- "Ah, the name Juliet. "How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night." Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet."
- — Lars flirts with Juliet
Lars Ewing is a special agent for the Federal Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. who comes to Santa Barbara hot on the trail of counterfeiter Steven Grabinski. He meets Shawn and Gus at the station prior to his meeting with Chief Vick and immediately dislikes them due to their childish attitude. During the meeting, Lassiter is in awe of Ewing, not least because he has Mildred, a personal stenographer. He wants to impress him, but to no avail. Instead, Juliet gets all of his attention. He flatters her and tells her she should apply to the FBI. Ewing also introduces the department's psychic, Lindsay Leikin.
Ewing sets up a Home Depot meeting at 7AM the next day, as that is where Grabinski was last spotted laundering money. They go there, and Shawn overhears Ewing lament to Lindsay that he went to meet her half an hour earlier and that she breached protocol by not being there. Once inside, Ewing is annoyed with the cashier for not realizing he was being paid in counterfeit bills, and gives him a lecture on how easily counterfeit bills can be recognized as fake.
On a hunch from Lindsay, Ewing and the SBPD go to the Saladin Motorworks car dealership. They find out that Grabinski had paid $47,000 in counterfeit bills for a used Lamborghini, which was seen just out of town near Goleta, and then returned it the next day for $26,000 in real money. However, Shawn notices that one of the bills was actually real and now knows something Ewing doesn't. When Shawn presents this information at the station, Ewing admits it's the best lead they have and goes with Shawn's theory that the reason one real bill was included is because Grabinski is running out of counterfeit bills. The logical conclusion is therefore that Grabinski is currently at a remote spot in Santa Barbara where he can print out as many counterfeit bills as he wants without the noise raising suspicion.
Gus knows of a hotel on his pharmaceutical route that would suit this requirement, so that's the gang's next stop. Ewing almost gets into a fight with Lassiter as they each try to brag about their individual achievements to Norman, the hotel clerk. When everyone has calmed down and they know what room Grabinski is staying in, they barge in only to find his room empty, although it's clear Grabinski used a lot of paper.
When they unexpectedly find Grabinski dead the next day, the case looks wrapped up. However, Shawn puts together that Lindsay was in cahoots with Grabinski and killed him when he betrayed her. She was the reason Ewing missed him by only a few minutes in Wilmette, IL and his fruitless wait outside of her hotel was because she was meeting with Grabinski in Goleta. He and Gus go to confront her at the airport, where Ewing has to take her down after she pulls a gun on Shawn.
Ewing later appears once more at the station. Juliet is dreaming that he is walking towards her bare-chested, but then it turns out he really is bare-chested because Lassiter spilled coffee on his shirt. Despite all the interest he showed in Juliet during the case, including several calls and the question whether she has a MySpace page, he doesn't capitalize on her fascination with his physique and walks off.
Trivia[]
- Ewing is mentioned in S4E12 "A Very Juliet Episode" as the source of Shawn's password for the Department of the Treasury database.
- He has a Presidential Recommendation for Distinguished Service.
- He personally arrested Ivan Boesky.
- He says he never learned to laugh as a child.
- He sniffs Juliet's hair at Home Depot, just like Gus does to women he's interested in.
- Juliet first thinks Ewing might be a swimmer, but then switches to rugby based on his build.
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