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7.2 Ashland

3rd person

"You getting anywhere with him?" The detective asked walking in and sitting on the table.

"No. Just a lot of wiseass remarks. You?" The man asked before drinking his coffee. "Sam's story matches Dean's to the last detail." She informed. "What about the sisters?" He asked.

"Matches, it's not like we can use any of it though."

"Yeah, well, these guys are good. I'll give them that." The man said standing up grabbing his jacket before opening the door for the detective. "If we don't get Sam to flip, we have nothing but a lot of circumstantial evidence." She explained as the two walked out.

"We got Dean at the crime scene with blood on his hands. Juries have convicted for less."

"Yeah, but, I mean, where is the murder weapon? What's the motive? You talk about reasonable doubt." The detective said as the two stopped.

"Diana...do you have reasonable doubt? We keep leaning on these guys, one of them will tumble. And don't forget about St. Louis. I'm telling you, this Dean guy is our guy." The man said before they started walking again.

"I know Tony Giles was a friend of yours." The detective, Diana, said.

"Yeah, he was. He was a good friend."

"I know you want to clean this mess up quick, but come on. Tony knew a lot of criminal types. Maybe we just--"

"Criminal types?" He was a defense lawyer for god sakes. Of course he knew criminal types." He explained cutting her off.

"Okay. All right. Let's get back at them." The detective said. "No. You know what? Let them stew in their juices for a bit." He said as the two leaned against a soda machine. They both looked around before the man spoke, "Come here," The detective smiled before they kissed and she walked away.

💽

Carmen started pacing slowly back and forth thinking of 'Dana Shulps'. "Alright Carmen everything is off the table, just think." She mumbled to herself.

She ran her two fingers on her bottom lip back and forth. When she suddenly stopped, "It's not a name...Anagram maybe?" She muttered and then went back to pacing mouthing different possibilities.

She started glancing around the room seeing a pen on the table. She grabbed it and sat on the table and started to write on her arm. She quickly ran out of room, and she slammed the pen on the table. "Okay Carmen just start 'Plan S'." She mumbled before closing her eyes.

"Salem? Salem please I really need you. Listen I know you were probably asleep, but Dean is gunna get us out of here. Don't know how but he's gunna get us out. So just be ready to help me and Sammy get out of here?" She pleaded listening to the silence in the room.

Suddenly there was a small tap on the window behind her. Her head turned to it not noticing Dean's public defender had walked inside.

"Ms. Winchester?" 

Her head snap to him, "Yes?" She asked tilting her head slightly. "I'm your brother's lawyer," He introduced. She gave him a confused look, "Dean lawyered up?"

He stood across from her as she got off the table and sat down. "He wanted you to have this," He said handing her a piece of paper. She unfolded it and smirked.

HILTS- 

IT'S A STREET ASHLAND.

 -MCQUEEN

"Did my other brother get this?" She asked folding up the paper. "Yes, I hope that was meaningful. But I'd like to discuss your case now." He said.

Carmen held her hand out across from her, "Sure thing,..."

"Matlock."

"Matlock, sorry?"

"Those two really are your brothers, aren't they?" He said setting down. "Legally yes," She remarked. "Now...as you know, the D.A. might be interested in-" He started as a knock interrupted him.

"We need you with the oldest one." The detective told the lawyer.

Meanwhile in Dean interrogation room everyone piled in waiting for him to confess. The detective walked in with his lawyer."Counselor...your boy decided to confess."

"Mr. Winchester, I would advise against that strongly." He said as Dean looked up at him. 

"Talk directly into the camera. Start by stating your names for the record."

He cleared his throat before looking into the camera. "My name is Dean Winchester. I'm an Aquarius. I enjoy sunsets, long walks on the beach, and frisky women. And I did not kill anyone, but I know who did- or rather what did. Of course, it can't be for sure because our investigation was interrupted. But our working theory is that we're looking for some kind of vengeful spirit. " He explained.

"Excuse me?"

"You know, Casper the bloodthirsty ghost. Tony Giles saw it. I'll bet you cash money Karen did, too. See the interesting thing is the word it leaves behind. For some reason, it's trying to tell us something. But communicating across a veil ain't easy. And sometimes the spirits, they get things jumbled. You remember 'REDRUM.' same concept. You know, it could be word fragments. Other times…" He said pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. "...it's anagrams. At first we thought this was a name- Dana Shulps. But now we think it's a street- Ashland. Whatever is going on, I'm betting it started there."

"You arrogant bastard. Tony and Karen were good people, and you're making jokes." The man said.

"I'm not joking, Ponch."

"You murdered them in cold blood just like that girl in St. Louis. " He said. "Oh, yeah, that wasn't me, either. That was a shapeshifter that only looked like me." He corrected.

Just then the male detective quickly threw and pinned Dean to the back wall. "Pete, that is enough!" Diana shouted.

"You asked for the truth." He said before letting him go before walking out of the room.

The two detectives went towards Sam's and Carmen's rooms which were right next to each other. Both were empty with the windows open. "What the hell?" Pete asked before walking towards the open window.

He moved the blinds out of the way and saw that neither one was in sight. Meanwhile Diana saw the paper on the table.

"How did he do it?? The fire escape's way over...what?" He asked seeing her look.

"Theses guys," She said handing him the paper. 

"Hilts and McQueen? What is that?"

"Hilts is Steve McQueen's character in 'The Great Escape.'"

💽

Sam and Carmen found the first motel listed in the yellow pages, and checked in as Jim Rockford. Just like Dean taught them. Sam was looking at a few pages as Carmen walked out of the bathroom.

"Salem is eating, and now well we figure this out I'm gonna stuff his toys with catnip." She said before sitting on the bed. "It's the least I can do since him somehow got us both on that fire escape." 

He let out a scoff before looking back at the pages just as there was a knock on the door. Sam got up keeping his eye on Carmen before he cracked the door open. It was the detective.

Carmen was looking at her wrists lightly moving them around. Trying not to hurt her. "And these just appeared after you saw it?" She asked softly glancing up at her.

"Yeah, I guess."

"All right. You're gonna have to tell us exactly what you saw." Sam said as Carmen let her hands go.

"You know, I must be losing my mind." She dismissed. "You're both fugitives. I should be arresting you."

"All right, well, you know what? You can arrest us later after you live through this. But right now, you got to talk to us." Carmen said crossing her arms

"Okay," 

"Okay. Great. Now, the spirit, what did it look like?" Sam asked leaning on the dresser.

"She was, um, really pale...and her throat was cut. And her eyes, they were like this deep, dark red. It appeared like she was trying to talk to me, but she couldn't. It was just...a lot of blood." She explained before sitting on the bed.

"You know what here," Sam started as they moved over to the table. "We've been researching every girl who has ever died or gone missing from Ashland Street." He explained sitting down.

"How did you get those? Those are from crime scenes and booking photos."

Carmen started scratching the back of her neck. "You have your job. We have ours." She replied knowing full well she had Salem get them as they checked into the room.

"Here. I need you to look through these. Tell me if you recognize anyone." He said handing her the stack of photos. She sat on the bed as Carmen glanced at her brother. "This is her." She said handing him the photos back with her photo on top. "I'm sure of it."

"Claire Becker? Twenty-eight years old. Disappeared about eight or nine months ago." Carmen read a loud.

"But I don't even know her. Why would she come after me?" She asked looking at the youngest one. 

"Well, before her death, she was arrested twice for dealing heroin. You ever work narcotics?" He asked.

"Yeah, Pete and I did before homicide."

"You ever bust her?" 

"Not that I remember." She replied shaking her head. The Winchester set the photo down, "Says she was last seen entering 2911 Ashland Street. Police searched the place, didn't find anything." He read aloud before handing her the report.

"Guess we got to check it out, see if we can find her body," Carmen said as her brother nodded before standing up. "What?" The detective asked.

"Well, we got to salt and burn her bones. It's the only way to put her spirit to rest." She explained.

"Of course it is."

💽

After the two Winchester's and the detective found the run down place and started to take a look around. Carmen stood behind Sam with a backpack on her back that held Salem. 

"Hey," Sam whispered getting his sister's attention. "Stay in my eye sight, that means no after your cat."

She rolled her eyes before shining her light around. "That's why I brought the bag," she breathed out. She looked down for a moment, "You think he's okay?" She whispered as he stopped turning to face her. "It's Dean, he's probably pissed off everyone he could by now," He said after noticing her expression.

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" The detective suddenly asked.

"We'll let you know when we find it." Sam replied before turning back around.

Carmen was staring at the stairs and noticed something. She nudged the side of her older brother before motioning towards the stairs. The two went up the set leaving the detective alone.

"Sam!...Carmen!"

The two glanced at each other before running back down hearing the detective yelling. "Sam!" She yelled again.

"Hey, I'm here." Sam said as the two reached the detective. "What is it? What happened?" Carmen before looking around.

"Claire. She was here."

Her head snapped back, "What?"

"Did she attack you?" He questioned before looking back at the detective. "No. No, she just reached out for me. She was over there by the window." She replied before slowly walking up to it.

Two siblings glanced at each other before Sam walked in front of Carmen after the detective. "Here, help me move this." She said trying to move a rusty storage bin. "All right. I got you." He said handing Carmen his flashlight.

After moving it they saw as dirty window that had, 'ASHLAND' and the letters S, U, P on it. "Our little mystery word." She muttered.

Sam turned around and saw the shadow of the letters on the wall. "Now the extra letters make sense." He said before taking something out of his pocket.

"What is that?"

"Spirits and certain remains give off electromagnetic frequencies." He informed. "It's a EMF reader if you wanted the spark notes version." Carmen remarked.

"So, if Claire's body was here, that would indicate that?" The detective. "Yeah. Well, that's the theory." He replied walking up to the wall as the reader than light all up.

Carmen whistled getting their attention, she held a rusty old shovel and smirked. "I'll trade ya," She said before throwing him the shovel as he threw her the reader in return. It took a bit for him to break a few bricks off. "Yeah. Yeah, there's definitely something in there." He confirmed peeking inside. "You know, this is bothering me." He thought out loud.

"Well, you are digging up a corpse."

"We do that every other week," Carmen remarked.

"It's not that, but she's right that's, uh, pretty par for the course, actually." He said. "Then what?" The detective asked looking at him confused. "It's just...I mean, no vengeful spirit I've ever tussled with wanted to be wasted, so why the hell would Claire lead us to her remains? Doesn't make any sense." He said as he elbowed the rest of the bricks in.

"That's what me and Sal have been trying to figure out." Carmen informed.

"All right. Here. Give me your hand." He said as him and the detective pulled a wrapped body out of the hole. Carmen walked up and held the head so he didn't have to. They laid her to the ground in a groan from the weight. Sam held his hand out towards Carmen who pulled a small switchblade from the side of her ankle. He started to cut the ropes around the still wrapped body. 

Sam pulled the cloth back revealing a skeleton with blond hair. The detective noticed her wrists and held her's out. "Her wrist."

"Yeah, they'd be bruised just like yours." Sam said.

She slowly picked up the necklace around the skeleton's neck. "That necklace mean something to you?" Carmen asked. "I've seen it before. It's rare. It was custom-made over on Carson Street." She informed as the two looked at her with a confused look.

She went and grabbed something around her neck. "I have one just like it." She said revealing the same necklace only newer. "Pete gave it to me."

Carmen stood up slowly knowing that Salem was still on her back. "It all makes sense." She exclaimed.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, where are you going with this Carm?" Sam asked looking up at her. "You see, Claire isn't a vengeful spirit. She's a death omen." 

"Excuse me?"

"Claire's not killing anyone. She's trying to warn them. Sometimes spirits, they don't want vengeance. They want justice, that's why she led us here. She wants us to know who her killer is." She informed.

"How much do you know about your partner?" Sam asked the detective. She was quiet for a few seconds, "Oh, my god." She breathed out.

"What?" Both Winchester's asked.

"About a year ago, some heroin went missing from lockup. Obviously it was a cop. We never found out who did it. But whoever did it would need someone to fence their product." She informed.

"Somebody like a heroin dealer. Somebody like Claire."

💽

"All right thanks." The detective said after hanging up the phone.

"What is it?"

"Pete just left the precinct with Dean. He said the prisoner had to he transferred, and just took him. Dispatch has been calling, but he won't answer the radio." She informed.

"Radio? He took a county vehicle?" Sam asked. "Shouldn't it have a LoJACK?" Carmen asked leaning forward. "You've gotta turn it on,"

"Actually," Carmen started as she leaned back going to her backpack next to her. "We have the next best thing."

💽

We the three of them got to the car, Pete was pointing his gun at Dean. "Pete!" The detective yelled making him to point his gun at them. "Put the gun down!"

"Diana? How'd you find me?"

Dean was looking between his two siblings seeing Sam with his up, Carmen, she was calm to calm.

"I know about Claire."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Put the gun down!"

"No, I don't think so. You're fast, pretty sure i'm faster." He said pointing his gun at Dean. "Why are you doing this?"

"I didn't do anything, Diana." He insisted. "It's a little late for that." She replied. "It wasn't my fault. Claire was gonna turn me in. I had no choice." 

"And Tony? Karen?"

"Same thing. Tony scrubbed the money. Then he got skittish. And then he wanted to come clean. I'm sure he told Karen everything. It was a mess. I had to clean it up. I just panicked." Pete explained. "How many more people are gonna die over this, Pete?" She asked. "There's a way out. This Dean kif is a friggin' gift. We can pin the whole thing on him. Okay? No trial, nothing. Just one more dead scumbag."

"Hey!" Dean spoke up in afence.

"No one will question it. Diana, please. I still love you." Pete finished as she slowly put her gun down.

Carmen rolled her eyes before walking up quickly to Pete. "Carmen!" Dean yelled trying to get her to stop, but she didn't. Pete noticed her and shot her in the shoulder. "Carmen!"

But she just stopped glanced at it before looking back at Pete and tilted her head. She got close enough to grab his gun and get it out of his hands. She flipped him to the ground and stepped on his throat to keep him still. She kneeled down and grabbed his keys and turned and threw them to- Carmen?

"Thanks," She said catching the keys. She crouched down and started unlocking his cuffs. "What the hell just happened?" He yelled looking between the two Carmen's.

The one that was holding down Pete eyes changed to cat eyes. "I'm the real Carmen." She said helping him up. "I got the necklace to prove it," Smiling she pulled her necklace up for him to see.

"I think Salem just broke his hand?" Sam called getting the two of their attention. 

"That's what happens when you give the same necklace, you ass." She said as he took Salem and Diana down, and then pointing the gun at the Winchester's.

"Don't do it. Don't do it." 

Dean moved Carmen behind him and held is hands up. Everyone's eyes widen seeing something behind Pete. He turned around to see Claire's ghost. He stared at her speechless as Diana shot him.

💽

It was already starting to become morning. Salem had turned back into a cat, and was being held in Carmen's arms. Sam and Dean had their arms wrapped around her as they all watched in silence. As Diana slowly stood and started walking towards them away from Pete's dead body.

"You doing all right?" Sam asked.

"Not really. The death omen, Claire, what happens to her now?" She asked. "It should be over, and she should be put to rest." Carmen informed.

"So, uh, what now, officer?" Dean asked. 

"Pete did confess to me. He screwed up all your cases royally. There's a good chance that we can get your cases dismissed." She informed.

"You could take care of that for us?" Sam asked.

"I hope so. But the St. Louis murder charges? That's another story. I-I can't help you. Unless I just happened to turn my back and you walked away. I could tell them that the suspect escaped." She offered.

"Wait. Are you sure?" 

"Yeah, she's sure, Sam." Dean quickly added giving Sam his bitch face.

"You could lose your job over something like that." Sam counited.

"I just want you guys out there, doing what you do best. Trust me. I'll sleep better at night. Listen, you need to watch your back. They're gonna be looking for all three of you right now. Get out of here. I got to radio this in." She said.

Carmen gave her a smile, "Thank you," She said then looked down at Salem. "Come on, I gotta make sure you don't get an infection," She said as they turned to walk away.

"Hey, uh…you wouldn't happen to know where my car is by chance?" Dean asked.

"It's at the impound yard on Robertson." She replied. "Don't even think about it." She added.

"It's okay. It's all right. Don't worry. We'll just improvise." Sam said.

"We're pretty good at that." Carmen added smiling a little. "Yeah. I've noticed." She said and with that the Winchester siblings started off. "Nice lady," Sam said.

"Yeah, for a cop. Did she look familiar to you?"

"No why?"

"I don't know. It's nothing."

"Hey, you hungry? Cause pea soup sounds so good."