The episode opens with Veronica in the custody of Sheriff Lamb, for the aiding and abetting of a murder suspect's escape. Veronica protests that she had nothing to do with it, and for once she's not lying: when Josh Barry asked her for peanut-butter cookies, he did not mention that he was allergic to peanuts. After being revived in the ambulance, he overpowered the attendant and escaped. (The lawman assigned to the case was riding in the front.) Lamb is only able to hold her for 48 hours without charging her, and she's soon free—though not without some joking references to her lack of need to decorate the cell for the most recent holiday, Valentines' Day.
Whilst visiting his daughter in jail, Keith learns from Vinnie Van Lowe that Kathleen Barry hired him (Vinnie) to investigate whether John was having an affair, as he seemed to be spending time with a very attractive blonde who was not Kathleen. She's also married to a Navy captain, and the Navy standard-issue sidearm is a Colt M1911 in .45-cal—the same caliber of weapon that killed Coach Barry.
Once outside, Veronica is accosted by Josh, who wants her help. He has Mason bound up in the trunk of his (Mason's) car, and Mason's pistol as well. Josh is pretty angry—he's convinced Mason's responsible for Coach Barry's death—but all Veronica needs to do is check the pistol to discover it's a .22-cal, not .45. Josh arranges to meet with Veronica the next day: he needs to liquidate some assets at his bank in order to flee the country, and Veronica lets Mason go.
Mac, Bronson, Logan and Parker join forces for a 24-hour-long Valentines' Day scavenger hunt, a B-plot which mostly consists of filler but does provide some fun Character Development for all four. It culminates in Logan and Parker having to swim out into the Pacific Ocean to obtain the final prize. Parker tells Logan that she enjoyed spending time with him, and the two are seen in a private lunch at the end of the episode. Bronson, for his part, consults his watch after completing the activity and realizes that, while he could use the hour before his next class to catch up on some needed sleep, it would take him the entire hour just to go home and come back. Mac offers to share her bunk with him. One Sexy Discretion Shot later, Bronson remarks that her definition of "sleep" is a little different than his.
Keith finds another hole in Mindy O'Dell's alibi. In consultation with the late dean's assistant, he discovers that Cyrus's Xanax prescription had run out that day. Mindy picked up new pills in his name, but—according to her own protestations—could not have delivered them to her husband whilst he was alive. Thus, it is extremely suspicious that the autopsy turned up traces of Xanax in Cyrus's bloodstream. Keith reports this to Lamb, who—for once—treats it as the legitimate intelligence it is, and orders the keyboard of O'Dell's computer dusted for prints.
Hank Landry then approaches Keith of his own initiative: he's found a bug in his cell phone and wants to know if either Keith or Veronica planted it. Since he has nothing to hide, he declares his itinerary on the night of December 10: he arrived at the Neptune Grand at 7:30, watched the Clippers game until Mindy showed up at 8:15, conducted the "usual business of an affair," then watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and then went to sleep. His alibi is further strengthened when Veronica, flipping idly through channels, discovers that all programming on Channel 9 is delayed one hour whenever the Clippers play. They also broadcast Space Ghost Coast To Coast. This means their assumed time on O'Dell's death was early by an hour, and happened long after Mindy O'Dell's car was returned to parking. Finally, Deputy Sacks reports that Mike Batondo's prints were found all over O'Dell's keyboard.
Keith makes contact with the supposed Other Woman John Barry was seeing. She reveals she is a neurologist, and that Coach Barry was suffering from Creutzfelt-Jakob disease
, a terminal illness. He the notes that Mr. and Mrs. Barry had taken out a second life-insurance policy on him, with a double payout in the event of non-natural death. He goes to her and begins inquiries as to whether she staged her husband's death. In response, she goes inside and pulls out a weapon—a Colt M1911. Of course, you can't get one over Keith that easily, and he's already lying in wait. However, she protests that it was her husband's sidearm from his Army days, and that she was handing it to him to have it forensically tested and to prove that it had nothing to do with his death.
Keith hands the gun over to Lamb, but the sheriff's department is scrambling: there's been a breaking-and-entering call at Mindy O'Dell's house. Lamb enters first, only somewhat in his element: he panics and squeezes off a shot at something that looks threatening, only to find it's his own reflection in a mirror. Then Mike Batondo brains him from behind with a baseball bat. Thank God Deputy Sacks is there to save the day. "I smell bread," Sheriff Lamb mumbles. Of course, Jerry's not really in his element either: thank God Keith is there to take command of the situation.
Josh obtains his merchandise at the bank. However, it's got a CD attached to it. Contained within is John Barry's goodbye video to his son, explaining that he went to his death of his own free will, preferring a swift end than a shaking and painful one. Josh recognizes the other person in the video, the person Mason accidentally identified as Josh himself, and the person who clearly helped Coach Barry in his departure: their assistant coach, John's buddy from the Army. The video ends with the "Well Done, Son" Guy affirmation Josh so clearly needs.
At home, Keith berates Veronica for helping Josh escape; there's customs footage of him fleeing into Mexico. Instead of responding, she hands over the CD and lets him see for himself. When she returns, she has the County Commissioner on the line, and Keith understands that Josh plans to stay in Mexico until the money from his "patricide" runs out; Josh has found it in himself to to "man up". The Commissioner is calling for Keith: he wants Keith to take over the sheriff's department again, now that Donald Lamb is dead. He gets the office just in time for Weevil's next contribution to the investigation: whilst attempting to stoke some Hearst College furnaces, he finds bloodstained gloves and shirt awaiting incineration. The laundry mark is that of Hank Landry. The episode closes as Sheriff Keith Mars waves the evidence in Mindy O'Dell's face: "So either you're covering for him or he's covering for you, and you're gonna tell me which it is right now."
- Artistic License – Military: The US Armed Forces did once field the Colt M1911 .45-cal pistols as their standard-issue sidearm, but they were replaced by Beretta M9s in 9x19mm Parabellum before Veronica was born. Keith is pretty far off his game here.
- Beta Couple: Mac and Bronson. Possibly now Logan and Parker too.
- Modesty Bedsheet: When we find Mac in bed with her boyfriend, the sheet covers him at the waist, though she has the sheet cinched tight clear up to her neck.
- Plot Hole:
- If that was really why Kathleen Barry brought out the gun, why did she cock it before heading out to show it to Keith?
- We also never find out why Mr. Barry's station wagon was consigned to the ocean. Sure, it was only worth $800, but that's $800 more his family could have had.
- Reckless Gun Usage: Lamb breaks one of the cardinal rules of Gun Safety by firing at a target before identifying what it is.
- Shout-Out:
- When Veronica makes her timing discovery, Keith asks her why she isn't watching "that show where women have sex in an urban setting."
- Their First Time: Mac and Bronson.
- Tonight, Someone Dies
