Disclaimer for previous chapters: The line about "first on the scene, first suspect" was kidnapped from a CSI novel. Not mine.

Disclaimer for this chapter: Oscar the Grouch and the Garbage Pail kids are not mind. Neither are Star Wars or Star Trek or anything related. Wet and Wild is not mine either.

P.S. Okay, I admit it. That title was stolen from Maja. The last bit was me though. And it's lame. I apologize. XDDDDDDDDDD

Gus smiled at the cinnamon skinned woman leaning against the refreshment stand counter beside him, her red bikini following the curves of her Do-I-look-like-I-care? cocked hips in an almost criminally attractive fashion, a bored expression on her pretty oval shaped face. She smiled back with full, pouty lips, her almond shaped brown eyes nearly squinting closed. "You don't look like you're having very much fun," he said, dutifully keeping his eyes north of the equator.

She smiled again, this time revealing pretty white teeth and she said dryly, "This place is a total dump. But I promised to go with my sister's husband to take my niece and my nephew and... Well. That's what I get for being the 'cool' aunt. I'm just glad they have alcohol," she said and raised the brightly colored drink in her right hand.

Gus grinned and glanced back at the park. "Yeah, it's not exactly Wet & Wild, is it?"

She snorted and said, "Not exactly."

"How old are your niece and nephew?"

"Sixteen and fourteen. Good kids. They're a lot of fun."

Gus smiled knowingly. "But still a little young. You know," he said, expression carefully casual, "It's a lot more fun spending it with someone your age."

She bit her bottom lip, barely stifling a smile and met his gaze. "Is that so? Well then, I don't suppose you can suggest any cute, single, thirty-somethings for me to spend the day with, can you?"

Gus thanked the vendor as he received his soda and then flashed his most charming smile at her, extending his hand. "Burton Guster. You can call me Gus."

Her mouth curved into a grin and she took his hand. "Leilani Bailai. Nice to meet you Gus."

After charming Alicia, the girl currently running the concessions stand between the Twister and the Wicked Whippet, out of a cherry snow cone, Shawn began searching for the murder weapon in earnest.

Sucking thoughtfully on a mouthful of shaved ice, he considered the facts he had. 1. Odds were ten to one that Josie had disposed of the murder weapon. 2. She had six, maybe seven minutes to dive in the pool, find the murder weapon, and dispose of it. 3. Therefore, it had to have been stashed somewhere nearby. He was betting inside the crime scene. 4. Based on what he had learned from the coroner, and the marks on the chute, he was most probably looking for a thin wire with fastening clamps at either end.

See? Already oodles of information. He slurped down some of the syrup and melted ice collecting at the bottom of his cone. Now. If he were a crazy psycho chick, where would he hide his murder weapon?

He slipped into the crime scene, waving cheerfully as he passed a short, blond officer whose name not only escaped him, but had been entered into the Witness Protection program, changed identities, and was now living in the south of France.

He kept to the outskirts of the crime scene, keeping a low profile because Josie and Clarice (who was still crying—it had to be a world record or something) were still at the foot of the pool, now being questioned by one of the plainclothes officers.

The area around the pool was, despite the presence of the CSI and the police, uncluttered to say the least. Aside from the lifeguard stand where Clarice would have been sitting, the pipe was pretty much the only other object around the poolside. Outside the gate, three sides of the area had been sectioned off with eight-foot high chain link fencing, and covered with blue tarping. The fourth side was effectively blocked by the presence of a planter filled with fake palm trees, bushes, and other various botanical-looking chunks of green and brown plastic. So unless Josie had just chucked the wire over the fence or into the planter, he wasn't really seeing—

Ah hah.

Peeking through a small gap where two tarps had been tied up over the fence in the far right corner, was a trashcan.

He smiled smugly, downed the rest of his snow cone, and turned to go and find Gus.

"Picard was so the best captain."

"No way! He was awesome but—"

Shawn found Gus walking side by side with Leilani, headed in the direction of the Relaxing River.

"Gus! Dude! I— Hey. Who is she?" Shawn glanced between Gus and Leilani once and then without waiting for an answer, grinned and stuck his hand out. "Shawn. Shawn Spencer. I'm a—"

"Lifeguard," Gus cut in brusquely, glaring and he quickly began hustling Shawn away from Leilani. She watched them move just out of earshot, a bemused look on her face. "Shawn, don't even think about telling her what you're doing here. I don't want you freaking her out. I actually like this girl," he hissed.

"I'm just his best friend, no worries!" Shawn called over Gus' shoulder, ignoring him, and Leilani grinned.

"Nice to meet you!" she called back.

"Dude, she's hot," Shawn said, returning his attention to his best friend.

Gus' annoyance quickly dissolved into smugness. "I know. She moved here from Vegas and she works with pharmaceutical salesmen."

Shawn's eyebrows rose. "Dude, seriously?"

"Yeah. And—" He leaned forward conspiratorially. "She totally digs Star Trek."

"Oh wonderful. Now you two can get together and make sweet geek love and roleplay as bothans," Shawn said, rolling his eyes and turning away. "Anyway, I figured out where the killer, aka freaky-witness-girl Josie, ditched the murder weapon. I need you to come with me so you can interpret my vision of the garbage can outside the crime scene."

"First of all, Shawn," Gus said irritably, "Bothans are from Star Wars. Second of all, I do not roleplay. And thirdly, and most importantly, I am not going anywhere with you. I," he said, pausing for emphasis, "am with a girl."

"Dude," Shawn said, sounding miffed, "What about our 'Bros before Hos' rule?"

Gus immediately smacked him. "Shut up! We have no such rule. And if we do, you've broken it more times than I can count. I'm going to kill you if she heard that."

Shawn sighed. "Yeah, all right, fine. Point taken. Go Leia some love on Leilani."

Gus shot him a look. "That was horrible Shawn."

He made a face, his nose wrinkling. "Yeah, that was pretty bad, wasn't it?" He held his fist out and Gus rolled his eyes, but bumped it grudgingly.

"Let me know if you get something."

Shawn grinned. "Let me know if you get something."

Gus shot him a dirty look and returned to where Leilani stood waiting as Shawn took off at a leisurely jog in the other direction. She smiled. "A lifeguard, huh? Your own personal lifeguard, maybe?"

"Mine? No way. Shawn is like my brother, but I would not trust that man to be my lifeguard. Uh uh."

Leilani laughed.

Lassiter and Juliet were striding past the Wave Pool for what felt like the tenth time that day to Juliet and she sighed wistfully, trying to keep her mind focused on what Lassiter was saying to the officer doing his best to keep up with them. The sun was finally working it's way toward the western horizon and it was helping cool things down. Barely.

"I want to know where this guy is—I want to talk to him, sooner rather than later. He runs the park for Pete's sake, where the hell could he be?"

"We're doing our best to find him, but—"

"Lassie! Jules! Hey, wait up! Lassieface!"

"Spencer," Lassiter said loudly, not even bothering to look over his shoulder. "Would you just— What the—SPENCER!" He backed quickly away from the shore of the Wave Pool, cursing as Shawn's easy lope showered he and O'Hara with water. "Do you mind?"

Shawn smiled as he slowed. "As a matter of fact, Lassie, I don't."

Lassiter scowled.

Juliet tried to look irritated, but it was hard when the feeling of the cool water on her overheated skin was a welcome reprieve.

"I've been getting these weird flashes for the last ten minutes and I think they have something to do with the case, but I can't quite decipher what they mean. Maybe you guys can help me out?" Shawn said, the fingers of his right hand waggling near his temple.

Lassiter's face took on a nasty expression, but it was Juliet who answered first. "Sure, Shawn, go ahead and tell us what you're seeing," she said supportively. Lassiter glowered at her.

"Right, okay... I'm getting...green...fuzzy, um..." His face creased in concentration. "...A puppet? Oh. Dude! It's Oscar!"

Juliet stared and Lassiter snorted derisively, his arms crossing in impatience. "The Grouch?" Juliet clarified, bewildered.

"Yeah," Shawn said, nodding, "Yeah, it's Oscar the Grouch and...Garbage Pail kids?"

"Oh, you mean, as in trash?" Lassiter cut in peevishly. "Spencer, you really are an idiot if you can't interpret those 'visions'."

Shawn snapped his fingers, his eyes opening and he said, "Dude, Lassie, that's it! The spirits have been trying to tell me that the murder weapon is inside the trashcan outside the crime scene!"

"Wow. All that from Oscar the Grouch and the Garbage Pail kids. You're a regular wonder, Spencer."

"That makes sense though, Carlton, if the weapon isn't in the pool." She looked back at Shawn. "Did the spirits mention what the weapon was?" Lassiter threw his hands up in an I give up gesture.

Shawn squinted, his hand moving to his temple again. "Come on guys, give me a little more info for the pretty blonde detective..." He paused for a moment and then his eyebrows rose dramatically. "You don't say. Well then." He looked at Juliet. "They say it's a wire. Like on a cheese cutter."

Juliet's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh. That makes sense. Carlton—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he grumbled. "Raine, go find Bobbie Grinsley. O'Hara, let's get back to the crime scene."

Shawn followed as the head detective stalked off with his partner in tow. "This is fun, isn't it guys? Working as a team? Doing the detective thing?"

Lassiter seethed.

The sound of Lassiter's teeth grinding together was audible within a five foot radius by the time the three minute walk to the Twister was over. Juliet seemed to sense that he would probably tear someone's head off if he was the one who had to tell the CSI to check the garbage can, and she immediately waved him over, taking him outside the fencing before explaining what needed to be done. Shawn grinned at Lassiter, waggled his fingers, and beat it out after Juliet before the irate detective could do more than fix him with The-Fire-and-Brimstone-Upon-Your-Unmentionables Glare of Death.™.

Juliet shook her head as he joined she and the CSI, who was already working on processing, at the trashcan. "You really do know how to push his buttons, you know that?"

Shawn grinned. "It's a gift...and a—no, no it's just gift."

They fell silent, Shawn focusing his attention briefly on the CSI, who was working perhaps the most tedious job ever, and then switching his gaze to something far more interesting. Something that was currently eyeing the refreshment stand as though it were a tall glass of water after a long day in the sun. He grinned. "Can I get you a snow cone, Jules?"

She flushed, gaze immediately tearing away from the stand. "What? No. I'm working Shawn."

He smirked. "It's not like they spike them, Jules. I'm pretty sure you'd be forgiven for having one snow cone on a hot day like this."

The expression on her face practically screamed YES. "I can't let you buy me a snow cone..."

He laughed. "Who said I was buying anything? Jules, I'm getting you one. I can practically see you salivating. Blue Raspberry?"

She met his gaze, eyes wide. "Yeah."

Shawn grinned. "Be right back."

He bounced off and she returned her focus to the garbage can, trying not to be so absurdly grateful that Shawn was a mind-reader.

The CSI was picking through the contents of the garbage bag methodically, one piece at a time, and bagging each piece when Shawn returned, holding out the snow cone.

"Here you go."

Juliet accepted the snow cone with a grateful and rather fervent, "Thank you," and a guilty glance at the apparently oblivious CSI. The look on her face when she took her first bite was enough to make Shawn's day, and he couldn't help grinning. She tipped her head at him and after quickly swallowing the mouthful, said, "I take it you had one earlier?"

One eyebrow quirked. "What makes you say that? Jules, are my powers rubbing off on you?" he gasped.

She rolled her eyes. "Your lips are still red Shawn. Unless you've started staining them for beauty purposes?"

Shawn's mouth curled into a grin. "So you admit you've been staring at my mouth."

Juliet flushed. "No! I just—it's hard to ignore when your mouth is bright red!"

Shawn's Cheshire cat grin simply grew and she huffed, pointedly turning back to the trashcan and taking another bite of her snow cone. The expression was short-lived though, the snow cone doing wonders for her mood, and the CSI (who was smirking down at the garbage laid out in front of him) lifted something in one latex-gloved hand. "This what you're looking for, Detective?"

She and Shawn both leaned in to peer at the thin wire in his hands.

"That's it, all right."