Peter J. Colter is a former Bosseigh High classmate of Shawn and Gus's, graduating alongside them as part of the Class of '95. He was the water boy for the school's football team, the Sabercats, and could also often be found in the auto shop as "he was a whiz at fixing cars."
Shawn and Gus are reminded of him when they are at their 13-year class reunion and suspect Howie Tolkin and Eileen Mazwell of having pushed someone of the school's roof that night before hiding the body. As their investigation takes them to the library, they find pictures of the three that suggest Peter was the "Duckie" of the group, the third wheel of the love triangle. Our duo don't remember his name and can't look it up as he didn't show up for his grad pic back in the day, but Shawn realizes that Peter might have been the one who vandalized Howie's "football shrine" earlier that night and decides to visit the auto shop after noticing a picture of him that was taken there. It is here that Shawn learns Peter's name, and he surmises Peter had also paid his old haunt a visit from the crushed beer cans lying inside a car.
Shawn, Gus and Juliet go to the station to find out more about Peter and discover he, Howie and Eileen were involved in a car accident on 06/06/95, three days before graduation. Peter was charged with involuntary manslaughter as the driver and received six years probation. He was drunk at the time and the victim was thrown 20 feet after a head-on collision, surviving in a coma for seven months before succumbing to internal injuries. However, Shawn realizes it was in fact Howie who was driving at the time from a nasty bruise on his forehead in one of the accident pictures and the configuration of the driver's seat in another. They now have a strong reason to believe Howie and Eileen killed Peter, especially after Juliet mentions Eileen had taken out a restraining order against him for harassment only a month ago, but they are yet to find his body.
Shawn and Gus go back to the reunion and realize Howie and Eileen must have dragged Peter's body into the girls' locker room through a basement window. Once down there, they only barely manage to hide from the murderous couple and find Peter's body in a mascot costume. They move the body and lure Howie and Eileen onto the stage of the gymnasium by pretending they were voted the reunion prom king and queen. Shawn confronts them in front of all the other attendees and explains that Peter volunteered to take the rap for the car accident because he "worshipped" Howie and Eileen and was prepared to do anything for them. Howie agreed as he didn't want to lose his UCLA scholarship, but Peter's selfless act would change the trajectory of his life forever. Still stuck in that one moment, he never showed up to have his grad pic taken and fell into a life of petty crimes after moving away. When Howie announced he was running for the State Assembly, Peter couldn't take it anymore and needed the truth to come out. He contacted the two, leading to the restraining order which Howie and Eileen also hoped would deter him from coming to the reunion. However, he did show up and vandalized Howie's shrine before confronting him and Eileen on the roof drunk and upset. They pushed him off and hid the body, but didn't notice that the State Champs pin had fallen from Peter's letterman jacket. Following Shawn's revelations, Howie and Eileen are arrested and led away by Lassiter and Juliet.
Trivia[]
- Shawn calls Peter "Duckie" in reference to the 1986 teen movie Pretty in Pink, which revolves around a love triangle between Andrew McCarthy's Blane, Molly Ringwald's Andie and Jon Cryer's Duckie. Shawn had earlier referred to Howie and Eileen as McCarthy and Ringwald.
- The victim of the car accident was named "Michael McMurray" after Psych crew member Michael McMurray, who directed the episode. The investigating officer mentioned on the report was named "P. Chalmers" after Psych set decorator Penny A. Chalmers. The street where the accident occurred was named "Norlin Boulevard" after Psych production designer Eric Norlin.
- Peter's list of petty crimes includes a shoplifting in Fallon, NV.
- According to the accident report, he was 23 years old by the time he graduated high school.