Shawn had been waiting in an interrogation room for several minutes when a man finally entered.
"Hey there. I'm Agent David Sinclair," the African American agent began. "Mr. Spencer -"
"Shawn is just fine."
"Okay, Shawn. What were you doing at that hotel today?"
Shawn's fingers traced a circle on the table as he met David's gaze. "I was there for the medical conference."
The agent laughed a little at that, surveying Shawn's slumped posture in the chair. "You sure? I can't see you in the medical profession."
"Yeah. It wasn't like I wanted to be there exactly, but my friend Gus was going, and I had nothing better to do this weekend," Shawn shrugged.
As David continued questioning Shawn, Don and another agent watched through the one-way window.
"So, what do you think, Colby? Is this guy on the level?" Don asked, leaning against the small window ledge.
"Seems like it," Colby Granger replied, running a hand through his light brown hair. "I'm thinking he was just a guest at the wrong hotel on the wrong day."
They looked over as Nikki entered the room. She handed Don a folder as she launched into the background check.
"Well, his story checks out. Shawn Spencer from Santa Barbara, runs the Psych Detective Agency with his best friend and partner Burton Guster. According to this, he's got a pretty good case record."
"Hmm," Don mused, flipping through the file.
Colby's attention had been piqued by one of Nikki's points. "You said he's got an impressive case record?"
"Yeah. He's solved all the cases he's ever taken for the SBPD." Nikki studied Colby's face. "What? You thinking we should get him in on the case?"
He shrugged. "Well, it's Don's call, but I'm for it. I don't know if the psychic stuff is real, but it wouldn't hurt to have his help, especially since he was there."
Don looked up. "Okay; well, let's see what David's opinion is and go from there."
As if on cue, David exited the interrogation room and joined the rest of his team.
"What do you think, David?" Don wanted to know.
David looked through the window at Shawn, who was bouncing his leg up and down in impatience as he looked around the room. "He seems all right to me; I don't think he's holding anything back from us, although I can't say I'm totally sure about the psychic part."
Just then, a man poked his head into the room. "Agent Eppes? Just wanted to let you know that Burton Guster has arrived."
"Thanks," Don acknowledged. "Take him to one of the conference rooms for now."
"Got it." The man ducked back out.
"Colby thinks we should let him in on the investigation," Don continued. "Any objections?"
"Not from me. I think it might be good to have some extra help," David replied, his brow furrowing as he looked through the window at Shawn, who was now bent over in his chair, busily studying the underside of the table. "As long as he behaves himself."
"All right. Let's see what he thinks." Don made his way into the room with Shawn, pulling the door closed behind himself. He sat down at the table across from Shawn and leaned forward on his elbows.
"Do you guys have any smoothies around here?" Shawn asked before Don could say anything. He was sitting upright in his chair again, a look of complete innocence on his face. "Pineapple, preferably, but anything'll do."
"Uh, no," Don replied. "I came to ask if you would be interested in helping us out. We've taken a look at your case record with the SBPD and think you'd be a valuable addition to our team for this case."
"Sure," Shawn agreed quickly, eager to become something other than the suspect.
"Great." Don stood. "Let's get some security details taken care of, then we'll get you briefed."
"Does Gus get clearance, too?" Shawn wanted to know, standing to follow Don from the room. "We always work together - sometimes he's the only one who can interpret my visions."
Don paused for a moment. "He's your partner at Psych, right?" At Shawn's nod, he continued. "I think we can do that."
wmwmw
As Shawn and Gus entered the room where the team was gathered, Shawn glanced around at the security badges. He knew several of the team members already, but there were a few new faces. Smiling, he shook hands all around. "Hello there, I'm Shawn Spencer, psychic detective. Nice to meet you, Colby, Larry, Amita." He gave Amita a smooth, flirty grin as he said her name.
She didn't seem to return the sentiment, at least not as heartily as he had given it, but gave him a polite smile as she shook his hand.
Gus also caught the look Shawn gave Amita and elbowed his friend in the side, directing his own smile her way. "Burton Guster," he introduced, holding out a hand.
"Nice to meet you, Gus," Amita smiled back.
Shawn kicked Gus in the shins, which Gus promptly returned.
"Where's Charlie?" Don asked, giving Shawn and Gus a stern look.
After giving his friend a final smack, Gus quickly stepped over to stand on the other side of Don, putting the agent between himself and Shawn.
"He has a class to finish at the university. He'll be along soon," Larry Fleinhardt replied, taking in the glares shooting between the two friends. "Are you two all right?"
"Yes," they both answered at once.
"Uh-huh," Larry nodded, not looking convinced.
"Larry, Amita, and Charlie are our math team," Don spoke up, looking for a way to bring the consultants' focus back to the situation at hand.
Shawn raised a hand, waving it around like a kindergartener with the correct answer to the teacher's question. "What does math have to do with crime solving?" he asked.
"Well, we all use math every day; to predict weather, to tell time, to handle money," Amita Ramajuan explained. "Math is more than formulas or equations; it's logic, rationality, using your mind to solve day to day problems. We can use math to help solve crimes; for example, by figuring out probable times and locations."
Gus smiled and nodded. Shawn looked like he still needed time to let that soak in.
Just then, the door opened and Charlie Eppes hurried in. "Hey, guys, sorry I'm late. Class ran a little over, and traffic was really bad," the young man apologized as he hurried into the room. He stopped when he saw two unfamiliar men in the group.
"Hey, Charlie," Don greeted the new arrival.
Shawn immediately noticed the similarities in the two men. Even though Don was older, and Charlie had longer, curlier hair, they were definitely brothers.
"I'm sorry; do I know either of you?" Charlie asked, looking between Shawn and Gus.
"We didn't before today," Shawn informed him. "I'm Shawn Spencer, and this is my partner, Wiggly Rattlesnake."
Gus self-consciously cleared his throat. "I apologize. My name's Burton Guster." He quickly extended a hand to Charlie before Shawn could embarrass him further.
Shaking his head and unsuccessfully trying to hide a smile, Charlie returned the handshake. "Professor Charles Eppes. Nice to meet you. So you two are new agents?" he asked, turning to Shawn. His expression said he didn't think Shawn was dressed for the part.
"Actually," Shawn shook the offered hand, "we're -"
"Two special consultants," Don cut in. "They were in town, and we asked them to help out with the case."
"What kind of consultants? Are they mathematicians, too? You already have the three of us," Charlie pointed out, giving his brother an inquisitive look.
"Right. Uh, Charlie, could I talk to you for a minute out in the hall?" Don asked, moving towards the door.
"Yeah, sure …" A confused Charlie let Don lead him out of the room.
"What was that all about?" Gus wondered.
"Yeah, he totally interrupted me," Shawn complained, crossing his arms.
Amita sighed. "I'm afraid Charlie thinks everything can be explained by logic. When someone with your … abilities comes along, Shawn, he has a hard time accepting it."
"What? Oh, you mean my psychic wonders?"
"Yeah," Colby chuckled, joining the conversation. "I think Don would rather tell Charlie himself, and let him work it out in private rather than in front of all of us."
Out in the hallway, Charlie stopped and faced his brother. "Okay, Don, what's going on here? You interrupted Shawn before he could say much and practically dragged me out of there. What's wrong?"
Don ran a hand through his hair. "Look, Charlie, I know you had a little bit of a problem last time someone like this helped us out. Shawn's got … special insights that he can contribute to the case."
"Special insights?" Charlie paused at that. "Wait a second. You're saying he's a psychic, aren't you?"
"Yes, and Gus is his partner. They run a private detective agency in Santa Barbara." Don watched his brother's expression and saw what he'd expected.
"Don, there is no way his stuff is real." Charlie looked back through the doorway to where the others were standing. Shawn looked over and waved. "It's simply illogical to think he has any kind of special powers."
"Charlie, a hotel was bombed this morning. He was able to lead us to a second bomber in the crowd before the guy detonated his explosive. How did he do that if he didn't have something special?"
"Maybe he was in on the plot," Charlie suggested.
"He wasn't. We thought the same thing at first, but he checks out."
Charlie started to protest, but Don held up his hand. "I know this isn't the ideal situation for you, but could you try to put your personal ideas aside just until we solve this and these guys go back to Santa Barbara?" At Charlie's reluctant nod, Don continued, "Now come on. We've got a bombing to solve."
wmwmw
"Okay, everyone," Don spoke up once the brothers had rejoined the rest of the group. "Let's get started on finding the rest of these bombers. Do we have an I.D. on the guy we arrested?"
"We do." Nikki leaned over and pressed a button on the keyboard. The large screen on the wall lit up with several mug shots of the man. "He's George Armstrong. Been arrested several times before on different charges, most of which have to do with weapons. He's got a record for everything from breaking and entering to assault with a deadly weapon."
"All right, do we know of anyone he works with often? People who might be in on the plot?"
She looked up. "We're working on it. Apparently this guy was a loner most of the time."
"I want to know as soon as we have any more information about that. Now what about the bombs? Did we get anything on them?"
"They were homemade, pretty basic. The kind you can make with ingredients from your local hardware store and a simple how-to manual," David told him. "We've already got people looking into purchases at the area stores, but it's probably not going to yield anything. If they bought everything at once, then yeah, we'll get a lead, but if several people bought separate parts, we'll just be looking for a needle in a haystack."
"Now, we also have Armstrong's cell phone," Amita spoke up. "As soon as we're done here, we can start going through the call records."
"Okay, people, you all know what your jobs are. Let's get busy," Don instructed. As the group dispersed, he turned to Shawn and Gus, who were standing off to the side. "You don't happen to have any insights on anything yet, do you?"
"Hmm, no, sorry," Shawn shrugged as he studied the images on the screen.
Charlie shot Don a look as he walked out the door.