"Kanes and Abel's" was the seventeenth episode of the first season of Veronica Mars.

In this episode – after finding out about Abel Koontz's daughter, Amelia DeLongpre – Veronica tracks her down and tells her that the Kanes are paying off her father. Meanwhile, Veronica investigates the mysterious harasser of Sabrina Fuller.



Veronica hides Amelia DeLongpre in a hotel.

After the revelation in the previous episode, Veronica researches Amelia DeLongpre and finds out that she lives in L.A and that all the payout money is coming to her. Meanwhile, Clarence Wiedman visits Amelia's roommate, who says that she disappeared with Veronica. Veronica takes Amelia to a secluded motel. Veronica asks Amelia to fix the situation by telling people that he was paid off to cover up the murderer of Lilly, although Amelia doesn't know that Abel Koontz is dying.

Later, Veronica is dealing with midterm exams. Veronica meets another student, Sabrina Fuller who is dealing with harassment, supposedly from an ex-boyfriend, Caz Truman. Veronica agrees to help prove that Caz is harassing Sabrina for money which she can use to pay for Amelia's motel room. Veronica talks to Caz, but he denies it vehemently. Veronica goes back to Amelia's hotel room, and Amelia tells the story of her parents' divorce. Amelia asks Veronica to arrange a visitation with her father, despite the fact that she doesn't know about her father's illness.

At Mars Investigations, Logan gives Veronica a check for looking for his mother, but she rips the check apart. Veronica visits Sabrina and reports that she's found nothing. While on a stakeout, Veronica notices a yellow truck lurking around her house and Caz is in it. However, he still denies the harassment, claiming that he's just looking out for her the same as Veronica is. Sabrina points out Hamilton Cho who has recently beat out Sabrina for valedictorian, and Veronica investigates him. Hamilton comes from a poorer family and has to work twenty hours a week at his family's restaurant, unlike Sabrina who is wealthy.

A rival detective, Vinnie Van Lowe offers to give Veronica and Keith some of his cases due to being overworked. Keith refuses, as Vinnie has a reputation for two-timing clients. Veronica goes to a ceremony for a scholarship dedicated to Lilly at the Kane family house. Knowing what she knows now, Veronica imagines potential scenarios for Lilly's murder. That night, Veronica talks to Keith and reveals that she's still working the Kane case, although Keith is as far along on the case as she is. Keith explains that Jake Kane called Clarence Wiedman immediately after he discovered Lilly's body.

Clarence Wiedman looks for Amelia at the Mars' house, and runs into Keith. Sabrina calls Veronica reporting a car alarm that won't stop going off outside of her house. Veronica talks to Logan and reveals Duncan's epilepsy. Logan tells her that one time, Duncan, in an epileptic fit, almost strangled Jake. Veronica begins to suspect that Vinnie Van Lowe is behind the Sabrina case as she has tracked the car alarm to his ex-wife. Veronica plants a video tracker in his office, where Veronica learns that Hamilton Cho's father hired Vinnie to harass Sabrina without his son's knowledge. In the end, Hamilton concedes the valedictorian race, acknowledging that will still be able to attend UCLA.

Amelia receives the settlement papers, and receives a call from Clarence, who used her boyfriend's phone. Clarence tells Amelia that Veronica failed to tell her that her father is dying.. When Keith and Veronica go to the motel room, the find Clarence, who says that Amelia has finalized the settlement and left. To cheer her up, Keith shows Veronica his evidence for the Lilly Kane case. Keith flashes back to his first interview with Jake and Celeste Kane, where he found out that they were running a load of laundry, despite the fact that the pair have two full-time housekeepers. Keith found a soccer uniform in the dryer, suggesting that Duncan (a soccer player) had killed Lilly and they were washing Duncan's uniform to remove the blood.

Arc significance

  • Amelia DeLongpre has money, thinking that it's from a stock owned by Abel Koontz, when it's actually money Jake Kane paid him to confess.
  • Clarence Wiedman tracks Amelia down before she can give Veronica the papers showing Jake Kane paid Abel off and tells Amelia that her father is dying (something which Veronica did not tell her). Amelia leaves with money that Clarence gives her.
  • Keith tells Veronica that Jake Kane called Clarence Wiedman before he reported the murder and that, as he was talking to Jake and Celeste Kane right after the body was found, the dryer buzzed. Inside the dryer was a soccer uniform (presumably Duncan's, implicating him as Lilly's murderer)


Main Cast

Guest Stars


  • "Breakin'" - The Music
  • "Dangle" - The Daylight Titans
  • "Dragonfly" - M. Craft
  • "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" - Dean Martin


Keith: You want me to find a call girl for your husband?
Woman: Yes. He likes blondes.
Keith: Look, I don't know if you were looking for "pimp" in the phone book and just stopped at "P.I."…

[ Veronica answers a lewd call for a classmate, using caller ID and the Internet to check it out. ]
Veronica: Hello? Yes, this is Miss Sabrina. Bad boy? Well… Nestor Greely of Encinitas. Twenty grand on credit cards, two divorces, and a repo'd Sebring. You have been a bad boy! Miss Sabrina commands you: put your pants back on and get a job!

Vinnie: [ to Veronica ] I, uh, hope you're not thinking of dying that hair because when you come work for me, you'll find that straying husbands are most likely to chase skinny blondes. No, I'm kidding, of course. They'll chase anything. But seriously, don't dye that hair.


  • Amelia watches Clash of the Titans (starring Harry Hamlin) on television.
  • First appearance of recurring character Vinnie Van Lowe.
  • This episode marks the first and last appearance of Cho's Pizza in the original show. Later, the restaurant reappears in the fourth season of the show, produced by Hulu.


  • When Veronica and Sabrina Fuller are talking in her house, the laptops have the dialog between Sabrina and her mother on them.
  • The screen of the tracking device that Veronica placed in "Kanes and Abel's" and "Hot Dogs" is the same in both episodes, despite being different vehicles.

External links
