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Paula Merral was an inhabitant of Dual Spires until her untimely death in 2010. She had been missing for a day and a half, worrying her uncle Robert and aunt Michelle, before her body was discovered on the lake shore by Jack Smith. Since Paula often snuck out of her house to go swimming after curfew, Sheriff Andrew Jackson theorizes that she was probably pulled under by the current before hitting her head. He therefore rules it an accident.

However, Shawn and Gus start investigating Paula's death when they receive a mysterious email that asks "Who killed Paula Merral?" They first visit doctor Donna Gooden, who is doing the autopsy and had also been Paula's psychiatrist. Donna hints that Paula might have committed suicide by saying that she was a troubled young girl with a dark side who was not scared of anything, not even dying. Shawn notices an earring in the evidence box in Donna's clinic, and remembers seeing another one of those earrings in the ear of Randy Jackson, the Cinnamon King. Apparently the two shared "secret, special lover earrings", as Shawn puts it.

Upon interviewing Randy, Shawn and Gus learn that he and Paula had been together for six months. He says that he never could have hurt Paula because he loved her and they were going to see the world together. He then claims that he will be lost without her before suffering a theatrical breakdown. His alibi for the night of her death is that he was studying in the library just like almost every other night.

As Shawn and Gus visit the library to verify this alibi, they realize that another email they had received points them to a book about reincarnation. The duo are confused at first, but it all makes sense when Juliet and Lassiter show up and share that Paula had been declared dead in Santa Barbara seven years prior. Her body was never recovered, which doesn't make sense to Lassiter because there is no current where she supposedly drowned. As he recalls that the three items found nearby were Paula's sweater, her bike and a pot of sunflower seeds, Shawn realizes that Robert has something to do with this because he saw him eat sunflower seeds earlier.

On talking to him, the gang find out that Paula's unstable mother Lucy took Paula away from Dual Spires 12 years ago, after Bob and Michelle had all but raised her. When they started receiving letters from Paula detailing Lucy's drug use and the abuse she suffered at her hands, they knew they had to act and decided to fake Paula's death at age 11, which Robert claims was Paula's own idea. However, in order to convince her to return to Dual Spires Robert had to reveal to her that he was actually her father and that she was the result of an affair he had had with Lucy.

As Shawn and Gus investigate Paula's room they find a mysterious diary written in Latin, apparently because Paula suspected that someone was reading it. Thanks to Father Peter Westley's help, they discover that she was not only spending a lot of time with Randy, but also with Jack. The duo pay him a visit, and he tells them that he and Paula used to date before she dumped him for Randy a year ago. Although Jack was angry with Paula at first, he got over it and the two became best friends. When asked for his alibi, it turns out he doesn't really have one because he was with Paula the night she died. He was trying to dissuade her from leaving Dual Spires together with Randy when he was suddenly knocked out cold. When he came to an hour later, Paula was gone. However, he had been taking pictures the entire evening and in one of them Randy is seen running towards the two.

Shawn and Gus visit Randy again, and he admits that he knocked out Jack because he thought he was trying to steal his girlfriend. Paula then got angry at him and called him a hypocrite because he too had been spending a lot of time with his ex, who turns out to be librarian Maudette Hornsby. She then left to get help for Jack and refused Randy's assistance, going off into the dark night alone.

Shawn and Gus visit the library again because they now believe that Maudette killed Paula because she couldn't stand Randy being with another woman. However, instead they find out that Maudette was the one who had been sending them the emails. When a fire breaks out and they need to be rescued by Robert, he brings them to a cabin and reveals that Paula was being watched and followed, something Father Westley had already read in her diary. Robert tells them that after a drifter set a fire in 1958, all outsiders were regarded as suspicious, including Paula. For that reason Robert and Michelle were both supportive of Paula's plans to leave Dual Spires for good.

When Shawn spots Robert's ring he finally has the mystery all figured out, and he is proven right when Andrew and Donna enter the cabin only seconds later. They reveal that they murdered Paula because she had convinced Randy to leave Dual Spires together with her. As Randy is the only one of his generation who is descended from one of the town's three founding families, Andrew and Donna considered him the only true future leader of the community and wanted to do their utmost to ensure that he would stay in Dual Spires and fulfill his purpose. When the two found out that Maudette knew about the murder, they killed her too by making it look like she hanged herself. Luckily, Lassiter and Juliet burst into the cabin before any more blood can be shed, and the murderous pair are taken away.

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Trivia[]

As "Dual Spires" is an homage to Twin Peaks, the character of Paula Merral includes many references to the show:

  • The name "Paula Merral" is an anagram of "Laura Palmer", the murder victim around which Twin Peaks revolves. The pictures of the girls in both households are also very similar, and both had psychiatrists who later said they had dark secrets. Also, both were found murdered at a lake and wrapped in plastic.
  • The question "Who killed Paula Merral?" is also asked about Laura Palmer, and Gus asking that to Shawn is a reference to Harry asking it to Agent Cooper.
  • Paula is Michelle's niece and step-daughter, which is a reference to the fact that Sheryl Lee, who plays Donna Gooden in this episode, played both Sarah Palmer's daughter Laura and her niece Maddy on the show.
  • The lover earrings shared by Paula and Randy are a reference to the two halves of the golden heart necklace which were shared by Laura and James.
  • Shawn and Gus find Paula's diary in a black bear with a noose around its neck, which is a reference to Harold Smith, who had been hiding Laura's diary and later hanged himself.
  • Paula speaks of a meeting with "J" in her diary, just like Laura. Both girls also feared that someone was reading their diary.
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