Lassiter needs Shawn and Gus' help. Unexplained things have been happening in a small town outside his jurisdiction. Sheriff Hank is an old friend of his and since Shawn and Gus have a talent for finding something out of nothing, Lassiter enlists their services to uncover the truth about the strange occurrences. Hank explains to them that wooden fence posts around the town have been stolen, someone has poisoned the water and there's a stench in the air that Gus attributes to cat urine. But as Hank shows them around, they realize that Old Sonora is not a real town. It is an Old West tourist attraction. Some of the buildings are just facades and the townspeople are all in character. To illustrate this, Hank proceeds to "kill" Stinky Pete, the town outlaw, like he does every afternoon. Shawn quickly notices grey dust on Pete's shoes as the "body" is dragged away and wonders what they are doing there. Lassiter explains that Old Sonora was originally a historic mining town and that he spent most of his weekends there as a child. He will not let vandals shut the place down.