Mystery of the Week...or of the Season?

Status: Variable. Still.

Last season, it was easy. Six discrete mysteries. Okay, there was a little overlap, but not enough to make one's head spin or not know his/her arse from his/her elbow.

This season? Not so much. The mysteries are meshed and mushed. A clue here, a secret there — any one of them may hold the key to something that is rotten in Neptune. Mysteries of the week are no longer guaranteed to be solved, even when it seems that they are. Veronica's rape anyone?

So, the muddled heads of MI.net have decided to add a new mystery to the tally, one that would try and keep track of the weekly goings-on in Neptune, and the questions that arise from them. We started late. We are bound to have missed stuff, so if you have some ideas, let us know, but for now, for a flavor, here's what we have.

Note that we haven't as yet touched on the question of Veronica's sudden inability to spell.

Note that we could have called this "The Repository of Stuff We Don't Know Where Else to Put."

We're going to leave this here for a bit. There's a new mystery to think about over the summer which we've added to the clues. Soon we may revise this to list all the unanswered questions. We don't know if there's a Season Three yet. That might alter our thoughts. In the meantime, we suggest prayer.

Mystery Summary as of 2.22 "Not Pictured"

Clues for Mystery of the Week...or of the Season?

• 2.06 "Rat Saw God"
• Abel Koontz asks Veronica to find his daughter Amelia before he dies. Veronica finds Amelia's body in an ice machine, the victim of murder by Carlos Mercado. Or does she?
• Amelia received three million dollars from Kane Software through the company's head of security, Clarence Wiedman, Jr. It was termed a patent settlement but was in fact a payoff to Koontz for falsely confessing to the murder of Lilly Kane. This was done by the Kanes to protect Duncan Kane, who they believed had killed his sister in an epileptic fit.
• Jake and Celeste Kane are dealing with the consequences of their actions. Their legal issues, which include the charge of obstruction of justice, continue.
• Veronica ascertains that a phone card that Amelia's boyfriend Mike claims was in her possession, was used to call Kane Software.
• Wiedman initially denies that Amelia contacted him or Kane Software and states that he has no further interest in Amelia.
• Veronica tracks a vehicle that was rented in the name of Amelia's cousin, Margot Schnell. It was Margot's ID card Amelia used the previous year, before she turned 21. The manager at the Palm Tree Lodge motel confirms Amelia was there two days before.
• Amelia's Palm Pilot is still giving off a signal. This leads Veronica to the ice machine and a body, of which Veronica sees a hand. She assumes it is Amelia's. Is it?
• Wiedman arrives and tells a new story. He says that Amelia did contact the company to extort an additional quarter million dollars. He says that he gave her the money, marked bills, under the condition that she disappear until the Kanes' legal issues were settled. He adds that a week after she's supposed to be on a plane, marked bills started showing up at their current location. This satisfies Veronica. Should it? If it is true, why is Wiedman being truthful now? What did Amelia have that was worth the extra money? If she was worth the extra money, was she also worth silencing?
• Wiedman interrupts Veronica's attempt to call anyone about the body, saying that he will take care of it.
• Veronica and Wiedman are told by the motel manager that Amelia was accompanied by a man.
• When Veronica speaks to the motel manager on the phone, she cuts him off before he says anything more than "The police—" Veronica and we assume that he is about to tell her that they are there because Amelia's body has been recovered. Is that what he was going to say?
• When Veronica ascertains that the man was Mercardo, the son of an Argentine diplomat who Amelia met in Ibiza, Wiedman again states that he will take care of it, both under the apparent assumption that Mercado murdered Amelia for the money he is currently spending in Las Vegas. How does Wiedman take care of Mercardo?
• If Amelia was a threat to the Kanes, how convenient was it that a psycho boyfriend was around to ensure that threat could never be realised?
• 2.07 "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner"
• Duncan asks Veronica to help him find an abused child that Meg claimed in emails was the son of a family for whom she babysat. Veronica and Duncan discover that the abused child is actually Meg's sister Grace. Have they got to the bottom of it?
• In investigating this matter, Veronica babysat for some of Meg's clients. In each of the 09er families, there were other mysteries to be found.
• At the Fullers, Veronica is propositioned by Stuart Fuller, father to a tightly controlled and possibly psychotic child. Some may consider that Edwin's upbringing is abusive.
• At the Fullers, Jessica Fuller tells Veronica that she may not have a boyfriend over and implies that this was something of a problem with Meg. Veronica assumes she is referring to Duncan, but when she mentions it to him, he seems confused. Veronica's assumption is reasonable. How does Duncan know so much about Meg's clients if he didn't meet her at her babysitting venues. How did he know so much about Meg if his visits to her were limited to Sunday nights while her parents were at church? Something's not right.
• At the Goodmans, Veronica sees a child terrified at the prospect of facing his mother for spilling water on the carpet. The meeting between the child and the mother, another woman who appears to exercise obsessive control, is shown to be sinister and anvils hints at abuse.
• Last year, the Fullers had what looked like a little girl living at their house, who may or may not have been called Lynn. This year, it is a little boy called Edwin. Are they the same child? Is there some Stepford-like re-gendering program going on in Neptune? Is this why Grace Manning isn't ready to face the world?
• Veronica's breasts are modest, so modest that Madison suggests Veronica have a tattoo there so the boys will have something to look at. Okay, they are small, really small. Veronica acknowledges this when she visits Dr. Griffith, indicating that she wants to be a "generous C." Madison's breasts are huge, certainly a generous something. In fact, aren't they bigger than they used to be? Is this the key to all the mysteries? Boob jobs? Does the plastic surgeon have the real goods? Or will Madison go the way of the last big-boobied bombshell?
• 2.08 "Ahoy, Mateys!"
• Marcos Oliveres was sent by his parents to Camp SelfQuest. The camp claims to provide an intensive program for teens struggling with their sexuality. It states in its material that it offers a unique plan proven to redirect teens to a more traditional, healthier lifestyle. "SelfQuest can motivate a permanent change."
• Camp SelfQuest has had its victims. At least one boy died, in what was described as a series of mishaps. That boy was Jesse Fuller. Was he one of the Fullers of Neptune?
• Many of the parents of Neptune, haves and have-nots, appear to be seeking to control the behaviour of their children.
• The boobage continues. Danny Boyd remarks on the size of Veronica's breasts.
• 2.09 "My Mother, the Fiend"
• Cassidy has set up a real estate trust and employed Kendall to front it.
• Kendall has been selling her husband's belongings to raise money, a course of action that Cassidy has demanded she cease.
• Duncan has kept his relationship with Veronica from his parents.
• In high school, Celeste claimed she was pregnant to attempt to force Jake and Lianne to split. She was not, however, the mother of the baby abandoned at the Neptune High School prom of 1980.
• Veronica discovers that Trina Echolls was adopted and is the baby abandoned at the prom. She is the biological daughter of lunch lady Mary Mooney and Principal Alan Moorehead.
• Meg is pregnant. The identity of the father is unknown. This may go some way to explaining Meg's hostility to Veronica in 2.01 "Normal Is the Watchword," particularly if Duncan is the father or was prepared to say he was the father until he reunited with Veronica. Either may explain Duncan's dreams in which Meg reminds him of his promise, and tells him only he can save her. Did he know she was pregnant before the accident? Does he know now?
• 2.10 "One Angry Veronica"
• Duncan tells Veronica that he learned Meg was pregnant when he read a letter from her aunt. Meg had asked to live with her to raise the baby.
• Veronica assumes Duncan is the father of Meg's baby. Duncan does not deny it and begins to tell Veronica of last spring, before they broke up. Veronica stops him.
• Duncan tells Veronica that Meg's pregnancy does not affect them. Veronica is skeptical.
• Dick tells Veronica and Duncan that Meg is awake. Why does Dick know when they don't? Has Duncan put an end to his daily visits to the hospital?
• Veronica helps Duncan visit Meg.
• Veronica accompanies Duncan to the hospital to see Meg and is privy to their discussion about what they are going to do.
• Meg's parents want her to put the baby up for adoption through the Levi Stinson Sanctuary House, an organization that is all about religious indoctrination and tough love discipline.
• Meg tells Duncan that her parents won't give him a say as he is the "sinner who knocked up their daughter," and that they have been digging up dirt on him, such as his medical history and violent outbursts.
• Meg apologizes to Veronica for her attitude to her, saying it was because she knew she was pregnant, and that it was a reaction to seeing Veronica with Duncan.
• Meg asks Veronica to prevent her parents from sending the baby away or keeping her themselves in the event that something should happen to her. Why is Meg concerned that something might happen to her? Is it solely her hormones and impending motherhood, or does Meg know of particular risks, medical or otherwise, to her well-being?
• It is most likely in the light of these events that Duncan is the father. However, it is still possible that he is not. If he knew nothing about the pregnancy before he read the letter, then he and Meg never discussed it and he cannot be sure that he is the father. Meg could be lying. Whilst this would seem out of character, the same could be said of her getting pregnant in the first place. Alternatively, Duncan's dreams spoke of a promise he made to save her. If Duncan did know about the pregnancy and had agreed to stand up as the father to help Meg if necessary, then the letter may have told him it was necessary and his discussion with Meg was guarded because Veronica was there.
• Keith is informed by a call from the hospital that Meg is dead after a blood clot dislodged and made its way to her heart. The baby, a girl, was saved.
• Whilst it is not uncommon for long-term patients to die in this manner, has there been an autopsy, or is this the initial medical opinion? If Meg was the target of the bus crash, it is a convenient end for the person or persons who sought her death. Alternatively, in a town where money can buy anything, can it buy a faked death and forced parting of mother and child?
• 2.11 "Donut Run"
• Duncan abducts Meg's baby, and, with the assistance of Veronica; Celeste's maid, Astrid; and Vinne Van Lowe, he successfully evades capture, escaping with the baby to Mexico.
• Wallace has returned to Neptune under a cloud because he was a passenger in a hit-and-run vehicle that hit and crippled a homeless man in Chicago. The driver, a feted high school basketball player, did not own up to his responsibility, a decision that was supported by his uncle/manager. Wallace is unhappy with himself for not doing the right thing. He is tracked down by a Chicago journalist looking for a story.
• 2.12 "Rashard & Wallace Go To White Castle"
• Veronica refers to Duncan as her boyfriend who has just fled the country with his dead ex-girlfriend's baby. She does not refer to the child as Duncan's daughter.
• Wallace tells the Chicago reporter the truth about the hit-and-run. However, when published, the story is that the driver and the two other passengers claim that Wallace was driving. Wallace has five days to clear his name, which he does with Veronica's and Jackie's assistance.
• 2.13 "Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough"
• At the school's Winter Carnival, much of the proceeds of the fund-raising for the senior school trip disappear. Depending on how much was raised, the trip would be to Magic Mountain or Catalina.Veronica investigates.
• Mrs. Hauser was responsible for the theft of approximately $3,000. She skimmed this off the top of the money she collected and placed in a metal cashbox. She hid the money behind one of the ceiling tiles in her classroom. She was unmasked when Veronica noticed her distinctive footprint in the glitter used to make posters for the carnival on the desk of the classroom. The $3,000 was recovered.
• The theft of the cashbox, containing either $12,000 or $9,000, depending on whether Mrs. Hauser's estimate was inclusive or exclusive of the money she herself took, was opportunistic. Weevil spotted Veronica put the box in a cupboard with sliding doors on both sides. He took the box from the reverse side and put it in his niece's backpack. He then sent his niece into the ball pit, where she hid it underneath the balls. After Veronica checked the backpack, he sent his niece in again to retrieve it.
• Weevil had keys to the autoshop. He forced open the cashbox. He broke the lock to Thumper's locker and place $3,000 of the money and a bag of what looked like expensive drugs, but was in fact not, in Thumper's locker. He used the padlock from his own locker to replace the broken one from Thumper's locker. Weevil retained the rest of the money, amounting to approximately either $6,000 or $9,000.
• On being told by Veronica that one of the fifty dollar bills stolen was marked with the name "Nancy" and a telephone number, Weevil, to ensure that Thumper was falsely implicated in the theft, went back to the autoshop, opened Thumper's locker, the padlock on it being his own, and retrieved the money long enough to write the incriminating words on one of the fifty dollar bills. He was unaware that Veronica was lying.
• Weevil led Veronica to the autoshop by telling her that all the students had keys. As a result, the money in Thumper's locker was recovered and Thumper was blamed for the theft.
• Veronica worked out most of the truth but did not turn Weevil in, expressing admiration for his new car and a preference for roller coasters.
• In the course of the search of the lockers in the autoshop, a paddle with license plate numbers engraved upon it was found. It is unclear from which locker it came. Veronica took a photocopy of the paddle.
• Madison Sinclair is seeing an older man, according to what she told Dick.
• Beaver stops Dick from assaulting him by warning Dick to remember Sally. Who is Sally?
• 2.14 "Versatile Toppings"
• Arturo starts a campaign to prove he is a badass so he can join the PCH bike gang by mugging pizza delivery boys. He lures them with orders citing the addresses of the local coconuts — Latinos considered too white.
• Ryan gets mugged and (in the only piece of reasonable assumption one has to make) tells his fellow posters on the Pirate's Student Homosexual Internet Posting board that the list of their names was stolen.
• Kylie Marker sees an opportunity to extort money to fund an upgrade of her college prospects from her fellow closeted gays with the added bonus of forcing her girlfriend to acknowledge their relationship. The mugger will be blamed.
• Kylie, forced to go along with the group's decision to "hire" Veronica, forestalls suspision by approaching Veronica herself. It's a sham and one she puts to a quick end by coming out publicly, something she was always fixed on doing.
• One of Kylie's victims is Kelly, who stages his own mugging to collect the insurance money on his rims to pay the blackmail.
• Kylie was able to collect by having the money sent to false addresses, leading the packages to the lost letter section of the post office where her mother worked and which she could thereby access.
• 2.15 "The Quick and the Wed"
• The Mann family is from old-money Neptune. The son Paul is engaged to the exuberant and lively Heidi Kuhne, sister of Wallace's girlfriend, Jane.
• Heidi disappears three days before the wedding as a result of the machinations of Vincent Van Lowe, in the pay of the Mann family, who seek the return of Heidi's engagement ring. If she fails to attend the wedding or breaks off the engagement, the ring, a Mann family heirloom, can be recovered.
• Veronica, along with Paul's horror at Heidi's past, foil those plans, and Heidi keeps the ring.
• 2.16 "The Rapes of Graff"
• There's a rapist at Hearst College, where Wallace will go and Veronica is determined not to go in the autumn of 2006.
• The rapist roofies, rapes, and cuts off the hair of his victims.
• The rapist is not Troy Vandergraff whom Veronica clears of responsibility.
• If, by any remote chance, Veronica ends up as a student at Hearst College, she is likely to hear of the rapist again.
• If, by any remote chance, Veronica ends up as a student at Hearst College, she has made enemies of the brothers of the Pi Sigma Sigma fraternity, whose activities as scum bags she has exposed.
• 2.18 "I Am God"
• Keith uncovers a medical diagnosis scam for Clemmons whereby students are given preferential terms in their schoolwork on account of generalized anxiety disorder. The diagnosis is false and bought at the cost of $1,000.
• 2.22 "Not Pictured"
• Aaron Echolls is executed by Clarence Wiedman in the hotel suite at the Neptune Grand in which Aaron met and had vigorous sex with Kendall Casablancas. Was Kendall complicit in the assassination?
• Kendall shows Keith Mars the contents of a briefcase, demanding his immediate attention. What's in the briefcase? Is it so compelling that Keith chooses to forgo the trip he has arranged for himself and Veronica to New York as a graduation present? Is it so compelling that he does so when he can't reach her by phone to let her know? Or is Keith being compelled?