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: Piz goes to the hospital and gives Logan a pelvic...wait, this isn't vm slash!! Okay, here's what's really happening...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. Thanks very much for all your kind reviews, and BTW I don't apologize for torturing you with my cliffhangers. (ha!)
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.)
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••VERONICA MARS
10:00PM TFX ch: 92 60min 2008 TV-MA
Analyze This
The eyewitness' Neptune connection; Carrie's
past; Leo's idea; Logan finds out about
Veronica's arraignment.
Veronica: Kristin Bell. Keith: Enrico Colantoni.
Logan: Jason Dohring. Leo: Max Greenfield.
John Enbom: Scott Michael Foster. Judge
Cramer: Sam Anderson. Cliff: Daran Norris.
Mulvaney: Kenny Johnson. Professor Holdredge:
Armin Shimerman. Mac: Tina Majorino.
Dick: Ryan Hansen.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: "ANALYZE THIS"
After Dr. Friedman leaves, Veronica peeks into Logan's room. Seeing that his eyes are closed, she realizes that he must be tired and decides to let him sleep. She returns to the waiting and tries to get some schoolwork done, but thoughts of pressure...be patient keep intruding. Veronica looks over at Mac and Dick, and is surprised to see that Mac is helping Dick with his schoolwork. I suppose if she could get Weevil to pass that math class, she could tutor anyone...if Dick keeps going out with Mac, he might actually graduate. She watches Dick and Mac interacting, and observes the easy rapport that they seem to have developed. Their history is just as disturbing as Logan's and mine; why can't it be as easy for us? They don't seem to ever needle each other about the past, and god knows Dick was certainly an asshole to her. Actually, he was an asshole to everyone. Dick whispers something in Mac's ear and she blushes and looks over at Veronica. Veronica smiles back, and looks down at her schoolwork.
----------
Keith finally reaches his friend at the Salinas prison and asks about Mulvaney.
"Mulvaney? That guy always had some scheme going, his parole was denied twice because of infractions," Keith's friend, the deputy warden at Salinas, says.
"I'm trying to find a connection to Neptune, he's testifying that he witnessed my daughter just outside the scene of a murder here," Keith explains. "I know my daughter wasn't involved, so why would this guy show up out of the blue saying he saw her? Is this guy connected to the Fitzpatricks by any chance?"
"Hold on a sec, let me look something up. That rings a bell," the deputy warden says. Keith hears computer keys clicking. "His cellmate for the last six months was Danny Boyd, sound familiar?"
"Very." Keith thinks about busting Boyd, a Fitzpatrick flunky, for gun-running with Vinnie's 'help'. "I think I got what I need."
He terminates the cell connection; thinks a second and then dials Weevil. "Eli, I have a job for you. I'd like you to tail someone and see if you can get evidence that they're connected to the Fitzpatricks."
----------
Leo can't believe what he's found out by listening to Lamb's surveillance recordings. He realizes that Lamb had been blackmailing half of the town's most prominent people. It's a good thing Lamb's death was clearly an accident, otherwise I'd have fifty potential suspects for a murder case. Apparently, Lamb began by blackmailing the current town supervisor, who has carried on a long-term affair with a younger woman who works in his office. No wonder Lamb got the mayor's endorsement in that race. Next, Lamb began blackmailing the Manning family; he has audio and video of Stewart 'testing' the children while Rose stands by approvingly. His success led him to dig up dirt on several philandering trophy wives, who all seemed to have a thing for the tennis pro at the club. He branched out into some financial investigations, discovering some tricky bookkeeping and shell corporations.
The town incorporation real estate scandal gave Lamb several opportunities as well; it looked as though Lamb had begun to target Cassidy Casablancas as a potential victim, but was thwarted by Beaver's untimely demise. Leo has a sickening sense of power, having gained this sordid knowledge in one fell swoop.
While listening to the recordings and perusing the other evidence, he has searched in vain for mentions of Wiedman, Lianne and Veronica; Keith's name has come up a few times, but only as an investigator. But one recording has convinced him how Lianne came to be a blackmailer: Victor Hammer, a prominent film director who resides in Neptune, mentions how 'helpful' the group therapy was at the Wonderland Treatment Center, the same drug rehab Lianne attended.
----------
Still exhausted from the events of the past few days, Veronica has fallen asleep in the hospital waiting room. She is awakened by shouting, and sits up quickly, realizing the angry voices are coming from Logan's room. "What's going on?" she asks Mac and Dick. They shrug, looking confused; Veronica jumps up and runs to Logan's room and peeks in.
Logan and Enbom are fighting. "What the hell are you talking about, arraignment?" Logan says angrily.
"I told you, she is bad news, you have to cut her loose, Veronica just causes trouble for you. She's a murdering slut. Hopefully they'll put her away forever and maybe you can actually move on this time," Enbom snipes.
"Get the hell outta here!" Logan roars at him.
"I can't believe you, bro's before ho's, dude, that's the rule." Enbom leaves, shaking his head. He pushes past Veronica, glaring at her.
"What happened?" Veronica asks.
"Veronica, are you being arraigned tomorrow?" Logan says through gritted teeth.
"Yes, well maybe not, Cliff is meeting with the judge..." Veronica starts to explain.
Logan is furious. "What the hell are you doing here? You and Keith should be in Neptune working on your case, not here fussing over me! Did you contact the lawyers I got the last time?"
"Yes, Cliff contacted them. They are helping him; Cliff is trying to get the arraignment postponed until Monday. Please calm down, I'm worried you're going to hurt yourself..."
"Fuck, Veronica, stop worrying about me and worry about yourself for one goddamn minute! I want to see that Dateline story. Can't you get it on your laptop so I can watch it? From what that asshole Enbom said, they made both of us look like murderers," Logan shouts.
The nurse comes in. "What's going on in here? If you're going to upset the patient, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Perhaps Mr. Echolls shouldn't have any visitors, he's still at risk of a relapse, you know."
Logan calms himself perceptibly. "It's okay. I just...I just got a little excited when I heard some bad news. I promise we'll be quiet, and I won't get excited. Veronica and I are just going to watch a little TV."
The nurse looks at Veronica. Veronica says, "I promise not to upset him," glancing at Logan, who nods that he will behave. The nurse exits the room after making a note on the chart, saying, "Any more commotion, and I'm going to call the doctor."
Veronica gets her laptop and brings it to Logan's bed. She finds the Dateline website and cues up the video, turning the laptop screen so Logan can see it. She herself has watched the video several times, and the images and words are burned into her brain. Logan watches the show, seething. At times, he grabs at the sheets on the bed, twisting them in ineffectual frustration. When his mug shot comes onscreen, his face turns an angry red.
"Logan, it's going to be all right..." Veronica starts, but Logan shushes her, intent on the screen. When the video ends, Logan grimly starts it again from the beginning. His despair is palpable.
----------
In Judge Cramer's office, Cliff asks if he can ask the eyewitness a few questions. The judge waves his hand magnanimously, and Cliff extracts some small photographs from his briefcase. He first shows the photos to the district attorney, saying he wants Mulvaney to repeat his identification with a new photo array. The district attorney nods that the photo array is acceptable to him.
"Mr. Mulvaney, could you pick out the woman you saw from these photos?" Cliff says, unctuously.
"Of course, I know what I saw, I mean who I saw," Mulvaney replies, a little uncertainly, worried that this is a trick. He scans the photos, sees Veronica Mars right away and points to her. "This is her, I'm sure of it." He sits back in his chair, relieved.
Cliff takes the photos to the judge, saying, "I'm sure you want to examine this array as well, your honor." He puts the photos out one at a time for the judge to examine, taking his time with the fourth photo, which happens to be a photo of Wendy, the judge's favorite hooker. The judge looks up immediately at Cliff, who smiles and nods, saying, "Just a random of selection of blonde women, of course."
Cliff picks up the photos again and puts them down again in front of Mulvaney. "What...tickled...your memory, Mr. Mulvaney? This was several weeks ago, and yet you just came forward now." Cliff glances at the judge, and is pleased to see by the judge's expression that the word 'tickled' did not pass unnoticed.
"Well, I saw her picture in the newspaper, and it like...uh...triggered a memory," Mulvaney answers, obviously relieved to remember his coaching.
"But your memory didn't surface when Ms. Mars' photos were featured prominently in the news when she was first arraigned? You didn't think to come forward at that time?" Cliff asks, sarcastically. "Perhaps your criminal background had something to do with the timing of your renewed memories." Addressing his next comments to the judge, "This witness appears to be suffering from recovered memory syndrome. I submit that this eyewitness adds little to the prosecution's case. The defense respectfully requests additional time to investigate this witness before my client is arraigned, solely on the basis of this disreputable testimony."
Judge Cramer glances at the photos again, then meets Cliff's eyes. "Motion granted. Defense request for more time to investigate the eyewitness before arraignment is so ordered. Arraignment to take place at 2:00pm Monday afternoon."
"Thank you, your honor. Always a pleasure," Cliff says, putting away the photos and snapping his briefcase closed.
----------
At the Annenberg School of Journalism at USC, Keith tracks down the head of the journalism department. "Professor Holdredge? My name is Keith Mars. Do you have time to speak with me? I'm a private investigator in Neptune and I believe you may have crucial information in an important case." He shows the professor his credentials, and takes the seat he is offered.
"How can I help you, Mr. Mars?" Professor Holdredge asks.
"Do you remember this student, Carolyn Murray?" Keith gives the professor a photograph. "She may have gone by Carrie Murray, or Carrie Phipps."
The professor's face darkens in fury. "Of course I remember her. She was nothing but trouble and the worst student I can remember in recent history."
The professor relates that Carrie was caught plagiarizing, not once but twice; when confronted with her misdeeds, she responded by trying to seduce her professor, who rebuffed her advances. She then claimed that he offered to give her an "A" in return for sex. Luckily, another professor happened to witness the seduction attempt, and backed up the professor's story. Holdredge adds, "When we investigated her further, we discovered that she had falsified her high school transcript, and had inflated her grade point average substantially. She was brought up on these charges to the disciplinary committee, which voted unanimously to expel her."
Keith asks, "Would you be willing to testify to that in court if necessary?"
"Absolutely; the professor she tried to seduce is one of my best friends. The accusations that Carrie made caused him a great deal of embarrassment, and hurt his marriage. I assume that this has something to do with the story she reported for Dateline? You can't believe a word that Carrie reports, and I'll certainly testify to that," the professor asserts.
----------
Logan, furious, watches the Dateline video conclude with Carrie summarizing Veronica's criminal exploits. How could I have let her into our lives? He keeps glancing at Veronica, feeling guilty about his role in this debacle.
"Veronica Mars has been willing to go to any length to help Duncan in the past. Could Wiedman's murder have been a conspiracy between the three longtime friends and lovers to clear Duncan once and for all?" Carrie says salaciously.
"What of Ms. Mars' criminal record? She was cited, but not charged in a break-in at the Neptune Sheriff's Department in 2005; in the Echolls trial, it was revealed that, one year later, she broke into the home of upstanding Neptune residents, Stewart and Rose Manning. Again, she was not charged, possibly due to her father's connections. She was arrested in 2007 for aiding and abetting the escape of yet another fugitive from justice. These charges were not pursued, subsequent to her father's reappointment as interim sheriff. A short time thereafter, she reportedly broke into the home of Jake Kane and stole cutting-edge computer software. It is believed that damning video footage of Ms. Mars was destroyed by her father, still serving as temporary sheriff, though not for long after this information was revealed by the Balboa county district attorney. Throughout her vivid career, Ms. Mars has managed to avoid prosecution until now."
Each word is like a knife to Veronica's heart; she has never considered the sum total of her misdeeds before the expose. She has never realized how each risk she takes adds up to a sordid resume. Along the way, she has never regretted or reconsidered anything she did, but for the first time she has doubts. Her eyes well with tears and she tries valiantly to hold them back, but soon begins to sob, thinking of her many missteps along the way. She thinks about accusing Logan of Lilly's murder, which drove him onto the bridge to be arrested that night; she regrets her actions that cost her dad the sheriff's election; she mourns the friendships that she put on hold in order to pursue justice single-mindedly. And she is terrified about the arraignment, despite the easy confidence she has displayed to Logan.
When Logan notices her sobbing, he exclaims, "Shit...please stop crying...Veronica!" When she doesn't answer, he tries to get out of the hospital bed, knocking over his water pitcher on the bedside table.
She looks up at the noise, and sees him getting out of bed. She wipes at her eyes and walks over to him, saying, "What are you doing? You're not supposed to be out of bed."
"Then you have to stop crying. I can't stand to see it...I have to hold you and comfort you," Logan says, his voice breaking. "Veronica, please, we'll help each other...just...please don't cry. It's my fault that Carrie found this stuff out." The thought of his warrior Veronica sobbing is too much for him to bear. He struggles again to get out of the bed to go to her.
"Stop, you'll hurt yourself!" Veronica makes up her mind and sits on the bed next to Logan. She urges him back to a supine position. Carefully avoiding all of his injuries, she stretches out, laying by his side, and putting her hand gently on his chest. "What the hell are we going to do, Logan?" she says, despondently.
"I don't know, Veronica," Logan says, thinking, even in his distress, how much he has missed hearing her say his name. With his uninjured hand, he strokes her shoulder, quieting her sobs.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
VERONICA MARS
10:00PM TFX ch: 92 60min 2008 TV-MA
Logan's Run
Logan strikes back; Leo's on a roll.
Veronica: Kristin Bell. Keith: Enrico Colantoni.
Logan: Jason Dohring. Leo: Max Greenfield.
Victor Hammer: Arye Gross. Mac: Tina
Majorino. Dick: Ryan Hansen.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
CHAPTER FORTY: "LOGAN'S RUN"
When Keith returns to the hospital room, he is surprised to find Veronica curled up next to Logan on the bed. The two of them are sleeping soundly, and he is reluctant to wake them up. He knows Veronica is exhausted and emotionally distraught, despite her brave front, and of course Logan is still recovering from an incredibly traumatic accident. Keith sits down and wonders what precipitated Veronica's position on the bed after the standoff in the morning. He sees the laptop, still open to the Dateline website, and realizes that they watched the video from the show.
Veronica opens her eyes; she sees her dad, and sits up quickly, embarrassed. "We were..."
"You watched the Dateline video," he finishes for her, with a sympathetic look.
Veronica gets off the bed, and Logan wakes up as well. "Logan wanted to see it," she says. Suddenly remembering, she checks her watch, then asks, "Did Cliff call? What happened with the judge?"
"Worked like a charm, the arraignment is postponed to Monday at 2:00." Keith chuckles. Mock-sternly, he adds, "I don't want to hear about you trying to influence a judge ever again."
"Don't worry, I think I'm giving up the private detective business after this," Veronica says somberly.
Keith and Logan snort simultaneously. "That...will never happen," Logan snarks.
"Did you find out anything about Carolyn Murray?" Veronica asks, ignoring Logan's remark.
"Yes, she was expelled for plagiarism and for propositioning her professor to try to improve her grade. The department head is eager to testify against her if it comes to that," Keith relates.
"Testify?" Logan asks.
"Well, if this thing goes to trial, we can use this testimony to get the venue changed or the jury sequestered, and possibly we can show a conspiracy by Vinnie to fabricate evidence against Veronica," Keith explains.
"Are you thinking that Vinnie is responsible for the original forensic evidence against me?" Veronica cringes internally, thinking about Vinnie Van Lowe obtaining her menstrual blood.
"I didn't think so, but the phone calls between him and Carrie and the timing of the subpoena are making me wonder. I wouldn't put it past him to try to use this case to put him over the top in the sheriff's election."
Veronica is aghast. "Dad, I know you and Vinnie were always rivals, but I can't believe he'd send me to prison just to win the sheriff's race. He saved me that one time in the River Stix."
"Well, maybe it has to do with the Fitzpatricks. They seem to have a hold over him," Keith muses.
Logan adds, "I think Vinnie's afraid of you, Keith. I would bet he's trying to keep you from working on something else he's involved in, or at least keep you busy until after the election." He pauses, then continues, "I had an idea how we can turn this publicity around. I want to see if my attorneys can arrange an interview with 20/20 or Larry King, a rebuttal."
"Logan, no! You hate publicity and reporters. Don't do this..." Veronica pleads.
"Veronica, it's the only way. We have to get the public on our side, show that we are not monsters. And I have a bombshell that I can reveal," Logan continues.
Keith nods, agreeing with Logan's assessment. "Absolutely, that's a great idea."
"Bombshell?" Veronica echoes.
"Do you remember Neptune's new battered women's shelter, 'The Bridge'? Well, I'm the anonymous benefactor. I created it as a tribute to my mother," Logan explains quietly.
Veronica stares at him, shocked at his benevolence and humility. She recovers and says, "I'm really proud of you, that's a beautiful way to honor Lynne" and move past your own abuse, she adds mentally. "Take that, Carrie Murray, you bitch!" she says, exultantly.
"Not exactly the reason I did it," Logan reminds her.
"Still...let's get your attorneys to set it up. The sooner the better," Keith says.
----------
Leo rings the doorbell at Victor Hammer's palatial mansion, in the heart of '09'er territory. Hammer opens the door himself, a little puzzled to see Leo. "Deputy D'Amato, how can I help you? I hope you're not looking for a campaign donation."
"I'm here about a different matter," Leo explains. "I'd like you to listen to this CD." He holds up the disc. "I assume you have a stereo we can use."
Hammer looks at Leo balefully, then leads him to the back of the house to a multi-media room, with an oversize plasma television screen, several comfortable seats with cupholders, and more electronic equipment than the Sheriff's Department computer room. There are framed posters for several movies, including Hammer's most famous, 'Vector Force Ten'. Hammer takes the CD and inserts it into a slot, and presses a button. They hear Hammer discussing his therapy at Wonderland, and then making a drug deal.
"So you're taking over for Sheriff Lamb? What took you so long?" Hammer says bitterly. "I guess I'll be making a campaign contribution after all."
"You misunderstand. I'm not a blackmailer. I came upon Don Lamb's illegal activities by accident. I'm investigating the Clarence Wiedman murder," Leo explains.
"Oh right, I saw that interview. The Mars girl is your old girlfriend. You're looking to get her off."
"I'm proving her innocence by finding the real killer," Leo corrects him. "This has nothing to do with my relationship with her; I'm trying to solve the case. All the evidence against her was manufactured. She has an alibi."
"So what can I do for you?"
"Tell me about Wonderland Treatment Center, especially about the group therapy. Lianne Mars, Veronica's father and Wiedman's victim, was there, and I think she starting blackmailing people who were there when she was," Leo replies.
"If you're a drug addict, and you're anybody famous, that's where you go. They have a reputation for the strictest confidentiality agreements, so celebrities flock there. And the group therapy is intense. The therapist in charge practically breaks you down, in order to get to the root of your addiction. People spill the juiciest secrets. It's practically the 'Perverted Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous'. And since everyone has something to hide, everyone keeps everyone else's secrets."
"Seems risky for all the celebrities who have so much to lose," Leo comments.
"Well, it's mutually-assured destruction, if you rat them out, they can rat you out. Plus, when you leave, you feel like you went through so much with the other patients that they're almost like family. It's actually an amazing place. It almost worked for me," he says regretfully.
But Lianne didn't have much to lose at that point, and everything to gain, Leo thinks.
----------
While Logan picks at a particularly unappetizing dinner and Keith and Veronica eat an equally disgusting meal of sandwiches from the hospital cafeteria, they watch the six o'clock news, which runs a report on the postponement of Veronica's arraignment.
"I can't believe they care about this in Los Angeles," Veronica sulks.
"You're national news now, baby. Welcome to my world; this is what it feels like to be a celebrity," Logan snarks.
She glares at him.
Keith intervenes, saying, "Let's focus on the good news. We have the whole weekend to try to find something to question Mulvaney's credibility. Without any new evidence, I don't think the arraignment will proceed."
The phone by Logan's bed rings. "Hello?...Thanks for getting back so quickly. Is there any interest?...You're kidding...That's great. Go ahead and set it up. Thanks again." He hangs up and turns to Keith and Veronica. "20/20 wants to do a live interview with me and Veronica, tomorrow night. They're preempting their regular show to do a live feed from the hospital. It'll broadcast live at 10:00 eastern time and on tape delay here. They agreed to allow the lawyers to vet the questions ahead of time so there will be no surprises. They're also going to air an interview with the USC journalism professor that you found, Keith."
Veronica high-fives Keith, and grins at Logan. "Now we just have to figure out how to answer the questions."
"Veronica, don't try to massage this. Be truthful, let them know how hurt and devastated you are by everything that's happened. You need to let your guard down for once," Keith says.
"Tomorrow's going to be crazy. We'll meet with the attorneys, then they'll conduct a pre-interview, and then we go over it again with the attorneys," Logan explains.
"Don't forget you've got the session with the occupational therapist also. If she clears you, we can take you to Neptune on Saturday," Keith says.
"Knock, knock?" Mac peeks her head in. "Eww, hospital food. I made Dick take us to a vegetarian restaurant, I was pretty sick of cereal and french fries."
Dick whispers to Logan, "I'm gonna get a burger later."
"How are you doing tonight? When we looked in before, you guys were sleeping so we decided to get dinner," Mac says.
"I feel okay, still pretty tired...Veronica showed me the Dateline video. We decided to retaliate by doing an interview on 20/20. It's going to air tomorrow night, live on tape delay," Logan explains.
Dick raises his eyebrows at Logan. Logan shrugs, and says, "I know. But it seems like the best option, we have to get people on Veronica's side."
"On our side, you mean," Veronica amends. "You took a beating on that video along with me."
"And we found out that Carrie was kicked out of journalism school for plagiarizing and propositioning a professor. I just wish I had some photographs of her and me together to prove that she was unethical in her investigation," Logan says regretfully.
"You never took any pictures of her?" Veronica asks.
"I did, but my computer crashed a while ago, and I hadn't saved them on disk and I lost them all. I was lucky I had saved all my writing," Logan explains.
"I have a picture of her and you," Mac says. "You guys looked so gorgeous dancing in Vegas, I took a picture with my cell phone. I'm pretty sure it's still on my phone." She looks at Veronica, trying to say sorry with her eyes. Mac takes out her phone and scrolls through the saved pictures. "You know, Logan, I bet Carrie crashed your computer on purpose before she left to cover up her tracks." Mac emails a copy of a photo to Veronica's laptop and Veronica opens the file. Logan and Carrie are dancing, Logan in his tux, Carrie in her gold, shimmering gown. They are gazing into each other's eyes, smiling; Logan is brushing a strand of hair off Carrie's face. Veronica looks a little sick and Logan avoids looking at her.
"Mac, this is fantastic. We'll forward this to our attorneys right away, this proves that the Dateline report was a setup. I'm sure they'll want to use this in the interview tomorrow," Keith exults.
"Fantastic," Logan mutters.
Dick clears his throat. "Uh, do you guys think it would be okay if Mac and I go back to Neptune tonight? Mac has a class tomorrow she doesn't want to miss, and um...I'm thinking of going to my classes too." He looks at their stunned faces. "I'm tired of being a fuckup."
"You're not a fuckup, you got me to the hospital when you needed to," Logan replies.
"Yeah, and crashed the car," he says morosely.
"I think you're a hero, Dick," Veronica says, going over and hugging him. "It's a good thing you were there for Logan."
Keith says, "Dick, can I catch a ride with you and Mac? The more that I think about it, I'd like to get back to Neptune and take charge of the investigation into Mulvaney. And Leo sent me a text message that he wants to meet with me as soon as possible. Veronica, you can drive Logan back to Neptune on Saturday. I'd like to be here with you two tomorrow, but I have the feeling that I really need to be working on the case. You'll have the attorneys to advise you every step of the way, and I'm only two hours away if you need me."
Veronica looks at Logan, thinking about two hours alone in a car with him. That used to be her idea of heaven, but his mercurial moods of late have her worried. "Okay," she says finally. "We'll be in touch by phone."
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VERONICA MARS
10:00PM TFX ch: 92 60min 2008 TV-MA
Breaking and Entering
They make progress in the investigation, and
the killer lashes out.
Veronica: Kristin Bell. Keith: Enrico Colantoni.
Logan: Jason Dohring. Leo: Max Greenfield.
Wallace: Percy Daggs III. Mac: Tina Majorino.
Dick: Ryan Hansen. Sacks: Brandon Hillock.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: "BREAKING AND ENTERING"
Dick and Mac drop off Keith at the Sunset Cliffs apartment. He checks to see that everything is okay, and picks up Backup who's been staying with their neighbors. The dog laps at Keith's hand, relieved to have him home. Keith takes him for a short walk on the beach, then, saying, "Sorry to leave you again right away, buddy," he heads over to Leo's apartment.
"Hey, Keith, how's Logan Echolls doing?"
"We were pretty worried at first, but he's doing all right now. He's going to stay with us for a while until he can get by without help. We owe him a lot for helping us with Veronica's defense," Keith says.
"That's great...Keith, thanks for coming by," Leo says. "I came across something that gave me an idea how Lianne could have gotten started blackmailing, if that's really why Wiedman killed her. Vinnie has been punishing me for investigating the case without clearing it with him by having me file Don Lamb's old paperwork."
Keith, remembering, says, "When I took over for Lamb, I had to get up to speed quickly; there was no time for an orderly transition. Inga said that she only let Lamb work with copies, so it seemed to make sense to just quickly box up the office, and keep the files in case something was needed later on. I always intended to sort that out, but..." he shrugs.
"Right. It certainly wasn't a priority for Vinnie until he decided he needed to give me some busywork. In any case, I found something--a safety deposit key hidden in the bottom of a box of staples. I got a judge to give me a court order to open the box, and Sacks and I went over and found..." Leo motions to the tagged items on his kitchen table.
"What is it?" Keith asks curiously.
"Apparently Lamb was also blackmailing people. His victims range from the Mannings to the mayor and everyone in between. There are recordings of phone conversations, surveillance video, and Lamb's diaries of the various transgressions and the amounts he asked for."
"How does that connect to Lianne?"
"I'm not sure it does, but on the recordings I heard one of Lamb's victims talking about the group therapy at Wonderland Treatment Center."
"Where Lianne got treatment after she was arrested," Keith says.
"Yes. And I talked to the victim about it, and found out that the group therapy at that place is a real free-for-all; everyone's expected to spill their guts in order to get to bottom of their addiction problems. So everyone there learns about everyone else's problems. This guy also mentioned that a lot of prominent Neptune people are referred to this particular rehab by one of our local physicians."
"So Lianne had an opportunity to find out...whatever it was she found out about Wiedman. Was Wiedman ever a patient there?" Keith asks.
"Wonderland won't release a list of clients, but they were willing to tell me that Wiedman has never been a patient there. You told me that you think that Wiedman is gay, and had an affair with a man, probably someone who's married with a lot to lose. So that's who we should be looking for. We have to get a list of the clients who were there during Lianne's stay," Leo explains.
Keith thinks a minute about what Leo has learned. "It makes sense, something happened that set Lianne on a path that ended up with Wiedman killing her, and accidentally discovering a potential blackmail victim during group therapy is the most plausible idea anyone has had yet. Didn't you say that Adrianna said that Lianne said that 'it's amazing how the solution can just fall in your lap'?"
"Keith, you know what we have to do," Leo says.
"Actually, I don't want you involved, Leo. But I'll find a way to get that patient list," Keith replies.
----------
Back home at the Sunset Cliffs apartment, Keith looks up a phone number he's only had occasion to use a few times in his career. I hate to hire a competitor to do my dirty work, but Corey Friedman at the Nick Harris Detective Agency is one of the few PI's I can trust with this.
"Corey...it's Keith Mars...I assume you've been reading the papers lately? I need someone I can trust to do some investigating for me...That's good to hear, Corey, we can use all the support we can get at this point. My daughter is innocent and we have to prove it, and the sooner the better...I want you to go to the Wonderland Treatment Center and bribe an employee to get a list of the patients who were there when my ex-wife was there for treatment. Someone who was there at that time is responsible for Weidman's murder, not my daughter...Whatever it takes, I'm thinking $10,000 will probably do it...All right, let me know what you find out as soon as possible. Thanks, Corey, keep in touch."
Keith hangs up. He thinks about his backup plan, and decides to go ahead with it. He calls Mac and explains what they need. Mac grasps the idea right away, and offers to try to hack into the Wonderland computer system for him.
"I don't think it's going to be easy, Mac; see what you can do. Be careful, cover your tracks."
----------
Outside Mars Investigations, early the next morning, Wallace and Keith bump into each other. "Getting an early start?" Keith comments.
"Yeah, I thought I'd work some extra hours today if that's okay. I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. I want to help if I can," Wallace says.
"I know what you mean. I haven't slept well since this began."
When Keith inserts his key in the lock, he's surprised to find the door already unlocked. He pushes the door open and grimly notes that he's not hearing the usual "beep-beep-beep" of their alarm. He exchanges a glance with Wallace. "Stay back, okay?" Keith draws his gun and enters the office stealthily.
Mars Investigations has been trashed. File cabinets have been overturned, and their contents are scattered over the floor, the computer screen in the outer office has been shattered and there is red spray paint on the walls. Keith quickly checks that there is no one in reception. He leans against the wall, and pushes open the door to the inner office, then moves quickly inside, leading with his gun to startle a potential intruder. "It's all clear," he calls to Wallace, holstering his gun. His inner office is just as bad if not worse.
Wallace reads the splotchy red spray paint aloud. "'Vengeance is mine. See you in hell.' I think our letter-writer is not too happy that the arraignment was postponed."
Using the corner of his jacket in what he knows is probably a futile attempt to protect fingerprint evidence, Keith picks up the phone. "No dial tone," he reports, cradling the phone. He uses his cell to call the Sheriff's Department. When Inga answers, he says, "Inga, it's Keith Mars. There's been a break-in at my office. Can you send Deputy Sacks and an evidence tech over here to take a report?...Thanks, Inga." Speaking to Wallace, he says, "They knew that our alarm system is routed through the phones, like most alarms. I've never thought it was important to have a more secure system, since we now store all our sensitive information online on a secure server, thanks to Mac." He kneels down to check the front door lock. "Our intruder is an expert lock-picker; there's no a single scratch on this lock." He thinks a moment, then goes to the desk and gets a magnifying glass. He examines the lock again and wonders if it was picked at all. Even an expert would leave minute scratches on this type of lock. Could someone have a key to this door? I never gave keys to anyone except Veronica and Wallace. He glances around the room in dismay, thinking about 'vengeance' and his little girl.
----------
The occupational therapist shows Logan one more time how to use the crutch to maneuver himself from the bed to the wheelchair. "If you want me to clear you to leave the hospital tomorrow, you have to be able to do this on your own." He shows Logan again how to set the wheel lock on the wheelchair, and goes over each step in detail.
Logan tries again; at one point, his face contorts in pain when he moves the wrong way. Trying to recover, he accidentally puts weight on his right hand, and he grunts aloud. "Logan, be careful," Veronica says nervously.
"Get...her...out of here!" he bites off, angrily.
"Maybe it's better if you wait outside while he practices," the therapist suggests. "We still have to go over the bathroom routine, I can see that's going to be a touchy subject."
"Dammit! Go away, Veronica," Logan says, forcefully.
She's only too glad to comply. His simmering rage at his situation is making her regret her insistence that he come to Neptune to recover.
----------
Dick sits down on Mac's bed and shakes her awake. "Mac, if you want to go to that class, you better get up. I brought coffee and donuts."
Mac yawns and stretches. "Fan-friggin'-tastic."
"What time did you get to sleep last night?" Dick asks.
"About five a.m. I thought I was almost through the first firewall, but then I came up against something I've never seen before. Crap! I guess that's what all that celebrity money pays for," Mac says, discouraged.
"If anyone can hack that site, you can," Dick replies, loyally. "I hope you're always on my side, Mistress Cynthia, you scare me."
"Just do as I bid you, and you will be rewarded," Mac says in a commanding voice, then chuckles at Dick's expression.
----------
Sacks writes up a report for Keith, telling him, "You know there's not much chance there will be any useful evidence." The evidence tech gets out his fingerprint kit, dusting all the surfaces for prints. He takes a scraping of the spray paint, and photographs the entire room. Sacks convinces the tech to gather fiber and hair evidence as well, saying that there's a possibility the break-in is related to the Wiedman murder. The evidence tech shrugs, clearly indicating that he thinks this is a waste of his time for a burglary, but he pulls a small vacuum out of his kit and carefully vacuums the entire room.
The tech comments, "When Vinnie hears about this, he's going to have your badge, Sacks." At Sacks' urging, he reluctantly uses luminol to test for the presence of blood, but finds none. In the restroom, the evidence tech begrudgingly dusts all surfaces for fingerprints. To his surprise, he finds that the sink faucet has been wiped clean, but near the bottom of the cold handle, he finds and preserves a single partial print. He packs up the evidence and his gear, telling Sacks he'll forward his complete report by the end of the day.
Keith thinks about the print. "Sacks, the Kanes' fingerprints should still be on file from the Lilly Kane murder investigation, and of course Liam Fitzpatrick's and Daniel Mulvaney's are available as well since they are convicted criminals. Why don't you see if you can get Stewart Manning to provide his prints as well, and see if we can eliminate him as a suspect?"
"Stewart Manning?" Sacks queries.
"Veronica thinks it's possible the Manning family is punishing her for her role in the kidnapping of their granddaughter. I know, it's a long shot, and we're actually focusing our investigation on a different area. But you see the message the intruder left, it certainly sounds like Stewart Manning's diatribes. Maybe there's a connection to Wiedman that we've missed."
Sacks nods, remembering Mr. Manning screaming at Don Lamb after Duncan Kane's disappearance, and thinking about the disturbing video that he and Leo found in Lamb's safety deposit box.
Keith then tells Sacks about the incident earlier in the week on the road to the El Cajon shooting range. "I found a credit card receipt in Stewart Manning's name for a restaurant not far from there that night. See if he'll tell you anything about that night as well."
Sacks takes some notes, and says, "It's too bad we don't know exactly when the break-in occurred, we could eliminate these suspects a lot easier, Keith.
Thinking, Keith looks at the office's video cameras and the surveillance DVR. The cameras are a total loss, and the DVR will not power up. Keith gets a screwdriver and opens up the casing. He's surprised to find the DVD inside the DVR to be intact, and, with Sacks and Wallace looking on, he inserts the DVD in his laptop drive, hoping for a miracle.
The drive whirs impotently for a second, then a shuddering, blurry video begins to play. The DVR takes a still photograph every thirty seconds, and the time code in the lower right hand corner jumps ahead, one hour compressed to two minutes in real time. Keith gingerly fast-forwards, hoping the disc is not overly damaged, until the screen goes black. He rewinds more slowly; the last time code on the disc is 20:44:30, but there is no video of the intruder. "8:45 last night. Well, it ought to be easy enough to check where our suspects were at that time," he muses. Then he adds, "Sacks, why don't you check out Vinnie's whereabouts at that time as well?" Sacks raises his eyebrows, but nods in agreement.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
VERONICA MARS
10:00PM TFX ch: 92 60min 2008 TV-MA
Wag the Dog
They prepare for the 20/20 interview; aftermath
of the break-in; Sacks interviews the Mannings.
Veronica: Kristin Bell. Keith: Enrico Colantoni.
Logan: Jason Dohring. Leo: Max Greenfield.
Eckwood Solomon: Alan Dale. Wallace: Percy
Daggs III. Mac: Tina Majorino. Dick: Ryan
Hansen. Eli: Francis Capra. Stewart Manning:
Geoff Pierson. Rose Manning: Katie Mitchell
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: "WAG THE DOG"
Veronica peeks in the door to Logan's room. After Logan's earlier angry outburst, she decided to go shopping from the list the occupational therapist had given her for items Logan would need. She has several bags of clothes: sweat pants in a slightly larger size with a drawstring waist, baggy boxer shorts, and, in a lucky find, jogging pants that snap up the side and will certainly fit over Logan's cast. She sees an older man, wearing an expensive suit, taking notes on a briefcase, and says, "Knock, knock, okay to come in?"
The man stands up, saying, "You must be Veronica," while handing her a business card.
Veronica puts down her bags and, taking the card, reads: 'Eckwood Solomon III, attorney-at-law, Solomon, Ogilvie and Broussard, 401 South Hope St., Los Angeles, California'. She realizes this man is one of Logan's attorneys. "Mr. Solomon, thanks for helping us."
"Not a problem. Mr. Echolls is one of our most important clients. I'm glad you're here. We've received a list of questions from the network. We need to go over each question, and formulate your answers." He holds up his hand as Veronica starts to object. "We are not going to put words in your mouth, but it is essential that we consider each statement that you make as possible testimony at a later date. I'm sure you remember your cross-examination at Logan's father's trial. My fellow attorney, Mr. Lavoie, was able to inflict a great deal of damage using your own words and actions. We have to make sure we don't create future problems with this interview. Let's get started. We'll go through each question, you can answer spontaneously, I will take notes and then we'll work on a response that will protect you and cast you in the best light possible. I have a legal pad, pencils and a copy of the list of questions for each of you. We are going to take notes and drill these topics until you look like Mother Theresa." He distributes the questions and writing supplies.
"I think Mother Theresa is a reach, maybe we should shoot for Anne Heche, post-breakdown," Logan comments wryly.
"And you would be?" Veronica retorts acidly.
"Robert Downey Jr., of course," Logan replies, sarcastically.
"We're wasting time, we need to focus here," Solomon interrupts. "Let's start with the question about Veronica's reaction to her mother's murder."
----------
"Ay cabron, jijos de su reputa!!" Weevil walks into Mars Investigations and surveys the damage. "What the fuck happened here?"
Wallace, who is piling papers into some semblance of an order, says, "We think this crackazoid's pissed that Veronica's arraignment was postponed."
Weevil reads the writing on the wall aloud. "'Vengeance is mine. See you in hell.' 'Pissed' doesn't even begin to cover it. I hope you put twenty bodyguards on Veronica."
"She's still up in LA with Logan. There's excellent security at the hospital; they're keeping all the reporters out, and there's a very short list of allowed visitors," Keith says, joining them in the reception area. "She's bringing him back here tomorrow and I'm not going to let her out of my sight. What have you managed to get on Mulvaney?"
Weevil takes out a digital camera and hands it to Keith, who roots around for the appropriate cable, and plugs it into his laptop. As Keith opens the jpegs, Weevil says, "I got a few pictures of him and Liam Fitzpatrick walking into a bar together. I would've followed them in, but," pointing to himself, "my face is pretty well known to the Fitzpatricks. I've mixed it up with the micks a few times. If I went into Molly Malone's, I'd probably get capped."
"I thought about that. The photos you got might be enough, but I've got a call out to a couple out-of-work actors who have helped us before, who should be able to blend in at The River Stix and Molly Malone's. At the very least, maybe we can prove that Mulvaney is violating his parole by associating with known felons. You did really well, Eli, the pictures are great," Keith comments. He looks a little closer at the photos, and notices the time stamp on the lower right corner. "Is this time right? 9:03 p.m.?"
"Yeah, that sounds right, that's when they were going into Molly Malone's. Why?"
"We're pretty sure the break-in happened around that time, so that means neither of them were our vandal. Of course, it could have been any Fitzpatrick flunky doing their dirty work," Keith replies.
"Is there anything else I can do to help?" Weevil asks.
"You're looking at it," Wallace says, motioning to the mess. "We have to get the office up to speed so we continue the investigation. Come on, gimme an assist."
Weevil shrugs 'okay', and grabs a broom to help out.
Keith returns to his office, thinking about Weevil's comment 'twenty bodyguards', and decides that he's going to hire a bodyguard to escort Veronica and Logan back to Neptune in the morning. He puts in another call to the Nick Harris agency and engages one of their best agents, an ex-Mossad operative whom Keith has employed in the past.
----------
When the reporters and crew arrive in the late afternoon, the hospital buzzes with activity. The crew brings in lighting and sound equipment and begins to set it up. The anchorwoman, Marissa Lee, sits down with Veronica and Logan and begins to go through the questions the attorneys have vetted. Mr. Solomon sits nearby, listening carefully, and occasionally lifts his right hand in the 'stop' motion that he has prearranged with Logan and Veronica. After they go through the questions twice, Mr. Solomon is finally satisfied. The anchorwoman smiles smugly, mentally picturing her Emmy award.
----------
Sacks rings the doorbell at the Manning house. Stewart Manning comes to the door, wiping his mouth with his dinner napkin.
"Deputy, what's so important that you had to interrupt our dinner hour?" he says, aggravatedly.
"May I come in?" Sacks asks.
"All right," Stewart Manning acquiesces. He leads Sacks in to the living room, and calls out to his wife, "Rose, can you come in here, please?"
Mrs. Manning joins them, sitting down on the couch. "What's this about, Deputy?"
"Where were you last night around 8:45pm?" Sacks queries.
"Not that it's actually any of your business, we were both at the PTA meeting," Stewart says testily. "I was giving a presentation on 'intelligent design'. It's about time that the schools here present a fair and balanced view of the history of mankind and include Creation theory. Unfortunately, those heathens on the school board barely listened to my talk, and voted it down nine to zero. What happened last night?"
"The office at Mars Investigations was vandalized," Sacks explains.
"And you thought we had something to do with that?" Rose exclaims, aghast. "Deputy, we are upstanding moral citizens, not hooligans. Whatever our feelings about the Mars family, and no matter what they have done to us, we would never do anything untoward."
Sacks thinks about the video he and Leo found, with Stewart testing his young daughter, and merely says, "We have to check out everyone who has had run-ins with the Mars in the past."
"Surely you don't think we would stoop to something like vandalism?" Stewart says bitterly. "We are pursuing our redress in the court system."
Sacks pulls out a portable fingerprint kit and says, "We were able to find fingerprints at the scene. If you'll provide your fingerprints as a basis of comparison, I'd be happy to eliminate you from our suspect list, and I won't have to bother you again."
Furious, the Mannings roll up their sleeves, and allow Sacks to take their fingerprints.
As he puts away the fingerprint kit, being careful not to smudge the cards with the Mannings' prints, he asks them, "What about last Sunday evening? Were you by any chance down by El Cajon?".
"Did somebody commit vandalism down there as well?" Stewart sneers.
"Someone driving a car with a license plate beginning 'GYK', probably a Taurus, tried to run Keith and Veronica Mars off the road that night," Sacks explains. "We have a credit card receipt that you were in the area that evening."
"What is this, a police state?! How dare you access our credit card records without a warrant?" Stewart sputters.
"Actually, credit card receipts are public records," Sacks demurs.
Rose says firmly, "We had dinner at Bongiovanni Restaurant to celebrate our anniversary."
"And on the way home, did you try to run the Mars off the road?" Sacks reiterates.
"Absolutely not! I resent your implications, deputy. I'll be lodging a formal complaint to the sheriff. Please leave, if you have any more questions, I'd like you to contact our attorney." Stewart stands up and escorts Sacks to the door, slamming it behind him.
----------
VERONICA
I've never been so nervous in my life. My heart is pounding, my palms are sweating, and I haven't been able to eat all day. Marissa Lee seems so nice, but Mr. Solomon has warned us that she will try to sneak in surprise questions to try to get us to reveal our secrets. Logan seems calm and determined, but he's been snapping at me all day, and I know that he's nervous too; he's just had more practice hiding it from reporters. Solomon has told the anchorwoman that under no circumstances is she allowed to ask questions about my rape or my STD, but I'm scared to death that she will try anyway. I wish we didn't have to do this.
"Ay cabron, jijos de su reputa!!" Holy shit, motherfucking sons-of-bitches (approx.)