a/n: this is an updated chapter 6, sorry for any possible confusion!

Frederick Hofstein was a hard man to track down. Not physically, but finding an opening in his busy schedule was nearly impossible. And demanding to talk to the museum director wasn't something that a regular person could just waltz into the museum and do whenever they felt like it.

Then again, Shawn wasn't exactly a regular person. That and the fact that Frederick Hofstein had a standing lunch reservation for the same restaurant every Tuesday meant Shawn had a way to bypass the whole "make an appointment" issue he would've otherwise run into.

Gus, having felt too uncomfortable to crash the museum director's lunch plans as a patron of the arts and museum member, had opted to stay in the car while Shawn slipped into the restaurant. He slid into the empty chair across from Hofstein just after the man's drink had been served.

The older man looked up through round spectacles, clearly perturbed by the interruption. "Can I help you?"

Shawn nodded. "I'm Shawn Spencer, Head Psychic for the SBPD."

Hofstein's face softened, but the annoyance was still there. Shawn didn't care, he was used to seeing this quality in people's faces. "Are you here about the missing Johns work?"

"Not exactly. I got a strong vibe that you were connected somehow to Sidney Roma."

Shawn got the confirmation that Hofstein knew exactly who she was with a brief flicker of uncertainty that flashed across the man's face. "Yes, I heard she was murdered by one of our guards. So tragic."

"Did you know Sidney Roma?" Shawn asked.

Hofstein nodded, taking a sip of his drink. "Barely. But she was a talented artist."

"You have one of her paintings in your museum, right?"

Again, Hofstein nodded. "We do, we have a few works by current Californian artists of merit. But I don't handle acquisitions."

Shawn smiled. "I actually don't want to talk about Sidney Roma at all. Do you know Dante?"

At this, Hofstein's face lit up. "He's one of the most exciting artists to debut in the last decade. I was delighted when I found he'd chosen our museum to display his work."

"Except, he didn't just 'choose' your museum, did he?" Shawn asked, taking note of how the director's face fell at the accusation.

Hofstein shook his head and looked away. "I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say here, Mr. Spencer."

Shawn held two fingers to his forehead and looked directly at Frederick Hofstein. "I think you knew all about the piece being placed in your museum."

Looking around nervously, the museum director leaned in towards Shawn. "Yes, Dante and I had been in contact. But only because one of my curators put me in touch with him."

"Which curator?" Shawn asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Madeleine Perkins. She put me in touch with Dante, but I never met the man face to face. And for whatever reason, he used a voice distorter the few times we spoke on the phone," Hofstein said. "It was rather charming, the whole spectacle of it."

"So you never met Dante?"

Hofstein shook his head, taking another sip of his drink. "No, nor would I have wanted to. The art is in the anonymity and the act."

"But your curator has?" Hofstein considered. "It seems as though Ms. Perkins and Dante had some sort of history that she had alluded to when she proposed the idea of getting a Dante work for the museum. I would've preferred to have it happen organically, but having a piece in our museum is really fantastic considering we're one of the smaller museums in the state. Works like Dante's give our museum more gravitas in the art world."

Shawn nodded and looked around the restaurant. "Is Madeleine Perkins working today?"

Hofstein shrugged. "I'm not in charge of the schedules."

Shawn got up from his seat. "Thanks for…speaking with me."

The museum director looked contemplative before finally saying something. "Since you're a psychic…do you know who Dante actually is?"

Shawn frowned and nodded. "Unfortunately, I think everyone will soon."

The older man sighed. "A shame to come out so early in his career."

Shawn left the restaurant and took the opportunity of spotting an oblivious Gus to sneak up on his friend. Gus was typing something out on his Blackberry (work had finally upgraded him) and didn't see Shawn slowly rise up in the driver's side window. Looking over, Gus finally noticed Shawn and it was a good two seconds before the neurons fired and Gus dropped his phone, letting out a high-pitched scream. Lucky for the both of them, the window had been up. It at least saved Gus the embarrassment of anyone hearing his girly scream.

Shawn went around to the passenger's side and got in the car, surprised Gus hadn't locked the door in retribution.

"Why did you do that, Shawn?" Gus asked, looking thoroughly pissed off.

Shawn smirked. "Temptation, my friend."

"You're lucky I'm still giving you a ride after that."

"C'mon Gus. You know the closest bus stop is like a mile away from here. And I parch easily. I could die of thirst. Would you really want that on your conscience?"

"Did you talk with the museum director?" Gus asked, changing the subject as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"Yeah. He has no clue who Dante is, but said one of the curators put him in touch with Dante."

"Which curator?"

Shawn thought. "Madeleine Perkins?"

Gus looked over. "That name sounds familiar."

"Well, Perkins is a family restaurant that serves a pretty decent slice of pie."

Gus shook his head, exasperated already. "No, I've heard that name before. I think she's an artist too."

Shawn rolled his eyes. "Who isn't an artist in this town?"

"She did a show a few months ago…it didn't get a very good reception."

"So we've got a disgruntled museum curator that's trying to be an artist. Who knows a woman who is getting tons of attention as an anonymous street artist in addition to having work in the permanent collection of the museum where the curator works."

Gus looked over at Shawn. "That sounds like motive."

"You bet your sweet ass it does. Let's go stop off at the station and see if we can't give them a nudge in a better direction here."

"Fine, but I've got an appointment with a client at two, so no hitting on O'Hara or annoying Lassiter." If Gus hadn't been driving, Shawn was sure he would have seriously folded his arms.

"Strictly business, mon ami. You'll get to your fancy schmancy client meeting with plenty of time to spare."

"I better. Dr. McAllister is always early. Which means I have to be there earlier than him."

Shawn shook his head. "Some sort of Art of War thing?"

"No, he's got Irritable Bowel Syndrome and likes to get things over with quickly," Gus replied.

"That sounds crappy," Shawn said, smirking at his pun.

Gus looked ahead at the road, but pointed a finger at his choice of words, clearly not amused by them.

----

O'Hara walked up to Lassiter's desk and threw down a manila folder with a triumphant smile on her face.

Lassiter looked up, looking equal parts tired and cranky.

"Got the autopsy report," she said, beaming.

"I don't see why you're so happy about this, O'Hara."

She opened the folder to the tox report and pointed out to him what she was so excited about. "The palette knife wounds were superficial like we thought. The cause of death was anaphylaxis."

Lassiter looked over the report and frowned. "Severe allergic reaction?"

"She also had an elevated BAC at the time of death," O'Hara supplied, looking down at the report.

"This still doesn't clear Mark Field. It just changes how he killed her," Lassiter replied, standing up from his seat. "What was she allergic to?"

"Peanuts. Which is interesting because Mark Field also has a peanut allergy. So I asked him if there was an EpiPen in the studio and he said there were three in Roma's desk."

"Were there?"

"None," replied O'Hara. "Which means that this was a calculated, personal murder. And not the crime of passion we were meant to think it was."

Lassiter looked doubtful, but picked up the file and looked at it again.

"There are other prints in that studio that forensics lifted," Juliet offered.

"We don't have the resources to run all of them, though. We need to narrow this down before moving on it," Lassiter replied, setting the file down on his desk. He stood up and stretched, his shoulders making a satisfying popping sound. "I'm going to get some coffee."

Juliet nodded and went back to her desk. There were always other cases she could be working on, especially since they seemed to have run into a dead end with this one. Before she sat down, she noticed Shawn and Gus had entered the station and were looking around eagerly.

Shawn made a beeline for Lassiter's desk with Gus flanking. He sat on the edge of the desk, looking behind him at the file that sat open. He quickly took a mental note of the coroner's report, noticing the asphyxiation due to anaphylaxis and Roma's stomach contents.

"Dude," Shawn whispered to Gus. "If this Madeleine Perkins person did know Sidney Roma, she totally would've known what she was allergic to."

"Were there any EpiPens in the desk when you looked through it?" Gus asked, considering.

"I didn't notice any."

"It doesn't make sense that someone that allergic to peanuts wouldn't keep an EpiPen in a place where they spent a lot of time," Gus replied.

Shawn nodded. "Unless someone knew where she kept them and got rid of them so she couldn't do anything about it."

"That's low."

"Yeah. Which is why we've got to get on this case and figure out how Madeleine Perkins knew Sidney Roma."

"Spencer, get off my desk," came Lassiter's annoyed voice as he rounded the corner, holding a cup of coffee.

Shawn stood up and grinned. "Lassie, you're looking dapper today."

Lassiter rolled his eyes and grabbed the folder off his desk. "O'Hara and I have a meeting with the Chief, so take your sideshow somewhere else."

Shawn pretended to be hurt. "C'mon, Lassie. I don't think you appreciate just how hard those circus folk work."

Lassiter refused to get sucked into a conversation with Shawn and instead walked briskly towards Chief Vick's office. Juliet noticed him walking that way and quickly joined him, but Shawn and Gus followed swiftly behind, having no intention of going anywhere but the Chief's office.

As soon as the four of them were in the room, Shawn decided to have a vision, just to cut to the chase before Lassiter handed the Chief the file he was carrying. "I see a monocle and a cane. No…a top hat. A big ol' legume--"

Juliet frowned. "Shawn, what are you talk--" Shawn held his hand out to silence her. "George Washington Carver. Jimmy Carter."

"Peanuts?" Gus supplied finally.

"Sidney Roma was murdered with peanuts," Shawn said finally, dropping his hands to his side. "And I'm seeing that none of her EpiPens were where they were supposed to be."

Lassiter handed the file over to the chief with this statement. "Sidney Roma had a severe peanut allergy, her murderer knew this and took advantage of it."

"What are you saying detective?"

"Neither O'Hara nor I believe Mark Field killed Roma. Especially since he apparently also has a severe peanut allergy," Lassiter replied, crossing his arms.

"What about the EpiPens?" Vick asked, looking at O'Hara.

Juliet frowned. "Mark Field said there were three in Roma's desk, but CSU didn't find any when they swept the studio."

Shawn gave Gus a discrete fist bump upon hearing confirmation of his guess about the EpiPens.

Chief Vick looked over at Shawn, clearly interested in what he had to say. "Mr. Spencer, are you getting any vibes about this?"

"The spirit world is practically doing the Cha Cha, Chief. Mark Field isn't the murderer," Shawn said, walking towards the Chief's desk.

"Fantastic. Do you know who is?"

At this, Shawn swallowed. He held two fingers to the side of his head again and closed his eyes. Feigning a look of exasperation, he shook his head. "The spirits have a lot of opinions today. I'm seeing…a shower scene. Chocolate sauce…no. Anthony Perkins? Perkins family restaurant?" Shawn looked over at Lassiter. "Does somebody want some pie?"

While everyone else in the room looked like they were nearing the end of their tolerance for Shawn's conjectures, Juliet's face lit up. "One of the curators I interviewed was named Madeleine Perkins."

"That's it. Madeleine Perkins and Sidney Roma went way back. They knew each other," Shawn replied.

Vick raised an eyebrow. "Looks like you're officially on this case, Mr. Spencer. Detectives, I want you to find out a little more about Ms. Perkins before moving on this one. I want to know how far back they went before you bring her in for questioning."

Lassiter and Juliet left the office first, with Shawn and Gus following.

"I've got to go to my meeting," Gus said, looking at a clock on the wall worriedly.

"Can you drop me off somewhere first?"

"The museum?" Gus asked, already knowing what Shawn was up to.

Shawn nodded. "Hopefully Madeleine Perkins is working today."

tbc