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VERONICA VOICEOVER: Previously on Veronica Mars…
Lilly cleans a car at the pep squad car wash (from 101 Pilot).
VERONICA: God, Lilly, I see the Prozac's working.
LILLY: I've got a secret. A good one.
Cut to Lilly's body and a shocked Veronica in Keith's arms from the same episode.
REBECCA: [Offscreen] Socially, she seems to be a bit…
Cut to Rebecca James' office (from 103 "Meet John Smith").
REBECCA: …isolated.
KEITH: I'd say Veronica's doing pretty well, given the circumstances.
REBECCA: I know how close she was with Lilly Kane.
Cut to dead Lilly appearing to Duncan from the same episode.
LILLY: The truth is gonna come out. It doesn't add up.
DUNCAN: Lilly?
LILLY: What? You forgot about me already?
Duncan jerks himself awake. Cut to Logan, pulling down Weevil's wifebeater to expose his Lilly tattoo and things get aggressive (from 107 "The Girl Next Door").
WEEVIL: What are you doing?
LOGAN: Why do you have Lilly's name on your arm?
WEEVIL: You really wanna know?
LOGAN: Yeah, I really wanna know!
Cut to Aaron signing autographs outside the gates to his house (from 106 "Return of the Kane").
LYNN: [Offscreen] My husband gets a lot of disturbing…
Cut to Lynn in Keith's office (from 110 "An Echolls Family Christmas").
LYNN: …letters from fans.
Cut to Aaron's spurned lover facing his at the Christmas party from the same episode.
AARON: I swear, I don't know you.
She stabs him, Lynn screams, Logan paces worriedly, Lynn rushes to the fallen Aaron, Veronica watches in disbelief. End previously. Open panning across the high school administration office and gradually closing in on Veronica, sitting in a chair, waiting somewhat impatiently. Next to her, another student, wearing an MIT sweatshirt, bides his time with the chess board on his lap. It's 8:33am.
VERONICA VOICEOVER: The word is out. Our illustrious Guidance Counsellor has received a grant to study the long term effects of grief in adolescence. She's demanding an audience with each of us hardest hit by Lilly's death. I was going to decline a session, then I had a thought.
There is a commotion outside the office as a number of boys, naked but for shoes and balaclavas or ski masks, race past the door making their way down the school hallway.
VERONICA: Well there's something you don't see everyday.
MIT GUY: Yeah. I cannot wait to get out of Neptune.
VERONICA: MIT, huh?
MIT GUY: Early admission.
VERONICA: Bet you're gonna miss this place when you're gone.
MIT GUY: Not really.
VERONICA: I didn't think so.
They chuckle as footsteps approach.
REBECCA: [Offscreen] Veronica?
Rebecca James appears, carrying a file.
REBECCA: Sorry to make you wait. Come on in.
Cut to Rebecca's office as they enter. Rebecca heads around to her desk and Veronica for the chair in front of it.
REBECCA: Do you remember when we talked last year, right after Lilly's death? You were…inconsolable. I'm really hoping that this year, you're able to talk about it.
Veronica appears disinterested, concentrating instead on a stapler on Rebecca's desk which she picks up.
REBECCA: You know, you're never going to come to terms with Lilly's death if you keep all that pain bottled up inside you.
VERONICA: Wow. I have that exact same platitude-a-day calendar at home. It's how I know beauty comes from within.
REBECCA: Look, Veronica, for whatever reason, I don't think you…care for me very much, so if you prefer talking with someone else, that's…
Veronica, who has been playing with the stapler throughout, snaps it shut, causing Rebecca to pause and sigh.
VERONICA: Sorry, that was rude. It's not you. It's the talking. I don't want to talk away my grief. I want to turn it into something else. Fuel. I know how I'm gonna feel better and it's not by talking about how sad I am.
Veronica is still fidgeting with the stapler and starts compressing it rapidly.
REBECCA: [With a pained expression and shake of her head] Veronica!
VERONICA: [Stops] Yeah. Nervous habit.
Veronica sets the stapler at the edge of the desk. It falls and she bends down. The desk blocks Rebecca's view so she does not see Veronica swap the stapler with an identical one in her bag. Veronica carefully places the new stapler on Rebecca's desk, adjusting its position.
REBECCA: So how is it you're going to find, uh, and I really hate to use this word but it is appropriate…closure?
VERONICA: I'll find closure when Lilly's killer's rotting away in prison.
Rebecca takes that in. Cut to the journalism classroom where Rick pores over some picture proofs. A student enters the room and approaches the teacher.
STUDENT: Miss Jeffries?
He hands her a slip of paper, which she reads.
MS JEFFRIES: Rick! You're wanted in the office.
The student walks over to Rick and sets the slip of paper down on the light box on which he is working. Rick has an uh-oh face. Cut to Rick in Clemmons office as he sits nervously on a small couch. Sheriff Lamb closes the door.
CLEMMONS: The Sheriff is here to-
LAMB: Morning, Rick. How's your head this morning, a little bit of a hangover?
Lamb pulls up a chair in front of him and gets in his face as Clemmons observes.
LAMB: That's nothing compared to how your buddy Tim is feeling. Tim had to have a tube put down his throat so they could pump his stomach. He's in a coma, Rick.
RICK: [Horrified] Oh my god.
LAMB: According to a surveillance tape, your evening ended at 1:30am when you dropped, and I mean dropped, an unconscious Tim outside the Neptune Memorial ER.
RICK: I-I didn't have a choice.
Lamb leans forward and grabs Rick's wrist, pushing up his sleeve. Rick has a variety of stamps on forearm.
LAMB: Right. Someone must have put a gun to your head, forced you on a pub crawl? By the way, how did you get into those bars?
RICK: We got fake IDs.
Lamb holds out his hand, flexing his fingers with a "give" gesture. Rick reaches into his back pocket, pulls out his wallet and hands over the ID.
LAMB: You and half the kids in Neptune. [To Clemmons] These things have been popping up all over the place. The way I see it, they're coming from your school. [To Rick] I think you owe it to your friend to tell me who's making the fakes.
Rick hesitates. Lamb pats him on the leg and stands, moving to the side of the room.
RICK: Look, Rick. The three of us? We're not leaving this cosy little room until you give me a name.
Rick stands and the camera focuses on his mouth as he says…
RICK: Veronica Mars.
Lamb looks at Clemmons who nods his head soberly. Cut to Lamb and Clemmons waiting outside Veronica's locker.
VERONICA: Sending out the big guns in the morning. I'm flattered.
CLEMMONS: Veronica, the Sheriff wants to have a look inside your locker.
VERONICA: Course he does.
Veronica starts to tumble the combination on her locker
VERONICA: Just out of curiosity, what are you gentlemen hoping to find in here? Al Capone? The Lindbergh baby?
LAMB: We have reason to believe that you are manufacturing and distributing fake driver's licenses.
VERONICA: Ooo, that's a new one.
LAMB: It's a second degree felony.
VERONICA: Lord knows, I hate to disappoint you boys…
Veronica pulls open her locker. A load of blank IDs spill out. Lamb bends down and flicks through them (slight editing faux pas as in the reverse shot, he's still standing).
VERONICA: Wait a minute, those aren't mine.
Lamb rises with one of the cards in his hand. He smirks.
LAMB: I'm gonna need to search your purse as well. Either we can do this here…
VERONICA: [Gasps] Or down at the station?
Veronica hands Lamb her bag. He grabs her wallet. Veronica takes a deep breath. Lamb looks through her cards.
LAMB: Lilly Kane's driver's license. Driver's license for a twenty two year old Veronica Mars. A San Diego State student ID. Licensed massage therapist.
VERONICA: Oh yeah. Those are mine.
Lamb pulls out handcuffs.
VERONICA: You really don't have to do that.
LAMB: [Really smirking] You're right about that. But I'm going to anyway.
CLEMMONS: And Veronica, don't bother coming back to school for the next three days. You're suspended.
Veronica is disbelieving but any protest is silenced by the bell ringing and students pouring into the hallway. Lamb is particularly satisfied at the presence of an audience and cuffs her.
STUDENT (sounds like CORNY): [Offscreen] You better call your daddy, Mars!
Veronica grimaces and nods at the helpful advice and Lamb leads her forward.
LOGAN: [Offscreen] Ah, it's your turn, huh? Ha ha.
Veronica is led past Logan who is enjoying the moment and gives her a salute. A grinning girl in the crowd takes a snapshot as she passes.
VERONICA VOICEOVER: Gosh, I hope they use that shot in the yearbook.
Opening credits. Open on Veronica, head on the table, in one of the interrogation rooms at the sheriff's department. Cliff enters, clearing his throat.
VERONICA: Know any good lawyers?
CLIFF: Very cute. I know an adequate one who just posted your $500 bail.
VERONICA: They take Diners Club here? Seriously, Cliff, thanks.
CLIFF: It's quite all right. It's all part of my full service legal counsel.
VERONICA: Is there any way you could not tell my dad about this?
CLIFF: Why didn't you call him?
VERONICA: He's busy chasing a bail jumper in Arizona.
CLIFF: Trust me, your dad's gonna find out one way or the other. Besides, I may need to sic him on you if you don't show up at the courthouse. Next Tuesday, 9am.
VERONICA: So, are we gonna beat this wrap?
CLIFF: Well, possession, they've got you pretty cold on that one. The stuff in your wallet is Mickey Mouse. It's the IDs in the locker that they care about.
VERONICA: They were blank.
CLIFF: Right. So until the coma guy wakes up, the only thing they have tying you to this supposed fake ID ring is the testimony of the other kid.
VERONICA: What other kid?
CLIFF: Your buddy…Rick.
Cliff points to Rick, just passing the open door behind Veronica. She rises.
VERONICA: Excuse me?
CLIFF: Hmm.
Veronica races out of the room and grabs Rick, pushing him against the wall.
VERONICA: Howdy, Rick. Do I know you? No. Then why'd you tell Sheriff Lamb I sold you a fake ID?
RICK: It's…it-it's what they told me to say.
VERONICA: Who's they?
RICK: No way. They're everywhere. They will destroy me.
VERONICA: I'll destroy you worse.
RICK: I can't talk about it here.
VERONICA: Tomorrow in school, we talk.
RICK: No! I just- I told you, it has to be done in secret.
VERONICA: Oh, it will be. You'll be hearing from me.
Veronica goes to walk away.
RICK: I thought you were expelled?
Veronica throws back an annoyed look and returns to the interrogation room. Cut to Mars Investigations. Veronica is working on her laptop at the table in front of the small couch. Wallace enters.
WALLACE: La femme Veronica. I heard it took three officers and a stun gun to haul your butt outta school.
VERONICA: You must be the only student who didn't see my walk of shame in person.
WALLACE: I grabbed your books.
Wallace slides the strap off his shoulder and hands Veronica her bag.
WALLACE: And your homework from the teachers.
VERONICA: I need to ask another favour.
WALLACE: This mission better involve me seducing the head cheerleader.
VERONICA: I need you to poke around and see if you can get me a fake ID. If you must seduce the head cheerleader in order to accomplish your mission, so be it.
WALLACE: No sweat. How do I do that?
VERONICA: Play on her insecurity.
WALLACE: I meant the fake ID part.
VERONICA: Okay. Let's pretend for a moment that this mythical head cheerleader of yours has just asked you out on a date. In exchange for seven minutes in heaven, you have to get her into the hottest nightclub in Neptune or at least buy her a pack of strawberry wine coolers. The stakes are high, Wallace Fennell. Think, now. How would you do it?
Wallace thinks for a moment then falls onto the couch next to her. He puts his arm around her shoulder.
WALLACE: [Whispers conspiratorially ] Hey, Veronica?
VERONICA: Yeah?
WALLACE: I need you to get me a fake ID so I can get some fake action from a fake cheerleader.
VERONICA: Wallace?
WALLACE: Yeah?
VERONICA: Please find out who else at school is making them.
Wallace smiles and nods. Cut to Neptune High. Logan's yellow Xterra pulls into the carpark. Logan turns off the ignition but pauses as he listens to the radio.
RADIO: If you're breathing, then you've heard about Aaron Echolls getting ginsued at his own Christmas party. Explain to me why a guy who's married to Lynn Echolls would want to bang the frigging help. It's like the old saying goes, show me a hot chick and I'll show you a guy who's tired of hitting that.
Logan is upset and turns off the radio. "All They Ever Do Is Talk" by Earlimart starts up.
SONG: If they come in just to meet you
With broken words in monotone
Just smile and take the picture
Nothing hurts until it's gone
My New Year's resolution
'Cause all they ever do is
Talk.
An 09er knocks on his window.
09ER: Logan!
LOGAN: [Shaky] Yeah. Be right there.
The 09er wanders off while Logan tries to compose himself. Cut to Logan entering the school, heading for his locker. Students stare at him. Cut to Logan's locker where newspaper and magazine clippings about Aaron, Lynn and Aaron's attacker from 110 "An Echolls Family Christmas" have been pastes. Hector, the biker, is one of a number of students crowded around the locker, reading them. Students point as Logan approaches and he slows as he gets nears his locker. Most of the students melt away from his locker but Hector is too engrossed in his reading. Logan sees the clippings, then looks at Hector.
HECTOR: In my humble opinion, your mom's totally hotter.
LOGAN: You shut the hell up.
Logan grabs Hector's shirt and they grapple as Logan throws him against the lockers on the other side, then steps back.
HECTOR: Big mistake, son.
Hector lunges towards him and knees him in the groin, lifting Logan off his feet. Hector then punches him in the face, sending crashing into the lockers. Hector does his hyena laugh, pointing at Logan. Logan rolls off the locker and runs Hector back into the opposite lockers and they continue to grapple until broken apart by two teachers. The gym teacher from 108 "Like a Virgin" has Logan.
GYM TEACHER: Break it up! Break it up.
LOGAN: Get off!
GYM TEACHER: It's enough.
Logan struggles for a moment as he is led away, then holds up his hands. Earlimart finishes and there is a cut to Weevil sitting opposite Rebecca in her office.
WEEVIL: To tell you the truth, I-I…I really don't remember that week.
REBECCA: Hmm. You don't remember being in this office? You slammed the chair against the wall, Eli. The last time that we met it seemed that Lilly's death had affected you in quite a profound way.
WEEVIL: Well, yeah. I was mad. You know, the same day Lilly Kane died, a little girl went missing in my neighbourhood. They found her body three months later. Where were the cameras when she went missing, where was the grief counselling for her?
REBECCA: What happened to Marisol Reyes, Eli, was a tragedy. People do care…
Having panned down to the stapler on Rebecca's desk, the scene cuts to Veronica tuning in her car radio until she picks up the transmission from the bug in the stapler. The car is covered with a blue tarpaulin and Veronica is bathed in its blue light. She sits back to listen.
REBECCA: [Offscreen] …Right now I just want to talk about Lilly, okay.
WEEVIL: [Offscreen] Oh, well then, why don't you call some of her rich, white friends in here?
REBECCA: [Offscreen] I want you to listen to something.
Cut back to Rebecca's office.
REBECCA: It's a letter you wrote. [Reads] You tore my heart out. You can act like what we had together meant nothing to you, but you can't stop me from loving you. For the rest of your life, wherever you go, I'll always be there, just out of sight, in the shadows.
WEEVIL: You know, I-I don't remember cc'ing you on that.
REBECCA: Lilly wanted to be transferred out of your PE class last year, she was having trouble with a boy. She gave me these to prove it.
Weevil shakes his head.
WEEVIL: I never would have hurt her. Look, the cops already rubbed my nose in those letters so what-what…
Cut to the shocked face of Veronica.
VERONICA VOICEOVER: Lilly and Weevil?
REBECCA: [Offscreen] Look, Eli, I didn't bring you in here to embarrass you.
Cut back to Rebecca's office.
REBECCA: I invited you in here to talk about why you wrote these things.
WEEVIL: Her and Logan had just broken up. And uh, Lilly swore to me that she'd never go back to him but then…one day that punk snaps his fingers and…all of a sudden it's like, like, we don't even know each other any more. [Tearfully] And…she was someone I could have loved, you know? And she felt it too, I know she did.
Rebecca gazes at him sympathetically. Cut to Veronica who shakes her head.
VERONICA VOICEOVER: Why didn't Lilly tell about him? Was Weevil her big secret?
Cut to the outside area of the school. A cell rings. Rick answers.
RICK: Hello?
Cut to Veronica, still in her car.
VERONICA: Back parking lot, fourth row.
Cut to the parking lot as Rick looks for Veronica. One of the cars is covered in blue tarpaulin. Rick still has his cell to his ear. The scene cuts between him and Veronica.
RICK: Where are you?
VERONICA: Is anyone watching you?
RICK: No, I don't think so.
Veronica disconnects the phone and opens the door. Rick is surprised to see the tarpaulin move next to him and hear Veronica's voice.
VERONICA: Slide on in.
Rick does and joins Veronica in the car, sitting in the back seat. Veronica shuts the door and turns to face him.
VERONICA: So where were we? Right! Who framed me?
RICK: They're called the Tritons. It's a secret society at school.
VERONICA: Why haven't I heard of them? [Pauses] Stupid question. Keep going.
RICK: [Sighs heavily] The Tritons have been around as long as Neptune High. Six new members are inducted in junior year by the six seniors. Tim and I were among their pledges.
VERONICA: Who's in charge?
RICK: No one even knows for sure who the brothers are.
VERONICA: Then who invited you to join?
RICK: Two weeks ago, I found a note in my locker.
Flashback to Rick arriving at his bottom locker. He opens it and there is a small envelope with a conch shell symbol on the front. Cut back to Veronica's car.
VERONICA: So this was all part of a hazing ritual?
RICK: The twelve labours. The first few challenges weren't so bad. But on Friday when I opened up my locker, I found a fake ID with my yearbook picture on it. The instructions said we were supposed to go to a bunch of bars and have a shot at each of 'em.
VERONICA: Let me guess. Twelve?
RICK: Tim passed out at the eleventh. All the other pledges freaked out and left me there to take care of him so I-I threw him in the car and I took him to the hospital as fast as I could.
VERONICA: If they're so secret, how do you know all this?
RICK: My dad was a Triton. So were my two older brothers.
Flashback to the journalism class. The note is calling him to Clemmons office is placed next to him, folded. On the back, with the symbol of a conch shell, is written: Blame Veronica Mars.
RICK: [Offscreen] All I cared about at that moment was staying on their good side.
Cut back to Veronica's car.
RICK: If they found out that I betrayed their secrets, let's just say I'd be better off in jail. These guys will destroy your life, it's their mission statement.
VERONICA: So that's your defence? That you were just following orders? [She makes a 'wrong answer' buzzer sound] That doesn't cut it, Rick.
RICK: I know that now and I'm sorry. You've gotta believe me. After what they did to Tim? And now his family's threatening to sue me. I can't even talk to my own dad about it. He calls me a coward and a traitor for what I did. But how can I belong to a club that almost killed my best friend? All I want now is for the Tritons to go down.
VERONICA: So, who are the other pledges?
RICK: Anyone who's anyone. The Tritons supposedly chose the best guys in everything: academics, sports…they're pretty much the six guys you'd expect.
VERONICA: I want their names.
RICK: Harry Diddon, Steve Argo, Matt Barron, Duncan Kane.
VERONICA VOICEOVER: So if I follow Duncan, I can find the Tritons.
Cut to Veronica planting a tracker on Duncan's car. Cut to Logan waiting outside the school administration office. Aaron can be seen inside, talking to Clemmons. Logan is flexing and shaking his right hand. Aaron exits the office.
AARON: [To Clemmons] Thanks, I appreciate it. Logan, let's go.
Logan stands and walks briskly with his father.
LOGAN: How long did I get?
AARON: You're not being suspended. The Vice Principal wants all three of us back here on Friday for a disciplinary conference.
They reach the outside.
AARON: Listen. I'm not happy that you were fighting but I am proud of you for sticking up for your mother.
Logan pulls up to a stop.
LOGAN: [Contemptuously] You're proud of me!
AARON: Yeah.
LOGAN: Oh great. Good. I can die happy.
Logan turns to walk on but Aaron grabs his arm and jerks him back round to face him, Aaron's other hand on Logan's shoulder.
AARON: You keep smarting off and I'll help arrange it.
Logan looks beyond Aaron and eases off any reaction. Lynn, smiling, approaches them.
LYNN: Is everything okay?
Cut to Mars Investigations. Cliff is sitting at Veronica's desk with his feet up, reading the newspaper, the "Neptune Register". Veronica enters.
VERONICA: Sorry Cliff, I'm late.
Cliff subtly jerks his head back and widens his eyes, nodding towards the small kitchenette as Keith enters from it. Veronica turns and sees her father.
VERONICA: Hi, Dad. Their case is fuzzy and circumstantial.
KEITH: [Laughs] You know the odd thing? Those were also her very first words.
VERONICA: I think I've got a good lead on who's making the fake IDs. It's a secret society at school called the Tritons. Rick told me that he was bullied into turning me in. I'm positive they're the ones who set the blanks in my locker.
KEITH: Look, Veronica. The criminal case is the least of our problems.
CLIFF: Tim's parents are suing.
VERONICA: Us?
CLIFF: And pretty much everyone else involved in their son's night of debauchery. Every bar in town is gonna be named in the suit. The thing could be worth millions.
Veronica is abashed as the two men stare down at her. Cut to later at Mars Investigations. Keith is lying on the small couch. Aaron enters carrying a pile of magazines.
KEITH: Aaron! Come on in.
AARON: Thank you.
KEITH: So, how's it going? Do you need anything?
AARON: Uh…yeah, some water would be good.
Keith goes to the kitchenette as Aaron eases himself painfully down onto the couch.
AARON: So, I, uh, I guess I should have cancelled that party after all, huh?
Keith, retuning with a bottle of water, smiles and sits down next to him. Aaron takes a couple of tablets and downs them with a swig of the water.
KEITH: So. How you hangin' in.
AARON: Hmm. This [pointing to his side] I can handle but these [pushing the magazines towards Keith] …I've been trying to regain my family's trust.
Keith picks up one of the magazines, "Strike". Two small headlines at the top read: Drugs & Booze - Lindsey living debauched lifestyle with drug & alcohol sex orgies - Friends say Rehab Imminent and Worth $15M?! Studio execs guarantee Crinkshaw highest female contract in movie history - Wasted Money? Each is accompanied by small headshots of the subjects. Down the right side is a full figure picture of a woman under the headline: Victoria Fletcher - Getting Hotter and Hotter. But the main picture is of Aaron under the headline: Two-Timing Aaron!
AARON: And I meant what I said when I told you that I was going to give up all of that…but these stories. I mean they're tearing my family apart. My daughter Trina's the only one who will talk to me anymore. I can't blame Logan or his mother, I just…
KEITH: Any idea who could know such intimate details about you?
AARON: Paparazzi. But then again they would have printed the stories right away. Someone on my staff?
KEITH: Jealous boyfriend or husband?
AARON: That's a possibility.
KEITH: Well, let me dig around.
AARON: Listen. My wife's really fragile. I don't know how much more scandal she can take.
KEITH: Let me see what I can do.
Keith squeezes Aaron's arm in comfort. Cut to Veronica, at home, curled up on the couch, reading a book.
VERONICA VOICEOVER: Triton, son of Neptune, the god of the sea: with his great horn Triton commands the dark waters and all the creatures within.
There is an illustration showing Triton using a conch shell as a horn. Veronica looks up at the knock on the door, immediately followed by Wallace.
WALLACE: Trick or treat.
VERONICA: What's the news?
WALLACE: Nobody I talked to at school knows anything about fake IDs.
Veronica gives a big sigh of frustration.
WALLACE: But then, this afternoon, a kid from my biology class comes into Sac'n'Pac, buys a six pack from my boss, like it was no problem.
VERONICA: Did you figure out where he got his fake?
WALLACE: Slow down. This is my story. Followed him out to the parking lot and I was like "Yo, fella, check it out. You're on "Candid Camera"
Wallace replicates his pointing out cameras and Veronica laughs.
WALLACE: Gave him the four-one-one on our video playback capabilities, you know, leaned on him. Like I was Shaft or somethin'.
VERONICA: Shut yo' mouth!
WALLACE: Long story short-
VERONICA: Ha!
WALLACE: The guy claimed that there's a mystery locker at school.
VERONICA: Ooo, I like it already.
WALLACE: Here's how it works. You put your name and two hundred and fifty bucks in locker one-ten first thing in the morning. Come afternoon, brand spanking new licence that says you were born in 1983 arrives in your locker.
VERONICA: Are you willing to put $250 into some strange locker just to see if this works?
WALLACE: Hell, no. I'm using your money.
Veronica snorts. Cut to a janitor polishing the hallway at Neptune High, outside the administration office. On the floor is a circle. The outer part is green and has the words "Neptune Pirates". The inner circle has a representation of water. Over both, a compass star is set and at it very centre, is a symbol, small and hard to see. Veronica walks up the hallway and stops, looking down at it.
VERONICA VOICEOVER: How many times have I walked through the main hallway? And how many times have I not noticed that our school's insignia includes Trinton's conch shell.
Veronica looks over at the janitor who disappears around a corner. She heads for the glass cabinet next to the door to the school administration office, and unlocks it.
VERONICA VOICEOVER: According to Wallace, locker one-ten isn't assigned to anyone in school but clearly someone has the combination. If all one has to do in order to procure a fake ID is slip cash into locker one-ten, it stands to reason all I have to do is see who opens said locker. This is made tougher, though not impossible, by my suspension.
Veronica rearranges the existing display to clear the bottom shelf. She places a new banner at the back of the bottom shelf: The camera see what the eye so often misses. - A Adams. She then sets out a number of cameras, one of which she focuses on locker one-ten. She sets the camera to continuous and then time-lapse movie at 30s intervals.
VERONICA VOICEOVER: Then Wallace will drop the two fifty in the mystery locker.
Cut to Wallace doing just that. Cut to Rebecca's office. The door opens and she looks up.
REBECCA: Thanks for coming in, Logan.
The camera pans round to Logan, entering her office.
LOGAN: Thanks for getting me out of a calculus class, Becky.
REBECCA: It's Miss James please.
Cut to Veronica at her listening post in the car. She sits up and pays close attention.
LOGAN: [Offscreen] So the week Lilly died would have been our second anniversary.
Cut back to Rebecca's office where Logan is now seated opposite her.
LOGAN: We were together since junior high.
REBECCA: Off and on?
LOGAN: [Softly] Yeah, off and on.
REBECCA: And at the time of her murder you were-
LOGAN: [Sharply] Off! [More calmly] Temporarily.
REBECCA: Why were you broken up?
LOGAN: Uh, we were supposed to go to this party. And, uh, Lilly was pissed at me for something, [laughing without humour] I can't even remember what, you know. And, uh…Lilly stands me up. I end up getting pretty hammered and [sighs] …wind up kissing this other girl for like three seconds.
REBECCA: And Lilly saw you two?
LOGAN: Nope, someone else did. You must know her. Word is you're real close with her dad. You could do better.
REBECCA: You need to leave my personal life out of this, Logan.
LOGAN: [Sarcastically] Yeah, let's not get personal about this.
REBECCA: You know what, it sounds like you blame Veronica.
LOGAN: You know Veronica was my friend too.
Cut back to Veronica, looking stunned.
LOGAN: [Offscreen] And if she hadn't ratted me out…
Cut back to Logan whose eyes are filling with unshed tears.
LOGAN: …then Lilly and I would have stayed together. [Voice breaking] And Lilly wouldn't have been alone that day. I would have been there. So, yeah, I blame Veronica. [Pauses, then lets out a deep breath] And I blame myself for being stupid and I blame Lilly for being a b***h that week.
REBECCA: You know there is another of looking at this, Logan. If you'd still been together, you might be dead too.
Logan laughs mirthlessly.
LOGAN: And what is so great about living.
Cut to Veronica pondering what she has heard. Cut to a tracker. It's on Veronica's laptop. She is sitting at her desk at home. Wallace knocks and enters her room. Veronica does not look up.
VERONICA: Hey, Wallace. How was practice?
WALLACE: [Excitedly] I was on fire out there. Three point line, hand in my face, fade away like Jordan! Boom!
Wallace accompanies this with action replay from the basketball court but Veronica is intent on the computer.
VERONICA: Great.
WALLACE: 'Course you're not listening to word I say. So I might as well have said, "blah blah blah, blah, blabbity blah blah."
VERONICA: Mm-hm. How'd you like to go on a little field trip? Duncan's on the move and if we hurry, we might be able make it for the branding and the blood sacrifice.
WALLACE: Actually, I planned on hitting a few bars. I found this little beauty in my locker after seventh period.
Wallace holds out an ID card. This gets Veronica's attention and she jumps up to grab it.
VERONICA: Let me see that.
Veronica examines it and pulls a face.
VERONICA: The ink is bleeding at the edges, the hologram is missing and [peering closely] …the photo...is that your yearbook picture, Wallace?
WALLACE: So what?
VERONICA: So this is a $250 piece of crap. Now I'm not just falsely accused, I'm genuinely offended.
Cut to Veronica and Wallace coming down the stairs into a club.
VERONICA: All right, all I've heard, these guys are bad news, so I want you to be careful.
They can hear someone singing "Swing Low Sweet Chariot", very badly.
WALLACE: [Teasing in a little boy voice] I'm afraid, Veronica! I'm afraid!
Veronica shakes her head at him sadly and steps forward into the body of the club. The singer is Duncan.
DUNCAN: [Singing off key] Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me home.
VERONICA VOICEOVER: I'm sure the Triton leaders consider this initiation painful for their pledges but honestly, aren't we the true victims?
Duncan finishes and comes off the karaoke stage amidst boos. Three judges hold up scores; a two and two threes. Duncan walks straight into Veronica.
VERONICA: Nice performance, Duncan. I was wondering if you could introduce me to a few of your Triton buddies.
DUNCAN: Brawny gods just flocked up to quiz and vex him.
VERONICA: If you could just tell me who's in charge then I can [Veronica pulls him round as he tries to pass her] personally thank him for putting fake IDs in my locker and getting me hauled off to the sheriff's department.
DUNCAN: Quick wafting zephyrs vex bold Jim, I…
VERONICA: That's very illuminating. Forget about me for a second. Tell me about Sunday night, you do know that the Tritons are responsible for putting a kid in the hospital, right?
Duncan shakes his head.
VERONICA: Tim is in a coma right now because of what your secret club forced him to do. Can you live with that, Duncan?
DUNCAN: The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog, I…
VERONICA: Ugh.
Veronica walks away from him in disgust to the strained version of "On Top of Old Smokey" coming from the stage. Wallace follows. Duncan lets out a sigh of relief. Later, Wallace and Veronica are sitting on stools at a raised table. An even worse singer is massacring "The Hokey Pokey".
VERONICA: Let's get out of here. This is going nowhere.
Wallace spots Duncan coming towards them.
WALLACE: Heads up. Looks like your boy's having second thoughts.
Duncan reaches them.
VERONICA: Are you ready to talk?
He doesn't but he makes a great display of handing her a note and smiles. He leaves as Veronica reads the note.
VERONICA: The judges hold the vital scores. You shall hear my voice once I've heard your. The Great Triton.
She looks up quizzically at Wallace but he is too appalled by the karaoke singer who is just finishing to the sound of boos.
KARAOKE SINGER: Aw, what's up? What's up?
He shrugs and leaves the stage. The master of ceremonies steps up.
MC: Next up we have…Veronica Mars!
Veronica's eyes widen with shock. The MC puts his hand above his eyes to look for her as the crowd start to call "Sing" with increasing insistence, stamping their feet and pounding tables. Veronica looks at the note again, then back at the stage. Finally she goes to the stage and whispers in the MC's ear. The crowd clap in anticipation. The opening of Blondie's "One Way or Another" rings out.
VERONICA: This song goes out to my friends in the Tritons.
Wallace gives her two thumbs up from the crowd
VERONICA: [Singing] One way or another I'm gonna find ya I'm gonna getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha One way or another I'm gonna win ya I'll gonna getcha, I'll getcha One way or another I'm gonna see ya I'm gonna meetcha, meetcha, meetcha, meetcha. One day, maybe next week I'm gonna meetcha. I'm gonna meetcha, I'll meetcha. I'll walk down the mall, stand over by the wall Where I can see it all, find out who ya call Lead you to the supermarket check out See some specials and rap then Get lost in the crowd One way or another I'm gonna getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha Getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha One way or another I'm gonna getcha, I'll getcha I'll getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha One way or another I'm gonna getcha, I'll getcha I'll getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha One way or another I'm gonna getcha, I'll getcha I'll getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha One way or another I'm gonna getcha, I'll getcha I'll getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha One way
The crowd goes crazy, particularly Wallace and the judges give her nines and tens. Duncan beams.
VERONICA: Thank you.
She hands the mike back to the MC who gives her another note. She heads back to Wallace.
MC: Let's here it for Veronica Mars!
WALLACE: Nice job, V.
She looks at the note which reads: Meet me in the Bathroom - Alone. She whips rounds and heads for the bathroom. The room is baroque with candles and graffiti. She approaches closed stalls.
VERONICA: Hello?
VOICE FROM THE STALLS: The Great Triton is listening.
VERONICA: I wanna know why you planted all those fake IDs in my locker.
VOICE FROM THE STALLS: The Great Triton did that to you because he's great.
VERONICA: Yeah, you're a real pal unless you need a ride to the hospital.
VOICE FROM THE STALLS: The Great Triton…doesn't really know what you're talking about.
Veronica kicks open the stall door. Inside, a boy is sitting on the toilet. He looks taken aback.
VERONICA: Who are you?
JEFF: Jeff.
VERONICA: What are you doing in here?
JEFF: Some dude, he gave me twenty bucks. He said he wanted to pull a prank on one of his friends.
Jeff clicks his fingers and grins. Veronica spins on her heel, fed up, and closes the stall door on him, leaving the bathroom. Cut to Veronica picking the lock on the glass display cabinet at Neptune High. She retrieves the digital film from the camera. Cut to her exiting the school. Rick runs after her.
RICK: Veronica! They found out. I don't know how but they must have found out I've been talking to you.
VERONICA: Easy! What happened?
RICK: Last night, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, I found a rat. They nailed the thing alive to the front door.
VERONICA: Pull it together, Rick. We've a seven figure lawsuit to worry about. There's no doing this thing halfway. We have to make sure what happened to Tim never happens again.
Rick backs away from her, all scared. Cut to Rebecca's office. Duncan knocks on her open door, then enters, closing the door behind him.
REBECCA: You missed our last three appointments.
DUNCAN: I'm sorry. I've been buried. Thanks for waiting around for me.
Cut to later in the progress of the interview and to Veronica, listening in the car.
DUNCAN: [Offscreen] Lilly used to make this face when my mom was railing on me that would make me lose it.
Cut back to Rebecca's office.
DUNCAN: So I-I'd try not to look at her but I could like, feel her making the face at me. And that's what it's like, all the time. I think she's watching me. It's like whenever I do anything, I-I can feel her there and she can see me. It-it's like I'm never, ever alone. I sound like a total psycho.
REBECCA: You sound like someone who lost his sister.
DUNCAN: [Smile] And his mind.
REBECCA: How long have you been feeling like this?
DUNCAN: Since I stopped taking my meds.
REBECCA: Uh, does your physician know about this?
Duncan chuckles and barely nods at Rebecca's concerned query.
REBECCA: Have you had any episodes?
DUNCAN: Oh, I only stopped the anti-depressant. I'm still taking the old stand-bys.
Cut to Veronica with furrowed brow.
VERONICA VOICEOVER: What kind of episodes?
DUNCAN: [Offscreen] I'm not stupid.
VERONICA VOICEOVER: What kind of medication?
REBECCA: [Offscreen] It does explain a lot.
Cut back to Rebecca's office.
REBECCA: The medication…calmed you. Maybe even prohibited you from fully processing your sister's death. You know, all that turmoil was suppressed for the past year, maybe it's…finally making its way to the surface. [Off Duncan's confused look] What, you don't agree?
DUNCAN: I don't know. I think she's mad that I don't remember.
REBECCA: Are you starting to forget things about Lilly?
DUNCAN: Oh, I remember Lilly. I-I just don't remember what happened. I remember being at soccer practice that morning. Then I was in the back of a limo and…it was three days later and Lilly was dead an-and all that time in between was just…gone.
Cut back to Veronica as there is a sharp rap on the car window through the tarpaulin. Veronica is peeved.
VERONICA: Aren't you forgetting something, Wallace? The secret knock?
The tarpaulin is jerked away by three of robed and hooded figures who wrench open the door and grab Veronica.
VERONICA: Hey! Hey!
Cut to pitch black and the sound of Veronica struggling. A faint light shows her wriggle her hands free from the rope that binds them and she looks around. She is lying in an enclosed space. She pulls her cell out of her pocket and punches a number, breathing heavily.
VERONICA: Hey, Wallace, whatcha doin'? [Pauses to listen] Uh-huh. No, I haven't seen that one. i>[Pauses to listen but with mounting impatience] Yes, Dave Chapelle is great. Listen, the real reason I'm calling? Funny story....
Cut to the exterior of the LeBaron's boot where the keys are in the lock. Cut to Veronica whose breathing is laboured, stuck inside. Cut to an overhead shot of the LeBaron with the tarpaulin on the ground and the driver's door wide open. Cut to Veronica again and then outside as Wallace arrives and opens the boot. Veronica climbs out.
VERONICA: Thanks, Wallace.
She grabs the keys from him and races to the driver's side.
WALLACE: Uh, Veronica? I'm assuming you didn't accidentally lock yourself in the trunk?
VERONICA: [Getting into the car] I'll tell you all about it later, Wallace. Right now I have to track down Duncan and figure out where the Tritons are meeting tonight.
Wallace climbs in the passenger seat as Veronica puts the key in the ignition. As soon as she does the radio comes on and they can hear chanting.
TRITONS: Triton. Son of Neptune. Rise up from the wine dark sea.
Cut to the stapler on Rebecca's desk, then to Veronica, creeping round the corner of the school hallway.
TRITONS: Oh great one. With your horn, we summon you from beneath the terrible waves. With your horn, we summon your awesome powers. With your horn, we summon your unrivalled wisdom.
Veronica creeps closer to the scene of action which is the emblem on the floor outside the school administration office. Six initiates in white robes are kneeling on the edge of the outer circle while one of the seniors in a green robe blows a conch shell. The other seniors, also in green robes, stand behind the initiates.
SHELL-BLOWING TRITON: Congratulations. When you began this journey twelve days ago, you were told that it would be perilous. I am pleased to say that this year, all the pledges have passed the Great Triton's test.
VERONICA VOICEOVER: [Against more chanting] Oh yeah? Except for kid who almost drank himself to death. And the kid that you almost scared to death.
SHELL-BLOWING TRITON: Now that our scared number is again complete, you may look upon the other Tritons as your brothers.
The Tritons remove their hoods. Duncan is one of the initiates and the shell-blowing Triton is the MIT guy Veronica sat next to in the school administration office. Veronica gets her camera ready as Duncan and the MIT guy shake hands. Veronica walks into position.
VERONICA: Hi everybody! Say repressed homosexuality.
Veronica takes pictures of the shocked Tritons.
VERONICA: Gotta boogie!
Veronica runs and the Tritons, somewhat encumbered by their robes, race after her. They chase her through the halls and out of the school, where the LeBaron is waiting. Veronica runs up and over the boot and drops into the passenger seat and Wallace peels away, leaving the Tritons standing. Cut to Veronica's bedroom.
WALLACE: [Thrilled] Man! Did you see me lay rubber in that LeBaron?
VERONICA: Don't get carried away. [Sitting at her laptop] All right. All I have to do now is show that the Tritons are the ones operating the mystery locker. Match one of their faces in these shots with the frame of whoever picked up the two-fifty for your fake ID. Piece of cake.
Cut to sometime later. Veronica is still working, pulling up photos. Wallace appears to have crashed out sitting on the floor with his back against the wardrobe. Veronica watches the time-lapse from the camera trained on locker one-ten.
VERONICA: This doesn't make sense. Someone had to open that locker. How else could they have gotten the money? How else could they have gotten Wallace's name?
WALLACE: [Raising his head] Veronica, I'm still here, you know?
VERONICA: One-ten is a top locker, right?
WALLACE: Yeah.
VERONICA: No one goes near it. [Comprehension dawns] I know how it went down.
WALLACE: Great. Can I go home?
Cut to Keith slamming a file drawer shut in the outer office of Mars Investigations. Aaron is behind Keith.
KEITH: Aaron, thanks for stopping by.
AARON: No problem, I, ah, gotta be at school at nine for a parent conference. You were on the way.
KEITH: I found out who's been selling the pictures. You're not gonna like it.
AARON: It couldn't get much worse than it already is.
Keith's expression suggests otherwise. Cut to Veronica entering Lamb's office at the sheriff's department. She is carrying a large box of donuts.
LAMB: Your court date isn't until next Tuesday, right?
VERONICA: We might as well go ahead and cancel that while I'm here.
LAMB: [Sniffs] Really? Why's that?
VERONICA: Well I thought, for a change, you might be interested in having the real criminal stand trial. [Shrugs] In the meantime, I'm gonna have a seat in your lounge, [waves a magazine] learn how to turn men into jelly with a new way of walking and wait for the bad guy to turn himself in.
Veronica plops herself in an armchair in the corner of Lamb's office.
LAMB: I don't have time for your games.
VERONICA: And I don't have time to [doing air quotes] wrongfully tamper with a government issued document if I'm stuck here in your office. I'll make you a little deal, Lamb. [Rises and walks towards him] If I don't deliver the person who put Tim in the hospital by 5pm today, I promise to walk, with a little something extra, into the courthouse on Tuesday and plead guilty to anything you want to throw at me.
LAMB: [Sighs] What do I have to do?
VERONICA: Just pick a name. [Getting out the yearbook] Write the name of any student on this post-it, put it in the envelope and have one of your minions drop it into locker one-ten. By the end of the day, that kid'll have a fake ID and you'll have yourself a crook. And I'll be sittin' over here, chillin' like a villain.
Veronica returns to the armchair and makes herself comfortable, flicking through her magazine. Lamb chooses a name from the yearbook and writes it on the post-it. He exits the office after giving her a long look. When he's gone, Veronica punches a number into her cell.
VERONICA: Hey, Rick. I'm down at the sheriff's office. Hey, they're hauling in the real bad guy this afternoon. Oh, and I found out who the Tritons are. You don't want to miss it. I'm going to nail 'em to the wall.
Cut to the bench below the glass display cabinet outside the school administration office at Neptune High. Logan and Lynn are sitting, waiting. Aaron arrives and joins them, Logan sitting in the middle.
AARON: [Casually] So… [sitting] What was the plan?
Lynn knows she is busted.
AARON: Embarrass me? Destroy my career? Soften up public sentiment for a generous divorce settlement? Turn me into Costner?
LYNN: Course, you'd think of your career and your money before you'd think of the obvious. Did it ever occur to you, I just want to hurt you like you've hurt me?
Logan, devastated, sits between them, staring at each of them, and the floor, in turn.
AARON: You had private detectives following me.
LYNN: Only on location. The women here I've always known.
LOGAN: [Sarcastic but with breaking voice] Gosh, Mom. Gee, Dad. Will I be going to live with Grandma?
AARON: Listen to me. If you try to divorce me, I will leave you with nothing. No house. No career. No club memberships. No maid and no friends-
LOGAN: [Explodes and threatens] Right, Dad! You say another word to her and I will kill you.
LYNN: I cannot take this anymore.
Lynn gets up and storms off. Aaron follows, leaving Logan gutted. Cut to a California licence plate: ECHOLLS2. Lynn gets into her car, a red sporty number. She shakily grabs a plastic bottle of pills from her handbag. She takes some and then throws the bottle onto the passenger seat. She starts the car and races off. Cut to Lamb's office. Veronica is still lounging in the chair.
.
LAMB: The thing about a felony charge is, it doesn't get wiped off your record just because you turn eighteen. It's like this black eye that you have the whole rest of your life.
VERONICA: [More intent on something she's seen in the magazine] Ooo.
Veronica tears something out of the magazine as Rick arrives and knocks on Lamb's open office door and enters.
RICK: Is he here yet?
Veronica gets up from the chair.
VERONICA: He just arrived.
Deputy Sacks enters.
SACKS: Uh, it's just like she said. Found the fake in his locker.
Sacks hands an ID to Lamb who examines it.
VERONICA: Process of elimination. I didn't do it.
Rick looks from Veronica to the Sheriff.
RICK: What, me? Are you crazy?
VERONICA: How else do you explain the two fifty in your wallet?
LAMB: Cough it up.
RICK: [Getting out his wallet] Big deal, this money's mine. It doesn't prove anything.
VERONICA: Why don't you take a closer look at the one on top.
Lamb grabs the money Rick has pulled from his wallet.
VERONICA: Read what's written over Grant's head.
LAMB: [Reads] Veronica Mars is...smarter than me.
VERONICA: [Grinning and slapping his arm] Oh, you stop it!
LAMB: So this is Rick's locker that Deputy Sacks put the envelope in this morning?
VERONICA: Not exactly.
Flashback to Rick going to his bottom locker. Inside, he reaches up to the top and pushes aside the cover to a hole leading into the top locker. He grabs the envelope and puts it in his pocket. Cut back to Lamb's office.
VERONICA: The night Tim went to the hospital, he and Rick were using their own fake IDs, buying their own drinks and enjoying the profits of their own fake ID biz. You were never hazed. You tried blaming the Tritons because you were pissed off at them. Your dad and your brother are Tritons but you didn't measure up, did you Rick? You weren't even invited to join their secret society.
Flashback to Rick approaching Veronica's locker and stuffing bland IDs through the slats.
VERONICA: [Offscreen] So when you were called into the office, you dumped a bunch of blank IDs and you blamed me. But why me?
Cut back to Lamb's office.
VERONICA: Was is just because people would believe that I did it?
RICK: All right. Since you asked. Last year your dad was hired to track down a hedge fund manager for embezzlement. That was my father. Only the newspapers never mentioned that his company cheated him out of his bonus three years running. They took our house, they took our cars. Eventually, my parents got a divorce. You must be proud.
Veronica drops her head. "Feel So Free" by Ivy starts up. Cut to Veronica approaching Duncan in the car park at Neptune High, as he approaches his car.
VERONICA: Hey!
Duncan pauses and waits for her to join him. She hands him a folder.
VERONICA: These are for you. You look kinda cute in one of them. Surprised but…cute.
SONG: Ask me again
I'll take my chances
Duncan flicks through them and laughs.
VERONICA: Your secret's safe with me.
SONG: I don't know how to begin
Duncan nods.
DUNCAN: I heard that guy Tim came out of his coma.
VERONICA: Yeah.
SONG: You can't understand
I've got no answers
VERONICA: [Pauses and sighs] Look, I never should have doubted you, Duncan.
SONG: I can't explain where I've been
VERONICA: I'm sorry I came after the Tritons.
DUNCAN: And who are the Tritons?
SONG: I should've known better
Veronica laughs and Duncan grins, patting her affectionately with the folder before getting into his car.
SONG: I should've known by now
I should've known better
I should've known by now
VERONICA VOICEOVER: Another hole in Duncan's memory? At least he can joke about it. To pass him in the hallway, you'd never guess that anything was wrong. But I heard it out of his own mouth. So what exactly is your mystery illness, Duncan? And what other pills are you taking?
Veronica reaches and gets into her own car.
SONG: And I feel so free
Yeah, I feel all right
Never thought I'd feel
Like I feel tonight
Cut to the sound of a helicopter as it circles and gradually pulls away from an abandoned red sports car on a bridge.
RADIO: Dispatch, this is G12 requesting assistance for possible jumper on the Coronado Bridge. The abandoned vehicle is a red Dodge Viper, licence plate ECHOLLS 2 blocking the northbound lane.
DISPATCH: Roger that, 12.
 marshjazz · Thu Nov 23, 2006 @ 07:45pm · 0 Comments |
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