Episode 18: Know What You’ll Do Next Summer
This one starts with Veronica and Piz (looking pretty cozy after last episode) studying together. Keith keeps interrupting to quiz Veronica on P.I. procedures, since she’s taking her private investigator’s exam tomorrow. Piz mentions a book he’s reading about a child soldier in Uganda (Apollo Bukenya) who was conscripted at six years of age and never even knew his
father. Piz is interviewing Apollo on his radio show, but Apollo’s book already has some interest from Hollywood … and Oprah. Keith gets a call about the latest in a series of break-ins in the rich part of town. The crime wave is making Keith look bad and may jeopardize his chances of being elected Sheriff. The next day, Veronica takes her P.I. test and looks pretty cool about it, unlike most of the other test-takers, who look nervous as hell.
At Hearst (which is hosting the annual Job fair where companies try to 
recruit graduates), Piz interviews Apollo on the radio and his story is very moving. Apollo’s friend and adviser (Professor Lisa Tomlin) is at the interview, and says he’s taught her as much as she’s taught him. After the show, Piz tells Veronica he was offered an internship at Pitchfork Media over the summer, which is like heaven for Indie Rock snobs, but he’d have to go to New York. He’s kinda conflicted about it, but Veronica seems genuinely happy for him … which makes him even more conflicted.
Later, Veronica calls Keith to tell him she passed her exam with flying colours, although she’s upset when she finds out she didn’t beat his score. So, Veronica is a licensed investigator now (or soon will be) and she takes a call for Mars Investigations. It’s a guy named Kizza saying he thinks Apollo
is his son and he wants proof. At Hearst, Wallace reads Apollo’s book and is very moved by it. Wallace figures the guy looking for Apollo just wants to cash in on Apollo’s upcoming riches. For once, Veronica is less cynical than Wallace, pointing out that Kizza doesn’t even want her to tell Apollo anything until there’s proof. Kizza sent Veronica a letter supposedly written by Apollo’s mom, so if she can get a handwriting sample, maybe she can compare them.
At the police station, Keith interrogates a guy (Tommy) trying to sell some of the stolen stuff from the recent break-ins. Tommy’s too stupid to be the 
mastermind behind such sophisticated heists and Keith soon realizes Tommy works for the Fitzpatricks. At Hearst, Veronica tells Apollo she wants to interview him for the Hearst Free Press and he agrees to sit down with her. Logan meets Parker’s parents, who treat her like a kid) and they aren’t too impressed by him. Parker has no other options for the summer and Logan says she can stay at his place because he’s going surfing in South America with Dick. Parker’s not thrilled to hear that, but Logan says the trip was planned a while ago and has nothing to do with how he feels about her.
Apollo tells Veronica about his life as a child soldier in Uganda and she feels bad for lying to him, but does manage to convince him to show her a shopping list from his mother …. the last thing she gave him before he was
conscripted (and his best friend, another child soldier, was forced to shoot Apollo’s mother). Veronica compares the shopping list to the letter Kizza sent and the handwriting matches. Later, Parker asks Veronica about Logan blowing her off to go surfing and Veronica says that’s just how Logan is. Parker mentions Mac and Max have been engaging in a sex marathon, taking advantage of the hormone rush that accompanies a new relationship.
At Max’s place, he and Mac are subsisting on pizza and sex and getting along great until Max mentions he’s been neglecting his classes for his 
online business. Mac figures he’ll cram like crazy to save his year, but Max says he doesn’t care and is just counting the days until he’s expelled. In the cafeteria, Piz tells Veronica he got another internship offer, this time at a radio station in Neptune. The station is Top 40, which Piz hates, but it’s radio, which is where his long-term aspirations lie. Veronica says he should do whatever gets him closer to landing his ultimate dream job. Piz is kinda taken aback again, since Veronica doesn’t seem to care whether he goes to New York or stays in Neptune for the summer. Veronica gets a call from Kizza and tells him to get to Neptune as soon as he can. When she calls Apollo, he says he’s been wanting to talk to her and asks her to meet him in the library.
At the police station, Liam Fitzpatrick is brought in to see Keith, who accuses him of orchestrating the string of robberies to make Keith look bad so he isn’t elected Sheriff. Liam says if Keith tells him where Kendall’s money went, the robberies might stop, but Keith points out that money
never belonged to Liam in the first place. In the Hearst library, Apollo has the Free Press editor with him, so he knows Veronica was lying about the interview they had earlier. Veronica admits she was hired by Kizza, who thinks he might be Apollo’s father. She shows him the letter supposedly from Apollo’s mom, but he says her shopping list was published in his hometown paper, so anyone could’ve forged the letter. Veronica says a blood test will prove paternity, but Apollo refuses to consider that.
Later, Mac confides to Veronica that she’s worried about Max’s lack of caring about his academic career. Mac is afraid her feelings for him will 
make her lazy and she’ll end up being a useless lump with an unhealthy attachment to Max. At the office, Veronica tries to track down Apollo (who’s disappeared) and gets a couple of leads. Kizza comes in looking for Detective Mars and isn’t happy to see he’s hired a teenage girl. (Veronica’s Garfield pen cover doesn’t help his mood.) At the police station, the head of the Homeowners’ Association tells Keith they’re getting impatient with his lack of progress in the robberies. Keith gets a report that says all the houses that have been robbed were “protected” by a company called SafeHouse.
At Hearst, Logan invites Parker to go on the surfing trip with him and Dick and she’s pretty happy about it. Veronica tries different people to get a line on Apollo and finally gets something from his ex-roommate (and ex-
friend) Zeke. Zeke says Apollo’s book is bullshit; he took stories that happened to other people are used them as his own, getting his professor to write the book. When Veronica tells Wallace, he says maybe she should keep her mouth shut, since Apollo’s book has inspired so many people and shed light on the problem of child conscription in Uganda. Veronica gets a call from Apollo’s girlfriend saying he’s in his dorm and ready to talk to her.
When Veronica goes to see Apollo, he’s arguing on the phone with someone. When he goes to the laundry room, she hits redial and realizes his big film 
deal has been canceled. Apollo comes back and says he’ll meet Kizza and take a blood test. At the hotel, Dick’s dad comes to see him, saying he got tired of being a fugitive and turned himself in. His lawyers negotiated a one-year sentence (probably minimum security) and he wants to spend some time with Dick before he starts serving time in the fall. Dick’s not too enthused about that and says he already has plans.
Veronica tells Kizza that Apollo’s book is bullshit and that he’s not going to be getting rich off it, so if that’s why Kizza tracked him down, he’s shit out of luck. Kizza insists he just wants to see his son. He’s been alone since he
left Uganda and desperately wants to connect to someone. The next day, Apollo shows up at Veronica’s office to take the blood test, but Kizza is nowhere to be seen. At the police station, Keith points out to Vinnie (his opponent in the Sheriff’s race) that he’s done some work for SafeHouse Security and all the houses that were robbed used that company. Keith suggests that Vinnie and the Fitzpatricks are colluding to make him look bad so Vinnie is elected Sheriff. Vinnie doesn’t deny it, but says Keith needs real proof.
At the office, Veronica apologizes for Kizza’s no-show and Apollo admits that he really did write the book. With a little help from his friends, Apollo 
played Veronica, knowing she’d tell Kizza there was no payday. So if Kizza was legit he’d have showed up, but since he didn’t he was probably only after Apollo’s money. Veronica gets a call from Keith, who says Kizza is in jail because his rental car had stolen plates for some reason. That explains why Kizza didn’t show up for the blood test and when Apollo and Veronica go to the police station, it doesn’t take Kizza long to convince Apollo he really is his father and they have a tearful reunion.
At the Job Fair, Wallace signs up to volunteer over the summer with Invisible Children, an organization that helps child soldiers in Africa. Mac tries to interest Max in some real jobs, but he says his online scams are
going to keep him busy for a while. Mac says that’s fine, but she has her own stuff to do, so they can’t spend every waking moment together and Max is cool with that. So I guess they’re not breaking up, just maintaining a healthy distance so Mac doesn’t get pulled into a vortex of inertia. Dick gives his father shit for not showing up for Beaver’s funeral and reminds him that they used to treat Beaver like shit and maybe that’s why he turned out to be a murderer.
Dick tells Logan he can’t go to South America because he needs to spend time with his dad. Logan tells Parker the trip is off because Dick’s not going and it would be too expensive to go without him. Parker isn’t too happy, 
especially since she has to spend the summer with her controlling parents now. At home, Veronica lets Piz and her father know that Apollo and Kizza’s blood types matched, so that was a happy ending. They watch a commercial for Vinnie’s campaign, paid for by the Homeowners’ Association, so I guess Vinnie’s underhanded tactics worked. Veronica gets a call from the FBI telling her she’s been accepted for their summer intern program and she’s thrilled. Piz isn’t quite so happy; maybe he realizes this is why Veronica didn’t care where he spent his summer because she had plans of her own.