LEGAL A/N: Psych and all characters belong to Steve Franks, Tagline Pictures, NBC Universal Television Studios, GEP Productions and USA Network.
3: Don't Look Now
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Gus strolled down the boardwalk the next morning with Shawn at his side as his friend ate his way through one of his favorite dishes, a box of Lo Mien. "I can't believe this weekend is over," Gus sighed. He glanced to the side as two rich-looking, attractive young women walked down carrying shopping bags from the season Halloween store, both of them excited about their selections.
"I wonder what they're gonna do with costumes now?" Shawn said as he watched them pass by. "Think they have kids or something?"
"No," Gus said bitterly. "I bet they're going to the Montecito Halloween Mash – it's the biggest thing in Santa Barbara. Oprah was there last year. I hear she was the Queen of Hearts."
Shawn glanced over at Gus as they continued to walk down the sidewalk. "Why so glum?"
"Everybody who's anybody gets in to that party," Gus grumbled. "It's hosted by that movie and TV producer – Cristina Kubrick."
Shawn's expression contorted. "Didn't she try to make Freddy vs. Jason vs. The Breakfast Club?"
"Yep," Gus grinned. "The biggest handicap match of all time. And the only reason it didn't work out was that Anthony Michael Hall had schedule conflicts."
"How the hell does she get people to watch this stuff?"
He shrugged. "Don't know. People will watch anything on TV these days." Gus reached into his back pocket, pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper, and began to unfold it. "And here we are, party-less and trying to figure out how you're related to the victim."
"I don't think I am," Shawn shrugged in denial.
"Just listen, all right? Now the victim, George Romero, had a few jobs before he opened up the sporting goods store. This was all I could find on him. He was a security guard for a while for a bank, then before that he worked in a convenience store. Shawn, look at this list and tell me if anything pops out."
Shawn rolled his eyes and glanced over at the list, skimming through the names. "Nothing," he shrugged. "Dude, I don't see it and I don't think I'm going to. We didn't know each other."
"Then what about the message?" Gus asked.
Shawn mused to himself as finished his box of noodles and threw it in a garbage can. "Maybe…" he began, "maybe the connection isn't to me. Or even to another Spencer. It's to him." Shawn looked over at Gus who had a confused expression.
They came to a crosswalk and crossed the street as Gus declared, "Who'd want to kill Romero the sporting goods store owner?" Both of them strolled up to the front office of Psych to see Juliet O'Hara standing in front of the door with her arms crossed. She turned around and faced them, a look of distress darkening her expression.
"There's been another murder," she declared. Shawn and Gus paused, bewildered. She looked straight at Shawn and said, shaking her head with guilt, "You were right. We ran the candy through the lab and… nothing's definite but there was definitely something else in it. It doesn't match any poisons in our lab, but the results aren't finalized yet." She sighed, glancing down, then looked up, "We should've taken your word for it right away."
"Look, don't worry," Shawn answered sympathetically as he glanced over at Gus briefly, then back to Juliet. "We'll find out why this is happening."
"Let's not waste any more time," Juliet agreed. "Come on. We're going to the station."
Shawn and Gus sat at Juliet's desk in the police station as Juliet handed Shawn a file. She glanced around making sure Lassiter wasn't in sight. "Now technically," she explained, "I don't have the authority to tell you any details of the case."
Shawn opened the file and stared down at the photographs of a man with a tattered bathrobe and grey hair with his face lying down on a kitchen linoleum floor. "But that doesn't mean you can't stumble upon these crime scene photos and maybe get a feeling from some visual details?"
"I might," Shawn said, deep in thought as he stared down at the photos. Gus leaned over Shawn's shoulder and studied the pictures, too. Juliet's phone began to ring on her desk and she picked up the receiver.
"O'Hara," she answered. After a few moments, she answered, "Sure. I'll be right over." She hung up the phone saying, "I'll be right back – she's here." Juliet rushed off leaving Shawn and Gus with the photos.
"Are you getting anything?" Gus asked while they were alone.
"Yeah," Shawn nodded. "This man was in desperate need of a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond."
"Are there any pictures of his face?"
"I don't know." Shawn glanced down at the kitchen seeing a pumpkin pie on the counter, only a piece missing. "Bingo," he announced. "If this is related, then this is what killed him." Shawn flipped to the next photograph in succession: a photograph of the same message, 'Trick or Treat, Spencer?' written on the living room wall.
"Wait a minute," Shawn noticed. "The TV is on." He struggled and strained his eyes to make out the tiny, black-and-white image on the screen.
"So?"
"So… it was on in Romero's house, too."
"What are you saying?" Gus shrugged. "That Samara Morgan is saving time by climbing out of TVs and poisoning food?"
Shawn gazed intently at the picture with a contemplative expression. "They were both in the kitchen. What are the odds that both the TVs were on in separate rooms – in the same room?"
The sound of footsteps got their attentions as Shawn and Gus glanced up to see Juliet and another woman marching up to the desk. Gus' eyes widened and he swallowed hard, staring blankly at the other blonde woman in her late twenties wearing a black, pinstripe business suit that looked like Rodeo Drive material. A gold police badge hung down on a chain around her neck. That woman knew how to dress. Her blue eyes met with Gus' brown eyes and Gus was rendered motionless.
Shawn put down the pictures before they could be seen by the woman and threw himself into a vision. He came to an abrupt stand and cried out in pain. "Ooohh!" he shouted. "Ahhh!"
"Did you get something?" Juliet asked.
"Yes…" Shawn breathed with his eyes squeezed shut. "There's… a connection… in the television."
"In the television?" Juliet declared, bewildered.
"Yes, yes," Shawn answered, "it's a clue."
The attractive woman gazed at Shawn with a confused, yet intrigued expression. "Hmm. Interesting."
"Shawn, Gus," Juliet began, "I'd like to introduce you to Jessica King, forensic psychologist for the Santa Barbara PD."
"Shawn Spencer," he said, extending his hand.
Gus stepped in front of his friend and offered his own. "And I'm Burton Guster." With a wide smile, he stared at Jessica charmingly, receiving an equal grin. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure's the same," Jessica declared, trying to contain her enamored state.
Shawn leaned in, whispering behind Gus, "Quit drooling." Gus jerked his arm back, elbowing Shawn in the stomach as he reached back into his pocket. Shawn grimaced with pain and backed away as Gus pulled out a business card.
"We look forward to working with you on this case," Gus smoothly responded, handing her the card.
Juliet and Shawn stared at Gus and Jessica awkwardly, as Juliet began, "Uh… well, it seems that we're dealing with a serial killer and… Jessica will help us… get into the mindset of the killer."
Shawn glanced over at the badge hanging around Jessica's neck as something suddenly occurred to him. He remembered vividly every last listing on Romero's resume. He looked down at the crime scene photos on Juliet's desk and saw a photo containing the face of the victim. His heart sank as he gazed with a bewildered expression.
"Sean Cunningham," Shawn whispered aloud. Gus, Juliet and Jessica looked over at him, amazed.
"The victim's name," Juliet declared. "How did you—?"
He looked up at them with a slightly horrified expression. "This isn't about me," Shawn explained. "It's about my dad."