Percy Hamilton (Anthony Anderson), a music mogul, is relaxing in the backyard of his house while on the phone. After he hangs up, his wife Vanessa (Shari Headley) comes up to him with a waiver so their son Bryce (Jermaine Williams) can drop P.E., which Bone grumbles about. He also complains about Yolanda, their daughter, taking riding lessons. At that point, Bryce, a shy and studious boy, comes up to tell them something's happened to Yolanda.
At Mars Investigations, Wallace and Veronica are talking about Lynn's suicide (and the fact she left a suicide note on her Blackberry) when Keith walks in, limping. Veronica reminds to take his painkillers, which she gives to him, and he unenthusiastically takes them as he goes into his office. A few seconds later, Hamilton comes in, asking to see Keith. Wallace is startled to recognize the man: "Bone" Hamilton, "the gangster rap impresario beside whom all gangster rap impresarios measure themselves," a man so ruthless he once dangled someone out a window until they signed a contract. Veronica then connects him to a classmate—Yolanda—she once spent time with. "We used to be friends, a long time ago."
After the credits, Bone tells Keith Yolanda's gone missing; she was studying at her friend Gabrielle's until midnight, but she never came home, and Bryce found her car down the block with the doors open and signs of a struggle. Keith thinks this is more of a police matter, but Bone, after two stints in prison, doesn't hold with law enforcement. When Keith asks if Bone has any enemies, Bone pulls out a list of names, and that's just Southern California - he has more lists if Keith finds anything having to do with other cities such as New York or Detroit. He does suggest Keith start with Sam Bloom, and leaves.
That night, at the Mars apartment, as Veronica is cooking dinner, Keith tells her he hasn't come up with any information on Yolanda, but does call Bone "the scariest man alive who's also launching a line of casual wear." Veronica mentions Yolanda goes to Neptune High and volunteers to ask around; Keith agrees, but advises discretion.
At high school the next day, Veronica has a flashback to her first meeting with Yolanda: Veronica, Duncan, Lily and Logan are at the lockers when Duncan spots Yolanda (Jowhahrah Jones), and he and Logan stare. Veronica introduces herself to Yolanda, and volunteers to show her where her next class is.
Keith has tracked down Sam Bloom, who was once Bone's lawyer. Everything was fine between them when they were making money - their children were friends growing up - but then the IRS prosecuted Bone for income tax evasion. When Bloom cooperated to save his practice, Bone went to prison, and several days later Bloom was the victim of a drive-by shooting, leaving him paralyzed.
Back at school, Veronica is interrogating Yolanda's friend Gabrielle (Monique Coleman), who according to Veronica is doing a poor job of lying. Gabrielle finally admits she and Yolanda were at a club called Blender in L.A., and Yolanda was still at the club when Gabrielle left with her boyfriend at midnight. When Veronica thanks her and says she hopes Yolanda's okay, Gabrielle snaps, "She's my friend. Where were you?" As Veronica calls Keith to let him know what she found out...
...we go to another Flashback, as Yolanda sits at lunch with Veronica, Duncan, Lily and Logan, along with Dick Casablancas. Dick tries to ask Yolanda who her father is, but she only tells him he's richer than Dick's father is. Logan mentions his parents are going to Nepal for the holidays, and Lily and Veronica invite Yolanda to the party Logan's having at his house.
At the Echolls house, Aaron is sitting alone in his bedroom when Logan comes in with his suit, snarking about all the flowers they've received. Aaron reminds a reluctant Logan of the time when they went to the zoo for his tenth birthday, they told Lynn everyone was going to dress up as their favorite animal to play a trick on her, but she wore her outfit (a mermaid outfit) all day anyway. Logan remembers, though he also remembers Aaron giving Logan a nosebleed for spilling a milkshake in the car; Aaron, of course, remembers it differently. Aaron asks if Logan's half-sister Trina sent word; Logan sarcastically notes she sent flowers and a telegram. He leaves to answer the front door.
That night, at the Mars apartment, Keith tells Veronica he's going to the club because the bouncer is someone on Bone's enemies list. Marcel is Bone's former bodyguard, but was fired for making eyes at Yolanda. Veronica, however, tells Keith he's in no condition to drive because of the painkillers he's on, and volunteers herself as a driver. Keith agrees, on the condition that she remain inside the car.
At the club, Keith interviews the bouncer, who swears he only let Yolanda in, and actually thinks Bone did him a favor by telling him to stay away from her. He does tell Keith that Dime Bag (Sam Sarpong), a rap star also on Bone's enemies list - he of the illustrious "being hung out a window" episode - was also at the club that night. Keith goes back to the car and tells Veronica to drive to the Duke Hotel, where Dime Bag is staying. Keith is none too pleased, however, to see Veronica has left the vehicle taken valet parking stubs from the club.
At the Duke Hotel, Keith tries but fails to get Dime Bag to talk to him or Bone (the latter will only happen if Bone begs), which leaves plan B - bugging the room. Keith takes a bugging device out of his car and disguises himself as a workman to go up and bug Dime Bag's hotel room. Veronica holds onto the other bugging device. As she waits into the hotel lobby, we hit another flashback, of Veronica and Lily visiting Yolanda's house for the first time. As Lily admiringly notes the platinum records on Bone's walls, Bryce is skulking around, and Yolanda tells him to shoo. In Yolanda's room, the three of them talk about boys, specifically Logan, who's making Lily crazy with how jealous he's acting. Consequently, she's skipping Logan's party, but invites Yolanda to come along to Fleet Week with her and Veronica. Yolanda laughs and says she's glad she's met the two of them.
Back in the present, Dime Bag and his posse come down to the front desk and complain about the room they have, which Veronica realizes will screw Keith over. As the receptionist gives Dime Bag a new room and room key, Veronica, thinking quickly, pretends to be a hospitality hostess and shows Dime Bag and the others to their new room so she can plant the other listening device, and pins her with a serious Death Glare when she tunes the laptop to the other listening device. Through it, we hear Dime Bag and the others calling Veronica "scrawny" (which she objects to), but they don't say anything incriminating about Yolanda. Keith is left with Plan A - asking Bone to beg.
The next day is Lynn's funeral, and we see Aaron and Logan getting ready to leave. Aaron says he knows Logan blames him for Lynn's death, but they need to stick together. Logan, however, blows him off and walks out. When Logan sees the paparazzi outside the house, he attacks a photographer until Aaron pulls him off, which is when Logan angrily and tearfully calls Aaron out for cheating on Lynn and for putting his career first. He then storms off, and Aaron sarcastically asks if the paparazzi are enjoying the show.
Veronica finds Bryce in a science lab working on an experiment. She introduces herself to him, but Bryce says he remembers her. Bryce dismisses his father's efforts to find Yolanda, and bitterly notes how Bone is ashamed of him for being "soft" even though he was the State Science Fair winner for two years in a row. He asks Veronica if she stopped being friends with Yolanda because of Bone, and Veronica responds Yolanda never talked about Bone. Bryce mentions Yolanda really liked Veronica and Lily, and Veronica, in a voiceover, mentions she really liked Yolanda...
...leading to another Flashback. We're at Logan's party, and Veronica, Duncan and Yolanda are all sitting with Logan. They're playing quarters, and Logan is complaining about Lily jerking him around. Duncan tells Veronica they should go, and Veronica says goodbye to Yolanda. As they leave, Duncan tells Veronica how cool he thinks Yolanda is, and Veronica happily concurs, before realizing she forgot her purse. When she goes to get it, however, she sees Logan kissing Yolanda. At school the next day, Veronica tells Lily about it, and Lily, predictably, is pissed. When Veronica asks her to talk to Yolanda about it, Lily retorts, "I don't know a Yolanda. Do you?"
At the Hamilton house, Bone reluctantly calls Dime Bag while Keith sets up the listening device. Once Dime Bag answers, Bone, again reluctantly, begs Dime Bag for any information he has, and Dime Bag says he doesn't know, and wouldn't tell Bone anything if he did. When Bone angrily hangs up, Keith turns on the device, and we hear Dime Bag and his cronies talking about Yolanda, but it's clear they don't know anything about her disappearance. Bryce has walked in during all of this, and Bone vents his spleen at him.
Later, at Mars Investigations, Veronica and Wallace are going through the parking stubs from Blender when Veronica discovers one for "Bloom". She discovers that it belonged to Benjamin Bloom, Sam's son, who was at the club the night Yolanda disappeared.
Back at Aaron's house, the funeral reception is going full swing, and Logan is sarcastically thanking everyone in attendance, though he soon tires of it. Outside, Aaron is talking to his agent, who's trying to get Aaron to commit to a project, to no avail. Logan snarks on this, and walks away, and Aaron tells his agent he's quitting acting. A little later, Duncan finds Logan in his room, playing a video game. He tells Logan to stop acting strange, which is when Logan puts forth his theory; Lynn left her cigarette lighter, a family heirloom, behind, which she wouldn't do if she really meant to kill herself, and therefore must have faked her suicide. Duncan looks concerned.
Back at Sam Bloom's office, he denies Ben would go to Blender, even when Keith points out the valet stub. Keith also brings up the fact a neighbor of Bone's called the police to complain about Sam being parked outside of Bone's house. When Keith asks to speak with Ben, he is told that Ben is hiking in Mexico and can't be reached.
At Mars Investigations, Veronica, at Keith's request, calls Ben's residence (he goes to USC), and pretends to be a sorority girl who met Ben at a party. She finds out from Ben's roommate Ben didn't go to Mexico, but had a hotel confirmation number for Vegas. Keith calls a friend of his in Vegas and gives him Ben's information. After hanging up, he thanks Veronica for all the effort she's made, and asks if Yolanda was a friend. In another voiceover, Veronica emphasizes the "was" part, and flashbacks to Yolanda's desperate attempts to apologize. Veronica is torn between Yolanda's pleas and Lily's impatient beckoning from her car (Fleet Week awaits), and eventually she sides with Lily. In voice-over, Veronica wonders if she can confess to her father that she bowed to peer pressure, but before she can make up her mind, Bone enters with a piece of paper.
It's a ransome note. Keith sees this as good news (it means Yolanda's alive), though he allows how strange it is that the note gives all manner of details of the ransom drop. Bone vows he's going to be ready for it, and if Yolanda isn't back safe and sound, someone will pay. At Bone's house, he readies a briefcase full of money and a dye pack Keith planted. Keith once again tells Bone to involve the police, and says he can't be party to any violence, but Bone blows him off.
On the street near the ransom drop, in the rain, Keith tells Veronica he still needs to save Yolanda, and mentions the kidnapper must be either really smart or really dumb, because there's no way to get away with the money. Veronica notices the water rushing down the storm drain and gets an idea. She has Keith buy a bag of rubber ducks, one of which is planted with a tracking device, and drops them down the drain. Meanwhile, Bone gets a call from a mechanized voice, telling him to first take note of a nearby taxi cab, and then to take a plastic football from a trash can, put his ring inside the football, and drop it down the drain. Bone does so, at which point the caller hangs up. Bone sets his minions on the cab, but its elderly white driver is alone.
At the beach, where the storm drain empties out, Bryce is waiting. He's puzzled by the ducks, but smiles when he sees the football, and is startled when Veronica and Keith approach him. He admits he faked the kidnapping; he overheard Yolanda making plans to run away with someone whom she would meet at the club, though he doesn't know who. Keith, meanwhile, is on his phone with his friend from Vegas, and mentions setting something up.
Both Hamilton parents are inconsolable, until Keith walks in with Bryce and Veronica. Bryce returns the ring and admits he made the whole thing up so Bone wouldn't accuse him of being "soft." Bone allows that he may have made a misjudgment on that score. When Vanessa asks about Yolanda, Keith pulls out his laptop and sets up the webcam. Yolanda's in Vegas, with Benjamin Bloom: the two have eloped. Bone once again denies having anything to do with Sam getting shot, but Yolanda points out that he was perfectly willing to let people think he did and thereby increase his street cred. Yolanda says she and Sam will only come back if Bone gives them his blessing. He's unwilling to do so, so Yolanda turns the camera off.
That night, Veronica gets on the computer and is able to contact Yolanda. She congratulates Yolanda for her wedding, and apologizes for abandoning her. Yolanda sincerely tells her she would have done the same thing. They're interrupted by a knock at the front door; Veronica goes to answer it, and it's Logan.
All he says is, "I want you to find my mother."
This episode contains examples of:
- Accidental Kiss: Yolanda claims what happened between her and Logan was this.
- All Men Are Perverts:Duncan: (upon seeing Yolanda for the first time) Whoa! New student alert!Logan: Hey, I judge not by the color of their skin but by the content of their sweater.
- Berserk Button: Once again, talking trash about Lynn will get Logan pissed, especially if it's Aaron doing the talking.
- Call-Back: We finally learn the details of why Lily ended up dumping Logan right before she was killed.
- Calling the Old Man Out: In front of paparazzi, no less.
- Chekhovs Experiment: The school project "experiment" Bryce was working on? The ransom drop.
- Faked Kidnapping: Faked by Bryce after the fact.
- Foreshadowing: Logan's insistence that Lynn isn't really dead. Also, this is the first time we hear about Trina, who becomes important later.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: Veronica and Keith overhear Dime Bag and his posse refer to Veronica as a liar, as well as hot and scrawny. Veronica notes, "I'm not scrawny. ...I'm not!"
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Bone Hamilton is a clear allusion to Suge Knight
, who allegedly performed a Real Life High-Altitude Interrogation on Vanilla Ice to obtain the rights to "Ice Ice Baby," which used samples from a Death Row Records song. - Shout-Out: Bone dismisses his children as being "National Black Velvet" and "Urkel."
- Also, at Bone's house, Lily jokes that Bone is Tupac, except, secretly alive.
- At Lynn's wake, Logan sarcastically thanks well-wishers by saying "My father thanks you, my mother thanks you, I thank you."
- Stealth Pun: As Veronica is getting the ducks ready, she tells Keith to "get those things in a row".
- Telegraph Gag STOP: When Aaron asks Logan where Trina is, he gets this response:Logan: She sent a telegram: "Heartbroken. Stop. Can’t make it back from Sydney. Stop. Underwater scene shoot tomorrow. Stop. Entire crew said prayer for Mom. Stop. Love you. Stop."Aaron: Logan...Logan: Stop?
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Bryce's entire motivation here.
