1Veronica Mars gasped as soon as she felt her feet leave the ground. She couldn't believe that Duncan was hugging her like this. She looked down to see if she could see a ring on his finger and was surprised to see that the answer was no. She found herself blushing as soon as her feet hit the ground. "Is that the new Neptune way of saying hello?" she joked lamely. She felt her heart beating faster than it had been before. She wondered if was safe for her heart to be pumping this fast.
Duncan looked at his feet for a second trying to mask the fact that he was blushing. He couldn't believe he hugged her that way. He looked at her quickly. She was still beautiful. Though she did look harder than she had before. Her hair was shorter, her clothes were darker, and she seemed to be lacking a sufficient amount of sleep. He wanted so badly to reach out and touch her skin to see if it was still as soft as it had been when they were first dating. When a simple hug was enough to get them by for the day or when a kiss equaled the same thing as sex for most couples. He knew she was expecting an answer no matter how dumb it sounded so he replied softly, "Oh yeah you know it's the biggest trend to hit Neptune since Uggs."
Joe simply watched the two try to awkwardly get past that first moment. They both seemed to be nervous around each other. He had never seen Veronica this nervous. Normally she could make people more nervous than a loaded gun. "You must be Mr. Kane. I'm Veronica's partner Detective Joseph McPherson."
Duncan looked over at the tall older man and nodded. "You must be here about Libby Bishop's murder."
Veronica wasn't surprised that Duncan already knew why they were here. News moved quickly in Neptune. The only news that would have traveled faster than a murder would be an illegitimate love child. "I see news still moves fast."
Duncan simply sighed and nodded. "I have a feeling you are going to tell me that Billy Thompson is you number one suspect at this point. He couldn't have done it. He showed up to work this morning which I found odd. I called him into my trailer and I told him that he shouldn't be here right now. He asked me why and that's when I realized he had no idea what happened to Libby. I told him and he completely fell apart. I know what it looks like when someone is really shocked by news. I know what a real nervous breakdown looks like. One of the crew members drove him home."
"Did he say anything in response to the news?" Veronica asked. She had a feeling that Duncan was right. Duncan knew first hand what it looked like when someone fell apart due to a sudden death. If anyone knew what it really looked like to see your whole life fall apart it was Logan. The guy who committed this murder wouldn't have been able to sob about it a few hours later. Actually they wouldn't have even bothered showing up for work.
"He kept saying over and over again that it was all his fault." Duncan replied.
"Do you have any idea why he would think it was his fault?" Veronica asked a pen poised ready to write down anything he said.
Duncan just shrugged. "I don't know. The thing is Libby was one of those girls who lived to make her parents angry. When she first started dating Billy it was because she thought he was a bad boy. She wasn't pleased when she found out that he was more responsible than most of the boys at school. She wasn't a one man kind of girl. It's common knowledge that she was seeing a few less than savory guys. Billy knew that was how the Neptune girls worked. He understood she was complicated and that he was nothing more than a fling. Still, she made him happy. Does that make sense?"
Joe started to say no. Didn't Mr. Kane just give them Billy's motive for murder? Shouldn't that mean that they were now even more convinced that was guilty? Then why was Veronica nodding? Was there something he had missed?
Veronica closed her little notebook and tossed it into her bag. She smiled weakly at Duncan. She had a feeling that this murder investigation was a little hard for him. Neptune was normally a place that though it did not lack drama it usually did lack murders. The last time someone had been murdered in Neptune it had been his sister. It had been her best friend. Both of them realized this little fact. Both of them were bothered by it. Still, neither of them said anything. Mostly because neither one of them knew what to say. "Okay I think that is all of our questions Duncan. Thank you."
Joe didn't know what to say or do. "Really that's all of our questions?"
Veronica looked at her partner and nodded. She knew he didn't understand what was going on right now. He would never quite grasp the way things worked in Neptune. You only asked a few questions at a time. "Believe me that's all we need for now."
Joe just shook his hand and walked over to the SUV and climbed in. He knew she wanted a moment to say goodbye to Duncan.
Veronica grabbed her ex-boyfriend's hand and then scribbled her cell phone down on his palm. She looked at him for a moment not really knowing what to say. Then she quietly whispered "I'll be here for at least a week. I'm going to be staying with Wallace. If you need to talk then call me. Don't hesitate. I know how hard it's still hard for you. Just, whatever you do, don't mess things up with Meg just to talk to me. You've invested too much into your relationship with her to throw it all away for a phone conversation."
Duncan looked his palm and then back up at her. "Okay . . . "
Veronica smiled a little and then started to walk away.
"Oh and Veronica . . . " Duncan choked out. He was still a little surprised that she had written her cell phone number on his hand. He found the answer to his previous question about whether her skin was just as soft. The answer was yes. It was still as soft as it had been so many years before.
Veronica turned around.
"Don't ask Billy too many questions. I know that may compromise your investigation, but the worst thing you can do right now is to overwhelm him. Believe me I know that from experience. If you ask him too many questions, you may not get answers you can understand. He's a good kid Veronica. A really good kid. One of my best workers."
Veronica nodded and waved a little.
Duncan was reminded of that morning after homecoming when his parents had called the cops. She had been so gorgeous that evening. He waved at her the same way he did all those years before.
Veronica hopped into the vehicle. She knew that Joe was looking at her. She knew he wanted answers. Still she wasn't sure what to say. How could she explain her history with Duncan to Joe when she hardly understood it herself? "We'll go and search her room first, and then we'll go over to the Thompson's to question Billy."
Joe knew she didn't want to talk about what had just happened with Duncan. He knew she was confused about the whole situation. Still, he had to say something. He had too many questions running through his head. "Seems as though things aren't quite as over as they seemed to be."
Veronica looked at him and sighed. She acted as thought she hadn't heard a word he said. "I don't think Billy Thompson did it."
Joe spit some of his dip in a Pepsi can and then replied "I know. I don't know why you don't think he did it. Still I do know that you don't think he could have done it."
Veronica took a deep breath. Her mouth felt dry. She took a swig of the Mello Yello she had grabbed from her apartment before heading to Neptune. She knew she had to tell him why she knew this boy was innocent. She knew there was no way they could continue the investigation until Joe knew about Lily. So Veronica did what she had to do. She told him everything. She told him the story about how when she was in high school her best friend was murdered. When she was finally done talking Joe too understood that this kid couldn't have committed such a heinous crime and then turned around and gone to work and acted as if everything was okay. There was just no way that could have taken place.
Okay so that was the long awaited update of Dreams and Memories. I don't know if that was as good as it should have been. I don't know when I'll update this again hopefully it will be sooner than last time. I think it took me nearly seven months to update this story. Still please tell me what you think. Thank you SO MUCH for reading!
