A/N: Veronica's voiceovers are in italics.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Detective Finneran, and this is my partner Detective Montez. State police."

"Afternoon, I'm Sgt. Peters, and this Detective Baker. We're with LAPD, robbery/homicide. And this is ADA Simmons. He's here to determine whether to seek an indictment for murder in this case."

"Well, technically, I just make a recommendation to my boss. But I think he's likely to decide based on the outcome of this interview. Also, let me introduce Sheriff Don Lamb; he's joining us from Balboa county. And last, but certainly not least, let me introduce our examiner, Diane Jaffee."

"Pleasure to meet you all. Sheriff," asked Jaffee, "I understand you actual know our shooter personally."

"Much to my regret, let me tell you."

"It's hard to believe she could kill a man," replied Diane as she looked at Veronica through the one-way mirror. "She looks like a little girl."

"Don't let her fool you. She may be cute, but she's pretty hard-boiled. If anyone could beat a polygraph, it's her."

"Why don't you let me worry about that, Sheriff," replied Jaffee. "Well, we've kept her waiting long enough."

Veronica fiddled with her hair, picked at imaginary pieces of lint on her clothing, and generally made a show of appearing just nervous enough. If you look too nervous, she thought, they think you're guilty. But you have to look a little nervous. That, after all, is why they leave you alone in the interrogation room for all this time, while they watch you from behind the mirror. Then the door opened. Showtime, thought Veronica.

"Good morning Miss Mars. I'm Diane Jaffee. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," replied Veronica pleasantly, as she shook Jaffee's proffered hand.

"Would you like some water or coffee before we get started?"

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you." Fine with keeping my bladder empty while being questioned for a capital crime.

"Well, then, before we get started, let me ask you, do you know anything about what a polygraph is or how it works?"

"A little. My dad used to be a cop, and he's told me a little about them." Also, I've read three different books on the subject.

"Like what?"

"Well, that they measure your pulse, your breathing, and how much you sweat, and some of them measure arm and leg movements too, and if you try to lie, then the measurements change."

"Did your father ever tell you what he thought about how effective they are?"

"He said that they were a useful tool for investigation, especially now that they've gone digital," answered Veronica as she glanced at Jaffee's laptop. "He always thought it was pretty silly that they weren't admissible in court. Oh, and he also said that he thought the polygraph was much better than voice-analysis." And almost as good as palm-reading.

"Good then. If you're ready, we'll get started. Why don't you move your chair over to the wall, and could you hand me your jacket? I'll need to be able to put the breathing sensors around your chest and midsection. I'll go hang it up. Please make sure not to touch the machine while I'm gone. It's very important."

"Alright," began Diane once she had finished hooking Veronica up to the polygraph sensors. "So to start, is your name Veronica Mars?"

"Yes."

"Veronica, have you ever stolen anything?"

Aside from stealing evidence from the Sheriff's Department, students' files from the school administration, and medical records from Dr. Levine's? "No."

"Never?"

"No."

"'No' meaning you have, or 'no' meaning you haven't?"

"'No' meaning I haven't."

"Have you ever broken any other law, even in a small way?"

Besides planting evidence in Logan's locker, manufacturing fake I.D.s, using a fake I.D. to masquerade as Lilly Kane, forging my mother's death certificate, sabotaging Dick's car, plus innumerable instances of purchasing and consuming alcohol? "No."

"You never jaywalked, or parked your car illegally?"

"I've jaywalked."

"Have you ever lied to avoid getting trouble?"

More times than I can remember. "No."

"You never told your parents you were at the library or something when you really out with a boy?"

"No." The key to beating the polygraph is to lie in response to the calibration questions. The examiner will assume you're lying in response to those questions, and interpret the measurements on the machine as what it looks like when you lie. So if you actually tell the truth, it will also look like you're lying later, even if you're telling the truth. If you lie, though, and think about all the ways you're lying, it will set the bar much higher, so it will look like you're telling the truth later, even if you're lying.

"Did you kill Aaron Echolls?"

"Yes."

"When did you hear that he had escaped?"

"It was around noon. We were getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner—"

"We?"

"My stepmother Alicia and me. We were in the kitchen preparing dinner. My dad, my two stepbrothers, and my boyfriend were in the living room watching the game."

"Your boyfriend wasn't spending Thanksgiving with his own family?"

"He doesn't have much of a family."

"Why not?"

"He's never been close with his sister, and his parents are both dead."

"How did they die?"

"His mother jumped off the Coronado Bridge, and I shot his father last night."

"You're dating Logan Echolls? The son of the man who tried to kill you?"

"He's not like his father."

"I guess not. Let's move on then. What happened next?"