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A mystery permeates throughout Veronica Mars - who killed Veronica's best friend Lilly Kane?

Producer Rob Thomas has promised that this mystery will be solved by the end of the first season.

In this dossier, we will collate all the clues pertaining to this mystery, episode by episode, so you can keep track of how it all develops.

The clues revealed in each episode will also be posted on the respective synopses pages .

Season finale - Episode Twenty-Two - Leave It To Beaver. Screened Friday December 9.

- Keith brings the prostitute (who was with Abel Koontz at the time of the murder) to a journalist friend to try and get him to print the story. The journalist doesn't bite, but Keith leaves him with a detailed file.

- Keith gets his paternity test results back and reads them. We don't get to see the results just yet.

 - The journalist prints the story detailing the prostitute's claim she was with Abel Koontz at the time of the murder.  Dick and Beaver Casablancas read it and are somewhat perturbed.

- Duncan shows his parents the article. His mother dismisses it as lies, but Duncan gets mad and demands an end to all the lying. His father Jake asks him if he really wants the truth. Duncan says yes and his father tells him that he, Duncan, killed Lilly! It was while in an epilepsy-induced fit. They found him with Lilly's body and covered up the crime. Duncan is shattered.

- Beaver Casablancas goes to Veronica and tells her that he, Dick and Logan were in Mexico the weekend Lilly was killed and that the morning of her murder Logan drove back to Neptune to see her after going on and on that he knew she was cheating on him.

- Veronica tells Keith this, mentioning that Logan bought Lilly a particular shot-glass in Mexico, which Keith reveals was found in her car, confirming he saw Lilly the day she was killed.

- Veronica, still reeling from last episode's revelation goes to see Logan and lies about why she's been avoiding him. Logan says he's starting to think Duncan may be the culprit.

- Veronica reports the Keith that Logan is trying to pin the murder on Duncan. Weevil overhears her conversation with Keith in which she voices her suspicions that Logan killed Lilly.

- Celeste Kane agrees to pay Keith the reward for finding Duncan only if Veronica signs a waver relinquishing any future claim to the Kane fortune, which she does without hesitation, despite her suspicions that Jake Kane might be her real father. Keith then reveals to Veronica that he is without a doubt her father, and shows her the proof.

- They then decide to go to the authorities with their news of Logan's blown alibi, which has been confirmed by border patrol.

- The police arrive at the Echolls household and search the house.

- Outside school, Logan gets arrested just before Weevil pounds his head with a lead pipe.

- Logan is being interrogated about why he lied about being in Mexico when Lilly was killed. He calls Veronica and asks for her father's help - she agrees. Then Sheriff Lamb tells Logan it was Veronica who gave him the information about Logan.

- Sheriff Lamb later reveals to Keith that they had to let Logan due to lack of evidence.

- Logan finds Veronica on the beach. He tells her that he drove up to find Lilly, but couldn't bring himself to talk to her, sensing that it was over between them. So he wrote her a note and left it in her car with the shot glass.

- Veronica's voice over reveals that the letter was never found by the police. Veronica disguises herself as a waitress to get into the Kane household where they are hosting a party for the governor. She sneaks into Lilly's room and discovers that her usual hiding place has been recently opened. While opening it herself, Duncan busts her. She reveals to him that she thinks Logan killed Lilly. Accessing Lilly's hiding space they find video tapes. 

- On the video tape is footage from the Echolls' pool house filmed on the camera Veronica discovered at the end of last episode. We see Lilly flopping about on the bed in the outfit she was wearing the day she died. She calls to a "lover" but the footage ends before we see he it is. On the next tape we see Lilly having sex with Aaron Echolls! Logan's Dad!

- Veronica has a moment of clarity and envisions Lilly discovering the recording equipment and taking the tape home and putting them in her hiding place. She imagines Aaron Echolls demanding the tape back and killing her before fleeing the scene. Then Duncan arriving home and discovering Lilly, having a fit, then his parents discovering the situation and concluding Duncan killed Lilly.

- Veronica realises she has to get the tapes to her father, but before she leaves she tells Duncan about the paternity and that she isn't his sister.

- Veronica calls her father and fills him in, then tries to get a hold of Duncan, who is about to jump off the same bridge as his mother. He won't answer his phone, but then Weevil and the other bikers turn up.

- Driving home, suddenly Veronica sees that Aaron Echolls in the back seat. He grabs the tapes out of her bag, but then she intentionally crashes the car, sending Aaron into the windscreen. She wakes up, but Aaron is still unconscious. She retrieves the tapes and limps away to a nearby house, stashing them separately around the outside of the house. But then Aaron catches up with her, knocks her out and stashes her in a fallen down fridge. He taunts her by walkie talkie, pouring gasoline all around the fridge, demanding to know where the tapes are. She tells him where one of them is - on the roof and Aaron goes up there to retrieve it. Then Keith turns up and he and Aaron fight. Just as Keith gets the upper hand, Aaron throws a lit lighter at the fridge. Keith manages to save Veronica, but Aaron gets away and attempts to leave in Keith's car before Veronica's dog backup stops him. He stumbles into the road and is hit by a flower truck.

- As Aaron is being put into the ambulance, he is arrested. Jake Kane arrives and breaks down with rage at Aaron - then he is arrested for obstruction of justice.

 - At the hospital, the doctors ask if there's anyone they can call to be with Keith.

- Veronica arrives home and tells her mom to leave because she discovered she checked herself out of rehab. When her mother leaves, she takes the $50,000 check Keith got from the Kane's for finding Duncan.

- We see that Veronica called Wallace's mum Alicia to be with Keith.

- We see Veronica letting go of Lilly in her mind. Then there is a knock at the door. Veronica opens it.

"I was hoping it would be you," she says.

We don't see who it is. End of season. This show rules.

Episode Twenty-One - A Trip To The Dentist. Screened Friday December 2.

- Keith tracks Duncan down in Cuba where Duncan discusses Lilly's murder with Keith and says he didn't kill Lilly.

- Logan finally talks to Veronica and denies all knowledge of her date rape. He admits to having GHB on the night, but denies spiking her drink. Veronica isn't sure whether or not to believe him, and goes about investigating what really happened.

- After talking to lots of people, she learns that Duncan was who she had sex with. But it wasn't rape, it was consensual, albeit drunken. Duncan tells her this, but Veronica doesn't remember. Duncan admits he freaked out and left when he woke up and realised what he had done 'cause he knew Veronica was his sister, information his mom told him. Veronica breaks down. Celeste Kane witnesses this exchange.

- Veronica apologises to Logan for accusing him and they make up.

- Keith goes to Vegas ostensibly to track down the entertainment lawyer he's been looking for. But when he arrives he orders a prostitute. When she arrives, he says he knows she was with Abel Koontz at the time Lilly Kane was murdered. She denies all knowledge, but he presses with it.

 - When Logan and Veronica's relationship is revealed to everyone at a surprise party thrown by Aaron Echolls, Duncan leaves and has a crazy rage fit and smashes up his car.

- Veronica also discovers it was Madison who gave her the spiked drink; albeit without knowing it had GHB in it. As a juvenile prank, Madison spat in a drink that was given to her by her boyfriend (that she didn't know contained GHB) and gave it to Veronica.

 - Logan admits to Veronica that he spiked Duncan's drink and feels responsible for what happened between them. Veronica absolves him.

 - When Duncan is about to get intimate with Veronica in the pool room, she discovers a camera set up to tape them built into the wall. She leaves. When she arrives home, she finds her mother sitting in the lounge with Keith!

Episode Twenty - M.A.D. Screened Friday November 25.

- Keith and Veronica struggle to track down Duncan, who has done a good job of disappearing.

- Veronica discovers that Logan may have been the one who drugged her the night she was date-raped at Shelley Pomeroy's party.

Episode Nineteen - Hot Dogs. Screened Friday November 18.

- Weevil discusses Duncan's disappearance with Veronica. He tells her how gossip suggests he ran away because Veronica accused him of killing Lilly. "So you think they got the wrong guy?" says Weevil, before Keith interrupts their discussion.

- Weevil is then busted in Lilly Kane's bedroom. Veronica goes to see him in jail, and he says he was trying to retrieve his grandmother's diamond engagement ring, which he gave to Lilly when they were seeing each other.

- Celeste Kane turns up at Mars Investigations and blames her for Duncan's disappearance. She says some mean things to both her and Keith then leaves. Veronica then tells Celeste she'll help her find Duncan if she drops the charges against Weevil. Celeste leaves without answering, but later, Weevil is released.

- Veronica realizes that the pen found on Weevil after he broke into the Kane household was a secret spy pen of Lilly's.

- Veronica talks to Keith about Weevil. He says that an airtight alibi removed Weevil from the suspect list. But even with the knowledge that Lilly died earlier than reported, Veronica and Keith theorize that Weevil still must be innocent as they can't work out why the Kane's would cover up Weevil's guilt.

- Veronica confronts Weevil about the pen, who refuses to reveal any secret messages found on it. Or even acknowledge if there were any.

- Keith covertly sends some hairs away to test if he is Veronica's father.

Episode Eighteen - Weapons of Class Destruction. Screened Friday November 11

- When Duncan confronts Veronica about her ongoing investigation into his sister's death, he appears cold and unfeeling. He enquires about what her file on him says. She talks about his weird epilepsy and its related violent mood swings and blackouts. Veronica tells him about Abel Koontz being paid to confess by the Kanes, but he is disbelieving. When Veronica asks him if he remembers what happened that day, he realises she thinks he might've killed Lilly. He gets super angry and screams in Veronica's face - "What do you think I'm gonna have another episode and kill you too!" - then he gathers himself and runs away.

- Then Duncan disappears after taking $10,000 out of the bank. His girlfriend Meg thinks he's run away.

- Oh and Logan totally kisses Veronica! May not have anything to do with the Lilly Kane case, but I just had to tell someone.

Episode Seventeen - Kanes and Abel's. Screened Friday November 4.

- Veronica decides to track down Amelia DeLongpre, Abel Koontz' daughter whom she just discovered existed, and who is the financial beneficiary of Koontz' false confession.

- Veronica gets to Amelia just before Clarence Weidman and informs her about the confession payoff. Amelia (who isn't in touch with her father) thought the millions she was going to receive was part of an out of court settlement. Veronica puts Amelia in a hotel room and tells her not to contact anyone. She concocts a plan to use Amelia and her mother to prove Koontz' confession was paid for by Jake Kane.

- Veronica attends a dinner at the Kane household to launch a scholarship they have created in Lilly's name. She finds her mind wandering and envisions scenarios in which Celeste and Jake murder Lilly. In Veronica's mind, Lilly defends her parents.

- Clarence Weidman visits Keith and asks him if he's seen Amelia DeLongpre. This clues Keith on to the fact that Veronica is still working on the case. He tells her off. But then discusses the case with her. Keith says he discovered a phone record showing that Jake called Clarence Weidman after he discovered Lilly's body.

- Veronica theorizes a scenario in which Clarence helps Jake Kane fudge the murder scene.

- After Logan discovers Veronica's Lilly Kane case file, she fears he will tell everyone she is obsessed. Instead, they discuss Duncan's mysterious "illness", which appears to be some sort of weird epilepsy. Logan is surprised that Duncan never told him about this. Discussing how the illness can manifest itself (hysterical laughter, blind rage, uncontrollable crying), Logan confides in Veronica that he once witnessed a mental Duncan strangling Jake and screaming. It was the week Jake and Veronica broke up.

 - Just when Veronica is about to pick up the settlement papers from Amelia DeLongpre that detail Abel's agreement with Kane's software, thus proving his innocence, Clarence gets a hold of her and turns her against Veronica. Veronica and Keith are too late and their best chance of blowing the case wide open is gone.

- Keith and Veronica work together on his Lilly Kane case file. Keith talks about the night he got the call about after the discovery of Lilly's body. In flashback we see him questioning Jake and Celeste. They explain how Duncan was showering after soccer practice when they got home. He hadn't gone outside yet, where Lilly's body was. While questioning them, the dryer buzzer goes off. Keith can't work out why people who probably hadn't done their own laundry in twenty years (what with all the maids and such) would suddenly do so. Especially on the night they found their dead daughter. Keith explains that it was a soccer uniform he found in the dryer. Veronica imagines a scenario in which Duncan kills Lilly do to his weird illness.

Episode Sixteen - Betty and Veronica. Screened Friday October 28.

- Veronica discovers that Clarence Wiedman, head of Kane Security, had managed to get a bug into her bedroom, and thus new she was going to Barstow to find her mother. Which is why he was in the bar when she found Lianne Mars.

- Lianne tells Veronica that she knows Jake Kane is innocent of Lilly's murder because she was with him at the time Lilly was killed. In a hotel room at the Neptune Grand. She says she was just there to talk to him. A few days earlier, Lianne intercepted a message Celeste Kane left for Veronica (that Veronica never got) explaining that Celeste had important information for Veronica about an affair between Jake and Lianne. Lianne was meeting with Jake to tell him to get his wife to back off her daughter.

 - Lianne says she got Jake to agree to get his wife of Veronica's case by threatening to get a paternity test done and take him for millions (the implication being that he is Veronica's father - something Veronica already suspects). Lianne says she's not sure either way who Veronica's father is.

- Veronica convinces Deputy Leo to get her the interrogation tapes from the Lilly Kane investigation.

- Listening to Keith (when he was still Sheriff) interrogating Jake Kane, she hears Jake say he was at the Neptune Grand with Celeste, his wife. Keith presses him for details.

- Veronica listens to Keith interrogating Celeste Kane. She corroborates Jake's story about the hotel room, but she messes up some of the details.

- Back to Veronica talking to her mum. Lianne explains that when she and Jake were in the hotel room (at the time Lilly was murdered) Celeste Kane busted in on them screaming. Lianne then left and soon after saw Celeste storming out of the lobby. This timeline allows for either Jake or Celeste to have killed Lilly.

- Veronica theorises that because Lianne saw Celeste leaving the hotel, that compromised Celeste's alibi, and so the reason the threatening surveillance photos of Veronica were taken was so Celeste had a means of keeping Lianne quiet about Celeste leaving the hotel. Remember in Episode Ten, when Veronica asked Jake about the photos, he Jake claimed to have no knowledge of them - then angrily accused Celeste of something.

- Veronica spends her college savings on putting her alcoholic mum into a rehab facility.

- Using Clarence Weidman's bug against him, Veronica finds out that Abel Koontz has a daughter, Amelia DeLongpre, who appears to be benefiting financially from him falsely confessing to Lilly's murder.

Episode Fifteen - Russkie Business. Screened Friday October 21.

- Veronica receives a series of anonymous calls from someone who won't identify themselves. When she discovers where they're coming from - a pay phone in a small town - she travels there and finds her mother drunk in a bar. "I can't be seen with you, they're gonna hurt you" her mother says. Veronica then recognises a man in the bar  - Clarence Wiedman, head of Kane security. End of episode.

Episode Fourteen - Mars vs. Mars. Screened Friday October 14.

 - While attempting to investigate Duncan's mysterious illness (which she learnt about by eavesdropping on his counselling sessions last episode) at his doctors, Veronica discovers that Abel Koontz, the condemned man who confessed to killing Lilly, has the same doctor as Duncan.

- Veronica learns that Duncan's condition is a form of epilepsy whose symptoms include hysterical violent uncontrollable fits accompanied by blackouts and loss of memory. Hmm.

- Veronica goes to see Abel Koontz again and confronts him with the knowledge that she garnered from his medical file - that he is dying, and he knew this when he confessed, which would seem to support her theory that he's a patsy.

Episode Thirteen - Lord of the Bling. Screened Friday October 7.

- In a flashback scene, we see Lilly mention that she can't stand how jealous Logan gets. Also in flashback, we see Veronica witnessing Logan cheat on Lilly with their new friend Yolando, who Veronica and Keith are currently trying to track down. In the past, Veronica tells Lilly about Logan's infidelity and Lilly dictates that they are no longer Yolanda's friends.

Episode Twelve - Clash of the Tritons. Screened Friday September 30.

-  While discussing Lilly's death with the guidance counsellor Rebecca, Veronica plants a bug in her office. Veronica listens in on various students discussing Lilly's death with Rebecca.

- During these sessions, Veronica learns of love letters Weevil wrote Lilly. Weevil says that they had a brief affair, but Lilly broke it off and went back to Logan, breaking Weevil's heart.

-  While talking to Rebecca (with Veronica listening in), Logan says that he and Lilly were broken up at the time of her murder, because he drunkenly kissed another girl, which Veronica told Lilly about. Logan says that he blames Veronica for Lilly's death because if she hadn't told Lilly of his infidelity, then they would've been together, so she wouldn't have been murdered. Rebecca reassures him that if they'd been together, Logan might've been murdered too. This is no relief to him, and Logan is clearly quite depressed.

- During Duncan Kane's sessions, he says that he can feel Lilly, like she's watching him. He acknowledges that this sounds crazy. He says he has stopped taking his anti-depressants, but is still on other medication to control his "episodes". It is news to Veronica that he is on medication, and she's never heard of the these "episodes". Duncan says that he can't remember the time surrounding the discovery of Lilly's body.

Episode Eleven - Silence of the Lamb. Screened Friday September 23.

- Charming the rookie deputy, Veronica sneaks a peak at Lilly's police file. There she finds a disk containing recordings of phone calls from the public to the police with information about Lilly's murder. After listening to a whole bunch of inconsequential calls, she hears a computerised voice naming Abel Koontz as the murderer and giving his address.

- Veronica gets her computer whiz friend Mac to have a look at the computerised recording, and Mac is able to slow it down at various speeds to make it sound like a selection of normal voices. Veronica recognises one of them as Clarence Wiedman, the head of Kane security who took the threatening photos of Veronica. Veronica takes some similar surveillance photos of Weidman and sends them to him. He is perturbed to receive them. Well, duh.

Episode Ten - An Echolls Family Christmas. Screened Friday September 16.  

- At the Echolls' Christmas party, Veronica corners Jake Kane and confronts him about the threatening surveillance photos of herself that she determined were sent to her mother by Kane's head of security, Clarence Weidman. Jake angrily denies all knowledge. Veronica accuses Jake Kane of running her mother out of town. He also denies this. Veronica says she doesn't believe him. Keith witnesses their exchange through a window.

- When Jake Kane rejoins the party, he angrily confronts his wife Celeste shouting "What did you do?! What did you do?!" Veronica witnesses this.

Episode Nine - Drinking the Kool-Aid. Screened Friday September 9.

- Still reeling from Abel Koontz's assertion that Jake Kane is her father, Veronica sets about finding out who took the threatening surveillance photos of herself that she discovered in episode five. She discovers the photos were taken by the head of Kane security, and she concludes that Jake masterminded her mother being run out of town.

- She tricks Keith into giving her a blood sample and sends away for an online paternity test. The results eventually arrive in the mail, but Veronica can't face the idea that Jake Kane is her real father, and shreds them, knowing Keith will always be her true  father, no matter what biology says.

Episode Eight - Like A Virgin. Screened Friday September 2.

- Veronica assumes an idenity to get a meeting with Abel Koontz, but he knows exactly who she is. He refutes Veronica's suggestions of his innocence, and talks about bashing Lilly's head in. He then drops a bomb by claiming that Jake Kane and Veronica's mum Lianne were having an affair, and that Jake is Veronica's father!

Episode Seven - The Girl Next Door. Screened Friday August 26.

- Veronica is looking through an old yearbook while working on a reunion event, and is shocked to discover that her mother and Jake Kane were high school sweethearts. Not only that, they were king and queen of the prom.

- Conversations between Weevil and his friend reveal that Weevil once had a romantic relationship which he is quite defensive about.

- In flashback, we see how weird Duncan was when he broke up with Veronica - this was before Lilly Kane's death. He just stopped talking to her without any explanation. After Lilly agrees to talk to her brother about it, she gets all evasive too, and enigmatically tells Veronica the break up is for the best.

Episode Six - Return of the Kane. Screened August 19.

- Abel Koontz, the man who confessed to killing Lilly Kane, is soon to be executed and he fires his lawyer.

 - Veronica has yet another look at the Lilly Kane file her father keeps in his safe and discovers some previously unseen crime scene photos. Comparing these with news footage of the evidence used to tie Koontz to the crime, Veronica and Keith realise that Koontz is looking more innocent than ever.

Episode Five - You Think You Know Somebody. Screened August 12.

- Veronica finds threatening surveillance photos of herself in a safety deposit box opened by a key she discovers in her mother Lianne's belongings. This leads her to believe there was more to her mother's disappearance than her simply not being able to handle being ostracised by the town after Keith implicates Jake Kane in Lilly's murder.

- In flashback, we see that Lianne was perturbed by the news that Veronica was dating Duncan Kane, and was acting increasingly irrationally in the days before her desertion.

- Back in the present day, Lianne leaves a message for Veronica saying that everything will eventually make sense, and Veronica shouldn't try to find her.

Episode Four - The Wrath of Con. Screened August 5.

- We see a prolonged flashback showing Lilly, Veronica, Duncan and Logan all having good times the night of a school dance, where they stay out all night partying. Nothing tanglible to grasp here, but an illuminating portrait of earlier times when the foursome was chummy. And all alive. After arriving home in the morning to angry parents, Celeste Kane is noticably harder on Lilly than Duncan, which Lilly resents. We also witness how friendly Keith was with Jake and Celeste Kane when he was still Sheriff.

- In current continuity, Logan and Veronica share a moment while Logan is assembling a video for the anniversary of Lilly's death, when a fountain is being dedicated to Lilly.

- At the tribute ceremony, the video starts off all innocent, then goes on to show how hardcore and vibrant Lilly was, with footage from the night we saw in flashback. Jake Kane is visibly moved.

Episode Three - Meet John Smith. Screened July 29.

 - Nothing overly specific. Duncan clearly has residual issues regarding Lilly's death. But that's to be expected really. She was his sister and all. After going off his anti-depressants, he has a weird hallucination in which Lilly's corpse appears to him and says "the truth is gonna come out".

Episode Two - Credit Where Credit's Due. Screened July 22.

- After the Sheriff's office received an anonymous tip that lead to the arrest of Abel Koontz, and his subsequent confession, no one turned up to claim the $100,000 reward.

- While getting a ride home from a journalism class story, Veronica and Duncan are pulled over, and it's revealed that the car (which used to be Lilly's) has outstanding tickets. It turns out Lilly got a ticket while driving her car on the day she died at 6.02pm - two hours after her supposed time of death. Which means that all the Kane's alibis no longer apply.

The following was revealed in flashback:

- Lilly Kane's mother didn't like Veronica, and felt threatened by her relationship with Duncan.

- After Keith accused Jake Kane of murder, Jake used the media to turn public opinion against Keith.

Episode One - Pilot. Screened July 15.

The following was revealed in flashback:

- Lilly Kane was discovered dead at the Kane estate with a massive head wound.

- As the Kane family was so high profile, the case was a nationwide sensation. Veronica's then sheriff father, Keith, named Lilly's billionaire father, Jake Kane, as the lead suspect.

- A former Kane employee, Abel Koontz, was arrested for the murder after some of Lilly Kane's clothes were found in his possession.

- Six weeks after Lilly Kane's death, someone in the Sheriff's department leaked the graphic crime scene video to the internet - perhaps ironic as Jake Kane made all his money in streaming video. Veronica's father was blamed. A emergency recall election removed him from office. Veronica's mother Lianne couldn't handle the loss in status, and abandoned her family.

- In addition to being Veronica's best friend, Lilly was also Logan's girlfriend.

- After being ostracised by her friends, Veronica attended a party where her drink was spiked and she was raped by unknown parties. Sheriff Lamb, her father's replacement, wouldn't press charges. He is to prove a persistent nemesis.

The following is new, present day information:

- When Mars Investigations is hired by Celeste Kane after she suspects Jake of cheating on her, Veronica trails him. She notes the number plate of the car owned by the women Jake is meeting - it is her mother's!

- Veronica discovers a secret file in her father's safe that reveals he is still working on the Lilly Kane case, despite Koontz, who confessed to the crime, currently being on death row.

- Keith tells Veronica to drop the Jake Kane case, and lies to her about why. Keith doesn't know that Veronica knows the car was her mother's. Veronica is perplexed as to why her father would lie to her about this.

Show me the funny!