ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪɴᴄʜᴇꜱᴛᴇʀ'ꜱ||ꜱᴜᴘᴇʀɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴀʟ

ᴛʜᴇ ᴜꜱᴜᴀʟ ꜱᴜꜱᴘᴇᴄᴛꜱ (ᴘᴛ 2)

Several others have crowded into the observation room outside where Dean is being held; across from his seat a digital camera has been set up. Ballard and Kraus enter.

"Counselor? Your boy decided to confess," Sheridan says.

"Mr. Winchester? I'd advise against that strongly."

"Talk directly into the camera, first stating your name for the record." Dean clears his throat and leans forward, 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 was that we're looking for some kind of vengeful spirit."

"Excuse me?" Ballard asks.

"You know, Casper the bloodthirsty ghost?" In the observation room, the spectators start laughing. "Tony Giles saw it. I'll bet you cash money Karen did too. But see, the interesting thing is the word it leaves behind. For some reason it's trying to tell us something. But communicating across the veil, it ain't easy. You know, sometimes the spirits, they, they get things jumbled. You remember 'REDRUM'? Same concept. You know, it's, uh, maybe word fragments... other times, it's anagrams. See, at first, we thought this was a name, Dana Shulps. But now we think it's a street. Ashland. Whatever's going on, I'll bet you it started there." Dean spreads his hands and smiles.

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

"I'm not joking, Ponch."

"You murdered them in cold blood just like that girl in St. Louis."

"Oh, yeah. That wasn't me either. That was a shape-shifter creature that only looked like me." He smiles at the camera. Sheridan loses his temper and hauls Dean up by the collar, slamming him against the wall.

"Pete, that is enough!" Ballard says.

"You asked for the truth."

"Lock his ass up." Another cop takes over, shoving Dean face-first against the wall and handcuffing him.

==

Sheridan and Ballard return to Sam and Y/N's interrogation room only to find the two gone; the coffee cups and the note are still on the table.

"What the hell? Where are they?" Sheridan goes to the window, which is open, and looks out—it's a four-story drop with no visible fire escape nearby. Ballard sees the note on the table and picks it up. "What's they do? The fire escape's way over...what?"

"These three." Ballard hands him the note.

"Hilts and McQueen?"

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

==

Dean is handcuffed to another table as Ballard enters, nervous. She shuts the door.

"Can we make this quick? I'm a little tired, it's been a long day, you know, with your partner assaulting me and all," Dean says.

"I want to know more about that stuff you were talking about earlier."

"Time Life. Mysteries of the Unknown. Look it up."

"Let's pretend for the moment you're not entirely insane."

"Mmm," Dean says.

"What would one of these things be doing here?"

"A vengeful spirit? Well, they're created by violent deaths. And then they come back for a reason, usually a nasty one. Like revenge on the people that hurt 'em."