Bob (Colin Kim) and Ted (Ryan Judd) are playing Frisbee on the lawn somewhere on campus. As Bob runs to catch it, he trips over Chip, who's lying on the ground unconscious, wearing only boxer shorts and with his head shaved. Bob calls Ted over to see, and Ted takes a picture with his phone.
In the newspaper office, Wilson (Michael Charles Roman), who's replaced Nish as editor, is complimenting Veronica on her photos, and he gives her an assignment; cover the reception the board of trustees is having the night before they vote on whether or not to remove the Greek system from Hearst. Wilson especially wants a picture of Selma Hearst Rose (Patty Hearst), one of the trustees, who's also descended from the college founder (the granddaughter, to be exact), heir to the Hearst-Mart fortune, and the swing vote. Veronica mentions her mother was a fan of Selma, and Wilson brings up when Selma dumped her entire fortune over Watts, California, in '73, causing mass riots. Wilson is in the middle of calling it "the most embarrassing case of noblesse oblige in the twentieth century" when Ted comes in with the picture he took of Chip. Veronica doesn't find it as funny as the others do.
That night, at the Mars apartment, Veronica gets ready to leave for the reception. Keith tells her Logan's called a few times, and Veronica says she'll call him back. When she opens the door, Logan is there. Veronica apologizes for not calling him back, as she's been too busy to have the serious talk he wants to have, so Logan gets to the point; he doesn't want her investigating the rapes anymore, because he doesn't want her to get hurt. In a low voice, Veronica tells Logan that while Keith knows about her being drugged, he doesn't know about what happened with her hair - her hair is in a braid in the back to cover it up. Logan thinks maybe Keith should know this, and tells her again to stop. Veronica doesn't like being told what to do, and also brings up how Logan wanted her to exonerate Mercer, but Logan points out that was before Veronica was attacked. They start raising their voices until Logan yells that Veronica isn't invincible or always right. That draws Keith to the door; he tells Logan to stop yelling at Veronica, to which Logan bitterly replies that Keith should start, and at that, Logan leaves. Veronica tries to downplay what happened, pointing out Logan is just worried about her. Keith asks if he should be, and Veronica tells the half-truth that the Hearst rapist has everyone on edge.
At the reception, Dean O'Dell is trying to get Selma to reveal her vote, and she playfully puts him off. Veronica comes up to take a picture, and they pose and smile. A few minutes later, O'Dell welcomes everyone to the reception and introduces Selma, except she's nowhere to be found. A little later, Lamb and the other deputies arrive, and O'Dell tries to impress on Lamb how serious her disappearance is, but Lamb thinks she's probably just in a bar somewhere. O'Dell, disgusted, asks Veronica to call Keith...
...which we see her doing outside as she walks towards the parking lot. After she hangs up, Veronica hears a noise, and gets her taser at the ready, but doesn't see anyone, and runs to her car.
A little later, she and Dean O'Dell are at the apartment. O'Dell tells Keith Selma is a publicity whore, and her husband is terrified. O'Dell also claims he's met smarter sandwiches than Lamb - Veronica and Keith are both amused at that - and considering the other calamities to have happened at Hearst, he assumes something's happened to Selma, and he wants Keith to find her. Keith says he'll get started on computer work that night and do legwork in the morning. Before O'Dell leaves, he remembers one of the trustees saw Selma talking to a waitress before she disappeared, and Keith promises he'll follow up on that. When O'Dell leaves, Keith says he'll talk to the family if Veronica will talk to the waitress and caterer, which she eagerly agrees to...
...and the next day, in the reception room, Veronica asks Linda (Linda Bailey Walsh) who the waitresses were that night. Linda says there was only one, and so a little later, Veronica greets Fern, who's just out of literature class. Fern says all she did was tell Selma she had a phone call, and no, she doesn't know who it was. Veronica points out the coincidence of Fern being with the swing vote right before she disappeared, and Fern points out Veronica investigating is also a coincidence (Veronica denies she "helped save the Pi Sigs"). Fern brings up the fact Pi Sigs have started another "Sex Quest", and warns Veronica to watch what she drinks.
At the Rose house, Keith is waiting in an awards room when Brant (Brian Kimmet), Budd Rose's personal assistant, shows up. Brant apologizes, but says Keith can't see Budd, while Keith insists he has an appointment. Just then, Budd (Charles Shaughnessy) calls out for Brant to bring Keith into the guest room. Once he does, Budd, who's in an electric wheelchair, dismisses Brant, and apologizes to Keith. Keith says he has no news, but assures Budd he doesn't think it's a kidnapping because there's no indication of it. Keith asks if Selma had any business problems, and Budd says Selma had to fight the board of Hearst-Mart for every reform she wanted. He admits Selma's brother Roger knows more about the business than he does, and promises to have Brant give Keith the number.
Brant escorts Keith back to his car, and they hear two Pomeranian dogs barking from the guest house. Keith sees an BMW, which Brant says belongs to the dog walker, and Keith also notices a Hearst College sticker on her car.
At the sheriff's department, Sachs tells Lamb a "Martina Vasquez" is on the line. Lamb is excited - he calls her the "hottie" from Channel 9 - and looks her up on his computer before picking up the phone. Lamb gushes he wants to help Martina anyway he can, and lies that he liked her piece on the morning-after pill. Of course, it's Veronica on the phone imitating Martina, and she asks about the phone call. Lamb says it turned out there was no phone call, but he'd be happy to keep Martina in the loop about any other developments. Just then, unfortunately, Keith picks up the phone. Lamb slams down his phone.
Veronica finds Dick eating lunch in the food court. She brings up the Sex Quest, and says it's in poor taste, but Dick, of course, is more concerned about whom he's going to score with. Veronica also points out Chip getting his head shaved might have been a warning to the rest of the Pi Sigs, and Dick admits that makes sense. He tells Veronica Chip also had a plastic Easter egg with a Roman Numeral written on it shoved up his "where-the-sun-don't-shine place". Veronica, of course, wants to know what the number was, and when she finds out the egg was thrown out, asks to see where the Pi Sigs throw their garbage out.
Fern leaves another one of her classes only to find Veronica waiting for her again, and sighs. Veronica brings up the phone call, and Fern points out it could have come from another extension in the building, which Veronica concedes is a good point. She then alludes to what happened to Chip, but Fern doesn't take the bait, and leaves.
Outside the Pi Sig garbage bin, Dick introduces Veronica to Morty (Kristopher Logan), who's rooting around the trash for whatever he could find. Veronica gives him $20 and asks him to look for the egg. While Morty's looking, Dick sees Bonnie (Carlee Avers), a girl he had his sights on, leaving the fraternity house, and yells at her for being with someone else, and she snarks she shouldn't have been with another frat boy, but looks happy. Morty calls out to them, and they see him holding up a pink plastic egg, which Veronica drops into a plastic bag.
Back at the Rose house, Roger (Scott Alan Smith) assures Keith that Selma is fine, and is probably just flaking out. Keith says it sounds like odd behavior from someone running a company, but Roger retorts Selma is more a humanitarian than a business executive - he scoffs at her notion of only producing American-made products - and that the stock has risen ever since her disappearance. Roger thinks Selma is trying to get a divorce because Budd has gotten "clingy" ever since his accident.
In the food court, Veronica is telling Wallace there were Scrabble tiles inside the egg, one that read "CXI" and the other reading "CMIII". After agreeing they're never going to hunt for Easter eggs or play Scrabble again, Veronica points out the tiles are Roman numerals - 111 and 903, respectively - and asks Wallace what they mean. Wallace doesn't know, but after ruling out phone numbers and student ID numbers, Veronica figures out it's a date - 11/19/03.
In the school library, Veronica looks through back issues of the Hearst Free Press to find out what happened that day, and hits paydirt. A pledge to the Zeta Theta sorority, named Patrice, fell off the roof of their house. As Veronica is reading it, she starts to hear noises. Worried, she runs in the library and hides behind a counter. Turns out the noise is of the janitor pushing his cart, and Veronica sighs in relief.
The next morning, a still shaken Veronica greets Keith and pours herself coffee. Keith tells her he ran the license plate for the dog walker, and asks Veronica to interview her. Veronica agrees, and smiles when she sees it's Hallie...
...and a little later, Veronica finds Hallie sunbathing in the quad. Hallie isn't happy to see Veronica, especially when Veronica implies Hallie is too "refined" to be a dog walker, and might have had something to do with Selma's disappearance. Hallie snits that Veronica should really be talking to Brant, because Brant is in love with Mr. Rose. Switching tactics, Veronica then asks Hallie about Patrice. Hallie insists Patrice only had too many hard lemonades and fell, and reason she gave for it was a lie. Hallie then snarks about how she and the other Zeta Theta sisters had a car wash to raise money for Karen's next round of chemo treatments, and storms off.
At Mars Investigations, Keith and Veronica compare notes; Keith says Roger and the other board members of Hearst-Mart didn't want Selma's "Buy American" plan, while Veronica brings up Hallie and Brant's feelings for Budd Rose (she calls Brant Smithers and Budd Mr. Burns), especially when she brings up how Brant threw a teacup at the wall when Budd asked him to plan the Rose's 10th wedding anniversary. Keith realizes Budd might be trying to get a divorce because of the "dine-n-ditch" rule; after ten years of marriage, the spouse is entitled to half of their partner's assets. Veronica points out Selma's the one with the money, and wonders if Budd tried to have her killed. Keith admits that's one possibility, but thinks it's also possible Budd is keeping Selma hidden, with her dogs as company...
...so that night, the two of them sneak into the Rose residence. There's a gate, and Veronica climbs over it and jumps down. She lets Keith in, and is dancing around until Keith tells her to calm down. Keith goes to the carriage house where he saw the dogs (named Ernest and Julio), and opens it with a skeleton key. Keith and Veronica walk in, and are surprised to see Selma watching TV. She turns the TV off and says she wishes Keith wouldn't try to rescue her. Keith introduces himself - Selma recognizes Veronica from the reception - and explains what he's doing there. Selma says to tell Cyrus not to worry, and reluctantly tells Keith Budd is blackmailing her about her "lover" and demanded she disappear until the anniversary, which is in two days. Veronica wants to know why Budd just doesn't have Selma sign the divorce papers after the two days, and Keith realizes because the Hearst-Mart stock price just went up, Budd will be entitled to more money. Veronica calls Budd a "bastard", and Selma agrees, saying Budd was okay until his accident, which led him to sleep with as many women as he could to prove something to himself. Keith points out if she wanted, she could get a lawyer who could figure out another way, but Selma says she's already been a national punchline (she asks Keith if he can relate), and she doesn't want to be one again. She shows Keith and Veronica surveillance pictures of her and Hallie (which Veronica is surprised by), and also reveals Hallie was secretly working for Budd the entire time. Keith gets an idea, and asks Selma if she was wearing the earrings she's wearing the night she went missing - she was - and if she can access Budd's e-mail.
In the food court the next day, Veronica is telling Wallace what happened. They stop talking when they see Chip walking in, wearing a baseball cap. A few students at a table start singing Here Comes Peter Cottontail, at which point Chip belts one of them. Soon, there's a free-for-all, and Wallace gets involved. One of the guys punches Wallace, which leads Veronica to taser the guy. Another guy grabs Veronica, but before he can do anything, a large man (Tim Sitarz) pulls the man off, grabs Veronica, and pulls her away from the fray, covering her mouth as she tries to scream. Once outside the food court, the man apologizes, telling her Logan hired him to keep an eye on her. Veronica is furious.
At the sheriff's department, Sachs tells Lamb that Morty has come in, claiming he saw Selma arguing with someone the night she disappeared...
...and that night, Lamb pulls Hallie over while she's driving. Hallie assumes she was speeding, and tries to charm her way out of it, but her face falls when she sees Lamb has a warrant for her arrest.
Meanwhile, Veronica storms into Logan's hotel suite, furious. She yells that she was scared of someone following her, and Logan points out he was as well, which is why he hired someone when she refused to drop the case. Also, he doesn't care how upset she is about it, as long as she's safe. When Veronica angrily points out she's doing what she always does, and if he can't accept the fact it won't change, their relationship won't work, he points out she's been trying to change him, and he has. Emotionally, Logan tells her he loves her, and asks if she loves him. Veronica starts to cry, and admits she does. Logan asks if they could take it easier on each other, Veronica admits it's probably a good idea, and they hug.
Meanwhile, Lamb is at the Rose house. Budd assumes he's "heard" news about Selma, but Lamb instead is there with a warrant for Budd's arrest; they found one of Selma's earrings in Hallie's car, as well as love messages from Budd to Hallie on her laptop. Hallie, under questioning, admitted everything, and suggested Lamb try the guest house.
A little later, Budd is at the sheriff's department in an interrogation room, refusing to answer anything until his lawyer gets there. Instead, Selma comes in, and asks for a minute alone. When Lamb leaves, Selma asks if her brother was in on it, but Budd says he merely counted on Roger to do the "wrong" thing. She puts a divorce settlement on the table and says if Budd signs it, she won't press charges. Budd sighs.
The next day, in the room where the reception was held, Dean O'Dell good-naturedly asks Keith why he didn't get a discount on his fee. Selma walks in, and tells O'Dell she's voting against the Greek system. Keith is pleased, but O'Dell is disappointed.
Veronica sees Hallie while she's waiting for an elevator. Hallie tells Veronica she and Budd were really in love. Veronica doesn't believe it but doesn't care; she wants Hallie to tell the truth about what happened to Patrice. Hallie insists she's telling the truth, and brings up the face Patrice was best friends with Claire, which Veronica didn't know.
Veronica goes to Claire's room, and she reluctantly invites her in; Nish and Fern are both inside. They tell Veronica when Patrice was a pledge, the Zeta Thetas would take them to a secret room and make them strip - when Veronica denies the existence of a secret room with a two-way mirror, Nish says they must have paneled over it, and Claire said she saw it - and the sisters would circle the rushes in areas on their body where they needed "work". Patrice was covered in circles, and the Pi Sigs were watching in the other room and laughing, which earned her the nickname "marshmallow" from Chip. The Zeta Thetas insisted Patrice could make the circles go away by getting a tan, so Patrice went on the roof, and walked off. As a result, she was in the hospital, and is now in a mental health facility. Veronica sighs; Fern assumes that means she doesn't believe them, but Veronica does, and also believes that's enough motivation to want to fake a rape, and points out faking a rape hurts the cause. Nish remains defiant, but Fern and Claire both look a little guilty as Veronica leaves.
In the food court, Veronica is getting food when she hears her cell phone ring. She sees the call is from Logan, and ignores it, not realizing Logan is watching her from the entrance, looking sad.
This episode contains examples of:
- Comically Missing the Point: Dick thinks Veronica is doing this when she's just as concerned about the Roman numerals on the egg shoved up Chip's butt as she is about the actual event.
- Hollywood Law: The "dine-n-ditch" marriage law Keith brings up doesn't quite work that way; it only applies to future spousal payments
- Homage: The scene with Keith and Brant is a shot-for-shot homage to a similar scene in The Big Lebowski, complete with Budd Rose being in an electric wheelchair.
- Literary Allusion Title: The episode title is a play on Lord of the Flies.
- Reference Overdosed: Dear God. See the Shout-Out entry below.
- Shout-Out:
- When Veronica calls Keith to tell him Dean O'Dell is coming over, she says, "Beer off your belly, hand out of your boxers. Put on some pants".
- Fern calls Veronica Buffy.
- Budd Rose.
- Hallie claims Brant's feelings for Mr. Rose are a Swimfan kind of love.
- As she's climbing the gate in front of the Rose's house, Veronica says it's just like when Keith took her to Disneyland. Also, when she jumps over the gate, she makes the noise that plays whenever Jamie Sommers makes when she leaps or runs. Finally, when she's letting Keith in, she tells him, "The park is closed. The walrus out front should have told you".
- Keith's visit to the Rose household sees him touching one of many awards hanging on the wall as the suck-up toady named Brant asks him not to, only to be ushered in to meet the wealthy paraplegic, so that he can search for a missing wealthy wife. The Big Lebowski, anyone?
- Waxing Lyrical: When Wallace says he doesn't want to be the "friend" who's the eyewitness, Veronica jokes, "Whatever happened to, 'winter, spring, summer, or fall; all I got to do is call, and you'll be there'?"
- When Bonnie tells Dick about having sex with someone on a pinball machine, Veronica jokes, "She always gets a replay. Never tilts at all".
- Worst. Whatever. Ever!: When Veronica finds out about Chip having an Easter egg shoved up his butt, she says, "Worst. Easter egg hunt. Ever."
