"Donut Run"
On his way up to his suite at the Neptune Grand, Logan winds up sharing an elevator with Veronica, who’s dressed for work. They discuss Duncan, who is still mourning for Meg (see “One Angry Veronica”), and the baby, whom Duncan still isn’t allowed to see. When the two arrive in the suite, Veronica is surprised to see Kendall emerging from the shower. She tells Veronica that she was invited and taunts that Logan was never enough for her. At school the next day, Dick tries to convince Veronica that she’s better off without Duncan. When Veronica finally encounters him, she asks him where he was the previous day, but he won’t tell her. Duncan accuses her of trying to make the whole Meg/baby situation about her. After some yelling, he tells her that they’re through. At home that night, Veronica plays sad music and destroys photos of Duncan all night. Keith tries to stay out of things but lets her know that he’s there for her. At the Neptune Grand, Weevil and Logan discuss the remaining suspects in Felix’s death; Weevil thinks either Bootsy or Hector was the culprit, as Thumper said they were the only two left on the bridge with Logan. He adds that whichever is responsible is in business with the Fitzpatricks (see “Ahoy Mateys”). Logan agrees to figure out which one is selling drugs.
Wallace finally interrupts Veronica’s moping session, wanting to take her to a movie or make her come to a basketball game. They discuss the fact that he left Chicago because he wasn’t able to play basketball at his high school there. Keith calls Veronica into the living room, where Lamb has arrived to announce that Duncan has disappeared with the baby (whom the Mannings have named Faith). Lamb quickly arrests Veronica as an accomplice. Veronica is forced to participate in a line-up at the sheriff’s department, and afterwards Cliff tells her that she was picked out by someone from the jewelry district. The witness claims that Veronica sold him diamond earrings that belonged to Celeste, and Lamb suspects that she used the money to help finance the kidnapping. Keith blasts Veronica for not taking the situation seriously, since she could go to prison for her part in the plan. Veronica admits that she did sell the earrings, but she and Duncan had a different plan - they were going to hire a lawyer so they could get custody of the baby. Keith encourages her to cooperate in the investigation so that when Duncan is found, it’ll be clear which side she’s on. Veronica is taken in to see Lamb, who is waiting with Celeste and Vinnie (see “Kanes and Abel’s”), the latter of which was hired to find Duncan. After Lamb kicks them out, Vinnie gestures for Veronica to call him.
Lamb gets Veronica to write down any information on Duncan that might lead the department to his whereabouts. She asks him if he thinks the baby is better off with Duncan or the Mannings, after what he now knows about the family (see “Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner”). Lamb thinks he should have arrested her that night because now he’s in trouble if he doesn’t find Duncan. At the Neptune Grand, Logan plays a video game with Dick and asks him to buy him Ecstasy from some bikers. On her way out after writing everything down for Lamb, Veronica runs into Vinnie, who asks her to tell him where Duncan is. She replies that if she did know, Vinnie is the last person she would tell. As she walks off, she retrieves the bugged pen he placed in her bag and gives it back. He vows to find Duncan within the next 72 hours. At school, Veronica participates in the Search Engine Olympics in class and winds up discovering that Wallace did, in fact, play basketball in Chicago. Dick tells Logan that Bootsy told him off when he asked to buy Ecstasy, but he was able to buy some from Hector. Logan writes this on the box, bumps into Weevil, and passes it to him. Lamb has border officials search the car of everyone entering Mexico in case Duncan is on his way out of the country. The border officials and Mexico-bound travelers aren’t happy.
Two FBI agents, Morris and Wills, arrive at the sheriff’s department to discuss the kidnapping and quickly make it clear that they want Lamb’s full cooperation. Elsewhere in the building, Veronica chats with a deputy who tells her that he moonlights as a bouncer at a club in L.A. He offers to get her in if she ever stops by. (This will be important in “Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle.”) Before Lamb, Morris, and Wills meet with Veronica, Lamb warns them that she’s “slippery.” The agents are less than impressed, as she’s reading a magazine article about Nick and Jessica when they first meet her. Veronica mentions that Duncan has a dotmac account, which he used to back up all of his files. The agents quickly start moving on getting a warrant and figuring out his password. When Veronica hears about Lamb’s overenthusiasm at the border, she tells him that Duncan hates Mexico, but he doesn’t believe her. Lamb then tries to impress Morris by saying that he’s thought about joining the FBI. It doesn’t work. That night, the bikers assemble so that Weevil can accuse Hector of being in business with the Fitzpatricks. Hector replies that he got the Ecstasy from an 09er and thought it would be nice to take advantage of the situation to sell from one to another. Weevil demands his name.
Back at the sheriff’s department, Wills and Morris tell Veronica that Duncan’s password was “enakgem,” Meg Kane backwards. Lamb notes that he bookmarked a boat for sale, and the seller revealed that he sold the boat to a teenaged boy. Lamb is sure that Duncan is heading to Mexico. Sacks announces that the Coast Guard has found the boat, but when they board, all they find are diapers and Spaghetti-Os. Morris worries that Duncan killed himself, but Veronica says he must still be on the run. Back at her apartment, Veronica spots Vinnie watching the building from a van and gives him a note to pass to Duncan when he finds him. Vinnie reads it, of course. At Neptune High, Weevil tracks down Sean (see “An Echolls Family Christmas” and “A Trip to the Dentist”), the 09er Hector bought the Ecstasy from. Sean won’t provide the name of his supplier but says that he’s not working for the Fitzpatricks. Logan, who has been hiding in a stall the whole time, believes him. Weevil is sure that one of the bikers is working with the Fitzpatricks; Logan suggests that it might have been Felix. Weevil tells him that two of the Fitzpatricks stuck around high school for a long time so they could keep selling drugs. After they were expelled, Weevil’s predecessor, Reaper Gus, “expanded” the bikers’ business. Months later, he disappeared. The Reaper was Felix’s older brother, so Weevil is sure that Felix would never work with the Fitzpatricks.
At lunch, Veronica presents Wallace with his basketball stats from Chicago and asks him why he really came back to Neptune. He reveals that he became friends with a fellow player, Rashard Rucker, and went to a party with him one night. Driving home a little drunk, Rashard hit a homeless man and took off. He went to his uncle/agent’s house, where the guys were told to keep quiet so that Rashard, a star player, wouldn’t lose out on any chances to play basketball in the future. Wallace tried to cooperate but felt so badly about what had happened that he came back to try to forget about it. He didn’t want to tell Veronica what happened because he knows that Veronica would have stayed and done the right thing. Later, Veronica gets a call from a frantic-sounding Duncan and tries to convince him to come back. At the sheriff’s department, Morris and Wills trace the call to Big Bear and Lamb quickly prepares to head out. Morris tells him that his help won’t be needed. Veronica heads home, but instead of going into her apartment, she goes next door. There, she greets Duncan with a kiss and says, “It’s time.” He and the baby have been hiding out in the apartment, and now that the FBI agents are distracted with the notion of finding him in Big Bear, he’s going to flee with the baby. Veronica is worried about losing Duncan, but he assures her that he loves her.
At the sheriff’s department, Sacks tells Lamb that someone used Veronica’s ATM card in Mexico. Lamb is pleased that he didn’t believe her when she told him Duncan wouldn’t go down there. At home, Keith discovers a hole in the wall of Veronica’s bathroom that connects to the apartment next door. He also finds a package of diapers, Meg’s e-mails, and Grace’s journal. In the Neptune High parking lot, Wallace is approached by a Chicago reporter who tells him he knows that he and Rashard were out and about the night of the hit-and-run. “What kind of man were you plannin’ on bein’?” he asks Wallace. Lamb heads over the border (getting through without having his car checked) and starts asking people if they’ve seen Duncan. Veronica arrives home and is confronted by an upset Keith. She tries to convince him that she and Duncan were doing the right thing, but Keith is angry that she lied to him. He admits that he’s not sure he’ll ever be able to trust her again. Morris and Wills arrive, having not found Duncan in Big Bear but instead learned that the condo he was supposedly in was rented to a blond woman. They also found a cassette tape containing Duncan’s half of his phone conversation with Veronica. The agents search the apartment but don’t find the diapers, making Veronica realize that Keith moved them.
At a tattoo parlor, Weevil learns that Felix planned to have a girl’s face tattooed on his chest. From a strip of photos the tattoo artist shows him, he realizes that the girl is Molly Fitzpatrick. Lamb continues questioning people in Mexico, passing a group of backpackers as he drives past a restaurant. His trunk opens as he’s driving, and when he goes to check it out, he finds it rigged to open. There are also water bottles and food inside. One of the backpackers gets into a truck with Vinnie, Astrid (see “My Mother, the Fiend”), and the baby. He removes his disguise, revealing that he’s Duncan, and gives Vinnie some money. Duncan thinks that the baby thinks Astrid is Veronica; Astrid notes that the FBI believe the same. Duncan takes the baby, whom he has renamed Lilly, and the three drive off, passing an oblivious Lamb. Back in Neptune, Veronica puts the fortune from the cookie Duncan gave her (see “Normal is the Watchword”) on her mirror. In addition to containing the lottery numbers from Lost (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42), it reads, “True love stories never have endings.”
THE FELIX TOOMBS CASE: According to Thumper, only Hector and Bootsy were on the bridge with Logan at the time of Felix’s murder.
Felix suspected the Fitzpatricks of killing his older brother.
Felix was secretly involved with Molly Fitzpatrick.
MEMORABLE QUOTES: Logan: “Hi, ho.”
Cliff: “The sheriff thinks you’re an accomplice, and that you helped Duncan plan and finance this kidnapping.”
Vinnie: “Hey, Veronica! What’s the haps?”
Logan: “You’re not real complicated, are you, Dick?”
Morris: “Now, Sheriff, I think we should make it clear right from the get-go that we are here to get that baby back. And we are willing to combine our resources--.”
Written and directed by Rob Thomas
Veronica: “What did you say?”
Logan: “Oh, your uniform. Hi-ho, it’s off to work you go.”
Veronica: “I guess that makes me Snow White.”
Logan: “You must be on your way up to see Mopey.”
Veronica: “How’s he doing, Sleazy?”
Veronica: “That’s a lot of thinking for Lamb. He may tire himself out.”
Veronica: “Oh, you know. I didn’t think there’d be air conditioning, but other than that, this is pretty much how I pictured Hell.”
Dick: “Try not to be.”
Lamb: “I’ll share anything that you need--.”
Morris: “--Until such time as you pi%$ us off. And when that time comes - and it usually comes quickly in Sleepyburg or World’s-Biggest-Ball-of-Stringsville or wherever the he%$ we are this week - when that time comes, we will cut you out like you were a meter maid.”