Thank you for the reviews! Sorry it's been so long!

Psycho4Life: Once again, thank you so much!

Nayha: Thanks for the encouragement :D

bemyryder: I'm glad you enjoy it! More cliffhangers coming up :P

: Thank you for reviewing!

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Previously

Lassiter glared at Shawn. "Well, Guster wasn't poisoned!"

"I'm afraid he was," said a voice. Gus turned to see the doctor coming in.

"How bad was it?" asked Shawn curiously. "Was he like, kind of poisoned"

The doctor shook his head.

"Frankly, I'm surprised Gus is still alive."

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Lassiter narrowed his eyes at the doctor and growled, "You better not be messing with us. I am Head Detective of the Santa Barbara Police Department."

The doctor only smiled. "I can assure you, Detective, that I would not lie about my patient's condition, which is actually very serious. It seems something called Dimethylmercury, which is usually slow-acting, was added to Gus' bloodstream earlier today. Luckily, Gus had a small allergic reaction to the poison, which we were able to flush out of his system."

Lassiter blinked and pulled his phone out. "Well, in that case," he said, dialing Chief Vick's number, "We have a murderer to catch."

Shawn turned to Gus, who was already shaking his head. "No, Shawn," Gus said with conviction. "No, no, no. I was poisoned today! Somebody tried to kill me!"

"Gus!" Shawn whined. "That's why we have to get on this case! It was meant for us!"

Gus raised his eyebrow. "And how do you want to go about catching the bad guy? Your ribs are still healing, your legs are weak, and I have just been poisoned!"

"Gus is right," chimed in the doctor. "He should not be doing any strenuous activity anytime soon. And from what I hear about you, Shawn, it seems you should not be hunting down a killer either, not in that state."

Shawn shot a glare at the doctor and turned back to Gus. "Buddy, please? We can take it easy! I promise!" he added hurriedly, seeing the look his best friend was giving him.

"Spencer! Close your mouth!" Lassie shouted. "I'm on the phone! Sorry about that," he said to Chief Vick. "Spencer is trying to convince Guster to help on the case."

"Why not?" asked the Chief, smiling as she listened to Shawn's attempts at convincing Gus. "They could be useful on this case. Wasn't it Shawn in the first place who had the vision?" She smiled again as she listened to Lassiter rage on the other end.

Gus was mirroring Lassie. "No, no, no, Shawn!"

Shawn crossed his arms and pouted, but turned when he heard what Lassie was saying.

"Chief, absolutely not. Spencer has hindered enough investigations—"

"Gimme that, Lassie!" Shawn snatched the phone from the detective's hands. "Chief, what's up? I have a strong vision saying you want me on this case!"

On the other end, Chief Vick rolled her eyes. She knew Shawn was not psychic, but he was a good detective. "That is true, ."

Shawn held up a fist for Gus to bump. Gus stared pointedly ahead.

Lassie wrestled the phone out of Shawn's hands. "Don't tell me you're putting him on this case!" Lassie said, hoping against hope.

"I am. Mr. Spencer is officially hired."

Shawn, who was listening in, gave out a whoop that he immediately regretted. "Dude," he whined to Gus. "Remind me never to make that sound again. My throat just tore itself up!"

"Hanging does tend to do that to a person," Gus remarked with satisfaction. Thank you, karma.

"Gus," the doctor cut in to his thoughts. "There's someone here to see you."

Shawn perked up. "Is it the pizza guy? I ordered a pizza, and it's been ages!"

The doctor shook his head and turned back to Gus. "She says she met you today and wanted to see how you were."

Lassie turned his head sharply. "It's not the lady from the news, is it?"

"Malena Walker, the one who just tried to kill me with a syringe? I hope not!"

The visitor walked in. She had blond hair and was wearing a bright pink blazer.

"Hello," said Malena Walker. "I've been framed for a murder and I need your help."

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"So you're telling us that you didn't try to kill Gus?" Shawn asked, slurping down the last of his pineapple smoothie.

Malena rolled her eyes. "We've been over this! A week ago, someone was poisoned and I found the syringe in my blazer during the news report! If someone tried to poison Gus, it may have been the same person, but it certainly wasn't me!"

Gus pulled his chair up to get a better look at the syringe, which was laying on the table, where it had been since they arrived at the smoothie shop.

It had taken a long time to get checked out of the hospital, and Lassie, seething with rage by then, had driven off without them. Shawn and Gus had had no choice but to go along with what Malena was saying, since she was the only one with a vehicle.

Plus, the reporter hadn't tried to kill Gus again yet, which was a huge bonus.

They didn't have much time. "We don't have much time," Gus said, glancing behind his shoulder. "Either Lassie takes you in for the murder or I get killed by the murderer!"

Malena nodded her head hurriedly. Too hurriedly. Gus narrowed his eyes. He still didn't trust her.

"Gus," Shawn said, noticing the glance his friend was giving Malena. "Talk with me for a moment."

Gus obediently followed Shawn to the corner, but not without sneaking a glance over his shoulder to make sure Malena was not about to poison him again.

"What is it, Shawn?"

Shawn smiled. "Malena's innocent!"

"How do you know, Shawn?" Gus looked up to the roof of the café. "I've been poisoned, and she has the syringe! I still feel queasy! What if she's using us to protect her from jail, even though she is guilty!"

"It's simple!" Shawn responded. "First of all, murderers don't go around in bright pink blazers—or bright pink anything, for that matter! Second of all, she would've killed you by now if she wanted to! Third—" his eyes darted around, making sure they were alone. "I know who the real killer is!"

ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff Another cliffhanger!

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