9. Drinking the Kool-Aid

Picking up from where the events of the last episode left off, Veronica muses about Jake Kane possibly being her father. Veronica looks at the photos that a mysterious person took of her, and she believes that Jake Kane took the photos. Eventually, Veronica finds out that a man named Clarence Wiedman (Christopher B. Duncan) took the photos of her. She follows him to the Kane business building, where she finds that he's the head of security at the company. The next day, Keith (Enrico Colantoni) talks to a couple, who tell him about their son, Casey (Jonathan Bennett), who has joined a cult.

Even though Veronica decries the boy as irresponsible, Veronica agrees to help with the case to help her father earn the $5,000 the case will be paying. Meanwhile, Veronica sends a DNA paternity test off in the mail. Veronica talks to Casey's ex-girlfriend, who tells him that Casey may be having an affair with an English teacher, Ms. Mills (Amy Laughlin). Veronica decides to write some poetry in order to "get into the lit-mag crowd". Later, Veronica talks to Ms. Mills, who tells her that she wants her to join the Moon Calf Collective, the cult of which Casey is part.

At the Moon Calf Collective, Ms. Mills is shown kissing another man. At the same time, a variety of people hit on Veronica, implying some sort of polygamy. Eventually, Veronica gets stuck with milking a cow, and begins talking to one of the younger members, Rain (Megalyn Echikunwoke) in order to get information. The woman tells Veronica that they are growing a major "cash crop". At a meeting, the other members ask for Veronica to read her poem, but she quickly leaves to enter the barn which was previously mentioned as forbidden.

In there, she finds an aggressive horse. Casey invites her back to the cult, and she goes. Veronica goes on a walk with the cult leader, but also puts a record tape on in her bag. It turns out that the "ultimate cash crop" is flowers. However, Keith later goes undercover as a repairman into the compound and sees Veronica. Later, Keith and Veronica have a debate, which ends in Veronica being banned from the case. At that moment, Casey's parents return to Mars Investigations. They tell him that his brain dead grandmother has left him $80 million in her will and ask Keith to quickly finish the case and find evidence that will close down the cult.

They also introduce a fringe "deprogrammer" who will deal with Casey and return him to "normal" if Keith fails. The next day, Veronica talks to Wallace (Percy Daggs III), who tells her that she may be becoming sympathetic to the cult.

Casey takes Veronica to the bed of his grandmother. On a carton of milk, Veronica sees a missing ad for Rain. Keith wants to investigate further against the Collective for the money, but Veronica disagrees with him. The next day, Veronica is about to tell Ms. Mills about her investigations before Casey bursts in saying that his grandmother has died. Later, at Casey's grandmother's funeral, Veronica sees Casey being kidnapped by his parents and the fringe psychologist. Keith tells Veronica that he has dropped the investigation, accepting that the cult is harmless.

Keith also reports that Debbie Meyer (Rain) has had a difficult life and is better off with the cult. Veronica sees Casey several days later, who apparently has been successfully "deprogrammed" and arrogantly flaunts his newfound wealth. That night, Veronica receives the results of the DNA test. After musing on the possibility that the test could prove she is a heiress to the Kane empire, Veronica decides to shred the document in a befuddled Keith's presence before reading it.