Still in "Hot Dogs." Let's see how Meg handles it . . . And how Veronica handles a few other things.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars. Veronica Mars does not own me, either. But after seeing the cover of the most recent issue of Shape, I'm willing to talk things over with Kristen Bell . . .

X X X X X

As I walked out in the afternoon, Meg caught up with me.

"What do you have so far?" I asked.

"Mandy was babysitting at the McDades when it happened -- they let her bring Chester along. After Ryder fell asleep, she heard Chester barking and was going out to check on him when she heard him yelp once and then nothing." She paused, then. "I've been talking to people -- there are a few other cases of missing dogs. Some were returned and some weren't."

"Any pattern there?"

"Not a big enough statistical sample," she said. "Only four cases not counting Mandy. But the two dogs that were found were both '09er dogs."

"Hmmm. You're right, that's not a big enough sample." It was interesting, though. Let's see if Meg followed up on it.

"I'm going with Mandy to check the pound -- maybe Chester just ran away."

"You don't sound convinced."

"Not with a single yelp and then silence, no. But it can't hurt. Maybe someone just thought it was a funny prank to take someone's dog and cut it loose on the streets."

"Yes, because as a prank that would be hilarious."

"Some people can be real jerks."

"Any other possible leads?"

"Well, I told you the sample wasn't big enough," she said. "I'm going to look around town and see if I see any other lost dog notices and maybe I'll call those people too." Bingo! Good start, Meg.

"Sounds like you're doing well so far," I said. "Keep it up."

She smiled. "You really think so?"

"Yup. You might want to make sure you check the obvious spots -- animal shelters, public bulletin boards, and so on, rather than just wandering the streets, but otherwise, you're right on track."

"Yay!" she said. "Thanks for letting me do this, Ronniekins." Then we were at the parking lot and Dad was waiting for me.

"I told you to stop calling me that."

"I know." She grinned wickedly. "But remember, I want to be you when I grow up. And you don't do everything you're told either."

"I'm thinking of changing my attitude on that!" I called after her as she ran off.

X X X X X

Dad and I were waiting in Cliff's office when Larry Holtz walked in. Mr. Holtz wasn't what I expected -- I was expecting someone gray-haired and distinguished, the kind of person you'd expect to represent a shark like Big Dick Casablancas, and instead I got a surfer dude in a three-piece suit. Blond, muscular, tan, good-looking, the works.

Of course, looks weren't everything. Mr. Holtz slammed on the brakes as soon as he saw me. "Mr. McCormack," he said, "You've brought me down here under false pretenses. You said you had a witness that would clear my client." He looked at me and my father. "I'm not going to help you make the case against my client any stronger."

"I didn't lie, Mr. Holtz," Cliff said.

"Really?" Mr. Holtz said. "Unless you have someone hiding under the desk -- which wouldn't surprise me -- I don't see any potential witnesses. Just an alleged victim --"

"Nothing alleged about the bullet through my shoulder," I said.

"Right," Mr. Holtz said. "Lawyerspeak. Sorry." He sounded at least somewhat sorry, too, to my astonishment. "Just the victim," he emended, "And her father."

I sighed. "I'm the witness, Mr. Holtz."

"Really." He clearly didn't believe me. Well, I wouldn't have, either.

"Really," Cliff said. "And in any event, what does it hurt to sit and listen?"

"Nothing, I guess," he said, sitting in the chair by the side of the room. "So, Miss Mars. Astonish me."

"Your client didn't try to shoot me," I said.

"And you know this because?"

"Because I was looking directly at him at the time I was shot," I said. I repeated the description of the event I'd given to Dad and Logan already -- Cliff had gotten an abbreviated version from Dad -- and when I finished Larry Holtz looked thoughtful.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, not hostilely. "From the descriptions given to me by -- both -- younger members of the Casablancas family, it surprises me that you'd stick up for them."

"I'm not," I said. "But he didn't shoot me. And while I won't mind seeing him thrown in jail on the false imprisonment charge, I can't let him get in trouble for something he didn't do." After a second, "Besides, as long as they have the wrong person in jail, they won't go looking for the right one." I leaned forward.

Mr. Holtz thought for a second. "Very well, Miss Mars," he said. "Having the victim, known to hate the defendant's guts, on my witness list, should be a lot of help clearing the younger Mr. Casablancas. Would you be willing to write a formal statement confirming the story you just told me?"

As Cliff said, "Yes," I said, "On two conditions."

Cliff and Dad looked at me sharply -- I hadn't said anything about this to either of them -- but neither said anything. "And those are?" Mr. Holtz asked.

"One, he agrees to extend the temporary restraining order until the matter of the false imprisonment charges is settled."

Mr. Holtz said, "Agreed."

"And the second," I said, taking a deep breath, "Is that he agrees to stop repeating his lie about Logan having left Tijuana early the day of Lilly Kane's murder."

Dad practically erupted out of his seat at that one. "Veronica --" he said.

I turned to him and said, "Later. Please?"

He realized that the middle of the meeting was no time to give me holy hell, but I knew I could look forward to it as soon as we got to the car. He sat back down. "Well, Mr. Holtz?" Cliff asked. Gotta love Cliff. He'd just been handed as big a shock as Dad had and he was responding as though he'd just been given the weather report.

"The first one, like I said, is no problem. The second one's likely to be a lot harder."

"Get back to me once you've convinced him," I said.

"I could just subpoena you, you know," Mr. Holtz said. Once again, he didn't seem like he was being hostile.

Borrowing a page from Meg's playbook, I said, "'Gee, Mr. Holtz. I don't remember what happened when I was shot. I was too busy bleeding." I giggled a bit.

"So you're going to go that route?" he said.

"I'd rather not," I said. "Believe me. But I'm tired of the Casablancas' lies."

He nodded, "Understandably." he looked at Cliff. "Mr. McCormack. I'll contact you once I've worked things out with my client one way or the other."

Cliff agreed, and Larry Holtz left.

Dad then turned to Cliff and asked him about the bureau of tapes. At my slight nod, Cliff told the absolute truth: That I'd stored the tapes with him for months, and that the Monday of Lynn Echolls' press conference I'd come in, looked through the door, and taken the Lilly Kane tapes with me. We thanked Cliff for his time and walked to the car.

Dad made sure I was buckled up before he started with a deceptively mild, "So, Veronica, when were you going to tell me about these lies?"

"When I had to," I said. This was going to be a very dangerous conversation to navigate. I hated lying to my father, and Dad was adept at picking out when people where lying. And he knew me better than anyone.

"Well, before you tried to bargain with the truth would have been nice!" he said.

"All I did was make it clear that if Dick Casablancas kept saying that about Logan, then maybe I wouldn't be able to remember certain things," I said. "Look, Dad. Beaver pitched this back to me way back right after he and Dick tried to abscond with Logan. I didn't accept it then and I didn't accept it when Dick implied it when he threatened me the day of Lynn's press conference." I sighed. "But if they'd pushed that story to the DA, maybe the DA would have bought it -- or at least, used it against Logan. And I wasn't going to let that happen."

"I still can't believe you'd plan to lie on the witness stand, Veronica."

"I wouldn't," I said. I meant it. "I'm bluffing. If Mr. Holtz comes back and tells me that little Dick told me to take a flying leap -- bad metaphor, sorry -- on the second condition, I'll accept it." After trying again to bluff, but I wasn't telling Dad that now. "You know me better than that, Dad. I wouldn't lie under oath. You raised me better than that." After a second. "You also raised me to use every weapon at my disposal to bring down the bad guys."

There was a period of silence, after which Dad said, "So why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"You tell me."

"Because you knew," he said, "That if I knew that there was even an outside chance that Logan's alibi wouldn't hold up, I would have insisted you stop seeing him. And you didn't want to do that."

"Exactly." It was the truth and nothing but the truth. It wasn't the whole truth, but two out of three weren't bad.

He sighed. "Try not to blindside me like that again, will you, sweetie?" That was the sign that I'd convinced him right there.

Yay.

That I was now able to successfully lie to my father was an evolution of my abilities as an investigator; but jumping up and down and cheering? Not in my immediate plans.

X X X X X

Logan had claimed the night; it was going to be the first time we'd had the chance to be alone in a week. We were going out to dinner followed by some 'quality time' spent at the Echolls estate.

Or so I thought until, once I got in the car, he kissed me and said, "Change of plans."

"I am not going back to your place for an evening of lustful and wild abandon," I said. "Oh, okay, you talked me into it."

Logan sighed. "You're right. We're not." He laughed. "We are, instead, going back to the Echolls estate so my mother can have a really nice gourmet meal prepared for you and apologize for anything she might have had to do with what happened to you."

"You're kidding." He wasn't. "She had nothing to do with it," I said. "She didn't even know about the tape until I -- got there . . ."

"What is it?"

"Hold on." I pulled out my cell phone and made a call. "Hi, Lynn," I said. "No, it's fine. Look, I have a question. Do you have a copy of the announcement you made about your press conference last Tuesday?" She did. "Good. Could I see it when I get there? Thanks. See you in a few."

"What's up?" Logan asked.

"I'll let you know when I see that press release," I said. "It could be nothing."

We got there about ten minutes later. "Hi, Veronica!" she said, giving me a very gentle hug. "How're you feeling?"

"Not bad," I said. "And thanks for the meal."

"Oh, you're welcome," she said. "Have you ever had roast goose?" I said no. "Well, then, you're in for a treat. Mario prepares the best poultry on the planet." Then she leaned in and said, "Don't worry. I know you and Logan would rather have some time alone. So when we're done, I'll be going out for a while." '

I had no idea what to say to that, so I didn't say anything, instead asking, "Do you have the announcement?"

She went over to a nearby table. "Right here." She handed it to me and I read it.

I'd been right.

"I recognize that look," Logan said. "What did you find?"

I handed it to him. He read, "Lynn Echolls, widow of the late Aaron Echolls, will be holding a press conference to congratulate Keith Mars for clearing Abel Koontz in the death of Lilly Kane. She will also be explaining, for the first time, her reasons for hiring Mr. Mars to do so." After he stopped, he looked at me. "I don't get it."

"Where's my name?"

He looked down and said, "Son of a bitch."

"What is it?" Lynn asked.

"A rifle," I said. "Is not something anybody casually carries around. Whoever took that shot planned it." Lynn nodded; she was with me so far. "And no one knew I was going to be out there. I was surprised when you motioned for me to come out on your front porch while you held the conference." She was still following along. "So whoever took that shot wasn't shooting at me."

"Oh my God." They were either trying to kill me . . ."

I finished her sentence. "Or my father."