Veronica spent the day at Mars Investigations. She threw herself into work, catching herself up on Keith's cases (she was a Mars and an investigator after all, Mars Investigations wasn't going to shutter its doors anytime soon.)

At some point in the evening, she shifted from her desk back to the sofa, continuing to read her father's cases cover to cover.

As the sun rose the next morning, Veronica thought about sleeping, really, she did. For all of 5 minutes she sat on the sofa and closed her eyes contemplating skipping all of her classes. But the sleep wasn't coming. I can either lie here and think about how much I miss my dad or I can do something about it. Glancing at her watch, she amended her thought, or I can go to class and keep missed schoolwork from becoming yet another issue to consider.

Veronica put on a pot of coffee and turned on her phone. Word had started to spread, she glanced through the missed called Mac, Weevil, Logan, Piz, Cliff, Vinnie but only left her phone on long enough to text Wallace:

VM: OK if I come by for Backup this afternoon?

WF: of course. No rush. We can keep him as long as you need.

WF: mom sends her love. If you need anything we're here.

VM: thx.

Veronica walked into her criminology class wearing the change of clothes she's always kept at the office (wishing she'd updated it since high school but just happy her clothes were clean), having washed her face in the sink and downing an extra-large travel thermos of coffee.

As she approached her seat, Professor Landry noticed her and approached, "Veronica, I'm so sorry about your father, I heard on the radio this morning. You shouldn't be here, take some time."

So much for Lamb keeping a lid on things, "Thanks," Veronica shrugged, "I'd really rather be here. I'll just go stir-crazy at home." And while I'm fairly confident you didn't kill my favorite university administrator; I think you and/or your girlfriend might be involved so I'm going to keep an eye on you.

Tim Foyle had a similar reaction upon entering the classroom and seeing Veronica in her usual seat, "Veronica Mars, What are you doing here?" The abruptness of his tone resulted in a glare from Veronica and Tim continued, "It's just that I heard about your father. I thought you would take some time to grieve."

Veronica shook her head, not hearing sympathy from Tim, "Well, I'm here."

"Right, of course." With that Tim passed her the class handout and walked up to his seat in the back of the lecture hall.

Ten minutes into Professor Landry's lecture about the work of profilers the tell-tale noise of police radios interrupted and all eyes looked to the back of the classroom where Sacks and another deputy whose name Veronica couldn't remember were walking toward the stairs.

The sound of a door slam drew attention back to the front of the lecture hall where Sheriff Lamb entered, approaching Professor Landry. From her seat in the third row, Veronica couldn't make out what was being said but she could see the look in Dr. Landry's face shift from frustrated about being interrupted to absolutely pissed off before he addressed the class, "The Sheriff has requested my presence at the station this morning. It seems he can't get enough of our criminology discussions. Class is dismissed for today. Read Chapter 6 by next class."

As students packed up, Veronica kept her eyes glued to Lamb and Landry at the front of the classroom. So much for keeping me abreast on the investigation. Lamb waited until most of the class was cleared out before removing the handcuffs from his belt and mirandizing the professor.

Veronica was confused about what she witnessed; she knew her father had suspicions that Hank Landry had been involved in the Dean's death but she didn't think he had collected evidence that would lead to an abrupt arrest. What else did Lamb have? Whose bloody clothes did Weevil find?

On her way out of the classroom, Sacks stopped her and gave her a hug. This was the first and likely the last time the deputy had hugged her, both parties were uncomfortable. "If you need anything, Veronica, let me know. Your dad was one of the best."

Veronica just nodded in response to Sacks' statement. There wasn't anything he could do. He knew that too but it felt like the appropriate thing to say. Especially since he'd hung back at the hospital and left her to grieve in peace earlier.

Outside of the lecture hall, Tim caught up with Veronica. "Can you believe that, Veronica? What is so important that he arrested Landry in the middle of class?" I'm not sure what to believe and I can't imagine what evidence would have presented itself in the short hours since Lamb promised to keep me looped into any developments.

"Well," Veronica didn't really like the idea of sharing information with Tim but he had access that she needed so she decided to play along, "Lamb sure likes to make an entrance. But to answer your question, I don't know what's going on. I've been a little busy."

"I'm going to the Sheriff's Department to talk with Professor Landry. I want him to know he has my full support and I will do anything I can to get these absurd charges dropped. We make a good team Veronica, you should come too."

Veronica nodded in agreement, she wanted to talk to Lamb about that stunt anyway. Plus, she didn't trust Tim and wanted access to whatever information he was getting his hands on. "I'll meet you there this afternoon. They'll have to book him and that can take a while. There's no way Lamb's going to let you talk to him before lunch."

"Veronica!" She turned toward the person calling her name as she and Tim split up, "Veronica, wait up." It was Logan, breaking into a jog to catch up with her from across the quad. Before she could say anything, he wrapped her in a hug. "I'm so, so sorry."

She nodded, as she had been doing since it happened. She still didn't know what to say, it wasn't ok but her father's death wasn't Logans fault.

Logan pulled back, holding Veronicas shoulders but looking her in the eye, "you know I'm here for you. Anything you need, anything at all, please let me be there for you."

"I know Logan, right now I just need time." Veronica didn't want to start crying again, especially not in the middle of campus. "That's what friends are for, right?" Veronica appreciated Logan's support; she really did. But she didn't want the feelings she was experiencing in losing her father to push her back into bed with Logan.

Logan nodded in understanding, pressing a kiss to Veronica's forehead and letting her walk away.

Checking her watch, Veronica realized she needed to pick up the pace if she wanted to make it to her English Literature class on time. She successfully navigated her final class of the day without bumping into anyone who knew about her dad – thank goodness college students don't pay attention to local news.

Checking her phone on the way to the parking deck, Veronica counted 5 more missed calls, one from Lamb, two from Weevil, one from Mac and a final one from Cliff. Shit, that makes eight missed calls from Cliff. Biting the bullet, Veronica dialed her favorite attorney who answered on the first ring.

"Oh God Veronica, I'm so sorry." Receiving an apology is not Veronica's favorite way to be greeted on the phone but she allowed Cliff to continue. "I'm here if you need anything." Just like everyone else in my life, too bad there's nothing anyone can give me.

"I know. And I appreciate it." Veronica didn't know what else to say. Her father had been one of Cliff's best friends, she knew this loss would be rough on him too. "I'll probably need help going through his things. Getting his affairs in order." Veronica hadn't really thought about that side of things. I guess that's what happens when people die, family gets stuck with bankers and attorneys and funeral directors and everything gets tied up in probate – I guess that's the bright side of not having any family, nobody to argue with.

"Don't worry about any of that Veronica, focus on taking care of yourself. I'll sort things out for now."

Veronica thanked Cliff and promised to stay in touch and stop avoiding his calls. Their conversation started her mind down a different path: what now? She needed to organize a funeral, where is his body? And how was she going to pay for it. I guess there's life insurance – that's what its for. And what about the business or the apartment? Sure, Veronica was responsible but Keith was the parent; he'd handled everything with his business and the apartment. Veronica didn't relish the idea of staying in the apartment alone – not that she could afford it – but she didn't really have anywhere else to go.

These thoughts occupied her mind as she pulled into the Balboa County municipal building parking lot. She parked her car and walked inside, careful to avoid people who knew her father – she knew they meant well but she couldn't take any more sympathy right now.

Veronica checked in with the deputy on duty at the desk outside the holding cells, she didn't recognize him but he recognized her name and offered sympathy on behalf of the department. Again, Veronica gritted her teeth and accepted the sentiment, trying to duck into the cell before Lamb, whom she could hear approaching, noticed her.

"What are you doing here, Mars?" Lamb asked before she had a chance to escape.

"We had a deal, showing up to arrest my professor in the middle of class isn't exactly 'keeping me in the loop' on your investigation." Veronica whispered to Lamb so the whole department wouldn't hear about their agreement – neither of them wanted to be seen as working with the other.

"I tried to call you," Lamb gave her an I'm not in the wrong this time look, "you didn't pick up. I'm not halting my investigation to run every lead by you."

Shit. That missed call from Lamb, maybe he isn't full of it. "Well, care to fill me in now?"

Before Lamb could reply, or make up an excuse not to tell her everything he knew, they were interrupted. "Oh Veronica, you're here already. Just give me a second to sign in and we can get to the bottom of this." Tim approached the deputy at the desk, handing over his license and filling out the visitation form.

Lamb rolled his eyes toward Tim and turned to Veronica, "Stop by my office on your way out."

After meeting with Landry through the cell bars, Veronica stuck her head into Lamb's office, narrowly avoiding Inga. "Whatcha got for me?" Lamb looked up from his desk, and looked toward the door. Veronica picked up on the signal and shut it behind her as she entered, taking the seat in the corner of his office.

Lamb walked around to the front of his desk and asked Veronica a similar question, "What did Landry say?"

"I asked you first, plus, you owe me information."

Lamb sighed and relented, "The bloody clothes that were brought in yesterday were his, covered in the dean's blood. He thinks its Mindy setting him up and he's refusing a lawyer. Says he stopped at a convenience store for cigarettes on his way home that night. Alone. You might like the guy but he's not giving me much to work with."

"He said the same thing to me about the cigarettes, I'm going to go over there with Tim later and see if we can find a witness." Veronica replied, a little surprised that Lamb was so forthcoming with her. "Did he tell you he was being bugged? I guess he'd asked my dad to look into it. I didn't see anything about it in dad's notes but I can check at the office."

"I'm no expert in wiretapping," Lamb shot Veronica an almost knowing look, "But I doubt you'd be able to get anything off of it. They're virtually untraceable."

Veronica nodded in agreement, surprised at how competent and agreeable Lamb was with this entire arrangement, "And in the interest of full disclosure, this murder is eerily similar to a paper I wrote for Landry's class."

When Lamb just looked at her with a blank stare she continued, "The assignment was to plan a perfect murder. My paper was about faking a suicide as the coverup, not the dean but the phrase "goodbye cruel world" was there."

"Anything else worth sharing? You know what I'm looking for. Any signature that would indicate they read your paper?"

Veronica shook her head, "Just the exact same language in the fake note."

Satisfied, Lamb asked one final question to lighten the mood, "Who'd you off?"

"Not important." Veronica bit back a smile and shook her head, Lamb had an answer to his question.

Veronica started to get up but Lamb stopped her, "You know, if you need anything…"

"Stop, Lamb seriously. Everyone says that, if I need anything they will be there for me. I wish it were that easy. I wish I could think of something that would make all of this suck just a little bit less. But here I am, in your office of all places talking about my feelings and wishing I could just solve a crime to get back to some normalcy."

"Have you gotten any sleep? Or eaten anything? No offense Veronica, but you look like shit."

"I'm fine, Lamb. I'm keeping myself busy."

"Let me take you home." Lamb offered, surprising both occupants of his office. He quickly followed his offer with a slightly selfish justification, "I can't have you falling asleep behind the wheel on my conscience."

"I'm really fine, I need to go back to Hearst and get Backup. Plus, my car is here." Veronica argued, already dreading going home to an empty apartment and not wishing to share that experience with Lamb.

"I'll have a deputy bring your car over, and someone will pick up your dog." Lamb was already picking the keys to his cruiser off of his desk and jotting down Vernonia's address for Deputy Lawrence to deliver her car and dog.

Veronica relented with a small nod, following Lamb out of his office. Not two steps through the threshold, she was engulfed by a hug. Inga caught her by surprise and picked up into a rant about how much Keith would be missed and how wonderful of a boss he was and how she wanted to be there for Veronica and possibly included an offer to come to the apartment and do all of her laundry and make two weeks' worth of dinner to stock Veronica's freezer.

Lamb let Inga share in her grief for a few beats more and ushered Veronica out of the office to his waiting car.

Halfway through the short car ride, Veronica turned to Lamb "What changed?" When Lamb's response was a look of confusion, Veronica continued "Less than a week ago you arrested me for a crime we both know I didn't commit, now you're driving me home and having my dog chauffeured to my house. What changed?"

Lamb was silent for minutes thinking of an answer that he didn't have, "He shouldn't have been there. I shouldn't have let him go into that house."

Veronica sat with that confession until they pulled into her parking lot and Lamb put the car in park. As Veronica let herself out of the passenger seat she turned back to Lamb, "For the record, I would have been sad if it had been you."

Lamb watched her walk away, she didn't turn around and look back at him when she got to her door. He watched her shoulders heave as she took a deep breath and let herself into the empty apartment. For just a second, he felt something beyond sympathy for Veronica, the feeling didn't last long and he couldn't put his finger on it, but it was there.

Inside her apartment, Veronica bolted the lock and made a beeline straight for her shower; bypassing the flashing light on the answering machine, a pile of laundry that needed to be folded and half-empty coffee mugs in the sink, waiting to be washed.

Under the steaming spray of her shower, Veronica let the tears flow freely. Alone in the apartment she and her father shared, the world seemed so empty and she allowed herself this time to grieve without holding anything back. Minutes after her shower was complete, Veronica dressed and opened the front door to a deputy holding Backup's leash and her car keys in one hand and a bag from a fast-food joint in the other. "The sheriff told me to bring you this."

"Thanks for bringing Backup home, and for this." Veronica took the food and her keys, unhooking Backup from his leash so he could roam freely inside his home.

"No problem Miss Mars. We're all sorry to hear about your dad. If you need anything," Veronica couldn't take the offers of support any more and cut him off sarcastically, "you'll be my first call."

Veronica and Backup relaxed on the sofa for hours, mindlessly watching a procedural drama and eating the junk food the deputy brought over. Veronica started to get ready to go meet Tim at the convenience store when her phone rang, it was Lamb. "I'm a growing girl, Lamb. I can't be sustained on burgers and fries alone, next time you send food throw in some kung pao chicken or ice cream."

She could hear Lamb roll his eyes on the other end of the line, that will show him for trying to do something nice. "Is there a reason for your call, Deputy? Because I'm on my way out the door to go meet some strippers, should I send your love?"

"Mindy O'Dell didn't show up to her deposition this afternoon. I think she's split town, and she sent her kids to her parents in Surrey, England." Lamb said, trying to ignore Veronica's joke about the strippers.

"Well, Lamb, since you already have your guy in a holding cell, Mindy's travel plans shouldn't be of concern to you. I need to go, but when I find Landry's alibi I'll be sure to send her in."

"Be careful out there, Veronica."

"Good night, Lamb."

Veronica hung up the phone, kissed Backup on the head and drove a few miles into the shady part of town to meet Tim at the convenience store Landry told them about.