Nighttime at Mars Investigations. Veronica is attempting to tutor Weevil in math, but he's more interested in the fact Duncan has run away because Veronica accused Duncan of killing his sister. Veronica reluctantly admits the first part, but denies the second. Weevil also brings up Veronica's view that Abel Koontz didn't kill Lily, but before Veronica can respond to that, Keith walks in. He and Weevil warily greet each other, and Weevil takes the hint and leaves. Keith kindly but firmly tells Veronica to stay away from Weevil - even when Veronica protests she's just paying him back for a favor he did for her - and Veronica snarks she's going to visit the "sane" one in the Mars family:
As she leaves, we cut to a house with a Jack Russell named Chester, who's barking loudly, tied to it. Inside, Mandy (Claire Titelman) is reading Forever until Chester stops barking and gives a yelp. Mandy runs out to the front yard and notices Chester is gone, and desperately calls out for him.
At Neptune High the next morning, Veronica is closing her locker when she sees Logan by it all of a sudden. He asks Veronica if she has any clue where Duncan went; she admits she doesn't know. Logan adds Celeste called to ask him, and he had no clue either. Logan and Veronica look at each other a moment before he walks off, and Veronica notes she's just as willing as Logan apparently is to forget the kiss they had. She then notices Mandy putting up "Lost Pet" signs for Chester, and one of them has been stuck to her back by students who are laughing at her. Veronica pulls the sign off of Mandy's back and gives it to her; Mandy recognizes Veronica and asks for help in finding Chester. Veronica initially demurs, saying it's not her kind of work, but when she sees how dejected Mandy is, she agrees to help. Just then, Wallace comes up with big news; Weevil was arrested the night before for breaking into Lily's bedroom.
At the sheriff's department, Veronica greets Leo and asks to see Weevil. After Leo snarks about the appeal of guys like Weevil have to girls, Veronica asks if Weevil had anything on him when he was arrested. Leo says all he had was 17 cents, a couple of condoms and a pen. Veronica goes to Weevil's cell, and confronts him with the fact she knows about Weevil and Lily. She also expresses disbelief about Weevil breaking into Lily's room right after Veronica admitted she was close to finding Lily's killer. Weevil claims he was just doing some B&E, but when Veronica refuses to help him, admits he had foolishly given Lily his mother's ring, and was trying to get it back. Veronica reluctantly agrees to help.
At Mars Investigations, Veronica makes up better signs for Mandy, complete with pictures. Mandy in turn explains she was babysitting at someone's house when Chester disappeared. Veronica suggests they stop by the pound.
At the Echolls house, Aaron is reading Siddartha when Trina walks in. She thinks he's researching for a role, but Aaron reminds her he's retired, even though no one believes him, and is more interested in being with his family. Logan, who happens to be walking by, snarks on Aaron for this, and sits down. Trina, in turn, pleads that her boyfriend is producing a film, and she wants Aaron to star, but Aaron isn't budging. Just then, the doorbell rings, and a little later, Barry (Roy Werner), their lawyer, has joined them. He lays out the details of Lynn's will; since she revised it a few weeks before she died, Aaron was taken out of the will, Logan gets her art collection, her personal effects in the house, and the $115,000 left in her investment account, and Trina was never in the will.
At the pound, Veronica and Mandy ask JW (Theodore R. Mercer Jr.) if he's seen Chester; he hasn't. JW's co-worker, Hans (Matthew Carey) comes in, and after telling JW about how Veronica bugged the teacher's lounge, admits he hasn't seen Chester either, but will keep his eyes open. Veronica and Mandy thank the two of them, and leave.
Back at the Echolls', Trina asks Logan for a loan of $10,000. Logan, of course, is highly amused by the fact she's approached him after learning how much he inherited, but won't do it, even when Trina tries to explain Dylan is on her case about it. She sarcastically thanks him and leaves.
At school, Veronica is telling Mandy about how they should hit pet stores when Mandy's phone rings. She's excited when she thinks the caller is telling her he's found Chester, but her face falls when she realizes it's a joke. She and Veronica see Lenny (Jesse Boyd), whom Mandy used to have a crush on, laughing with his friends, as he made the call. Veronica goes right up to Lenny and verbally eviscerates him for prank-calling Mandy, promising to ruin his life if he does it again. When Mandy tries to thank her, Veronica snaps that Mandy needs to stand up for herself, and storms off.
At the Mars apartment, Veronica happily greets Back-up when she gets a call from Hans...
...and she and Mandy are at the pound, where Hans is giving them the sad news; Chester was run over by a car, and had to be put down. He gives Mandy Chester's collar, and Mandy clutches it to her chest. Veronica looks on sadly.
Later, Veronica is walking Back-up on the dog beach when she notices a board covered with lost dog notices. She grabs a handful of them. Back at Mars Investigations, Veronica calls several of the phone numbers and discovers the people who advertised a huge reward had their dogs returned, while the people who didn't still haven't found their dogs. Veronica wonders if someone is stealing 09er dogs and promises to take them down, hard. Just then, Celeste bursts into the office (Veronica is in Keith's office), accusing Veronica of being the one who caused Duncan to leave. Veronica brings up the fact Celeste threatened to kill her and drove Lianne out of town. Celeste tries to explain she doesn't hate Veronica, but she and Keith remind her of everything wrong with their family. Keith walks in on this, and demands that Celeste leave. The phone rings as Celeste leaves, and as Keith answers it, Veronica tells Celeste she'll help find Duncan if Celeste will drop the charges against Weevil. Celeste doesn't say anything, but leaves.
Later, Veronica hangs the dog notices for ones still lost back on the board, this time for higher dollar amounts and with her phone number on them instead.
That night, at the Echolls house, Trina walks in limping while Logan is fixing himself a late night snack. He makes a joke about her limping, but then realizes something's up. Logan asks if anything's wrong, and Trina denies it, but when Logan pulls off the sunglasses she's wearing, it reveals her black eye. He confirms it was Dylan, her boyfriend, who gave her the black eye and the limp, but she tells Logan to back off.
At lunch at Neptune High the next day, Wallace is telling Veronica about seeing Keith and Alicia together when Veronica's phone rings. Turns out it's about one of the missing dogs, and "Bridget" tells the caller she'll send someone to meet the caller at the dog beach with the $1000 reward...
...and sometime later, Wallace is sitting on a bench at the beach with the reward money in an envelope. A white van pulls into the parking lot, and a Latino-American man gets out with the dog. Wallace greets the dog (named "Louie"), who, fortunately, is friendly towards Wallace. He tries asking the man where he found the dog, but the man doesn't speak English, so Wallace gives him the money. As the man starts to walk back to the van, Backup runs up to him and knocks him down. Veronica appears and "apologizes", helping the man to his feet. When the man has left, we see Veronica has taken back the money. A little later, in her car, she's using her laptop to find the tracking device she's placed on the man. She figures out the man is walking, and she follows his path. She finds him talking with a group of about twenty other Latino-American men, telling them about Backup, but he and the others get excited when they see Veronica, and start yelling at her. Veronica's response? "Oh, Crap!."
Veronica accuses the man of stealing the dog, but he denies it. The others are yelling excitedly as well, so Veronica pulls out an air horn and blows it to quiet them down. She asks who did steal the van, and they manage to communicate that it was someone in a white van, but there's also something about a horse and a woman with a big chest that she can't understand. She also muses it could describe any guy in Neptune.
Wallace, meanwhile, returns Louie to an elderly lady who's very happy to see him.
The next day, at school, Veronica passes by a white van with a mud flap that has a nude woman on it, and a sticker for a radio station featuring a man on a horse. She sneaks into the van. A little later, Hans gets in the driver's seat and is startled to see Veronica in the back of the van. She accuses Hans of kidnapping 09er dogs for the ransom money and killing the ones he can't get rid of, but he denies it and orders her out of the van. As she gets out, she sees Weevil, who thanks her for getting him out of jail.
Later, at Mars Investigations, Logan comes in and asks Veronica to help find Dylan, Trina's abusive boyfriend. He shows her the script Dylan is producing.
Meanwhile, at the Echolls house, Trina is applying makeup to cover her black eye when Aaron comes in, asking what she wants for dinner. Trina tells him she's not hungry, and Aaron, sensing something's up, asks if there's anything she wants to talk about. Trina confesses Dylan's been freaking out about the movie, especially since Trina got his hopes up about Aaron being in it. Aaron sighs that he retired and Trina shouldn't be making promises like that, but Trina insists she's thinking of Aaron, and that the role could be his comeback part. Aaron promises to at least hear Dylan out and invites him over for dinner; a grateful Trina hugs him.
Back at Mars Investigations, Veronica pretends to be calling on behalf of an agent concerning Dylan's script, and is able to get his last name; Goran. Through her private eye search engine, she discovers Dylan's had restraining orders filed against him by two different women. Logan calls his house, and when Aaron answers, asks to speak to Trina. Aaron, who's cooking, tells Logan Trina's in the shower, and about Dylan coming over. Logan, naturally, thinks Aaron is breaking his promise about retiring, but Aaron firmly tells Logan he's helping Trina. Before Logan can tell Aaron about Dylan beating Trina up, Aaron hangs up; Logan sourly tells Veronica what happened.
At the Echolls house that night, Trina presents Dylan to Aaron. Aaron asks what the part entails, and Dylan tells him it's the part of a junkie hitman with a conscience, and Trina emphasizes how it would only take a couple of days. Aaron, thinking of Dylan's description of the part, remembers how his own father used to beat his mom and him up - and she'd also use makeup to disguise this - until one time, when Aaron got the courage to fight back, his father put a cigarette out on his hand. He tells Dylan to look at his hand for the scars. As Dylan reluctantly looks, Aaron grabs him and throws him across the porch. As Trina pleads for him to stop, Aaron delivers a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Dylan. Logan and Veronica walk in on it, and while Veronica is in shock, Logan seems proud of his father. Aaron tells Dylan he'll pass on the script, and asks Logan to show Dylan to his car, which Logan is glad to do.
In front of the house, Logan and Veronica glance at Dylan driving off, and then Logan asks her about Lily and Weevil. Veronica admits she didn't know anything about them, and tries to assure Logan of Lily's feelings for him. Logan admits he thinks he loved Lily more than she loved him, and also thinks she used Weevil as a way of pissing her parents off. Logan then says knowing what Lily did makes it easier for him, and he doesn't have to feel guilty anymore. When Veronica asks, "Feel guilty about what?" Logan responds, "Moving on." He and Veronica embrace and kiss each other. When they break off, Veronica, laughing, asks what they're doing, and Logan admits he doesn't know. They kiss again, and Veronica says they need to talk about their relationship and whether to keep it a secret. Logan jokes about passing secret messages to each other, and something in Veronica's mind clicks. As Logan offers her a ride home, and she gets into his car...
...we go into a Flashback where Lily is showing Veronica a spy pen she found in her cereal box, and how she's going to use it to pass on secret messages to her lovers. Veronica snarks that the pen will be very busy...
...and back in the present, Logan asks Veronica if she's okay.
The next day, in the school library, Mandy is reading a book when Veronica finds her. She tells Mandy about how she thinks Hans is kidnapping 09er dogs for ransom, and she's going to the dog pound that night to prove it. She cautions Mandy about not finding Chester, but Mandy says she's in anyway.
At the sheriff's that night, Veronica finds Leo, and tells him she's breaking up with him because she kissed Logan, even though she says she hates him, and is a train wreck. Leo, of course, is upset to hear that, especially when Veronica tries to tell him how sweet he is, but she tries to make him feel better by telling him how hot he is as well. She also says she still cares about Leo and wants to be honest, and oh, by the way, she has one last favor to ask of him...
...and the two of them, along with Mandy and Wallace, are at the dog pound. JW answers the door, and Leo orders him to show them to the back. JW protests they need a warrant, but Leo says he doesn't need one since they're both government employees. They pass the dogs that are already in cages until Wallace comes upon a locked door. JW insists again Mandy's dog isn't there, but Leo makes him open up the room anyway. Inside are several of the missing dogs, and Veronica is able to identify them from the posters she has, but no Chester. As Mandy leaves the room, Leo arrests and cuffs JW. Just then, they hear screaming, and Veronica and Wallace run out to see Mandy tasering Hans and screaming, "You killed my dog!" Hans admits he sold Chester because they couldn't collect the reward money.
Outside the pound, as Hans and JW are being taken away, Veronica thanks Leo, who says it was fun for him. When Veronica wonders if she can ask kind of a weird question, Leo responds, "Do you ask any other kind of questions?" This one has to do with the pen the police found on Weevil; Leo says it was sort of a girly pen for a bad boy; "big, pink, plastic."
When Veronica comes home later, Keith starts to chide her about being out so late, but Veronica wants to know why Weevil was never a suspect in Lily's death. Keith tells her he had an airtight alibi, and shows her the closed files, which he's hidden in a box marked "Playboys", which Veronica, amused, calls him on. Keith goes on to explain how Weevil was in a work detail, and even though Lily's time of death makes that alibi somewhat suspect, points out Jake wouldn't go through all that trouble to cover up for Weevil.
The next day, Veronica and Mandy go to a house, and after hesitating for a moment, Mandy rings on the doorbell. Sure enough, Chester is inside, and there's a happy reunion between the two.
Later, at school, Veronica finds Weevil and points out Weevil, in fact, took out of Lily's room exactly what he was looking for. Weevil gives her the pen, and when Veronica asks if there were any messages that he might have written, responds, "Now if I told you, it wouldn't really be a secret message pen. Would it?"
This episode contains examples of:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Although it's not the bad boy Leo is thinking of.
- Berserk Button: Hitting Trina is a very good way to end up on both Aaron and Logan's bad side.
- Also, releasing Mandy's dog on a highway.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Mandy, as Hans finds out in the end.
- Big Brother Instinct: Logan won't lend Trina money, but when he sees her limping and bruised.. that's another story.
- Break the Cutie: In the space of one episode, Mandy is bullied by a boy she had a crush on, had her dog kidnapped, a 'missing' poster stuck on her back, prank called, shouted at by a girl who very publicly stood up for her, told her dog was dead, given hope that it was alive, and then eventually broke when she realised that it was really dead, and began tasering a guy.
- Call-Back: Lily and Weevil's relationship. Also, Lily's actual time of death, and Celeste's efforts to harass Veronica and Lianne.
- Description Cut: Keith describing the only sane member of the Mars family as being the one who "eats from the garbage and brings him dead birds", cut to a dog barking.
- Double Standard: Aaron has no qualms about beating his son with a belt, but goes ballistic when his daughter's boyfriend gives her a black eye.
- Drinking Game: Veronica sarcastically wonders if she should take a drink every time someone asks her for a favor, which, considering all the "favors" she asks for, is pretty ironic.
- Foreshadowing: The "deal" Veronica makes with Celeste.
- The Farmer and the Viper: A milder version of this trope, but it is ultimately revealed Weevil is using Veronica for his own ends.Weevil: I am what I am, V. Leopard, spots, you know what they say.
- "Get Out of Jail Free" Card: Weevil speculates Veronica must have used one of these to get him out; Veronica in turn tells him she's used up her last one.
- Good Is Not Nice: Veronica, and she doesn't let Mandy forget it.Veronica: You want people to leave you alone, Mandy, or better yet, treat you with respect? Demand it. Make them.
- Ironic Echo: "Community soap."
- Not Actually the Ultimate Question: Inverted:Logan: So, what do you think?Veronica: Like...in general, or is there a specific arena in which you'd like my opinion?Logan: Do you think Duncan, uh, is just cooling off or is he, like, holed up in some hotel room pouring peroxide on his hair and trying to file his fingerprints off?
- Papa Wolf: Aaron, and don't you forget it.
- A less dramatic version, but Keith finds Veronica tutoring Weevil (no, really) and scares him off with one look.
Keith: Honey, do I need to recap my concerned father lectures, no running with scissors, no candy from strangers, no smartening up the criminal element? - Prank Gone Too Far: What Veronica accuses the other students of doing when they upset Mandy by calling her about her kidnapped dog.
- Shout-Out: When Veronica first greets Weevil when he's in jail, he asks if she's brought the JLo poster he asked for.
- The poster could also be a shout out to The Shawshank Redemption, the main character of which escapes jail by covering his escape hole with a sexy poster of an actress who was famous at the time.
- When Logan sarcastically observes Trina attempting to get Aaron to un-retire from acting, he imitates Yoda.
- When Veronica accuses Hans of kidnapping the dogs, he sarcastically says he actually rounded up 101 dogs for a crazy lady making a coat.
- When Trina is trying to pitch Aaron the part, she claims it'll do for him what Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Logan and Trina, though Logan wins, of course.Trina: {offering to Logan) Pop tart?Logan: Hmm, a tart from a tart.Trina: He of the sickle wit. Can I ask you something?Logan: (pretending to pull something out of his mouth) Hmm. Will you look at that? There was a string attached to my pop tart.
- A little later, Trina is trying to borrow money from Logan:
Trina: My boyfriend Dylan spotted me some cash a few months ago and...now he's bugging me about it. I-I can't get him off my back.Logan: Did you try standing up?Trina: Thanks. Knew I could count on you. - Soundtrack Dissonance: What would you play to accompany Aaron kicking the crap out of Trina's abusive boyfriend? Why, "That's Amore" by Dean Martin, of course.
- Waxing Lyrical: When Logan offers to take Veronica home, he says he'll drive her home on the backstreets.
