Val Birch is a fisherman who made his way on the gameshow Treasure Trove. He was fishing in Bluestone Valley when Lizzie Talvo's vehicle went off road and crashed. Before she died, Val was prepared to call 911, but when Lizzie mentioned she was working for Roddy Lankman, Val saw opportunity for a big payday and chose to call his answering machine instead. He now had recorded evidence of Lizzie's dying testimony that Roddy was rigging the game to cover his debts. He used that as leverage against Roddy to constantly win on the gameshow until he was satisfied with what money he made. When Dwight Ellison, producer of the show, suspected Val of cheating, he hired his son-in-law, Adrian Monk, to find out how he's doing it. Monk became a contestant and discovered the code Val and Roddy had been using together. He and Roddy were immediately arrested. While Roddy got the murder charge, the best the police could get Val with is withholding evidence.