Veronica Mars s03e14 Episode Script

Where is he, Veronica? Where's Josh? Think back, sheriff.
Where did you have him last? Josh's cellmate says you snuck him a peanut butter cookie.
And he bribed one of your deputies with said cookie.
He was allergic but you know that.
After the paramedic revived him with an epinephrine shot Josh overpowered him and escaped out of the ambulance.
You didn't have a deputy with him? He was riding up front.
As his accomplice, you would wanna get yourself out of hot water and tell us where he is.
Don't I get a phone call? Please, Keith, find my son.
It's likely he'll try to contact you.
When he does, you've got to convince him to turn himself in to me.
It will be safer than turning himself in directly to the sheriff.
I'll just take it in here.
Yeah? Keith Mars, please hold for Veronica Mars.
Yeah, honey.
It's me.
You're where? Please tell me you didn't help an accused murderer escape jail.
Yo, Pops, check it out.
This girl ain't gonna be nobody's bitch.
- You better recognize.
- What's that on your arm? I've had some free time.
And no, I didn't help Josh escape.
Not intentionally.
It turns out he's allergic to peanuts.
His plan was to take advantage of my kindness.
This has gotta be the first time that's worked for anybody.
Clifford.
Is something wrong? I just remembered I need to return Caged Heat to the video store.
You wanna hear the good news or the bad news first? I'm gonna say the good news.
Josh's cellmate and witness to the cookie incident ate the evidence and icing on the cake, blew a.
21 on the Breathalyzer when they booked him.
No way Lamb can get a conviction.
He knows it.
That sounds like great news.
But he's gonna hold Veronica as long as he possibly can.
Can I get you anything, honey? A couple cartons of smokes.
What, Dad, it's currency on the inside.
- Any guess where I might find Josh? - Mexico? So you think he did it? I don't know.
If he didn't, he sure panicked quickly.
That was my thought too.
Anyone wanna know what I think? Fine.
I'll keep it to myself.
I'm just saying my entire workday is spent sorting through my various clients' lies.
This kid? I think he's on the up and up.
Okay, well, I've got an appointment with Dean O'Dell's old assistant.
I can't just put his murder case on hold.
What? Just I thought this sight would be more traumatic for me, but - Vincent.
- Hey You bringing in a fugitive or picking up your dad? Old-timer? Fraud warrant.
Turns out his uncle isn't Nigerian royalty.
Hey, question.
I saw what looked like an invoice from you at the home of Coach Barry's widow.
Any chance we're working the same case? Negatory.
Mrs.
Barry hired me about a month ago.
Wanted to know if her husband was cheating.
What did you learn? Keith, I am bound by the exact same ethical codes you are.
Yeah, well I was pulling your leg.
I had you, though.
No, never got a money shot.
I did catch him getting friendly in a parking lot with a very attractive married lady.
Any chance I could get a copy of that picture? What the hell.
It'd be good having you owe me one.
I guess you're tracking that kid? I was thinking of diving into that.
- I'm looking for the coach's killer.
- Oh, didn't you hear? It's the kid.
I spoke to the sheriff two months ago, is there anything? Just routine follow-up on some insurance matters.
If you could just tell me anything you can recall about the day the dean died.
Just the usual stuff, meetings There was one strange thing.
Mel Stoltz showed up.
No appointment.
I didn't know who he was until he left.
He seemed to agitate Cyrus.
- Really? Mel Stoltz.
- Oh, and he was out of Xanax.
- I had to call in the prescription.
- Did he pick it up, do you know? He was stuck here all day, and the pharmacy closes at 7, so A prescription refill called in on December 10th.
Do you have a record of who picked it up? Bye.
- Dr.
Landry.
What brings you? - A question, Keith.
I found this bug in my cell phone.
Did you put it there? - No, Hank.
- Did Veronica do it? I'm sure she had nothing to do with it.
You're "sure" sure? She's got a lot of initiative.
You know, the other day she asked me something about the movie that I watched in the hotel that night and then I realized, she was probing my alibi.
She does have a lot of initiative.
She also has got a lot of promise.
And she doesn't need to be slumming it in a PI office the rest of her life.
And just for the record, that night I checked into the Grand at 7:30.
I watched the Clipper game in my room until Mindy showed up at 8:15.
The rest of the evening was occupied by the usual business of an affair followed by a pay-per-view movie, then sleep.
There's no more to say, and there's no more for you or your daughter to find.
So please stop trying.
It's starting to piss me off.
I need to see the sheriff.
I don't know, Keith.
He looks kind of busy.
Well, that's something I gotta see.
So if I'm hearing you right, you're calling me a dumbass.
I said the dean's death was a murder, not a suicide.
I wanted to bring you what I had as a concerned citizen.
You remember from the toxicology report he had traces of Xanax in there? And he had a prescription which proves zilch.
According to his secretary, he ran out.
She'd called in a new prescription which was picked up that night, I learned, by Mindy O'Dell.
Sacks.
Call over to Hearst, see if they stored the dean's stuff.
Computer, phone, whatever we can dust for prints.
Bring Mindy O'Dell in.
I'd like to ask her a few questions.
You bring my harmonica? I got the blues, Pa.
The sitting-in-my-jail-cell blues.
- Did you bug Hank Landry's phone? - Wait.
What? He just came storming into the office saying he found a bug in his cell phone, asking me if I planted it.
I didn't, did you? No.
Really.
Come on, Dad, this is the face of truth.
That'd play better in a different context, but, okay, I'm a sucker, I believe you.
Word of advice, you might wanna start looking for a new mentor.
- Wait, he suspected me? - Vigorously.
Though he emphasized that it was my bad influence that you're a sharp kid, just a bit misguided.
The movie.
He knew why I asked about Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
You wanna pick at his alibi you should've asked him about the Clippers game.
Men routinely accept the idea that women don't know sports.
That's just a mentoring sampler, for if you're interested.
- You didn't bug him? - No.
- Mr.
Mars.
- Logan.
Down the hall on the right.
Logan? No holiday decorations, huh? Actually, that's just why I'm in jail.
To avoid Valentine's Day.
- I'm glad to see you.
- Well, we're both adults now, right? We can be civil.
Do you need anything? There is one thing you could do for me, if you're heading back to campus.
Get my wireless card back from the deputy.
I was taking it to Mac when I got arrested.
She said she needed it for a thing tonight.
Sure.
Thanks.
You've nearly warmed this cold, cold heart of mine.
Well, this definitely warms mine.
You don't remember the movie? Hank ordered it after I fell asleep.
It's pretty late for a movie.
Don't you think you'd have been tired after all your activities? I guess that some people have stamina.
- You didn't leave the room? - No.
Lying to me is a crime, you know? You might be thinking of perjury.
I am thinking of perjury.
Then, you might be confused about what perjury is.
Me lying to you here is not perjury.
But I am not lying.
You're aware the dean had traces of Xanax in his system? - Yes, and alcohol, they told me.
- Any idea where he got those pills? - He had a prescription.
- Which had run out.
Well, he must have had some left.
Did you sign for a prescription for Cyrus the night he was killed? - Yes.
- But you didn't see him after that? That's right.
So if I found that bottle, there wouldn't be any missing pills? - There are several missing.
- Where did they go? I took them.
My husband's suicide left me with a certain amount of anxiety.
Former computer of Cyrus O'Dell.
She's all yours.
Knock yourself out, Magnum.
- Logan.
- Hey, is Mac around? Yeah, come in.
- Hey.
- Hey.
Veronica asked me to bring you this.
Performing a favor from a jail cell.
The girl has serious friendship skills.
Jason can't do it either.
He's out of town.
Logan, can we, like, borrow you? Will I be returned in my current pristine condition? - Yes.
- Go on.
Big news today.
Mason didn't show at practice.
No one's seen or heard from him.
Any chance Mason is lying about seeing Josh with his dad? Man, I don't know.
- Who wants out of jail? - I do.
I do.
I know you from somewhere.
Yeah.
You told me to go see the Wizard and ask him for some guts.
- Well, did you? - Yeah.
He said to let you know you're the only sheriff in America who he considers a true friend of Dorothy.
- Thanks, Cliff.
- Goodnight, V.
Hey, it's me.
Just keep walking.
I need to show you something.
- Oh, Josh.
- He did it, Veronica.
I know he did.
He killed my dad.
You gotta believe me.
It's the gun I told you about.
He had it.
He killed my dad.
And this proves it.
I know how this looks, but I didn't have a choice.
Let me see the gun.
Can I see it? This is a.
22 caliber pistol.
Your dad was shot with a.
45.
- Josh.
- Why are you lying about me? - I wasn't with him.
- Josh, let him go.
Let him go.
You have to turn yourself in.
If you run, you'll look guilty.
I already look guilty.
I'm gonna get out of the country.
But I need cash.
I have 10 grand in rare coins my grandfather left me in a safe-deposit box.
I need an ID that says I'm 21 to pull them out without a parent's signature.
Can you help me with that? Wallace showed me the fake ID you made him.
Buy a disposable cell phone and call me in 24 hours.
Go.
Are you okay? I was jumped and thrown in the back of my own car by some psycho who thinks that I killed his father.
So no, I've had better days.
Thank you for believing me.
- You lied about having a gun.
- But I wasn't lying about what I saw.
He seems convinced otherwise.
Oh, really? I must have missed that.
- Will this require math? - I hope not.
- Because I'm bad at math.
- I'll do the math.
You just be male and drive.
Okay, so here's how it works.
You've just been given a clue that will lead you to a set of instructions.
You must take a cell phone photo of your team performing the task as instructed send it to me and I'll send you the next clue.
First team to finish wins backstage passes to All Tomorrow's Parties.
So, okay, couples, are we ready for the Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt? Then open your clues.
You do the math.
I'll drive.
Honey? Why is there a pistol in the freezer? Because there's this guy, see, and I wanna put him on ice.
Because revenge is a dish best served cold.
Because I wanna commit murder in the 28th degree.
- Stop.
- Josh paid me a surprise visit when I got home.
I'm fine.
He had Mason shoved in his trunk.
The gun was Mason's.
- It's a.
22.
- Yeah, I pointed that out.
It's weird.
If Josh is guilty, what's he doing going after Mason? That's what an innocent man does.
Yeah, I'm forming a new theory about that.
Mrs.
Barry thought her husband was having an affair.
Before he was murdered, she hired Vinnie to tail him.
Vinnie snapped these.
You think Mrs.
Barry hired someone to kill her husband? That's one possibility.
But it would be odd for her to hire us after that.
I'm not gonna provide a drum roll.
I was able to ID our mystery woman from her plates.
Her husband is a captain.
Official sidearm of the Navy? Colt.
45.
What if the captain found out about the affair? I'm gonna pay a visit tomorrow.
Be careful.
Where did you leave things with Josh? - I told him to turn himself in.
- Good.
And I called the sheriff's department and told them he made contact.
Good.
And I might have also promised to help him sell his coin collection so he could skip the country.
- Veronica - I'm not really gonna do it.
But it will help us bring him in.
We can lay a trap.
See, I told you, It's a Library of Congress number.
Am I the only one who misses good old Melvil Dewey? And there it is.
All the knowledge I retained from 4th grade.
Melvil Dewey.
Oh, and the types of clouds.
You know, stratus, cumulus, cirrus Indian Sutras.
"Demonstrate 127.
" Page? "The Kama Sutra, plate number 11, Congress of the Cow.
" So we like? Demonstrate.
Happy Valentine's Day.
- Okay, you first.
- Yeah.
Wait, that's Splitting of a Bamboo.
- Can I see that for a second? - Yeah.
Oh, sure.
Okay.
That's good.
And a reminder, our regularly scheduled programming can be seen an hour after its usual time.
- Super Titans? - It's a curse, actually.
Just hand them to me, please.
Hey, you know you're missing that show where women have sex in an urban setting.
It's an hour off.
You said Hank watched a Clippers game that night.
Channel 9 pushes all their programming back an hour for Clippers games.
Which means on the night of the dean's murder our earwitness was watching Space Ghost at 3:30 not 2:30.
Which means the shot he heard came an hour later.
And also after Mindy's car was returned to the hotel valet.
Get out.
Let's get out.
Tell me the next challenge is to sleep on the beach for 12 hours.
"Go to the top of the lifeguard station to rescue your final clue.
Don't forget to bring your buddy.
" Buddies.
Buddies.
Come on.
Let's go.
Let's go.
Come on.
Okay.
Hey, look in there.
- There's nothing here.
- Turn around.
Here's the thing.
I'm not what you would call a strong swimmer.
Yeah, Bronson can't swim.
Okay.
Do you have any idea how cold that water is? Please, I'm from Denver.
Right, which means you've never actually touched the Pacific Ocean.
I thought you we're supposed to be some kind of surfing badass.
Okay, I have a wet suit in the car.
Why don't we just grab that? We're in a race against time, Logan.
We have no time for you to change out of your panties.
Panties? Yeah, that's funny.
You can't swim, huh? Hey, here you go.
- Thanks.
- Sure.
You got a second, sheriff? You two kids are sure up early.
Just complete a shift snapping dirty pics at the Camelot? We got O'Dell's time of death wrong.
It wasn't until an hour later that the witness overheard the gunshot.
I'll be sure and get that noted on the dean's autopsy.
Thanks for the bulletin, Keith.
According to the valet, Mrs.
O'Dell was back at the Neptune Grand at the time of her husband's death.
So what, now, I'm a jerk because I listened to a concerned citizen? - No, just because.
- Sheriff? Does everyone need a piece of me this morning? We got the results on the keyboard you wanted.
You got prints off the dean's computer? By all means, Sacks, tell me the forensics results in front of Neptune's favorite amateur crime-fighting duo.
- I can't tell, sheriff, are you? - Did you ID the prints or not? Yeah, someone named Steve Bitondo.
Sheriff? Surprise.
Bitondo can type.
Enough to write, "Goodbye, cruel world.
" I don't know, Veronica.
He just doesn't seem the perfect-murder kind of guy.
Ratner said he overheard two men arguing in Landry's room.
What if the second one was Bitondo? Okay, guys.
Congratulations, you guys got third place.
Hey, a $50 gift certificate for the Neptune Grand restaurant.
That ought to come in handy.
Well, hey, it's still third place.
More like second loser.
All right.
- Bye.
- Bye.
- See you.
- See you.
- I had a good time last night.
- Yeah, me too.
You're a sport, Logan.
Here.
I'll see you around.
- Okay.
I'll see you.
- Yeah.
I'll see you tomorrow.
What's wrong? Nothing.
I just got O Chem at 11.
By the time I get back to my apartment to take a nap I'll have to come straight back.
Or you could just come to my room.
We could, I don't know, crash for an hour? Okay.
And this is what you meant by crash? Oh, yeah.
I meant bang.
I got my onomatopoeias mixed up.
I don't think bang is the right word either.
Well, not when you're all sweet and tender about it.
I like being sweet to you.
I'm really glad.
Wait, can I say something else instead of that? Oh, I like being sweet to you.
Now, all I got is thank you.
It's okay.
What is this? Don't you have to charge me or something? I just need you to answer a few questions.
If Dean Cyrus O'Dell is found shot to death in his office what are Steve Bitondo's fingerprints doing on his computer keyboard? You gotta be You think I killed that old bastard? The last thing typed on his keyboard was a suicide note.
And whoever wrote it, also put a bullet in the dean's head.
- That bitch is setting me up.
- That bitch being your ex-wife? I'm done talking.
I want a lawyer.
You got it, Stevie.
Mr.
Bitondo? Brace yourself for the best free legal representation in Neptune County.
Do I know you? I've got one of those faces.
I'd like to remind my client that he is answering these questions only as a courtesy to the sheriff.
- Is that it? - That's it for now.
Mr.
Bitondo, where were you on the night of December 10th, approximately? Hold on.
It says here Mr.
Bitondo was picked up at the Laundromat on El Camino.
- So? - Just pointing out that my client was taken into custody 100 yards inside Santa Rita County.
You don't have jurisdiction there.
Any information you gather today will be inadmissible but I'm sure you know that.
Do go on.
Mrs.
Andriotti.
Keith Mars.
I'm sorry to bother you.
I'm a private investigator looking into the death of Tom Barry.
A few weeks before his death his wife hired another PI to follow him.
She suspected he was having an affair.
Mrs.
Andriotti, if you know something It's Dr.
Andriotti.
I'm a neurologist.
Mr.
Barry was a patient.
He was sick? Have you heard of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease? He was terminal.
And what he was about to go through All I know is whoever killed him probably spared that poor man a lot of suffering.
You're alive.
I'm always happy to come home and find my dad hasn't been shot by a naval officer.
Some interesting twists in the Coach Barry case.
It turns out the coach's wife took out an additional life insurance policy on her husband a couple of days after Vinnie showed her the pictures of her husband with another woman.
Oh, my.
And that's not all, the new policy had a double indemnity clause.
If his death is ruled an accident say, a car-jacking murder, for instance, it paid out double.
As it stands, the family will be sitting pretty with a $5-million payout.
Mrs.
Barry was at home with the younger son and a babysitter at the time of the murder.
You think she hired somebody? That was my first thought, but with what? They took out a second mortgage to pay for their younger son's medical expenses.
It's not like they'd find 10 grand in the couch cushions.
And It's not like hit men work on spec.
- Veronica? - Nothing.
Wait until you hear the kicker.
The coach wasn't having an affair.
The woman he was seeing is a neurologist.
The coach was dying of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
It promised a grim, prolonged and expensive death.
She may have actually done him a favor.
Keith.
Josh? Here.
Your new ID.
- Thanks, Veronica.
- Good luck.
You think you're nervous now? What if you knew that there's a chance those coins will be gone.
And if they're gone, it means your mother had your father killed.
Mr.
Mars, it sounds to me like you're asking if I had my son kill my husband for insurance money? - Not exactly.
Wait here.
I wanna show you something.
I need to get into my safe-deposit box, please.
Can I see some ID? Here you go, Mr.
Barry.
I'll give you your privacy.
Mr.
Mars? A Colt.
45.
Something you wanna tell me, Mrs.
Barry? Mr.
Mars, I was not planning to shoot you.
That's so ridiculous, I don't even know how to use a gun.
You pull the trigger.
Listen to me, I got the gun to show it to you.
When Josh told me that my husband was killed and the police showed up, I hid it.
Because he did it? Because I thought it would make him look guilty.
But then I read on the Internet that they can test them, can't they? That's why I wanted you to have it.
To prove that my son is innocent.
That was Tom's old gun from his Army days.
He coached there, you know? So? Relieved? This was in there too.
That's my dad's handwriting.
- Do you have any idea what it is? - None.
Hey, Keith.
What's that? Something Mrs.
Barry neglected to turn over.
She wants it tested for powder residue.
She thinks it will help prove her son didn't do it.
Let's move, Sacks.
Give me that address again.
- 112 Delmar Circle.
- Something happened at the O'Dells'? - Yeah, another breaking-and-entering call.
- It's Bitondo.
- That's what I'm hoping.
- You want me to come along? It's just I've dealt with him before.
The guy's a little unhinged.
I think I can handle it, Keith.
But I'll tell you what, I'll give you a call if I need any backup.
Make sure he doesn't slip out.
You better hide, you crazy bitch! You like that, huh? Sheriff? I smell bread.
Sacks.
Sacks.
I need for you to go call for an ambulance now.
Son, if you're watching this you're 21 years old, I'm long gone.
And the statute of limitations has run out on our insurance claim.
It's time you know.
I was responsible for my own death.
Joshua, as I make this tape, I'm dying of a disease that will sap me of my mind and our financial resources.
I had my first attack today.
And I won't allow myself to have another.
I didn't wanna go out like that but I won't leave our family destitute, either.
The person I asked to help me wasn't a killer.
He was a dear friend who knew everything.
Son, please know that I am proud of you.
I know I was tough on you, but I was preparing you to be man of the house.
I leave this earth with no doubt you've taken good care of your mother and brother for the past couple of years.
That's simply the kind of man you are.
Josh, there's someone else in the room.
It looks like you.
That's That's Coach Yeager.
He's my dad's assistant coach.
He played for him at Army.
That's who Mason saw.
They said on the radio that Sheriff Lamb is still in intensive care.
My buddy in Customs found footage of Josh crossing the border on a fake ID.
- Please tell me it's just a coincidence.
- Dad You wanna give me plausible deniability? I suggest you remember to unplug the laminator next time.
- Why, Veronica? - You know Josh didn't do it.
Only guilty people flee the country, honey.
There's something you need to see.
Mars Investigations.
Same thing happens every year.
Heat's not working.
Furnace smells bad.
Hell, the thing's as old as the damn university.
Trustees might as well put it on the historical registry.
Look at that.
Rusted clear through.
Hey, Weevil.
Why don't you clean the flue long as we're down here, huh? Sure.
Boss? I think you should see this.
That's simply the kind of man you are.
It's the County Commissioner's office.
So Josh is planning to stay gone until his family's insurance money is safe? That's his plan.
He said he'd try to get in touch with his mom.
Tell her what really happened, but that it was more important for her and his little brother to be taken care of.
He said it was time for him to be a man.
Dad? The County Commissioner.
This is Keith Mars.
Sure, commissioner.
No.
What? I am very sorry to hear that.
Of course.
First thing in the morning.
Fine.
Okay.
Goodbye.
Yeah.
He says that Sheriff Lamb's dead.
I can't believe Josh did it and just disappeared.
How awful for that guy's family.
I really don't understand why you had to drag me down here.
I know.
I'm a tough man to shake, Mrs.
O'Dell.
What do you want, Keith? Sheriff Mars.
Two maintenance workers found a bag of bloody clothes on campus.
The shirt belongs to your boyfriend, Hank Landry.
So here's the deal.
Either you're covering for him or he's covering for you.
And you're gonna tell me which it is right now.