The next morning, Shawn stretched as he got out of bed.  The night before had already caught up to him.

“I must be more out of shape than I thought,” He said to his reflection in the bathroom mirror. 

Shawn turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on his face.  He then went through his usual morning routine; brush his teeth, spike his hair, then get dressed. 

He picked up the janitor costume and placed it in the hamper, thinking it would come in handy on this case or even another case down the road.

His phone rang; sending the theme of Cops through the room, “Lassie?  Since when does he call me?”

“Lassie!  What can I do for you?” Shawn asked after sliding his finger across the phone’s screen.

“Spencer, get yourself in here ASAP!  Don’t stop for anything on the way, either.  Everyone else is here and we want to know what’s going on!” Lassie shouted over the phone.

Shawn held the phone away from his ear while the barrage continued.  Finally, Lassie was quiet, so Shawn began to speak.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.  I still have to get dressed, Lassie-face,” Shawn said charismatically.

“Just get down here!  And I mean yesterday!” Lassie said.

Before Shawn could utter a word about time travel, Lassiter hung up.  Sighing, Shawn pulled on his t-shirt and jeans, tied his sneakers and walked out the door. 

Shawn stopped.  There, in the driveway, was Gus in the Blueberry.  His best friend had a look of anger on his features, which made Shawn nervous about getting in the car.  Slowly and carefully, Shawn opened the door and settled into the passenger seat.

“Hey, Buddy,” Shawn said gently. 

Gus remained silent as he pulled out and headed down the road to the SBPD.  Shawn tried everything to get his friend to talk.  Finally, after a comment about churros (Shawn was hungry) Gus let loose.

“I don’t know what happened in Mexico, Shawn, but with what I’ve already seen at the station, I’m beginning to think we don’t know the whole story,” Gus said, fuming.

“Wait.  You already know what Lassie’s talking about?” Shawn asked.

“I was up there earlier and saw the pictures, Shawn.  Why were you walking out of the DeSanas mansion in a janitor outfit?  Were you investigating without me?” Gus asked, his feelings hurt.

“What?  No, Gus!  I would never investigate without Magic Head!” Shawn insisted.

Gus turned a corner before speaking, “Then what were you doing at the mansion?”

Shawn sighed.  Of all the people he’d ever lied to, he never once felt as guilty as he did right now with Gus.  Silence filled the car, making both detectives uncomfortable. 

Gus took a quick look at his friend, noticing the sudden lack of talking.  When Shawn got quiet, something was wrong.  He turned to Shawn when they were at a stop light.

“Look, I’m just worried.  Yesterday, you and that Detective Rodriguez guy were all buddy, buddy.  He said you were a cop down there.  Then, at the office, I see a look cross over your face.  Worry.  When I mentioned The Red Shadow, you got worried until Philippe said something about him being arrested.  Shawn, what’s going on?”

Shawn sighed.  They had pulled into the parking lot of the SBPD.  He looked at his friend, “I get the feeling you’re about to find out, anyway, Gus.  Come on, let’s see what Lassie wants.”

Both friends got out of the Blueberry and headed into the building in silence.  Shawn was preparing himself, and Gus was full of wonder and worry about his best friend.

Inside, Lassie paced in the conference room, despite the looks he was getting from Karen.  Juliet, Henry and Detective Rodriguez were sitting down at the table, looking down at the top of it with fake interest.

“Where is he, Henry?” Lassiter asked the elder Spencer.

“I don’t know.  Contrary to popular belief, I don’t always know where my son is,” Henry retorted.

The door opened to reveal Gus and Shawn walking in.  Everyone in the room was expecting them to be bickering about something, so the silence was deafening to them.

Before Lassiter could start his barrage against the faux psychic, Juliet grabbed the pictures and marched over to him.

“Shawn, explain,” she said simply.

Shawn grabbed the pictures out of her hand, a brief touch between them.  As he checked them out, he saw that there was no way out of explaining this, unlike when the picture of him showed up at the station after rescuing the toy Darth Vader from the British Embassy building over a year ago. 

No, this picture was crystal clear.  Shawn’s face, full of relief, was prominent in the glossy photo.  He looked up at the gang with a sigh. 

Before he could mutter a word, Lassie spoke up, “Alright, Spencer, out with it!  What were you doing at the mansion last night?  How dare you interfere in our investigation!?”

Shawn blinked.  Their investigation?  They were checking out Marcos?  Shawn’s face lit up.

“You did follow my lead!  Lassie, you did listen!” Shawn said.

“Your lead?  Lassiter, you said you suspected Marcos from the beginning,” Karen said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Lassie looked a little taken aback, “Well, I actually never said it was my lead.  Spencer may have had a hand in it.”

Juliet sighed, “We were doing an undercover operation, Shawn.  You could have ruined everything.”

“Jules, I was careful,” Shawn said.

“Regardless of the circumstances, now that we know you’re on the case too, Shawn, we have to work together on this.  What did you find out last night?” Karen asked Shawn.

Shawn had overheard nothing while he was in the room, cuffed to the chair.  He barely got a glimpse of the computer screen, too. 

“Let me,” he took a glance at Juliet, “ask the spirits.  They can tell me what was on his computer.”

Shawn put his fingers to his temples and closed his eyes, trying to remember what he’d seen.  The images flashed in his mind as he focused on the computer screen.  Being he’d only seen a small fraction, he had to concentrate.

“Next shipment date is….Tuesday the 17th of September,” Shawn said.

“That’s it?  What kind of shipment?  Where?  What time?” Lassiter questioned.

“The spirits are being stubborn today, Lassie.  It’s your energy that’s making them unhelpful.  Wait, is…is that a word, Gus?”

“Yes.  But you could also use helpless, less helpful, etcetera.  Any of them will work,” Gus answered.

“Shawn, may I speak to you for a moment?” Juliet asked.

Shawn knew the look in her eye.  It was the same look she had a few weeks ago at Lassie’s wedding.  She was beyond angry.

“Juliet, let me take care of this.  You get ready to return to the mansion,” Henry said, leading his son outside.  Gus tagged along behind.

Once they were out of earshot, Henry began, “Shawn, what in the hell were you doing there last night?”

“I was checking things out, Dad,” Shawn insisted, which was true.  He was checking things out.

“As The Red Shadow?” Gus asked.

Shawn froze for a second, “Why would you ask that, Gus?”

“You are him, aren’t you?  And that detective knows it.  We could see it in your eyes when you both were talking yesterday,” Gus replied.

It was at that moment that Shawn knew that his best friend and his father both knew.  There was no denying it to them.  They’d eventually find out, anyway.  Slowly, he nodded his head.

Henry ran a hand over his face, “A vigilante?  On top of everything else?”

“Don’t I get some brownie points for being an actual cop, Dad?”  Shawn asked.

Henry turned away for the moment, so Shawn sighed and started to walk back to the conference room.  A hand on his shoulder stopped the faux psychic.

“Shawn,” Henry started, turning his son around, “You…you do get some points for being a cop.  I have to admit, that really surprised me.  The fact that you also dressed up in a costume to fight crime, though…”

“Hey, I had to do something.  When I found out how many of the San Felipe Police Department were on Marcos’ payroll, I knew I had to act.  Dad, you’ve seen how bad cops are.  They will try anything to lead people off the case.  They didn’t know that I was on the good side of the fight.  So, I had to keep up that premise, plus make sure Marcos didn’t win.  That’s why I put on the mask of The Red Shadow, so that I could fight without getting figured out.”

By the time Shawn finished, Lassie, Jules, Philippe and Karen had heard the whole confession. They stood in a circle around the detective, all different looks on their faces.

Juliet’s face held wonder, anger and sadness.  Lassie’s looked stoic, but Shawn could see something in his eyes.  Something along the lines of….pride.  Karen had a similar look, but worry also creased her features.

Detective Rodriguez had a look of knowledge, since he had already known the truth.  Before Shawn could say anything, Lassiter spoke up.

“Back in the conference room, now.  Everyone,” he said, giving a pointed look to Shawn before walking through the double doors.

Gus walked ahead, as did Henry.  Shawn took a deep breath and let it out slow.  They knew.  They knew a little bit of his past now.  It was something he never wanted to get out, but Marcos was the reason why it did.  He knew he had to take El Burro down soon; even if it was the last thing he would ever do.