have gotten me through some of the tough spots in my life. Too bad they don't have one for The Guy with the Obnoxious Best Friend's Soul."

Shawn rolled his eyes. "Gus," he said, hoping to give his oblivious and not-all-that-funny best friend a clue (and simultaneously annoy him), "don't be Basementus Flinch from To Kill a Mockingjay."

As Shawn fished for his key in his pocket, he listened to Gus bristling in irritation on the other end. "First off, Shawn, it's Atticus Finch, and, once again, it's bird, not jay. And why wouldn't I want to be Atticus Finch? He's the greatest character in all of literature."

"You never used to want to be white," Shawn pointed out.

"He was a brother where it counted, Shawn."

"I don't understand that sentence at all."

"You know what, forget it. If you want to make fun of my favorite character in my favorite novel of all time, then fine. Do it. I will take a leaf from Atticus's book and treat you like a person nonetheless."

"Ah, because a person's a person no matter how small," Shawn quoted wisely.

"That's Horton Hears a Who, Shawn."

"I've—"

"No, you really haven't. So what book are you talking about?"

Shawn rolled his eyes as he unlocked his door. Shawn had waved the answer right under Gus's super smeller. Gus himself had even said that To Kill a Mockingbird was his favorite book of all time. It seemed that Shawn had worked Gus into such a lather that he was still too frustrated to connect the dots. Once Gus had a chance to calm down, though, he'd make the connection almost immediately.

"It'll come to you, Gus."

"Shawn, I—"

A hand reached out right as Shawn crossed the threshold into his dry cleaner's/apartment, snatching the phone out of Shawn's hand and hanging it up. Another hand shot from the shadows and locked itself around Shawn's mouth, dragging the fake psychic into his apartment, while Shawn, taken off guard and struggling futilely, tried to call for help... but no one was around to hear him as he was dragged into the building and the door was kicked shut behind him.

Reply to Anonymous Reviewer:

To BubbleAngel: Thank you so much! I'm so honored that you are enjoying this to the extent that you would count the moments until the next update! In return, I shall count the moments until your next wonderful, amazing review that makes me squee with delight (again)... One... two... five... ... Three, sir, three. ... If you've not seen Monty Python, then I'm afraid that I just made no sense to you there, and you probably think I'm a loon... but that's okay; don't care what you think of me as long as you're enjoying the story! Thanks again for your review! Made my day! :)

A/N: Dun, dun. dun! And so it begins... :) Here's hoping that you enjoyed; please leave me a review and let me know what you thought!

Huge hugs and thank-yous to everyone who reviewed chapter two: Clara Brighet, Leahelisabeth, ChutneyMarie, mushushy, lampstand00, Comma to the Top and BubbleAngel! You guys are amazing! And thanks to everyone who has favorited/followed the story so far, too! Please keep reviewing; it helps keep me motivated with the editing/revisions of each chapter before I post; it can be a tedious process, but it's totally worth it, and I'm seriously loving every minute of it! Thanks, guys! Pineapple smoothies for all! (They'll have to be virtual, though, I'm afraid...)

I'll see y'all next week with chapter four...

Everyone enjoy the episode tonight! I'm excited but sad about it, kind of like I was when reading the last Harry Potter book. Knowing it's about to end, and wanting to find out what's next, but super sad that it's almost over... But I'm going to focus on the positive, which is that we still have 5 more episodes, and I heard that Dule Hill said they left the ending open in case they ever want to do a special... which I would NOT put past them in the future! I mean, Steve Franks pulled off a musical! If he wants to do a special after the series is over, I think he'll find a way to do a special after the series is over. :) Anyway...

Please review! Love you all!

~Emachinescat ^..^