Episode 7: The Girl Next Door
This one starts with Veronica sitting on the steps of her apartment complex as someone is taken out of her neighbour’s place on a stretcher. There are cops, EMTs, and the ubiquitous gawkers milling around. Veronica wonders if what happened was her fault or if things would’ve played out the same even if she hadn’t gotten involved. This is one of those stories that shows us the end first, then tells what happened in flashback. The scene moves back to a week ago, when Veronica
ran into a neighbour, Sarah (played by Jessica Chastain). Veronica heard Jessica (who’s very pregnant) and her boyfriend (Andre) fighting the night before. Jessica says it was about her journal, which has gone missing. Andre thinks she’s been screwing around with her boss, so Sarah figures he took her journal to check up on her. She asks Veronica to give her a ride to the doctor’s office the next day; she’s getting some test results and she’s pretty freaked out about it. Naturally, Veronica says she’s happy to help.
At school, the principal reminds Logan that his father (famous actor Aaron Echolls) promised to donate a pair of boots from one of his movies for a 
school auction. The principal hasn’t heard from Aaron, so he asks Logan to remind him. In home room, Ms. Dent introduces Veronica to a woman named Evelyn, who’s on the alumni committee. Evelyn is In charge of setting up some kind of display for the Class of 1979, so Ms. Dent asks if Veronica will help her. Evelyn is kind of a chatterbox, but Veronica agrees to help her … mostly because Veronica’s mom Lianne (who walked out on her family a year ago) was in the Class of ‘79.
Meanwhile, Logan and Weevil get in shit from a teacher named Daniels for talking during a test. (They weren’t cheating, just mouthing each other off, as usual.) Logan mouths off to Daniels and Weevil laughs; they both get detention, which Weevil points out is unfair but hardly unexpected, since
rich kids like Logan get all the breaks. Logan and Weevil end up playing cards in detention, but Daniels breaks up the game and gives them a whole week of detention, promising there’ll be no time for games. At home, Veronica sees an argument between Andre and Sarah, who’s freaking out about her mother coming to visit, and about a bunch of calls from a woman named Joanna. The argument gets pretty heated and Andre notices Veronica watching them.
That night, Veronica hears a thump and a scream from upstairs and Veronica goes all Rear Window, jumping to the worst conclusion. She mentions her suspicions to her dad the next morning and he’s not too impressed. (Keith: “Would you describe the sound as Hitchcockian?”) 
Veronica goes to take Sarah to her doctor’s appointment, but nobody’s home except the dog, a chihuahua named Killer. Veronica looks through the window and the place is a mess, which just stokes her suspicions. At school, Veronica goes over the 1979 yearbook and finds out her mother and Jake Kane were the king and queen of the Prom, which probably means they were dating at the time. Weevil talks to one of his friends about how detention with Logan sucks and his friend reminds him that he banged Logan’s girlfriend, Lilly. Weevil gets mad and tells him to shut up; it seems Weevil may have had some real feelings for Lilly, and not just in his pants.
Veronica tells Duncan that her mom and his dad used to date. He’s surprised, but doesn’t seem to care all that much. Veronica remembers when he dumped her the previous year; he didn’t actually tell her they were broken up, he just stopped talking to her, like ghosting her right to her face.
Veronica asked Lilly to figure out why Duncan was acting so weird and Lilly said she’d try. After school, Logan and Weevil find out part of their punishment is to wash Mr. Daniels’s car. Veronica goes to the clothing store where Sarah works and her boss (Nathan) says she hasn’t been in all day. Nathan says Sarah never misses work, then gets all gossipy and says Sarah and Andre fought constantly, including a huge fight when Sarah spent the night at Nathan’s place once. (They weren’t banging, it was just storming and she couldn’t make it home, but Andre wasn’t convinced.)
Veronica goes to Andre’s studio (he’s an artist) and asks about the fight he 
and Sarah had. He said Sarah freaked when she found out he told her mother about her pregnancy. Andre says Sarah has a history of running away when she feels pressured and she’ll come back when she gets it out of her system. Veronica mentions the noise she heard and Andre says she’s paranoid. Andre apparently has better things to do than argue with Veronica, as a good-looking model comes in and doffs her robe to pose nude for him. I assume this is Joanna, whose calls were getting Sarah all jealous; ah, the life of an artist.
That night, Veronica hears the dog barking upstairs and uses that as an excuse to go snooping. She climbs through the window and starts poking around, finding Sarah’s phone and a gun in a drawer. Andre comes home and catches her, but she gives him some bullshit about checking on the dog and finding the door unlocked. Andre knows she’s full of crap and tells her
to stay the hell out of her business. At school the next day, Veronica is working on the alumni display and casually asks Evelyn about her mom and Jake Kane. Evelyn says they were quite the power couple; everyone assumed they’d end up married, but obviously that didn’t happen. Veronica reflects on how transitory high school is, since she and Duncan were supposed to be the perfect couple before he dumped her for no apparent reason. She thinks back to Lilly acting really weir after talking to Duncan, telling Veronica to move on and forget him. Whatever Lilly found out, it must’ve been pretty bad since she wouldn’t even give Veronica a hint.
Logan and Weevil’s punishment continues with arranging the library bookshelves. Weevil says he has a great idea on how to get back at Daniels and Logan is all ears. Later, Daniels goes out to the parking lot and finds his 
car is gone. At home, Veronica sees Sarah’s mom (Emily) and step-father (Randall) leaving after talking to Andre. Emily is obviously worried about Sarah’s disappearance, so Veronica gives her Keith’s card, saying he’s great at tracking down missing people. The next day at school, Daniels finds his missing car impaled on the flagpole. I have no clue how they would’ve none that, unless they somehow used a crane. Naturally, Weevil is the main suspect and he’s dragged into the principal’s office. Weevil refuses to say who helped him, so he’s expelled. When Logan hears about the expulsion (and how Weevil didn’t rat on him), he feels a bit guilty.
At Keith’s office, Emily tells Keith how Sarah used to be a great kid but got all weird and moody after Emily remarried. Sarah started picking fights with her and her schoolwork went to shit. She finally took off without even
finishing school. Randall tries to defend her, but Emily says Sarah had a knack for attracting troubled young men. Later, Keith tells Veronica he’ll handle the case himself, since things like this usually don’t end well. Veronica convinces him to let her keep doing legwork, as long as she promises to stay away from Andre. She calls the hospital and fakes them into giving her Sarah’s test results. Turns out it was a DNA test and Andre isn’t the baby’s father.
At school, Logan confesses that he helped Weevil put Daniels’s car on the flagpole. The principal says Logan will have to be punished, which is when Logan reveals he’s wearing his father’s boots … the ones the principal 
wanted for the school auction. Veronica goes to the clothing store to ask Nathan about who might be the father of Sarah’s baby. He mentions that Sarah was raped and that’s a big part of why she left her hometown. Veronica thinks it’s strange Sarah would tell Nathan something so personal, then she realizes he must be the one who took Sarah’s journal, probably when she stayed over at his house. Nathan denies having the journal, so Veronica goes out to make a phone call.
Soon, Weevil and his biker gang show up and start pawing through all the merchandise. They threaten to trash the place if Nathan doesn’t hand over the journal. That night, Keith is watching Andre’s studio and sees him and
Joanna loading a couple of suitcases in his car. Keith follows them to the train station and confronts them, but it turns out Joanna is the one catching the train … Andre was just giving her a lift. At school, Weevil (who’s been reinstated after Logan’s confession) and Logan are made to paint over graffiti as punishment for the car incident. Logan notices a tattoo on Weevil’s side that says Lilly and gets all worked up until Weevil tells him his little sister is named Lilly.
Veronica reads Sarah’s journal, which doesn’t shed any light on who raped her, but does give her a clue as to where Sarah might be. (And apparently Andre’s not such an asshole after all.) Veronica tracks Sarah down and 
convinces her to come home. Sarah’s not happy that her mom and step-dad are at her lace, but agrees to come back. That night, Keith congratulates Veronica for finding Sarah. Veronica says she still doesn’t trust Andre, but Keith says Andre knows about the baby not being his and doesn’t care. Keith says a guy has to love someone a lot to want to raise someone else’s kid. That makes Veronica think and when Keith asks her who the father of Sarah’s baby is, she gets even more contemplative. A lot of you have probably figured it out already, which is more than Veronica can say.
Upstairs, all hell’s about to break loose, as Andre takes the dog for a walk and Sarah figures that’s the perfect time to tell her mother that her new husband is the one who raped her (numerous times) and that he’s the father of her baby. Emily doesn’t believe it, but Sarah is adamant. When Keith hears the ruckus, he
heads upstairs, telling Veronica not to follow him. Sarah pulls the gun on Randall but when Keith knocks on the door, Randall disarms her and tries to pound her with the gun. Keith shoots Randall (in the shoulder) through the window and Emily finally realizes she married a total scumbag. And that’s basically where we came in, with Randall being taken away in the ambulance. Veronica knows the real damage was done long before she even knew Sarah, but she also knows she helped bring it all to light. She can’t help wondering if some things are better left buried.