A/N: And let the mystery begin! Well, sort of. There's a bit of necessary exposition first.

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She hadn't meant to follow the case – really, she hadn't. It was unhealthy, and besides, she knew no good could come of it. But, well, it wasn't as though that had ever stopped her before, and Veronica Mars had never been the best at changing her ways.

So, when she had first seen the story on the murder of Elaine Albright, there were too many similarities between Elaine's death and Lilly's for her simply to stay out of it. The coverage had caught her eye just as she was leaving her tiny apartment to track down a cheating husband, and though she was on a tight schedule, the fact that Neptune, California was making a New York news report was enough to make Veronica immediately stop in her tracks - philandering spouse be damned.

It had been three years since she'd graduated from Heartz, and just as many since she'd set foot in her hometown. Right after graduation, she'd bolted out of sunny California and moved cross-country to New York City. There were a lot of reasons why she'd chosen to leave, but the one she most easily admitted to herself was the fact that after the FBI internship hadn't turned out the way she'd planned, she had realized she'd wanted a permanent change of scenery once the next three years of college were over.

It wasn't that she had hated the idea of working as an agent, but more that Veronica had missed being able to bend the rules and tracking down the case no matter where it led. To put it simply, she missed being a PI. So, with her father's blessing and a shiny new degree, she'd opened a New York office of Mars Investigations after graduation. And as it turned out, people in the Big Apple had enough problems with cheating spouses and stolen belongings to keep her constantly busy.

But not busy enough, however, for her to completely ignore a high-profile murder case from Neptune. Veronica still remembered hearing the voice of the reporter just as she picked up the remote to flick off the television.

"In a case eerily reminiscent to the decade-old murder of Lilly Kane, daughter of software mogul Jake Kane, another teenaged heiress has been found slain at her home in Neptune, California."

Veronica's eyes had jerked up to screen, taking in a picture of a beautiful young girl with dark brown curls. The words BILLIONAIRE'S DAUGHTER MURDERED flashed boldly across the bottom of the screen, causing waves of familiar dread to rush over her.

"Seventeen-year-old Elaine Albright, daughter of Gregory Albright, founder of Albright Incorporated, is believed to have been murdered late last night. The body was discovered by her younger brother at the Albright's residence."

By this time, Veronica's breathing was a little ragged, and she'd sunk slowly down into the couch. Still, her eyes remained glued to the screen.

"The Neptune Sheriff's Department has not released the names of any suspects at this time. In other news, the woman who claimed to be the…"

At the abrupt change in subject, Veronica shut the television set off with a furious click of the remote. It had been ten years since Lilly's death, but the memory still brought back the same stinging pain every time. It took nearly all of her self-control to keep from calling her dad right away, begging to hear everything about the case. Keith would know, of course, but Veronica didn't want her father to think she was getting involved in something she didn't need to be anywhere near.

Instead, in the following days, she closely monitored any news about the Albright murder, wondering if there were some sort of strange link to Lilly's death. She slept awfully that week, blowing off a few of her clients and coming very close to shutting her office down for a few days. Finally, at the end of the next week, a man named Thomas Stewart was arrested. Stewart had been linked to the deaths of three other teenagers in the Neptune area, and it wasn't unreasonable for the sheriff to assume he had played a role in Elaine's death, too.

That night, Veronica had thanked God the case was solved so she could go back to her very comfortable routine of private investigating far away from Neptune. She really didn't think she could have taken much more of reading about a girl who seemed so much like Lilly.

The next day, however, she had returned to her office to find a message from her dad asking for a favor back home. Keith had received a call from Elaine's mother, Tara, requesting the help of Mars Investigations in discovering who "the true murderer" was. Her father had planned to work the case on his own, but Mrs. Albright had insisted Veronica be a part of it as well. According to Keith, her words had been, "She knows what it's like to lose something and not know the real reason why."

Veronica could tell her dad had struggled with the decision to take the case or not, but in the end had figured she would want to help. He, of course, had been right. It was things like these that she simply couldn't stay away from.

And it was for this reason, Veronica had flown back across the country and found herself driving a Mercury Milan from the airport towards her old apartment. She could almost hear the joke with every turn she made: A Mars sighted back in Neptune driving a Mercury. Planetary humor galore.

Her father had originally planned to pick her up from the airport, but had called at the last minute to say that a bail jumper was on the move. He'd promised to be home before she got there, though, and had set up a rental car. She supposed he was the one to thank for the unfortunate car she was currently driving, but Veronica wasn't complaining too much, as it had been almost a year since Keith had come to visit her in New York.

She had just crossed into the Neptune city limits when her cell phone rang, startling her out of thoughts about the case.

She fumbled for a moment with the phone, but finally pulled it open. "Hello?"

Keith's voice greeted her brightly from the other end. "Hello, favorite daughter of mine who I've just happened to call after returning home and noticing we're out of ice cream and chocolate syrup."

Veronica rolled her eyes, a wide smiling slipping into place. "Dessert for dinner night already? Dad, it's only my first night back. People are going to think you don't care about your only child getting a nutritious meal."

"Veronica," her dad said, voice almost patronizing, "Rocky Road is nutrition for the soul. Have I taught you nothing?"

"Fine, fine." She sighed loudly. "I'm just now in Neptune, so I guess I can stop in the Sac 'N Pac for old time's sake."

"I knew I could count on you."

She could see the sign for the Sac 'N Pac a little further down the road, a surprisingly welcome landmark after so much time spent driving through nameless towns on her drive back from the airport. It came as a small surprise that she didn't feel quite as annoyed to be back in Neptune as she'd thought she would have.

"See you soon, Dad."

"Bye, honey."

Veronica hung up the phone and tossed it absentmindedly into the seat next to her. She turned the Milan into the parking lot and pulled into one of the few empty parking spaces, which was unfortunately next to a badly parked SUV.

Feeling caught in some sort of strange time warp, and half expecting to find Wallace waiting inside, she climbed out of the car and walked quickly into the store. No more than five minutes later, Veronica had grabbed ice cream for both herself and her father, loaded the basket with whipped cream and chocolate syrup, and was headed towards the checkout lane. If she hurried, she thought she just might be able to make it home before seven. She had more than a few questions for her dad about the case, and was more than ready to meet with the Albrights the following morning.

At the end of the aisle, Veronica turned the corner and, not paying much attention to her surroundings, ran straight into Logan Echolls.

Well, she thought dryly, welcome back to Neptune.