Spoilers: All of VM is spoiled, through the end of the series.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Veronica Mars is owned by Rob Thomas, et al. No celebrity endorsement is implied by the use of product placements. Any real person's name is used in the sense of "wouldn't it be cool if this actor had this gig?"

Rating: Soft R, for violence, drugs, and cussing; some light sex (use your imagination).

Characters: Ensemble. Eventual LoVe. Mac/Dick. Everyone you love or love to hate who's not dead (and even the dead come back in flashbacks).

Summary: Future Fic. Veronica Mars' junior year at Hearst College; there are two new murders to occupy her time (when does she go to class?). Keith lost the election. Logan is trying to reinvent himself, but can't seem to get away from Veronica. Mac, Wallace, and Weevil are still VM's BF's. Old enemies are holding a grudge, and Veronica is in serious trouble.

Feedback, including concrit, is greatly appreciated.

Not beta-ed. All errors are my own. I tried to tie up a few of Rob Thomas' loose ends (a Sisyphean task, let me tell you.)

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VERONICA MARS
10:00PM TFX ch: 92 60min 2008 TV-MA
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Leo's campaign hits a snag; Veronica works it
at church; Keith attends mass.
Veronica: Kristin Bell. Keith: Enrico Colantoni.
Leo: Max Greenfield. Martina Vasquez: Luciana
Carro. Father Patrick: James Joseph O'Neill.
DeeDee Bradley: Jill Eikenberry. Eli: Francis
Capra. Logan: Jason Dohring.
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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: "SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY"

Leo straightens his tie and checks his reflection. This morning's Channel Nine television interview is crucial in the race for sheriff, and he knows his natural good looks and charm are two of his best assets. The television station's makeup person knocks on his door. "Deputy D'Amato, can we get started on your makeup and hair?"

Leo responds, "Okay, just make sure it's very natural looking. I'm not trying to look like a movie star."

"Yes, Deputy, that's not a problem."

While Leo is getting made up, an assistant comes in and conducts the pre-interview. "Okay, Deputy, we're going to start with your career highlights, and then we'll speak about the changes you would make in the department. Do you have a slogan we can mention?"

"Yes, 'Justice for All in Neptune'."

"Got it," the assistant says, writing on her clipboard. "Good luck out there, don't forget to smile."

----------

Veronica gets out of her car and straightens her skirt. After much internal debate, she decided that the look she needed was 'slutty, but trying to hide it'. Her skirt is just a little too short for church; her low-cut top is definitely too revealing, but she's wearing a slightly too small cardigan over it, so that you can't easily see her cleavage, but it's there for the discerning eye. She's wearing tinted glasses, long dangling earrings, and her black curly wig, styled with barrettes. She checks her purse to make sure she has all the accessories she needs.

She walks into the First Presbyterian Evangelical Church of Neptune, taking a program from a stack at the door. The Mars were not religious; she smiles a little, thinking of how her dad uses Christmas as an excuse to decorate a pine tree with baseball memorabilia. Her grandparents took her to church a few times, but it never 'stuck'. Veronica picks a pew near the rear of the church. She looks around and is surprised at how many familiar faces she sees: Mrs. Applebaum, her second-grade teacher; Woody Goodman's campaign worker/paramour, Jennifer Stansfield; Mrs. Sansone, who foolishly gave Landry a fake alibi; Mr. and Mrs. Dohanic; even a few Neptune High classmates: Kevin Carney, Gabrielle Pollard, and Howard Grigsby. And oh my god, Harmony Chase. Then the Mannings come in; Stewart, Rose, Lizzie and Grace ostentatiously head for a pew at the very front of the church. Veronica considers the fact that many of the pious attendees actually have sordid histories.

Reverend Bradley stands behind a lectern. Veronica's mind drifts; these familiar faces have her worrying again about all the people in Neptune who have reasons to hate her. She mentally shakes her head, thinking that as far as the Mannings go, she doesn't have any regrets; Duncan's daughter looked happy, even living on the run. As she tries to pay attention to the service, a woman takes the reverend's place at the lectern to give a reading. Veronica looks at her program and realizes that this is DeeDee Bradley. She has a very conservative look, with hair shellacked into place, subtle makeup, and a below-the-knee dress in an understated print. Veronica is sure that she's never seen her before.

----------

At St. Mary's, Keith thinks about the last time he went to church. Lianne's parents were devout Catholics, and they always disapproved of Keith's agnostic stance on religion. Whenever he and Lianne went to visit, he was compelled to attend services with them. The last mass he attended was shortly before Lianne's mother died. That death was one of the triggers for Lianne's worsening battle with alcoholism.

Even though it's been years, he remembers to check the missalette for the symbols that tell him when to sit, stand and kneel. He's surprised to find the service oddly comforting, and realizes that it's the ordinariness of the service that is appealing, and the simple decency of many of the elderly Hispanic and Irish women around him. Keith isn't surprised at the gender imbalance; from his days as sheriff, he recalls that not a few men from this neighborhood spent Saturday night in the drunk tank. He sees a few people he remembers from the old days as Sheriff; most seem to harbor no ill feelings or are even glad to see him at the church. Before communion, when Father Patrick urges the congregation to greet each other with the sign of peace, Keith's neighbor shake his hand and welcome him to the church with no reluctance.

Father Patrick is a good speaker: his voice is compelling and strong, and his message is clear and well-considered. The sermon on the sacrificial lamb is interesting. Father Patrick begins by speaking of the Old Testament meaning, referring to Abraham as 'the father of all who believe'. He discusses Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac to demonstrate his faith in God, saying that God tests us all, every day, to prove our faith. Father Patrick speaks of the everyday sacrifices that are made for the common good, without possibility of personal gain, and refers to the anonymous benefactor who donated the funds for 'The Bridge', the battered wives shelter. He continues by discussing the sacrifice of innocent people in order to serve God's incomprehensible plan and the necessity of faith to survive in the face of such tragedy. Father Patrick stops speaking for a brief moment, and looks directly at Keith. He brings the sermon to a close thematically by referring to the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who died to atone for the sins of man.

After the service, Keith waits in line to shake Father Patrick's hand. As Father Patrick grasps his hand in a firm handshake, Keith says, "You're right, the sermon was very interesting."

Father Patrick replies, "The loss of a family member is one of the most difficult tests that God gives us."

Keith says, "I'm not sure that God was responsible for my particular sacrifice."

"Make no mistake, Keith; the Lord is ultimately responsible for all of life's trials and victories. You would do well to remember that," Father Patrick intones.

----------

Leo's interview begins on a positive note. The interviewer, Martina Vasquez, welcomes Leo to her show, and asks Leo to discuss his positive vision for Neptune. Leo talks about increasing patrols in areas that are currently under served and instituting traffic enforcement reviews to ensure that parking and speeding tickets are written fairly, without regard to wealth, status or ethnicity.

"Well, Deputy D'Amato, it seems that you are quite interested in protecting all of Neptune's residents, not just the wealthy. Yet it was your negligence that directly led to the theft of the videotapes of Aaron Echolls and Lilly Kane, which was one of the primary reasons for the acquittal of Mr. Echolls, who was certainly one of our more...shall we say?...prominent Neptune residents," Martina says, indelicately.

Leo clears his throat. It's obvious now that this interview is intended to be a hatchet job. "Well, Martina, actually the official statement implicated the general lax security at the sheriff's depart-"

Martina interrupts, reading from a sheet of paper. "The official statement is crystal clear. 'Although no single cause can directly account for the theft, the primary factor appears to be insufficient oversight by the designated caretakers. Most notably, Deputy Leo D'Amato.' How can the town of Neptune be satisfied that there will 'sufficient oversight' in the future?"

Leo takes a breath, and plunges in. "Martina, I was dismissed from the Sheriff's office for the mistake you're referring to. After a year of working in private security, I was recruited by then-Sheriff Mars to rejoin the force. Sheriff Mars led the investigation into the security breach, and if he can be confident that I deserved a second chance in the Neptune Sheriff's Department, so can the town of Neptune. Since my reinstatement, my record has been above reproach. I have received five commendations from the Mayor's office and a special letter of recognition from the FBI. The theft of the tapes was a direct result of my inexperience at that time. I have since completed specialized training in investigative techniques, sensitivity issues, computer crime and civil rights law. I have personally solved three murder cases, including one that was left over from the tenure of Don Lamb."

"Speaking of Keith Mars, what is your relationship with the Mars family? The gossip is that at one point you were dating Mr. Mars' daughter, Veronica, who as we all know was a star witness in Mr. Echolls' trial," Martina says smarmily.

"Veronica and I remain friendly, after a brief relationship that concluded more than three and a half years ago. Mr. Mars is a mentor and colleague, with whom I have an excellent professional relationship," Leo replies staunchly.

"It's quite an intricate connection to the Mars family, is it not?" Martina smiles.

----------

Veronica waits until the church has mostly cleared out. She then seeks out Mrs. Bradley. "Mrs. Bradley? I was wondering if I could speak to you. You sounded so...kind...when you spoke today. I really need someone to talk to." Veronica dabs at her eyes with her handkerchief. Using an old actor's trick, she has pre-applied Vicks VapoRub to the handkerchief; her eyes immediately well up with tears.

"Oh, dear. Wouldn't you rather speak to my husband? He's much better at counseling..." DeeDee says nervously.

"No, no...I can't bear to speak to a man. You see, I was abused by...a teacher, when I was very young," Veronica improvises, thinking that sexual abuse fits right into her cover story.

"All right. Just wait in my office for a minute, I have to say goodbye to the parishioners. I'll be right with you." DeeDee motions to an office down the hall.

She's letting me go in her office alone? Obviously she hasn't recognized me as Veronica Mars, Veronica thinks gleefully. She goes in the office; she sees that the computer is booted up. She quickly pulls out a flash drive, and copies DeeDee's email and a file labeled "Personal Correspondence" onto it. She pokes her head out into the hallway; still not sign of DeeDee, so Veronica rushes back to the computer and copies her browser history and a Quicken personal finance file. She ejects the flash drive and arranges herself in the chair across from the desk. She uses the adulterated handkerchief to bring on the tears again and is weeping by the time DeeDee enters the room.

"There, there," DeeDee says ineffectively. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"It's...it's my boyfriend. He wants me to...I can't even say it."

"Go on," DeeDee urges.

"It was bad enough before. He made me get an abortion. I know it's murder. But I'm all alone, I left home and came here with him when I was sixteen. My parents never believed me when I told them that my teacher abused me. They called me a whore and kicked me out." Veronica realizes she's enjoying the drama a little too much, and she'd better cool it. "Now, my boyfriend says we need money, and he wants to sleep with his friends, for money. I told him I'm not a hooker, and he just laughed and said if I want him to support me anymore, I'd better do it, or I'll be out on the streets."

"Oh my God, that's awful. What's your name, honey?"

Veronica says, "Lisa. Lisa McNeil. What am I going to do? I never graduated from high school, I can't support myself."

DeeDee sighs. "Lisa, you can do anything you put your mind to." Conspiratorially, she leans forward toward Veronica. "Honey, can you keep a secret? When I was your age, I was a prostitute. My boyfriend was as bad as yours sounds. He used to beat me if I didn't bring home enough money. I was lucky, a public defender helped me to find a battered women's shelter and with their help I got my GED. I went to college and I met my husband. We're not rich, but we spend our lives helping people and ministering to the lost souls of the world. You can do anything you want with your life, Lisa."

She rifles through her desk. "Can you get to San Diego? There's a new women's shelter that's being planned in Neptune, but it won't be open for a while. The closest shelter is in San Diego. I know the woman who runs it." She pulls out a business card and a brochure. "Here's the information and my card. I want you to go home, pack, and go straight there. Do you need bus fare?"

Veronica shakes her head, thinking, I think this woman's for real. "No, I have a car."

"Lisa, I want you to call me in a couple days. Will you give me permission to talk to my husband about you? He's an excellent counselor. I know you don't have a lot of faith in men right now, but I'm sure he would be happy to help you."

Veronica mumbles, "Okay. I'll go tonight."

"No, this afternoon...take it from me, you want to get out of there now." DeeDee hugs Veronica and escorts her out of the church.

Veronica walks to her car, keeping up her upset demeanor in case DeeDee is watching. As she pulls out of the parking lot, she thinks, DeeDee is the nicest woman I've met in quite a while.

----------

Logan wakes up with a terrific hangover. His whole body hurts. Apparently, one of the boyfriend's kicks connected with his rib. From past experience, he decides it's only a bruise, but it hurts like a mother. He finds a note on the kitchen counter. It's from Wallace.

Logan-

Your refrigerator seemed a little empty, so Piz and I bought you some food. We talked to Dick last night and he said he's coming up to visit you. He'll be here around dinnertime Sunday night. I'm still here visiting Piz for the weekend if you need anything. My cell number is 619-555-1225.

Wallace

Wallace's simple kindness, especially considering Logan's previous rough treatment of Piz, makes Logan want to weep.

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VERONICA MARS
10:00PM TFX ch: 92 60min 2008 TV-MA
Disclosure
Keith investigates Father Patrick; Veronica and
Keith go to the shooting range and share; Dick
visits Logan after the bar fight.
Veronica: Kristin Bell. Keith: Enrico Colantoni.
Father Patrick: James Joseph O'Neill. Logan:
Jason Dohring. Dick: Ryan Hansen.
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CHAPTER THIRTY: DISCLOSURE

Veronica decides that the information on DeeDee Bradley that she has copied onto her flash drive can wait. She makes a slight detour on her way home and drives past the Manning house. She is shocked to see the state of the house. It was never the grandest house in a neighborhood of large mansions, but it was always kept in perfect repair. Now, the white picket fence is missing a section, and is dire need of repainting. The lawn is unkempt, and the plantings are overgrown or dying. There are no potted plants on the porch anymore. The whole house needs painting as well. The Mannings' car looks to be about a five-year old Ford Taurus, which has also seen better days. What happened here? she wonders.

----------

After leaving the mass, Keith decides he has enough time before meeting Veronica to do some discreet investigating of Father Patrick. He pulls into a parking spot across the street from the church and begins to watch the priest's residence through a telephoto lens. He sees Father Patrick get into his car, and drive off, and Keith follows him several cars back.

Keith manages to maintain several cars between him and Father Patrick for a few miles, then as they approach the outskirts of town, they become the only cars on the road. At a diner just outside the city limits, Father Patrick pulls in and Keith has no choice but to continue on. He circles the block at the first opportunity and returns to the diner, once again parking across the street and observing with his telephoto lens.

After a half an hour, Keith is rewarded for his patience when he sees Patrick emerge from the diner with Vinnie Van Lowe. He rapidly takes a series of photos. As they get in their cars and leave the parking lot, Keith pretends to be searching in his glove compartment as they drive by. He sits up and wonders what business Vinnie has with Father Patrick.

----------

Keith meets Veronica at the apartment and as they drive to El Cajon Shooting Range, they compare notes on their mornings. Veronica has accessed the files on her flash drive and has only confirmed that reverends don't make a lot of money, and that DeeDee seems to be a kindhearted woman. Keith agrees with Veronica that DeeDee doesn't appear to merit further investigation. When Keith tells Veronica about Father Patrick meeting Vinnie, she pretends to gasp. "Sounds like a clue, Dad," she says ironically. "What reason would they have to meet clandestinely?"

"I don't know, but what I do know is that when it comes to the Fitzpatricks, you're going to let me take the lead."

Once they get to the shooting range, Veronica shoots well using traditional targets. Keith suggests they try a more challenging practice, and asks Billy, the manager at El Cajon, to set up the urban tactical simulation. As Veronica moves through a movie-like set that looks like a city, with grimy 'buildings', fake sidewalks and plantings, she has to discern whether the targets that pop up are friend or foe and to quickly make a snap judgment whether to shoot or hold her fire. She does well enough for her first time, clearing the course with a passing score, but she realizes she needs much more practice, and vows to return soon.

Driving back to Neptune that evening, Keith notices a set of headlights behind them. He doesn't think anything of it at first, but as the miles goes by, he begins to worry.

Veronica notices him looking in the rear view mirror more often than usual and asks, "Is someone behind us?"

"I'm sure it's nothing. It's just that they've been behind us for ten miles, since we left El Cajon, and there's not much on this road."

Just then, they both hear an engine revving. Veronica turns around and looks back; Keith speeds up and asks her if she can see anything. She says, "I think they turned their headlights off."

Keith takes a curve a little too fast, and Veronica has to grab the dashboard to avoid slamming into her father. He orders, "Veronica, get my gun from the glove compartment and then get down. No arguing!" Veronica does as he asks, and keeps quiet.

Keith sees that they are approaching a long straight-away; he guns the accelerator, and Veronica, hunched over, involuntarily gives a little shriek. "Hold on, Veronica!" He suddenly switches off the headlights as he stands on the brake, the tires squealing in protest; he quickly turns into a dirt road, spins the steering wheel and turns back onto the highway in the opposite direction, turning on his high beams.

He narrowly misses the car, which speeds off; he is able to see a partial California license plate GYK something. "Veronica, it's okay, I think they're gone. Can you help me remember the license? GYK, California plates. A dark sedan, maybe a Taurus."

Veronica slides back up onto the seat, shaking. "Dad, if I had been alone, I couldn't have done that."

"Well, maybe it's time to learn. We'll have some driving lessons--we'll go out to the desert and practice," Keith replies. "Honey, I think there's a restaurant up ahead. Let's get some dinner before we head back. I'm still a little shook up. And, Veronica...I haven't been completely honest with you. It's high time I told you why I was late to meet you in New York City two years ago, and what happened to Kendall Casablancas. I'm worried we're paying the price now."

----------

At the diner, sitting in a booth in the back, Veronica is still aghast that her father gave all of Kendall's money to the Neptune food bank. "You did what?? Let me get this straight, Kendall hired you to provide her with a new identity, then you helped her to hook up with the convict Cormac. Then Vinnie followed you, leading Liam to his brother. Liam killed Kendall and Cormac, but didn't realize that the money had been used to buy a painting; then you sold the painting and DONATED the money to a charity, instead of sending me to the Ivy League??"

"Well, when you put it like that...I didn't know what was going to happen," Keith finished lamely.

"I don't ever want to hear another lecture about unintended consequences...Oh my god, that's what Liam was talking about in the River Stix," Veronica realizes.

"When were you in the River Stix?" Keith asks, puzzled.

Veronica explains.

FLASHBACK: Veronica and Meryl are hunting for Meryl's errant boyfriend, Sully. They've tracked his cell phone to the River Stix. Liam Fitzpatrick comes up behind Veronica, unseen, and, somewhat menacingly, grabs her in a bear hug, swinging her around the bar. She cries out, "Let me down!"

Liam retorts, "Are you here to lecture us on stealing now?" While Veronica struggles, Liam dances around, holding her fast in his grip. "It's not enough your dad put half my family in jail. Not that I hold a grudge. No! Fair play, Sheriff." He spins her around, singing with the juke box, "And a-roving, a-roving, a-roving I'll go for a pair of brown eyes...You see, now I got a real problem, 'cause private investigator Mars sticks his nose into my business, and he helps that Casablancas bitch check out of Neptune with millions in my cash."

As Veronica relates the story, Keith become more and more livid. "He said that? 'Fair play, Sheriff.' I'll kill him. How the hell did you get out of there?"

"Vinnie was there. He pretended to send you a picture message of what was going on with his cell phone, and got Liam to let me go," Veronica admits. "Vinnie warned me to stay out of the River Stix."

"Amazing, Vinnie Van Lowe gave you good advice. I hope you took it. Dammit, Veronica!"

"Yes, Dad, that's the last time I was in there. And I didn't even want to go in, Meryl rushed in even though I told her to wait until we called for help. You still haven't 'splained giving that money away to charity, Dad," she says teasingly, trying to distract her father.

"Veronica, how could I have explained that money in the first place? In the second place, the Fitzpatricks would have come after us immediately to try to take it away."

"But you said that Liam still thinks you do have it. And we both know that Vinnie was working for him. Liam supported Vinnie against you in the sheriff's race. Do you think Vinnie knows about the Casablancas money?"

"He does, they hired him to try and find it, telling him that they thought I had it stashed away. He tried to get me to go halves on the retainer; said if I turned in the money, he'd split the Fitzpatrick's fee with me. Typical Vinnie ploy."

"Dad, I can't believe you never told me about this."

----------

"Logan, what the hell happened?" Dick says as he walks into Logan's beach house.

"It's not a big deal." Logan is laying on the couch, flipping through channels on the flat screen TV. "You didn't have to come."

Dick flops onto a chair. "Wallace said you were pretty messed up. I was worried."

"You didn't have to cut short your weekend. How it's go with Mac? I still can't believe you're hanging out with her."

"She's totally hyphy at the blackjack table. This card-counting shit that she does, it's muy loco."

"So all you did was gamble?"

"Unh-uh, I did manage to slip her the hot beef injection."

Logan laughs, then grimaces in pain. "Shit, don't make me laugh."

"Seriously, Logan, what's with the emocidal shit?"

"I just fucked up, hit on the wrong girl at a bar," Logan replies. "Could you make a beer run?"

Dick hesitates.

Logan wheedles, "C'mon, dude, just some beer. I'm not gonna get wasted."

Dick finally agrees. They spend a relatively quiet night playing 'Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball'. Dick surreptitiously watches Logan all night, worrying about his friend.

----------

Keith and Veronica are wolfing down two pieces of apple pie a la mode at the diner. "You know, Veronica, it's not possible to have a bad piece of apple pie."

"Mmm-hmmm," she replies, her mouth full.

"So when are you going to tell me about the Mannings? I don't think you volunteered to check out DeeDee Bradley in church today because she seemed so suspicious."

"You noticed the connection?" she says warily.

"It's been a long while since I fell off the turnip truck, honey," he says. "It came out at the Echolls trial that you broke into the Mannings' house; do you want to tell me why you broke in?"

"Well, in the spirit of full disclosure and amnesty, do you promise not to get mad?" she asks.

He takes another bite, and just raises his eyebrows.

"When Meg was in the coma, Duncan had her laptop, and he found out that Meg was speaking to Child Protective Services about an abused child she was baby-sitting. You found the letters in my room when Duncan kidnapped his daughter, remember? But when we first found the letters, we didn't know that Meg was speaking about her own sister; we thought it was one of the kids she was baby-sitting. So Duncan and I investigated all of Meg's regular baby-sitting clients, who were all total freak shows, by the way, but none seemed like actual abusers. In desperation," she sneaks a look at her dad to see how he's taking the new information, "we broke into Meg's house to find more information."

"And? What did you find?"

"The abused child was Grace Manning, Meg's little sister. We found her journal, filled with one sentence, written over and over, 'The path to God is paved with righteousness'. Then we discovered Grace locked in a closet. Grace said something about 'being tested'. Mr. Manning came home and found us; he called Sheriff Lamb, who arrested us."

"What? You got arrested??"

"Actually, I don't think he really did arrest us. He stopped a block away from the Mannings and let us go. I think Lamb believed our story, but he pretended to arrest us so it would look to Stewart Manning like he was doing his job. Nothing was ever said about it again until the trial, and you know that Lamb didn't miss many opportunities to hold something over me."

Rubbing his chin, Keith thinks about Veronica's story. "You truly were convinced that Manning was abusing his daughter? And that's why you helped Duncan get out of the country?"

"Meg made me swear not to let the Mannings keep her baby. She was worried they would arrange an adoption with an ultra-religious family even worse than her own," Veronica explains.

"And you think the Mannings might be punishing you with these letters and the frame job? That journal does sound a little like the letters. But what's the connection to Lianne and Wiedman?"

"I don't know, it doesn't make sense. Duncan said yesterday that it didn't make sense to him either. He thought they were more likely to sue me, as they did the Casablancas and the school board."

"I agree. The Mannings just don't seem like murderers to me. But I think someone today got scared, I don't know if it was someone who saw me or you, but the car following us was a reaction. We're making somebody nervous," Keith says.

"Dad, what about going home tonight? What's to say that that car won't be following us again when we leave?" Veronica worries.

"It's under control, honey."

Just then a policeman walks in to the diner and looks around. He spies Keith and walks over to their table. "Hey, Keith, long time no see."

"Would you like a little pie before we get going?" Keith asks. "Veronica, this is an old friend of mine, Patrolman Lundell. He's going to tail us back to the Neptune city limits, where Leo's going to meet us."

Veronica smiles, relieved. Then she has a thought. "Dad, Leo can't follow us around forever. I think we should get different cars for a while."

"Veronica, we can't afford to buy new cars, or even rent cars."

"That's not what I had in mind."

----------

Under Leo's escort, Keith and Veronica drive to Eli's uncle's chop shop. Eli and Angel are waiting for them, with a grey Honda Accord for Keith and a black Nissan Maxima for Veronica. Eli says, "They're both V6's, so you have a little power to get out of trouble if you need it. Full air bags, and not the bullshit remanufactured ones that might or might not work."

Keith shakes Eli's and Angel's hands. "Thanks, Eli, Angel. Veronica told me about what's been going on. I can't condone auto theft, but I'll stop by tomorrow to see if I have any ideas how to help you that I can live with."

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VERONICA MARS
10:00PM TFX ch: 92 60min 2008 TV-MA
Minority Report
Wallace, Mac and Leo suggest alternative theories.
Veronica: Kristin Bell. Keith: Enrico Colantoni.
Wallace: Percy Daggs III. Mac: Tina Majorino.
Leo: Max Greenfield. Richard Rosenthal: Dan
Futterman.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: "MINORITY REPORT"

Keith runs the partial plate he got the night before. GYK something. Unfortunately, the system shows that there are several thousand cars with that license plate in Balboa County. When he filters the search by adding the make and model, Ford Taurus, he has twenty-seven hits. He scrolls down the list. To his surprise, he sees a car registered to Stewart Manning.

Wallace, back from his weekend adventures in Los Angeles, enters Mars Investigations. "Yo, Keith, how was your weekend?"

"Exciting." Keith fills Wallace in on the events of the weekend: Duncan's reappearance; Veronica's elimination of DeeDee Bradley as a suspect; Father Patrick's meeting with Vinnie Van Lowe and the car that attempted to run him and Veronica off the road.

"Damn, I thought I had an exciting weekend." Wallace tells Keith about helping Cooper with his internet bimbo, which has Keith in stitches.

"Piz said 'keep the pizza with our compliments'?" Keith laughs.

"That's not even everything. We ran into Logan, he was getting his ass handed to him in a bar fight. We broke it up and got him home."

"Is he all right?" Keith asks, more seriously.

"I guess so, it was a bad scene. That boy has issues."

Keith thinks that he will give Logan a call later. "Don't tell Veronica about Logan, okay?"

"You crazy? I'm not getting involved in that," Wallace swears.

"Wallace, I'm going to follow up on a lead on the car from last night. I have some insurance forms I need you to type up from my notes; those need to go out today. Then I'd like you to check out Richard Rosenthal. It's my impression that he's a long shot; he has no history of violence of any kind, and I don't think it's very dangerous. I'd like you to review all the information we have on him, and just do some routine surveillance, see if there's anything worth pursuing. No taking chances and no overnight stakeouts, please, I have enough to worry about with my daughter," Keith says seriously.

"Mrs. Fennel didn't raise no Chuck Norris," Wallace says wryly.

"Okay, check in with me throughout the day, let me know."

"You just leave it to me, Keith, I know I can tickle the twine."

----------

After her morning classes, Veronica meets up with Mac in the Food Court for lunch. "So how was the big weekend? I can't believe you spent the whole weekend with Dick!"

Mac shrugs. "We had a really fun time. He'll never be a card shark, though."

"No big surprise there. Wait until you hear what happened over the weekend. You'll never guess who the blond guy is...and somebody tried to run me and my dad off the road." Veronica tells Mac the details of her weekend.

"So somebody was upset about seeing either you or your Dad at church yesterday?" Mac asks. "Veronica, this sounds really dangerous."

"So that means we have to work even harder to figure out who had a reason to kill my mom and frame me."

"What if you were just a convenient patsy? I'm sorry, Veronica, but maybe it's not personal. You and your dad are famous in this town. You told me yourself that it's caused some problems with your dad's P.I. business, that he's been too recognizable to really be an effective snoop. And you couldn't go anywhere after the Echolls trial without someone pointing and staring at you."

"Yeah, my STD was not exactly on the down low, right?" Veronica asks sardonically. "Not my finest hour."

"So maybe you should be looking more at why your mother was shot. Her history. You said she was arrested in Texas for drugs. Maybe this was about a drug deal gone wrong."

"But why would Clarence Wiedman care about a drug deal? He's not involved with drugs at all. And we know from the eyewitness and forensic evidence on my mom's body that he killed her," Veronica replies.

"I don't know, I'm just saying, maybe it's not personal. Maybe those threatening letters your dad is getting aren't part of this. It's not like there's only one wacko in Neptune," Mac says reasonably.

"Okay, point taken. But then why try to attack me and Dad last night? Let's see if we can eliminate the Mannings as a suspect. If it is personal, that family definitely hates me. The only strange thing I've found so far is that they seem to be broke. They always had plenty of money when we were in high school, they won a lawsuit, and Mr. Manning hasn't lost his job. There must be a reason why they've seem to lost all their money."

Mac asks, "What about Lizzie? Do you think she would talk to you about her family? In high school she wasn't the biggest fan of her parents."

"Yeah, but she turned into a Stepford Wife after the bus crash."

"I bet that was just for show; her parents probably came down on her hard when they learned that Meg was preggers. You said she was at San Diego State, right? Why don't we go try to talk to her, away from her parents? At the very least, we'll see how much she hates you," Mac suggests.

Veronica thinks. "All right, it's a plan. But I think with everything that's happened I want backup, and I don't mean my dog. Let's see what time Weevil gets off work."

----------

Picking up the phone, Keith says, "Mars Investigations."

"Hey, Keith, it's Leo."

"Leo, I'm sorry about the interview yesterday." Keith had TiVo'd the interview; he was distressed to see Leo squirming about his connection to the Mars family.

"Yes, well...I'm not giving up. Vinnie has a lot more to hide than I do, and the interview just toughened me up a little bit. The worst is over, and my numbers can only get better from here," Leo responds.

"I have an idea about going after Vinnie. I'll be in touch about it later; I have to do a little thinking how to work it first because I want to make sure that your end will be squeaky clean. What's going on in the meantime?"

"Keith, I've been double-checking the Kanes' alibi for the murder of Clarence Wiedman. Unless they hired a hitter, they are clear. They provided security footage from the guard booth to Pemberton Estates for the entire weekend that shows that they didn't leave the estates from Thursday evening to Monday morning. I asked to lab guys to check the encoding on the video; they assure me that the video is time-stamped and hasn't been altered in any way. And I've spoken to several employees at Kane software; Wiedman hasn't been employed there for quite some time, and no one has seen or heard of him since he was fired. By the way, no one seems to know why he was fired, but it's clear that it was over a personal dispute with Jake, and not connected in any way with Kane Software. If the Kanes hired him as a contract killer, they planned this six months ago, fired Wiedman and waited until now to execute their plan. I think that's taking revenge as a dish best served cold to an extreme."

Keith says, "I agree. I've also found out that the Kanes are trying to get amnesty for Duncan, and it seems likely that they wouldn't risk another murder that might ruin that deal. The Kanes have always been willing to do anything for Duncan, and Lianne's and Wiedman's murders just don't fit into that scenario."

Leo adds, "The district attorney mentioned that they are close to a deal that would clear Duncan in Lilly Kane's murder. Apparently, the Kanes' attorneys have made it clear that they would use the prosecution's own case against Aaron Echolls to raise reasonable doubt that Duncan killed his sister, and without Aaron Echolls to testify, it seems likely that the Kanes would prevail. Of course, they still have to get amnesty for Duncan regarding the Manning kidnapping."

"What's happening with that, by the way? Veronica has the crazy idea that the Mannings hate her enough to frame her for murder," Keith posits.

"Well, the Mannings are not the most rational people in Neptune. And on the topic of the kidnapping, they are positively psychotic. Stewart Manning still visits Vinnie at least once a week, asking what progress they've made in the case. You know, I think Vinnie knows something about the kidnapping, he's always in a great mood after Stewart leaves, chuckling to himself."

"That's interesting." Keith makes a mental note to ask Veronica about Vinnie's involvement in the kidnapping. Now that she's told him about breaking in to the Mannings' house, he's hoping she'll finally tell him all the details about Duncan's great escape.

"Keith, I've been working on tracing Lianne's whereabouts after her release from rehab. It seems that she spent some time in Phoenix. Does she have any friends or family there?" Leo asks.

Keith tells Leo about Lianne's friend, Adrianna. While Leo talks about going to Phoenix to talk to Adrianna, Keith thinks about rehab, and wonders if there might be some information to be gained from Lianne's stay there. Perhaps as Lianne's ex-husband, he can convince the counselors to speak to him about her treatment. He sighs internally, dreading the prospect of learning more about Lianne's life since she left Neptune.

----------

Wallace is parked outside Richard Rosenthal's house. Stakeouts always sounded a lot more exciting when Veronica talked about them, he thinks. He's been here parked for hours. Fortunately, he has plenty of engineering homework to keep him busy.

When Wallace is just about to give up and call it a day, Rosenthal exits the side door and gets in his car to leave. Wallace thinks about Keith's prohibition on taking chances and decides following Rosenthal discreetly is well within his directive. He carefully drives behind Rosenthal, at one point allowing another car to get between them by not running a yellow light. He sees Rosenthal parking outside a Frog's Fitness health club and decides that he can risk going into the health club as well. This is one thing I can do that Keith could never pull off. Wallace, finding some workout gear in the trunk of his car, purchases a day pass at the check-in desk and enters the gym. Rosenthal is working on an elliptical trainer and Wallace takes the machine next to him.

"Hey," he says to Rosenthal, and begins to work out. Wallace remembers that Rosenthal was arrested for soliciting a male prostitute and is thinking about how to strike up a conversation when he notices Rosenthal's t-shirt prominently says, 'Harvard'. Isn't that where Wiedman went to college?

After working out for ten minutes, Rosenthal stops the elliptical trainer and says, ruefully, "Man, you're in great shape. Even when I was your age, I never had that kind of endurance."

Wallace is a little concerned about the implications of endurance, but he plays it straight, and replies, "I play varsity b-ball at Hearst, the coach makes us run wind sprints all the time. I'm not tall, so I have to make up for it by running a lot. You know, I gotta run three steps for every one a seven-footer takes."

"Basketball, huh?"

"Yeah, do you follow the game?"

"Well, not so much college ball, but, yeah, I'm a Clippers fan. Hey, do you think you could spot me on some weights?" Rosenthal answers.

"Sure." Wallace steps off the machine and follows Rosenthal over to the weight training area. "So, I usually work out at school, but I've been checking out some of the local gyms instead. Is this a good gym?"

"Yeah, I like it. I'm surprised you would want to pay for a gym when you could work out at school for free." Rosenthal lays down on the bench and begins to work with the barbells.

Wallace is ready for the question. "Well, there's a guy, we had a little thang, and now he's just not ready to move on, and I am." Wallace mentally crosses his fingers, thinking what he knows about gay life would fit in his pinky. He spots Rosenthal as he works out.

"I know what you mean. I had a guy stalking me at Harvard, it got pretty intense," Rosenthal says.

Nodding at Rosenthal's T-shirt, Wallace says, "Harvard? Is that where you went to school? There's not too many Harvard grads on the West Coast, are there?"

"There's actually quite a few Harvard alums at Kane Software. One of my friends from Harvard recruited me, you actually probably read about him in the paper. Clarence Wiedman? It was tragic, somehow he got mixed up in a murder and was killed himself. He helped me with my little stalker problem at Harvard and we kept in touch ever since." Rosenthal cradles the barbell, sits up and allows Wallace to change places.

"You knew Clarence Wiedman?" Wallace doesn't have to act surprised; he can't believe he's actually hit pay dirt. He lays down on the bench and begins to lift the weights.

"Yeah, he was always a really intense guy, but totally loyal to his friends. He spent quite a bit of time in the armed forces, all very hush-hush, I think Special Ops or something. Scary, but in a really sexy way."

"Were you guys more than friends or something?" Wallace can't believe what Rosenthal is implying.

"No, when I knew Clarence he was strictly hetero. But I always wondered. I usually can tell these things. He was bottled up pretty tight. And his divorce was messy. He never gave me the gory details, but let's just say I wouldn't be surprised. You know, he had very limited visitation rights with his son. Judges in Balboa County can be very conservative, you know."

"Yeah, you're right about that. So are you pissed that girl isn't behind bars?" Wallace asks.

"Veronica Mars? No, there's no way. Her dad did some work for me one time, he's a great guy, not judgmental at all. And I remember how she got reamed at the Echolls trial. I think someone set her up," Rosenthal says.

"But they had all that evidence against her. And it was her mother..." Wallace continues. He sets the weights in the cradle and sits up.

"No way. When Clarence got fired from Kane Software, there was something else going on in his life. I'm sure he got in over his head with something; he told me about some of the insane risks he took in the special forces, and I'm positive this was just another example."

Wallace thinks he has to talk to Keith right away. "Listen, man, it was great to meet you."

"You too, I hope you join the gym here. I'm usually here at this time every day, come see me again," Rosenthal says hopefully.

" Rosenthal says hopefully.