LOGLINE:
Shawn and Gus investigate the mysterious death of the Spellmaster at the Regional Spelling Bee.

SYNOPSIS:
Gus is a closet fan of spelling bees. He knows everything there is to know, from the major players to the winning words each year. When Shawn catches him watching the Regional Spelling Bee that he Tivo'd earlier, they see that this year's favorite, Brendan Vu, collapsed while spelling a word. Shawn doesn't think it was an accident. He notices something is wrong with Brendan's inhaler. They get a call from Interim Chief Vick to come down and investigate. This is Gus' dream come true.

Vick tells them Brendan said his inhaler felt funny in his hands. When the paramedics got there, the inhaler disappeared. They need to talk to all of the suspects by 5 p.m. She wants this case solved before the Bee is over and the potential suspects scatter back to their hometowns.

Immediately Shawn eliminates all the spellers who were already knocked out of competition when Brendan went down. As he's going through the remaining suspects, word comes down that the Spellmaster, notoriously reclusive former champion Elvin Cavanaugh, has a big announcement to make. As Shawn and Gus come out to hear it, they witness Cavanaugh, up in the Spellmaster's box in the balcony, stumble and fall over the railing to his death.

Lassiter and his new partner, Juliet, think Cavanaugh probably had a heart attack or an allergic reaction. The man loved junk food and was dangerously overweight. Shawn and Gus, meanwhile, talk their way into the Spellmaster's box to investigate. When Gus' "Supersmeller" nose detects a weird odor, they suspect Cavanaugh's Chinese food may have been poisoned. They need to know for sure, so they take a few noodles with them. Now all they have to do is find a lab to do the testing.

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