A/N: I'm not entirely satisfied with this ending. Hopefully, once I'm better, I can rewrite it. Thanks for reading!

"Eric, how's jail life treating you?" Shawn asked as he settled into the chair.

The young man shrugged and pushed his glasses up. "I don't know why they're keeping me here," he answered. "I didn't kill Agnes. I would have never hurt her. I loved her. She was just as much an artist as me."

Observing from the next room, Ethan nodded his head. "He's telling the truth."

"Ethan, you are not a human lie detector," Evie hissed, smacking her brother's arm. "Let me listen."

"Evie, have you not been paying attention? We already know this."

"Both of you need to keep your voices down," Gus told them. "If we get caught in here, we're all going to be in big trouble."

Inside the interrogation room, Shawn nodded sympathetically. "I believe you, Eric," he said. "But you're going to have to help me help you. You saw alot from your hiding place over the theater, didn't you? People talking, that kind of thing?"

Frowning, Eric pushed the bridge of his glasses up again. "Yeah, I suppose. Why?"

"A week or so ago, did Agnes have an argument with Mr Carter?"

The young man's frown deepened and he tilted his head slightly. "Yes, she did," he answered. "I was working on a composition and heard voices. I was too far away to hear what they were saying but I did see when Agnes stormed out. She was furious. I didn't think anything of it when she came back the next morning as cheerful as she normally is—was."

Shawn punched the air victoriously. "I knew it! I figured it out."

Taken aback, Eric stared at him. "What?"

Grinning, the brown haired man leaned forward. "I know who really killed Agnes. So, Eric. You want to help catch a murderer?"

"I don't think this was a good idea."

"I admit there is a distinct lack of an air of drama," Shawn responded, staring up at the ceiling of the Blueberry."Ideally, we would be doing this on the theater stage, however, that location is off limits and excluding Ethan and Evie at this point would be cruel. So, needs must."

"Yeah, I don't think your dad is going to appreciate your compliance with his rules."

Frowning, Shawn sent a quizzical look at his friend. "My com-what? You need to stop making up words, Gus. If you were trying to say that my dad is going to be annoyed about bringing the twins on a stakeout, then yeah. He probably is."

"Where are they anyway?" Gus asked, pushing himself to look out the window.

After several seconds, he spotted Ethan and Evie on the other side of the parking lot. They were leaning against a lightpole, their heads together as they studied the phone that Ethan held. They each held an ice cream cone, a treat Gus'd had to pay for at the ice cream stand across the street. Then, Shawn shoved Gus back down.

"They're fine," Shawn said dismissively. "Not even getting into trouble. You're going to get us caught."

"Not getting into trouble? What do you call trying to draw on the windows?"

"Gus, they were bored. You can't expect them to have the same level of tolerance for stake outs like we have. They're new to this whole thing."

With a groan, Gus stared at the top of the car. "I can't believe you bailed Eric out of jail for this. Where did you get the money?"

Shawn cleared his throat. "It doesn't matter. Besides, we know he's innocent. How could we let an innocent man sit in jail a moment longer?"

Heaving a sigh, Gus checked the time. "Shawn, we've been here for over an hour. If he was coming, he would have been-."

"He's coming," Eric Matthew's voice came over the walkie-talkie in Shawn's hand.

Startled, Gus pushed himself up just enough to see Leander Carter walking towards the bench. Pushing his glasses up, Eric stood from where he had been sitting and he faced the approaching theater manager.

"Why aren't you in jail?" was the first thing out of Carter's mouth. His voice was more distant than Eric's had been, no doubt due to the fact that Eric was holding the walkie-talkie down by his leg where Carter wouldn't readily see it.

"The detectives decided I was innocent and let me go," Eric answered, his tone nervous. "I would never have hurt Agnes."

Carter gave a huff. "Is there a reason you called me out here, Matthews?"

"Why didn't you tell Detective Lassiter that you had an arguement with Agnes last week?"

"What makes you think that I didn't?"

Eric cleared his throat. "I just find it strange that you were going ahead with your plans for the play when you knew that Agnes was going to be taking over," he said, his tone becoming more confident. "She was doing most of the work."

"What are we supposed to accomplish by this?" Gus asked in a whisper. "If you think it's Carter, why didn't you tell Lassiter and Jules?"

Shawn shushed him quickly. "Without proof? They'd laugh me out of the station, and you know my ego can't stand that."

Carter's laugh reached them, even without the help of the walkie-talkie. "A twenty-three year old just out of college managing a theater? With no experience?" he asked, his tone derisive. "The investors would have pulled their money in an instant."

The walkie-talkie gave a sudden squawk and went silent. "Is this about money?" Gus demanded in a whisper.

"Isn't it always?" Shawn responded in a low voice. He reached for the lever to raise the seat. "We've got to grab Eric and get to Lassiter."

"Stop!" Evie's scream got both of their attention as they popped upright. "Shawn!"

Eric had shoved Carter to the ground and now had his hands around the older man's neck. "You killed her!"

As Shawn and Gus grabbed for the door handles, Ethan came flying across the parking lot and tackled Eric. The twelve year old didn't move the man an inch, but valiantly tried to get some kind of grip on Eric that would keep him from strangling Carter.

"Eric! Let him go, man!" Shawn shouted, sprinting to get his cousin out of harm's way. Ethan hit the ground when Eric jerked sharply and dislodged him. "Hey! This won't bring Agnes back, Eric. She wouldn't want you to land in jail over this."

A familiar maroon car came screeching to a halt beside the Blueberry. "SBPD!" Lassiter shouted, drawing his gun as he exited the from the driver's seat. He aimed at Eric. " Hands in the air!"

With a yelp, Gus put his hands up a dropped to the ground. Shawn's gaze went to where Evelyn was watching with wide, horrified eyes. "Lassiter, don't you dare shoot anyone in front of my cousins!" He turned his attention back to Eric and Carter. "Let the police handle this, Eric. Agnes wants that."

The theater manager struggled for air as Eric's hands remained tight around his neck. "You didn't know Agnes," Eric spat out. "She hated Carter with every fiber of her being."

"Yes, she did and she's not denying that," Shawn responded, hastily bringing his hands up on either side of his head. "But she doesn't want you to go to jail because you decided to avenge her death. Money was never important to her. She just loved the theater."

That seemed to finally reach Eric, who turned his head. His eyes flicked from Shawn to Lassiter and then to Evie. Slowly, he loosened his grip and then raised his hands. O'Hara hurried forward.

"Lassie, what brings you here?" Shawn asked as the detective approached.

Lassitor nodded towards where Evie was helping Ethan up. "I got a call from your cousin who had an interesting theory about Carter meeting up with Matthews," he answered. "Of all the stupid things you've done, Spencer, putting your cousins in company with a criminal out on bail is-."

"Lassie, you can do things your way when you have babysitting duty," Shawn fired back. He gave a grunt when Evie threw herself at Shawn and wrapped her arms around him. "Besides, when you think about it, this couldn't be the worst thing they've been exposed to. Last time they were kidnapped by mafia."

The detective considered and then nodded before going to help take both men into custody. "Ok, which of you called Lassiter?" Shawn asked.

"I did," Evie confessed, twisting her head to look up at him. "Ethan tried to talk me out of it, but the more I thought about it, the more worried I got. Either Eric was the murderer or Carter was, and here we were in the middle. I had to call Detective Lassiter."

"It looks like it was a good thing you did," Shawn told her reasuringly. He disentangled himself from her. "Hold on a moment. I've got to make sure Lassiter gets this right."

As their cousin hurried to catchup to the Head Detective, Ethan joined his sister. "Did you tell him you called Uncle Henry?" he asked.

"I didn't have a chance but I figure Uncle Henry will be calling him any minute now," Evie responded. As soon as she finished speaking, Shawn's phone rang. "And that's him."

"Dad, hi. What?...Why would you think that?" Shawn said, sending a betrayed look at the twins.

Ethan turned surprised eyes on her. "Since when are you psychic?"

Evie's grin was mischievous. "It's a recent development."

Madeleine Spencer climbed out of the taxi and faced her former home. She smiled as the twins came running to her. "Hi duckies," she greeted, holding her arms out. "Did you two have fun with Shawn and your uncle Henry?"

"Mom, you should have seen it," Ethan said, speaking over his sister. "We found a murderer, and I helped keep someone else from killing him."

"Why are you skipping the important parts?" Evie demanded. "Mom, it was just like the movie. Shawn and Ethan found a real life phantom of the opera in a theater and he tried to avenge the killing of the woman he loved from afar. It was really sad."

Raising her eyebrow, Maddie looked up at her ex-husband. "Do I want to know?" she asked.

"Probably not," Henry said wryly. "You can yell at Shawn."

"Do we really have to go back to school?" Ethan asked. "I think Evie and I could learn more if we stay here."

Chuckling, Maddie shook her head. "I don't think so," she said. "Both of you go get your bags. We have to get to the airport."

Groaning simultaneously, the twins ran off, going past Shawn who was coming out. "Mom, don't tell me you can't stay," he said, accepting a hug from his mother. "You just got here."

"Unfortunately, I have to stop in LA for an emergency case before I get the twins to my sister for the start of the school year," Maddie said, regret in her voice. "Thank you for taking them, Henry. I know it's not ideal to keep bringing them with me while I travel for my career but my sister needs a break."

"Anytime, Maddie," Henry told her. "They're my niece and nephew too."

His ex-wife began to grin. "Should I tell them i have tickets for the LA production of Phantom of the Opera?"

"Yes!" Evie exclaimed from the doorway. "Ethan did you hear? We're going to the theater!"

"Kill me now," Ethan said, sagging onto his suitcase.

"You're on your own," Shawn told him sympathetically. "Maybe call up Eliot to get you out of it."

Glee filled Ethan's eyes. "Shawn, do not encourage them!" Henry warned.