- "A gentleman takes his ire and turns it into insight. That's in chapter three of my book."
- — Clive shares some of his wisdom with Shawn and Gus
Clive Prescott is a dating guru who teaches young bachelors the art of seduction with the aim to date wealthy older women. Many of his techniques are written down in his book called Killing with Class: The Art of Seduction Through Charm and Sophistication. Shawn and Gus are made aware of his existence when they find a copy of this book at the apartment of the recently murdered Lance Tolkin, one of Clive's students. A compliment inside the book reveals that Lance was one of Clive's "most artful and gentlemanly students".
When Shawn and Gus visit Clive during one of his seminars, he dismisses his students and talks to our duo privately. He mentions that Lance had not yet mastered the art of manners, but Shawn remembers the compliment and questions him about it. Clive explains that although Lance had potential, he was not as good as he thought. Shawn thinks Clive sounds angry and when he spots him going on a date with Gillian Tucker, Lance's date on the night of the murder, he is convinced Clive killed Lance out of jealousy.
This theory gains some merit when the party's bartender explains that Lance would always order a Gabardine Hightail (two parts brora scotch, one part drambuie and one teaspoon of honey), a drink Clive invented and put in his book. Since Clive knew what Lance would drink, he could've easily spiked the bottle of scotch that Gillian had brought in specifically for Lance. Moreover, Henry's research reveals that Clive had recently been on a trip to South America with Lorraine Bell, one of the wealthiest widows of Santa Barbara, where she mysteriously died in a drowning accident.
Shawn and Gus later meet Clive in a bank while he's accompanying Gillian. Shawn wants to keep Clive away from Gillian and simultaneously prove to him that "this whole gentleman thing is a sham," so he asks her out in his own unique way. To Clive's infinite frustration, Gillian thinks Shawn is adorable and actually agrees to go on the date. In the restaurant, Clive joins the table and Shawn learns from Gabe McKinley that Clive told all of his students that Gillian was off-limits. He also learns of Clive's plans to take Gillian on a trip to Peru, purportedly because he discovered a wonderful painter she would be interested in. After ending the date at the Psych office without being able to convince Gillian not to go on the trip, Shawn collapses from poison and tells Gus to remember that it was Clive who killed him.
Clive is brought in for questioning and, after first charming Juliet, released by Lassiter because they don't have sufficient evidence against him. When Shawn tries to convince his father not to let Clive go, Clive recognizes Henry as one of his former students and remembers that he was the only one he ever had to kick out (although being a gentleman he technically "invited him to leave," as Henry notes). Henry encourages Shawn not to give up and mentions another woman Clive was dating at the time of her death, Harriet Finestatt. What's more, her company went bankrupt a month later.
Shawn and Gus go to another of Clive's seminars and confront him with this new information. However, Clive explains that he had been at Harriet's bedside for several months until she eventually died of her cancer and that her ungrateful sons then drove the company into the ground after taking all of her money. As far as Lorraine Bell is concerned, she was killed by a stingray. When Shawn asks why Gillian is off-limits, Clive admits that he is "hopelessly, ridiculously in love" with her. Shawn believes all he's heard and apologizes. Clive tells our duo that he's unsure how to approach Gillian with his marriage proposal because his own advice "is just words on a page" and "doesn't work with a person of actual substance." He will therefore be asking her friend Eugenia for help.
When it is later discovered that Eugenia is the murderer the gang were looking for all along, they all rush to their meeting and manage to save Clive from becoming another of her victims. Gillian accepts his proposal, and before setting off on his two-week honeymoon he arranges for several guest speakers to teach the seminars in his absence. One of those is Shawn, who he now believes to be a "true gentleman".
Trivia[]
- Clive says that he started his career as a butler in New York, in which capacity he quickly learned how to please sophisticated women.
- He tells Gus that being a pharmaceutical salesman "sounds pathetic" and "is certainly not sexy".
- His company, Clive Prescott Enterprises, was established in 2003.
- Clive is one of the people Shawn jacktags ("You're right about the cage, but I'm a rabid hamster and I'm just getting started, Jack.").