1.19 "Hot Dogs"
Aired Apr 19, 2005
Details
Mars Investigations office: Veronica is tutoring Weevil in math. Weevil borrows a pencil from Veronica who tells him to be prepared. Weevil asks Veronica if Duncan took off. Veronica says yes. Weevil says the word is that he left because she accused him of killing Lilly. Veronica says that's wrong. Weevil then says she doesn't think they got the right guy. Keith comes in before Veronica can respond and isn't happy to see Weevil with Veronica. He stands there, silent, until Weevil decides to leave. Keith tells Veronica to stop helping Weevil. She leaves to go spend time with Backup.
outside of a home: A dog is barking loudly. A girl Mandy is inside reading. She goes to check on the dog when she hears him yelp. When she gets outside, the dog, Chester is gone. Mandy runs around, calling Chester's name to no avail.
school hallway: Veronica closes her locker and turns around. Logan is waiting to talk to her. He asks her why she thinks Duncan left. She says she doesn't know. Logan says Celeste called him, asking where he thought Duncan went. He told her the truth - he doesn't know. Logan points his finger at the exact time the bell rings, smiles, says, "See ya" and leaves. Veronica says in a VO that if he wants to pretend the kiss didn't happen, that's fine with her. She sees Mandy putting up signs about her lost dog. She has a sign on her back. Veronica takes it off and hands it to her. Mandy asks for her help. At first, Veronica declines, but then decides to help. Wallace runs up, says excuse me to Mandy, and pulls Veronica away. He has news before Veronica, for once. That news is that Weevil broke into the Kane house last night and the security patrol caught him in Lilly's bedroom.
Opening Credits
Sheriff's office: Veronica talks to Leo, who says he hasn't heard from her in a couple of days. Veronica wants to see Weevil. She asks what he had on him and Leo says 17 cents, a couple of condoms, and a pen.
jail cell: Veronica asks Weevil why he was in Lilly's room. She tells him she knows about him and Lilly and the letters. Weevil says she doesn't know all there was to it. Veronica says she tells him she's close to finding Lilly's killer and two hours later, he breaks into the Kane house. What does he expect her to think? Weevil says he told her what he was doing there and she doesn't have to believe him but will she help him? Veronica says no. She goes to leave but Weevil stops her by telling her that he broke in to get a diamond ring. It was his mother's, and she had saved it for him as an engagement ring. At one time, he thought he wanted Lilly to have it. He didn't find the ring. The Kanes are very upset. Weevil is now 18, which means he'll be tried as an adult.
Mars Investigations office: Veronica prints out better looking signs to help find Chester. She gets more details from Mandy about what happened. She was babysitting an 09er kid whose parents let Mandy keep Chester in their yard. Mandy isn't an 09er and doesn't live nearby. When asked if she checked the pound, Mandy says she called and left her number. Veronica tells her to go to the pound and give them a flier so they'll remember her and Chester if he shows up.
Echolls home: Aaron is reading Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Trina comes in. Aaron tells her that he has definitely given up acting. Trina asks what if something great came along? Logan comes home. He hears Aaron saying he's going to stay home with his family and that Lynn's death was his wake-up call. Trina says her boyfriend is producing a film and there's a great part for Aaron in it. He still says no. The doorbell rings. A few minutes later, the Echolls family is on the patio, listening to Lynn's lawyer talk about Lynn's will. Lynn updated her will a few weeks before her death. Aaron was removed. He's not surprised. Lynn left everything to Logan: her art collection, personal effects, and $115,000. Trina is put out to learn that she was never in the will.
dog pound: Veronica, with Mandy, hands a flier to the man at the desk, and tells him about the dog they're looking for. He says the dog hasn't come through. A boy, Hans comes in and recognizes Veronica. He tells JW, the man behind the desk, about how she hid a spy cam in the teacher's lounge but they couldn't expel her because she had so much dirt on them. Hans says he hasn't seen the dog either.
Echolls home: Trina gives a pop tart to Logan and asks him for a loan. He beeps his watch and says, "Twelve hours to hit me up for my dead mother's money." She wants 10 grand because her boyfriend Dylan let her borrow that money a few months ago and wants it back. Logan snarks and still refuses.
school: Veronica tells Mandy they should try pet stores this afternoon. Mandy's cell phone rings. When she answers it, she gets very excited because the caller says he found her dog, but then she looks upset and hangs up. She tells Veronica someone was playing a trick. They see a boy, Lenny, holding up his phone and barking at Mandy. She tells Veronica that she used to have a crush on Lenny and he found out and has tormented her ever since. Veronica goes right over to Lenny who is standing with several other boys. She completely tells Lenny off, intimidating him in the process. Mandy says she can't believe Veronica did that. Veronica chastises Mandy for not doing it herself, telling Mandy that if she wants respect from people, she has to demand it.
Mars home: Veronica is about to walk Backup, when her phone rings. It's Hans who says he has bad news.
dog pound: Hans tells Mandy and Veronica that Chester was found but he had been hit by a car, so they had to put him down. He gives Chester's collar to Mandy. She cries.
beach: Veronica, while walking Backup, notices that the bulletin board is covered with notices about lost dogs. This is unusual because she passes this board daily while walking Backup, and it's usually filled with "for rent" notices. She removes several of the notices.
Mars Investigations office: Veronica calls a few numbers from the fliers. Only the owners who offer high rewards have gotten their dogs back. Veronica changes one of the rewards from $100 to $1000. Veronica goes into her dad's office, looking for a marker. She looks up from Keith's desk when she hears, "What did you say to Duncan?" Celeste is standing there. Celeste asks where Duncan is. She says that she thinks Veronica knows why he left. In fact, she thinks Veronica is the reason he left. She asks Veronica what she said to Duncan. Veronica tells her she didn't tell Duncan that Celeste threatened to kill her and ran her mother out of town. Celeste says she doesn't hate Veronica, she just can't stand looking at her because it reminds her of her husband's infidelity, Lianne meeting Jake at lunch and the hotel room, and Keith trying to destroy their lives. Keith walks in and says, "Then what are you doing here?" Celeste says she just needed to ask Veronica a few questions. Keith tells Celeste to leave Veronica alone. Celeste says Keith doesn't scare her because if he was such a great detective, he would have seen what was going on right under his nose. She turns to leave. Keith looks upset. The phone rings, he answers it. Veronica follows Celeste and tells her that she'll help find Duncan if the Kanes drop the charges against Weevil because nothing was stolen or damaged. She says she might have an idea where Duncan is and that's her offer. Celeste leaves.
beach: Veronica is posting the changed fliers. In her VO, she says she doesn't have any idea where Duncan is. She also says she wants to see who bites when she increases the reward exponentially.
Echolls home: Logan grabs something to eat. Trina limps into the kitchen, wearing large sunglasses. Logan asks what happened to her. She says nothing, but he pulls off her sunglasses. She has a black eye. Logan asks if her boyfriend did this to her. Trina doesn't respond. Logan asks what Dylan's last name is. Trina won't tell him, saying that he has made his feelings about her welfare quite clear. Logan is angry.
school: lunch: Wallace tells Veronica he walked in on his mom and Keith making out on the couch last night. Veronica tells him not to talk about it. Her phone rings. She answers, saying she's Bridget and yes, the reward is still $1000. She'll send her brother to meet him this afternoon. Wallace, "the brother", wants to know where she'll be getting the money.
beach: Wallace is in the park by the beach, holding an envelope. A white van pulls up and a man gets out, holding the dog Louie on a leash. Wallace motions to him. He asks the man how he found Louie but the man doesn't speak English. Wallace hands the man the envelope, takes Louie's leash, and walks away. As the man is leaving, Backup runs and jumps on him, knocking him to the ground. He stands over the man, growling. Veronica runs up, grabs at Backup, and tries to help the man. In the process, she slips a tracking device on him and retrieves the envelope. Backup pulls the man's shoe off. Veronica apologizes and gets up, putting Backup's leash on him. The man runs away. Veronica says it's time to play "Follow the Dog Thief".
car: Veronica is tracking the man on her laptop. She pulls into a parking lot and sees the same man talking in Spanish to some of his friends, describing the dog incident. Veronica gets out of her car with Backup. She walks over to where the man is and he starts yelling at her in Spanish. Several other men surround her. The one man is saying something about dinero and Veronica says to him that he stole the dogs. He denies it and the other men agree with him. They are all yelling, so Veronica sounds an air horn. She asks who stole the dogs? The man speaks in Spanish and she says, "A dog man?" She also asks if he drives a white van. They say yes, but they don't know his name. The men try to give her some help. One makes a motion of a big chest. Another straddles a road block, acting like he's riding it, hitting the back of his "horse". She thanks them and leaves.
outside a home: Wallace, walking Louie, rings a doorbell. A woman answers and is very grateful to have her dog back.
school parking lot: While walking through the parking lot, Veronica notices a white van. It has a woman silhouette on the wheel flap and a window sticker of a man on a bucking horse, advertising a country radio station. She peers into the back. Later, the front door opens and Hans, the boy from the pound gets into the van. In his rear view mirror, he sees Veronica sitting in the back of his van. She asks him if he kills dogs. He asks what she's doing in his van. Veronica says she knows he kidnaps 09er dogs and holds them at the pound until a big reward is offered. When she came in with Mandy, he realized he dognapped from a poor girl, so threw the dog to the side of the road. She also finds out he's 18 and gets out of the van. Weevil is there. He thanks her, not in so many words. She tells him to keep his felonies to a bare minimum, but he says he is what he is.
Mars Investigations office: Logan walks in and asks Veronica to track down Trina's boyfriend because he beat her up. Logan plans on returning the favor. He only knows the boyfriend's first name is Dylan and he gives Veronica the script Dylan's working on.
Echolls home: Trina is putting makeup on her eye. Aaron asks if she's going out and she says no. He asks what she wants for dinner, because he's going to cook. Trina says she's not hungry. Aaron asks if she's okay and she replies that it's boyfriend stuff, but it's not a big deal. He tells her she can talk to him even about small stuff. Trina says she got her boyfriend's hopes up about doing the part in his movie and now the financing is falling through. She says she's thinking about Aaron, not Dylan. It's a great part and could be career-defining for him. Aaron says he'll hear about it and to have Dylan come by for dinner.
Mars Investigations office: Veronica is on the phone, pretending to be someone from C.A.A. talent agency interested in buying the script. She asks who is producing it and gets Dylan's last name: Goran. She says they'll be in touch. She then looks up Dylan's information, finding out that two women have filed restraining orders against him in the last five years. Logan calls to talk to Trina but Aaron answers. He tells Logan that he's cooking dinner and that Dylan is coming over to talk about the movie. Logan is snarky and Aaron hangs up on him. Logan tells Veronica the news.
Echolls home: It's night when Trina walks in with Dylan. Aaron is cooking. Dylan and Aaron talk about the script. Aaron would be playing a strung-out hitman who is on drugs because he's tormented about his past. Aaron says it sounds a lot like his father who used to beat him and his mom, then drink to forget. Aaron puts his arm around Dylan and keeps talking. He says his dad would beat his mom until she passed out, then she'd cake makeup on her face and wear dark glasses around the house. He could always recognize the signs. He finally got the courage to do something but he was a scrawny kid and his dad was huge. His father put a cigarette out in his hand. Aaron then proceeds to beat the crap out of Dylan while Trina yells at him to stop. Logan and Veronica walk onto the patio as Aaron is beating Dylan with a belt. He says hello to Logan and asks him to see Dylan to his car. Trina is crying and Veronica looks nauseated.
in front of the Echolls home: Dylan drives away and Veronica and Logan talk. He asks if Lilly loved Weevil. Veronica says she doesn't know and that Lilly never mentioned anything about Weevil. She was wondering when he'd ask her. Logan says when Weevil was found in Lilly's bedroom, it made him wonder. Veronica says he's handling it better than she thought he would. Logan says he loved Lilly and Lilly loved guys. She always said her parents worshipped Duncan and tolerated her and so since she couldn't please them, she'd go out of her way to piss them off. Weevil was perfect for that. Veronica says she knows Lilly loved Logan. But he says not like he loved her. He says that it's okay because now he doesn't have to feel guilty anymore. Veronica asks what he feels guilty about. Logan responds, "Moving on." He then steps closer to her, tilts her face up to him, and they kiss, very passionately. Veronica asks, "What are we doing?" Logan laughs and responds, "No idea." They kiss again. This time they both laugh and she says they need to talk, to which he agrees. They stay very close, his forehead on hers, and his hand always touches either her cheek or shoulder. She suggests that they keep it to themselves for a while, to see what happens. Logan laughs quietly and says, "Meet in mop closets? Pass each other secret notes in the hallway?" Veronica looks like she remembers something she wishes she hadn't. Logan says he'll take Veronica home. He opens the car door for her and she gets in. Veronica turns around when she hears Lilly's laugh.
flashback: car: Lilly and Veronica are looking at a spy pen that Lilly got in her cereal box. Lilly can hide paper in the pen and says she'll use it to pass secret messages to all of her lovers.
back to present in Logan's car: Logan sees Veronica looking in the back of his car and asks if she's okay. She nods and he starts the car.
library: Veronica talks to Mandy who is reading a book. She tells her that she's going to the city pound tonight because she believes they are kidnapping dogs and holding them for ransom until a reward is offered and she's going to prove it. Mandy asks if she thinks Chester could still be there but Veronica tells her not to get her hopes up. Mandy says she's in anyway.
Sheriff's department: Veronica comes to talk to Leo, telling him she can't date him anymore. She tells him that she's a train wreck when it comes to guys and that she just made out with her dead best friend's boyfriend who she hates. She says she cares about Leo and wants to be honest. He is, of course, upset. She also needs a favor from him.
Balboa Animal Control: Leo knocks on the door, saying, "Open up! Sheriff's Department!" The door is opened and JW yells that her dog isn't here, pointing to Mandy who has walked in with Veronica and Wallace. Leo says they want to look in the back. They walk in the back and look at the dogs. JW says Mandy's dog isn't there. Wallace wants to know what is in a room labeled "Keep Out." JW says dogs with contagious diseases are kept in there, but Leo says they want to look anyway. When they look in the room, Veronica pulls out some fliers and is able to identify several of the missing dogs. Mandy says Chester's not there and she walks out of the room. Leo arrests JW. They hear a scream and Mandy yelling. Veronica and Wallace run out and see Mandy tasering Hans, saying he killed her dog. Veronica pulls her away. Hans says Chester's not dead; they just sold him when they couldn't get a reward.
outside the dog pound: Leo puts Hans into the patrol car. Veronica thanks Leo who says it was fun. She asks him if he's sure it was a pen that he found on Weevil and not a pencil. Leo says it was definitely a pen: big, pink, plastic.
Mars home: In Veronica's bedroom, Keith uses tweezers to take a hair from Veronica's brush and puts it in a tube marked "DNA Test: VM #2". He then goes to the bathroom and pulls out one of his hairs and puts it in another tube labeled "KM #1". He puts both into a box addressed to a "DNA Testing Division" and closes it. Veronica walks in the front door. He puts the box into his bag. Veronica says he knew Weevil stalked Lilly and questioned him. What made Keith think he wasn't the guy? Keith says they searched his home, checked the DNA, all that stuff, plus his alibi was airtight. They walk into Keith's room and he takes down a box marked "Playboys". Keith says it's the nonessential stuff. He reads that Weevil was on community service detail from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., a dozen people saw him, and his time card confirms it. Veronica says now that they know Lilly's time of death was well after 4...Keith says the Kanes covered up Lilly's murder. Would they go through all that for someone like Weevil?
outside a home: Veronica is with Mandy who rings the doorbell. Mandy starts to talk to the lady, but Chester runs out. Mandy hugs Chester, happy to see him.
school hallway: Veronica stops Weevil and says that the night he broke into the Kanes, she had given him a pencil but he had a pen on him when was brought in. She says there was no ring and he found exactly what he was looking for. Weevil takes the pen out of his shirt pocket and gives it to Veronica. She asks if there were any messages inside when he found it. Messages from him, perhaps? Weevil won't tell her.
Closing Credits