Veronica Mars s02e14 Episode Script

Dick! You totally nailed me.
Oh, man.
So you're the fingernails chick from my new year's party.
I did nail you.
That's funny.
I remember you taller and less uppity.
My car just now.
Oh, jeez.
Maybe we should get the highway patrol down here and take some pictures or something.
Give me a break.
I barely even touched your stupid door.
You left some paint.
Look.
It's only the most valuable thing on your car.
You might want to frisk her before you get in the backseat.
She could be smuggling junk.
You're ones to talk.
Baseball players, right? Remind me.
Which one of you pitches and which one catches? Relax, Dick, we're not saying that you're gay.
I mean, just because you make out with a dude here and there.
Strawberry soda.
It's a fine choice.
Well, where were we? Oh, yes, I remember.
You sure you don't want to take this somewhere else more private, like the trunk of your car? It's called a stolen moment 'cause we're sneaky about it.
Ever consider that maybe you're not as notorious as you think you are? Come on.
Admit it.
Your dad went off on you for getting cuddly with me at the carnival, right? My dad didn't say a thing.
Maybe it's just that I really want to be alone with you.
So when do you want to be alone with me again? Saturday.
I'm staying at my dad's this weekend.
You can come by and watch a movie if you want.
I want.
I got Lamb turning my house upside down.
I got the paparazzi following me day and night just waiting for me to fall apart and make a run for it in my bronco.
I swear, there's a news chopper following me around.
If Lamb doesn't press charges, if you're not indicted, this media frenzy will be gone before you know it.
Let's concern ourselves more with keeping you out of jail.
How? I mean, you said it yourself.
If all I took was a phone call to blow up that bus, anybody could have done it from anywhere.
So why not me? A gambler, a cheater, a deadbeat.
Who's gonna Stop.
You had me at "gambler.
" Terrence, relax.
Just tell me what you can remember from the day of the crash.
I met those kids out at the park.
And like I said, I talked with Woody, signed some stuff.
I was out of there around 5:00, I guess.
The bus went over at 7:03.
Next thing I can remember was around 11:00 maybe, when I turned on the tv and heard the news.
You don't remember anything you did in between 5:00 and 11:00? Nope.
You got something to say? You remember nothing? Where were you at 7:03 that day? I suppose I don't know.
Well, maybe you blew up the bus.
"Who will spot the imposter cheering in the second row? How long can my pep-squad smile hide the me I cannot show?" Wow.
That is so precious, Marlena.
And you even made it rhyme, just like an indigo girls song.
I didn't write that.
Got it.
Must be some other pep-squad lez who has her gym locker next to mine.
Oh, wait.
Here's my favorite part.
"Taking off our clothes, I put on my disguise.
But when we're in the shower, can madison feel my eyes?" I've got a problem.
Have you heard about the pizza-boy muggings? I heard about Corny.
Yeah, Corny was victim number five.
I was number four.
Look, I need you to find the guy who ripped me off.
Sounds like a police matter to me.
I had something in my wallet a list that wasn't supposed to get out ever.
That whole Marlena thing it was my fault.
I don't get it.
Well, Marlena's name was on a list with nine other gay students.
That poem everyone was making fun of, Marlena posted it onto a website that I set up.
You set up a poetry website? A chat room.
It's called the pirate's S.
H.
I.
P You know, "student homosexual internet posting.
" I was in charge of maintaining user names and passwords.
Only the list I follow.
But why would a mugger want to out sweet little Marlena? Because she didn't have the $5,000 he demanded from her to stay in.
Why can't the evil just get jobs like the rest of us? Look, we're willing to pay you.
Who's "we," and what are you offering? I can't give you names, but we're each good for $100.
Find out who's doing the blackmailing, all right? So what they'd get off you, Corny? Oh, all the cash and my tunes.
Oh, and the pizza, you know? It was pepperoni, thick crust.
It was a real nice pie.
Sound like the guy who mugged you? Yeah, same part of town even.
I got hit in south Neptune, down on Alvarado.
Do you think they were real orders, or? No.
Bogus.
Mr.
Cho called both places back after the muggings.
The people there hadn't ordered pizzas.
Either of you remember the names that went with the fake orders? Yeah, man, I do.
You know Amy Asparzo from gym glass? That's whose house I was headed to.
I remember distinctly 'cause I was like, "damn, what if Amy answers the door in her unmentionables?" That would've been sweet.
Can you get me a list of the names and addresses the mugger used, Ryan? First of all, I'm not letting her lear to surf on one of my boards.
I'd sooner let her paddle out on my mother.
Of course you would.
Right? I'm thinking she can come with us to Cabo.
Hey, you two look like you're in the market for some spirit paraphernalia.
I recommend the button.
They're awful tempting.
Well, they're for a really good cause.
That was sarcasm, by the way.
Dude, you know where we got to go? We got to go to scorpion bay again.
Thanks.
Camping on the beach.
Endless right-point break.
That's our place, man.
I need your help, Veronica.
Sorry, Kylee.
I'm working at capacity right now.
You don't understand.
I'm being blackmailed.
It's just Ryan told me I could talk to you.
Really? You're being blackmailed? Sorry to blow your mind, but I'm a lesbian, Veronica.
Oh.
Well that's cool.
Only when you're in college.
Did you bring the blackmail note? I don't have that kind of money.
I'm dead.
Respond to the e-mail.
Ask for another 24 hours.
I'll handle the cash and drop-off, okay? Thanks, Veronica.
Got it.
Mars Investigations.
Sure.
Thanks.
I'll let him know.
They're gonna fax through that credit-card statement you asked for.
Good.
Thanks, honey.
Terrence Cook's credit-card statement.
So are we working for accused mass murderers now? That's right.
You sure you're not clouded by your years of being his biggest fan? I don't know.
Maybe.
Let's just call it a gut thing.
Besides, I thought you'd be excited.
By what? If Terrence is guilty, that means I'm off the hook? Everyone didn't die because of me? Excited that I'm helping your friend's dad.
Where are you getting your intel? Jackie and I aren't exactly the sisterhood of the traveling pants.
She's not what you'd call huggable.
Whereas you warm right up to people? Hmm.
Hmm.
I want to help, and your gut is good enough for me.
I need to feel like I'm doing something right now.
Terrence will be by in a bit.
Would you mind making a couple calls for me? No sweat.
You can head right in.
Hi.
This is Veronica Mars calling from Mars Investigations.
I've got calls made to your agent, your brother, your assistant on and on.
No one seems to know where you were when you made them.
Got something.
My daughter.
Yeah, we've met.
You know the name Hank Melton? No.
He works for mint condition car detailing off the interstate.
Oh, Crazy Hank? Yeah, I know that guy.
He works on my car whenever.
Veronica, can you give us a minute? Terrence? I call Hank whenever I hit the Seven Rivers Casino.
So you were in the casino that day, possibly when the bus crashed? Yeah, I say it's likely.
That's great news.
Casinos happen to be the most photographed places on earth.
Well, good luck getting that surveillance footage, Keith.
Do you know who Leonard Lobo is? The guy who runs Seven Rivers? Actually, several of the indian casinos.
What's Lobo got against you? Millions of dollars' worth of outstanding debt.
You know those guys the sheriff caught loitering outside of my house? Fitzpatricks.
Delivering a message for Leonard Lobo.
His way of saying that my payments are overdue.
Mr.
Pleacher and the Neptune High science department would like to invite you all to the annual physics olympics.
The competition will be held in the gym following 7th period this afternoon Last night was a bust? What, two hours spent tracking a dummy e-mail address? Maybe this will help.
All the names and addresses to any ordered pizzas.
You got to do something, Veronica.
I'm getting like 100 e-mails a day from my pirate's S.
H.
I.
P.
Peeps.
They're really starting to freak.
What? What? You know one of them? Yeah, I've Let's go to Kylee Marker for the story.
She's out in the parking lot live.
The pizza-boy mugger added to his repertoire.
Although the M.
O.
was the same, a taser to the neck, this time he chose a seemingly random victim baseball player Kelly Kuzzio.
After last night's game, I stopped at sac-n-pac to grab a drink.
Got out of my car and bam! Lights out.
He took my watch, my wallet.
But what really sucked he stole my rims.
Six grand those cost me.
Before I send it back, I'd like to add a personal message.
I'm gay.
Marlena Nichols is my girlfriend.
So, pizza-boy mugger, you can forget about collecting from me.
John? Well, it looks like Kylee won't be needing my help anymore.
That totally rocks.
Dude, why are lesbians, like, so pissed off all the time? Let your freak flag fly, ladies! How progressive of you, Dick.
Damn.
What is it with you? Do you follow me around for fun or what? Would it help if I started making out with my girlfriend in the hall? Yeah, obviously.
But, look, I'll fix your car, whatever.
You got to learn to leave me alone.
And here I thought we were getting to be pals.
Please.
You date Logan.
He's nailed for murder.
You date Duncan.
He's wanted for kidnapping.
You get put on Robbie and Hunter's jury, they get sent to Chino.
You're like rich-dude kryptonite, Veronica.
This rich dude wants no part of it.
Hey, Carmen.
Heard from our favorite videographer lately? He called over Christmas to try to apologize for that whole popsicle thing.
Like people even remember my scandal anymore.
Pleasuring inanimate objects was so 2005.
Yeah, this year's all about pulling kids out of the closet.
So I have a feeling we're not just catching up here.
Any idea why the pizza mugger used your name? No.
You mind looking at something? Obviously you, John Ramos, and Amy are all students.
You live relatively close, but is there anything else that would tie you together in the mugger's mind? We're all coconuts.
That's what you get called in Neptune when you're latino and date white people or join honor society.
Get it? Like twinkies and oreos.
Except we're brown on the outside and No.
I get it.
I I'm sorry.
Hey, you didn't make the rules.
I hope you get your bad guy, Veronica.
Actually, you could help.
Can you make me a list of everyone you can think of who gets made fun of for - you know being a coconut? Sorry about your car, Kelly.
Yeah.
Thanks.
Did you get a look at the guy who zapped you? No.
Nothing.
I was getting in my car at the sac-n-pac.
Next thing I knew, I was waking up and my car was up on blocks.
You must have been out a long time.
I can't believe no one called the cops.
I mean, how long would it take to get the rims off a car? How should I know? I mean, did they bring their own jack, or Look, I already told all this stuff to the cops.
Why do I need to say it again to you? You gonna let me in? Well, I'm trying to act like I don't know you, but I don't know how you do it.
You've got some serious skill.
It's more of an innate ability to compartmentalize.
Look, I feel like I'm waiting for a tip or something.
Can you let me in? My first girlfriend was murdered.
My last girlfriend nearly got shotgunned by a P.
C.
H.
Er drive-by.
Color me crazy, but I see a pattern.
I'm trying to protect you.
So when did your folks split up? Just a year ago.
They tell you why? The official answer they grew apart.
Unofficially, I kept hearing them scream at each other about money.
Hannah? Hi, dad.
This is Logan.
Hello.
And there's the Griffith charm.
Sorry.
That's about the most you'll get out of dad.
What are you doing with my daughter? You want the complete play-by-play? That's kind of twisted.
I want you to get out of my house and never speak to her again.
You really want that to happen? You better rethink what you saw on the bridge.
Scratch that.
What the Fitzpatricks told you you saw.
You can't threaten me, you little punk.
I wouldn't be here if you couldn't be threatened.
So do you want me to explain to Hannah why you're really here, try and bully me? Well, why don't you tell her? Sounds like you guys are already so close.
I'm sure she'll see things your way.
Please don't do this.
While you're at it, try explaining why you never mentioned how you're the mystery witness in my murder case.
That'll be good.
I guess that never came up on your drive home from the carnival.
I'm thinking we're done here.
I don't want to keep Hannah waiting.
You're joking.
Terrence Cook wants another favor.
Frankly, I'm not sure he wants to owe me any more than he already does.
Well, he thinks you might have security footage of him from september 13 of last year, the day of the bus crash.
And what's he paying you, mr.
Mars? $400 a day.
That's $400 a day he should be paying me.
Terrence Cook's gonna get charged with murder any day now.
Terrence Cook owes me a significant amount of money.
That's where my interest in him begins and ends.
They can swing him from the rafters for all I care.
Maybe all that swinging will drop some change from his pockets.
It might be a little hard to get paid by an incarcerated man.
Reggie check the tapes.
See what you come up with.
Do you like to gamble, mr.
Mars? Perhaps I could interest you in a line of credit.
No, thanks.
Good man.
Here's a couple of bucks on the house, then.
Have some fun while you're waiting.
See? Wasn't this better than champagne and ocean views? Until tomorrow.
I need to talk to you, Hannah.
Sir? It's two bucks, buddy.
And king makes 22.
Oh, man, Cho's is going off tonight.
That's what happens when the chains stop delivering to south Neptune.
Cho's 'za.
Yeah.
No problemo.
Can I get your name and number, please? Jorge Zideo is a ringer.
His name's on Carmen's list.
So are you ready to be the bait, Corny? Hell, yeah.
No one's better.
I'm what you'd call the "master bait".
There you go.
Straight off the surveillance hard drive.
There's five minutes missing.
Maybe he was in the john or the elevator.
I don't know.
That Terrence Cook is a mighty slippery fellow.
I need a picture of him at exactly 7:03.
These aren't going to help.
You got to take it outside.
Your cellphone.
We jam all the signals in a 100-yard radius.
Card cheaters.
You know.
- Thanks.
- Sure.
Tell tell him to chill.
Lose the mask.
Down, boy.
What's your name, kid? Do you want to deal with me, or do you want to deal with mr.
Chompers? Arturo.
Who are you working with, Arturo? I'm not working with no one.
You're telling me you took down a varsity jock, jacked his car, stole his rims all by your scrawny self? No.
That wasn't me.
The others was.
No, I heard about it.
I figured I had me my own copycat.
Cool, huh? Give me a break, man.
You're some punk freshman.
Now give me back my tunes before I kick your ass.
Just wait till I'm a P.
C.
H.
Er, shaggy.
Then I'm gonna find your ass, and you're gonna get yours.
Thumper telling you to rob pizza boys? No, I'm proving myself so he'll let me in.
P.
C.
H.
Is back in charge, lady.
Did you just call me "lady"? Okay.
So the blackmailing is that another way you're out proving yourself, Cholito? Man, what are you talking about? Black-whatting? Thanks for your cooperation.
Looks like we're done here, Arturo.
Cool.
Can I go home, then? Almost.
I need you to get me into a restricted website.
Sure, what's the address? I don't know.
What's it for? It's a Neptune High gay chat room.
Veronica, you're not no, I'm just curious.
Curious as to what's posted on the website, more accurately.
Here we go.
Work your funky magic.
And nothing.
What's the problem? You set it up, didn't you? Some ass-face got onto their message board and wrote some pretty awful stuff, so Ryan asked me to beef up their security.
Yeah, I work for Ryan, too, now.
So if you could just So then why wouldn't he have let you on it himself? Damn you and your valid questions.
Look, it's still private if I only see the usernames, right? Savvy detectives such as yourself might deduce who the pirate's S.
H.
I.
P.
Ers are.
Mac, the only way I can stop the Marlenas and Kylees of this school from being tormented is if I get on that message board.
All right, stop it.
You're embarrassing me.
Okay, I'll make you a hard copy, but you have to burn it when you're done.
Excuse me, coach? Think I could ride with the team tonight? My car's in the shop, and I promised your star point guard I'd be there.
Did I mention all the action shots I'll take for the Navigator? I'm sorry, Veronica, we have a strict rule against girls on the team bus.
I want them focused.
You can ride with me if you want.
I realize it's no bus filled with rowdy towel-snapping jocks, but it'll smell better.
I don't know.
Um do you have room for my giant foam finger? I do, and I can even drop you off around the block if you're worried about being seen together.
Yes.
Please, by all means, protect my reputation.
Don't blame Mac.
I made her print it out.
I don't care who's gay.
That's fine.
I just didn't want to let you onto the site myself.
I've let those guys down enough.
Ryan, we caught the mugger.
He doesn't have the cranial resources to spell blackmail, let alone perform it.
The list getting out isn't your fault.
It never was.
I think the blackmailer is one of your own posters.
What? You're serious? I was looking through some old chats.
Um, here.
Back in july, this guy who calls himself "mizz P.
" Went off about "the outing of all outings in Neptune", and then he vanished.
A tad ominous, don't you think? Mizz P.
Ain't the bad guy, Veronica.
His name was Peter Ferraire, and he died in the bus crash.
Oh, I'm and there's been another blackmailing letter.
Who are they after now? Oh, you can't be serious? I told the victim they could come to you for help, but I wouldn't hold your breath on this one.
Great.
I'll just head out into the hall and look for the guy in the black hat twirling his moustache.
What are you doing? That depends.
What are you gonna let me do? Look I know you stabbed that kid on the bridge.
My dad told me everything.
No, your dad is a liar.
I didn't kill anyone, Hannah.
Your dad wasn't even there.
I was worried you were embarrassed of me, and you were just using me.
When I met you at the carnival, I had no idea who you were, I swear.
Look, the reason your parents were fighting about money all the time it's because your dad was blowing it on coke.
My dad's a cokehead? Please, he's a doctor, Logan.
And that's why a jury's gonna buy it when he tells them I killed Felix.
Your dad is in deep to the Fitzpatrick family, the ones who really wanted Felix dead.
And I'm supposed to believe you.
You do believe me.
What I'm saying makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Let me go, Logan.
Please? Yeah.
Just think about it.
Check around the house.
Keep an open mind.
I found our silver bullet, Terrence.
You couldn't have made the call that blew up the bus.
Surveillance shots.
Ta-da! No cell signal anywhere in the Seven Rivers casino.
What you got is proof that I was in a private meeting with Leonard Lobo.
You were in a legal gambling venue placing legal bets.
Lobo's name is on the league unsavory-characters list.
He was charged, but never convicted of fixing a college basketball game back in the '80s.
If I admit that I was in his office, I make myself the next Pete Rose.
We'll take these photos to the sheriff, and I'll make sure they don't get out.
All you need is a little leverage.
"Kuzzikan"? It's my brother's car.
Brother's plates.
Whereas your personalized plates might read "kissnkuzn.
" You didn't get mugged, did you? No.
You needed to make some fast cash, isn't that right? Yes.
You're gay, aren't you? What do you want from me? I want to know why you act like you do.
The other day when you and your pal were making fun of Dick.
When underneath I was really just bashing myself.
Very insightful.
Want to know why I do it? Because I want to survive high school, okay? So you hock your own rims for cash to pay the blackmailer, use the pizza-boy muggings as a cover, then buy new rims with the insurance money.
Sounds bad when you say it.
Veronica you realize people here find out I'm queer and I'm dead.
I'm not out to out you.
I just want to pay the damn money and be done with this whole nightmare.
The note let me look at it.
It was just an e-mail from some guy named Rick Santorum.
He says he wants me to just mail it to him.
He gave a local address.
He gave you an address? Rick Santorum's address is a fake.
No surprise there.
Kelly mailed his blackmail payoff, but it's been stalled at the post office.
It's been like waiting for a toaster to pop these past seven hours.
Well, I'll watch it if you don't have the time.
I'll call you if I see anything.
No need.
It finally moved.
Let's see where the package ended up.
Hubbell street? I know who lives there.
Hey, blackmailer.
I figured I'd be seeing you sometime today.
Looking for this? Most people just get pissed and smash it into a million pieces, but they're kind of expensive, so thanks.
And I thought I was being so clever with the whole dead-letter-office thing.
Pretty clever.
You knew the money would make its way to the post office.
How'd you ever get in to retrieve the package? My mom works there.
Ooh, nice.
So I'm assuming Kelly wants his money back.
Safe assumption.
Why'd you do it? I wanted to get out of Neptune after graduation.
There goes that plan.
Community college, here I come.
Besides, I didn't care much about self-hating "kissnkuzn".
I would have slept just fine knowing that Kelly Kuzzio was driving around rimless.
Why'd you out Marlena? 'Cause I'm a horrible, crazy bitch.
You want to know what's worse? I told her the blackmailer was bluffing.
I told her not to pay.
I don't get it.
I wanted to be out, but I wanted Marlena out with me.
I wanted to be able to walk down the halls with her, like a real couple.
So she didn't want to come out, and you did? Something like that.
I want to tell Marlena myself, if that's okay.
Okay.
You were right about my dad.
Who's that? Hannah something, I think.
I'd be a willowy blonde, too, if my dad was a plastic surgeon.
Wait a minute.
This isn't the way to the regional finals.
If my dad expects me to drive 75 miles in this bouncy, old bronco, then he really is a murderer.
Okay, which one is monday? You laugh, but he pretty much used to have one for every day of the month.
Our lives are so similar.
The Mars family hangar is a spitting image of this one.
Flying's not his thing.
Woody Goodman lets dad use the hangar for his toys.
So what are you in the mood for? Hot-blooded italian or cool and teutonic? How about privileged and upper-crusty? I want you to announce that Terrence Cook has been cleared of suspicion in the bus crash.
What? This some kind of jedi mind trick? Why would I want to do that? Exactly what am I supposed to be looking at? His alibi.
You caught Terrence at a casino, huh? There's a surprise.
Those time stamps say that he was at the Seven Rivers casino at the time of the explosion.
At 7:01 and 7:06.
Could have been off and made a call between then.
The casino blocks cell reception.
Pay phones.
You really think someone would make a phone call on a land line that would kill a bus full of people from a location that has 4,000 cameras and 300 security personnel? Subpoena the phone records, check the calls.
Ugh, sounds like a lot of work.
What's your beef with me, sheriff? My beef? I suppose it's that you killed a busload of kids just to tidy up your love life.
Crazy girlfriend who knew about you betting on baseball that's a liability you could not afford.
I suggest you go home and enjoy your last few days of freedom.
You're not gonna press charges, Lamb.
Whatever you say, boss.
What's this? Play it.
I really hope this is the new Big & Rich.
I got a guy in a holding cell back there, says you did favors for gentlemen who bet extensively on baseball, and he wants to make a deal.
Me, I would much rather deal with you.
All right, what's this, where'd you get it? I don't think a grand jury will have a hard time figuring it out.
You don't back off, sheriff, and that recording is going straight to Woody Goodman, newspapers, your grandmama.
Right.
Here's how it's gonna play out, slugger.
Release the tape, I lose my $50k civil-servant job.
You you lose your hall of fame induction, your color-commentating gig, your endorsements.
Where's the trade in that, Terrence? The boy can play ball.
Did you see his "running teardrop" in the lane? Oh, I saw it.
It was jordan-esque.
But tomorrow, we both got to promise, say nothing to him.
We cannot feed that ego.
I like my Wallace humble.
My dad told me that you're helping out with his case.
That means a lot, especially since he's already been convicted by half the people in Neptune.
Well, luckily, it's the half I don't like, so it works out.
This is not good.
The top's broken.
It's probably just a blown fuse.
Okay, and you sound like you know how to fix it.
Well, if she's anything like my lebaron under the bonnet, I'm gonna need a phillips head.
Screwdriver.
You find it? Dad? Honey, what is it? What's wrong? Jackie and I borrowed one of Terrence's cars tonight.
I was digging around in the hangar where he keeps them, and I found I don't know.
But I'm pretty sure it was some sort of explosive and detonators.
So much for my gut.