02/15/2007 Tad Has A New Suspect



"Jack comes home after a long night and is surprised to find Barbara there. She takes a spin at flirting with him and then plants a kiss on his lips. No one is more surprised than Erica, who walks through the door moments later and witnesses the smooch. Erica slams the door to break them up, and the two women immediately start baiting each other. Jack tells them both that he is too tired to deal with their war, and asks Erica to tell him what she needs. She tells him that she needs his help with Josh and informs him that her son, so upset over Babe's death, is gone - and she can't reach him. Barbara returns to the room having made a fresh pot of coffee, but Jack pushes her aside and asks a few questions about the last time that Erica spoke with her son. Erica gives him a good summary and in the end, Jack points out that as an adult, Josh can do anything he wants to do, and there is very little anyone can do about it. Erica is taken aback at his refusal to help, and Jack suggests that perhaps Jeff would have better ideas for her. Slightly offended, she tells him that she will take his advice and leaves one final caustic remark for her arch-nemesis before vacating the house. Barbara, relieved to be alone with Jack again, finds her happiness short lived when Jack points out that the autopsy reports he has to review because of the murder investigation he is involved in are more important than any nonsense she could drum up. She tries to convince him that she really just wants to see and spend time with her son, but Sean shows up in the doorway and tells her that the best idea would for her to leave. Barbara attempts to pull off a martyr act, offering to stay at the Pine Cone or at Myrtle's...just as long as she can spend some time with her son. Jack tells her that she can stay in the house, but to keep out of everyone's way, if possible. He goes to shower and change for the funerals, and Barbara greets her son with a good morning hug. Sean isn't falling for her act, announcing that she only came to town because she got dumped. Barbara denies it, but Sean tells her that he sees clearly that she only came to town to try to hook up with Jack. He goes on to say that it won't happen because Jack and Erica aren't divorced yet.

As Jack prepares to head out to the funeral, he gets a cryptic call on his cell from Josh. After a moment, he tells the grief-stricken lad to stay in touch.

Ryan helps Annie carry the last of her bags down to the living room in preparation for her move. Having done one final spin through the place and noting that moving out is the best thing for Emma, the duo briefly considers a platonic goodbye before wrapping each other in a passionate embrace. They kiss for a few moments and then break it off, although neither of them really wants to. Annie asks him what they are supposed to do now, after the fantastic time they had at the stable. Ryan tells her that what happened wasn't a casual thing for him, as he cares a lot about her. Annie admits she feels the same way. Ryan briefly revisits the possibility of the two of them making it work under one roof and then recants, knowing that they need to put Emma first. They start to give each other one more kiss goodbye when a man appears in the open doorway with an envelope marked urgent for Ryan. Ryan opens it and when Annie asks about the contents, he tells her it's from the killer. He shows her a letter that says "You let me down" and tells a panicked Annie that his attempt to make the killer believe he was on his side failed, and going to the police will help nothing. He also tells her that the worst part is that Kendall is next on the killer's hit list. She asks why the killer contacted him, and Ryan posits that it might not be his connection to Zach but rather to someone else. She notes that if they can figure out what ties everything together, perhaps they can gain some insight on who the killer is. Ryan then tells her that the killer might be a she and informs her that Tad is having Ethan's mom checked out. He fills her in on how he became involved with Cambias Industries and after a couple of questions, Annie surmises that perhaps the killer knows that Ryan helped Ethan out, and therefore is trying to reach out to him. Ryan admits that he isn't sure, but that whoever the killer is, they will strike again. Annie notes aloud that she is sure Ryan will protect Kendall the same way he protected her.

A little while later, Ryan goes to Fusion and talks to the killer through the bug. He tells him that they need to meet face to face so that they can talk about how Ryan let him down. Ryan goes on to say that he did the right thing in honoring the will by giving control of Cambias to Ethan and Miranda - and asks for the opportunity to save Kendall.

After gazing at her new necklace for a few moments in the mirror, Kendall turns and thanks Zach for making her world perfect for a few hours the day before. He tells her it will be again, and as she gazes at the Valentine that Ryan sent over, he assures her that one day soon, Spike will be living with them again. Then, there is a knock at the door and, when Zach opens it, they see Tad on the other side. Entering the room uninvited, Tad tells them they have a new suspect with more than enough reason to hate Zach. After they hear who the suspect is, Zach notes that Hannah Nichols, Ethan's mother, was a very sweet person and completely incapable of the atrocities that had been inflicted on Pine Valley. Tad admits that although he doesn't want to challenge Zach's stellar judge of character, he felt that it was important to keep in mind that many years have passed since Zach knew Hannah and it's quite possible that in that time she had gotten angry - and dangerous. Both Zach and his wife think the theory is ludicrous but Tad lays out his theory and tells them that it doesn't need to be rational because they are talking about a person poisoning innocent people. Zach asks if Tad is just going to keep pulling random names out of his past to investigate and Tad tells him that right now, Hannah is their only viable lead. He them tells the Slaters that until they can find another suspect, they need to go with what they have. Zach admits that the only information he has is what Ethan told him - that his father gave her money and sent her away. Tad tells him that Alex Sr. could have told her anything and now that her child is dead, she could be looking for payback. He then admits that she might not be the killer, but also says that if Zach decided to help out, they could find out the truth either way a lot faster. Zach asks what he needs and Tad asks for a description. Zach tells her that she was a small woman with dark hair, and then stops as he sees a vision of her pulling a silk ribbon out of her hair. Kendall, seeing his pause, asks what he remembered. He tells them about the ribbon, and a few other incidental details. Tad attempts to probe for more, but Zach has nothing else to give. Instead, he tells the investigator that he will send over the file of everything he and his men were able to dig up about her. Tad thanks him and takes off. Once alone again, Kendall asks her husband if he ever told Hannah about what happened to his mother. He tells her that he didn't, but says that it's possible that Alex Sr. turned Hannah against him. Kendall thinks that would be unusually cruel, but Zach tells her that his father had no problem being that kind of man. He then thinks back to talking with Jenkins at the jail and tells Kendall that something snapped in him then, and he has no idea why. Kendall asks what he remembers and Zach says that he can see Alex kneeling before him, saying that he knew that Zach killed his mom. Kendall doesn't think it makes sense, and asks what else Zach just remembered. Before he can answer her, an alarm goes off, letting them know that someone unauthorized got by security. He pushes her toward the back of the room, pulls out a gun and points it toward the door.

As they descend to the foyer in the family mansion, Krystal alternates between giving Adam directives on specifics for the funeral, and apologizing for being too monopolizing, as the service will be for Dixie as well. Adam tells her that he will take care of everything, and begs her to rest until it's time to leave. He goes off to phone the florist and Krystal finds a contemplative JR in the living room. She goes to give him a comforting hug but he cuts it short, telling her that she isn't aware of all he'd done. Blindly, Krystal tells him that what she knows is that he loved Babe, and although they had hard times, they got through them because the love was there. Before JR can refute her claims, Colby enters the living room. His eyes flashing, he demands that his sister explain to him why, when Babe's body isn't even cold, she thought it would be okay to wear something from the dead woman's wardrobe. Krystal tries to calm JR down, but he is already yelling at Colby to take off Babe's dress. Colby, too stunned to do anything but cry, stands motionless until Adam comes in the room and tries to ascertain what happened. Once JR fills him in, he takes his distraught daughter out to the patio. When they are alone again, Krystal tells JR that she knows how it feels to want to destroy everything that is reminiscent of Babe, but he replies that there is more to the story than she knows. She tells him that Adam informed her of all of the things he was doing to collect evidence just in case he needed it, tells him that she understood and that Babe did too. She notes that Babe knew how deeply she cut him and that he wouldn't heal overnight. She goes on to say that the most important part was in the end, he trusted her and in that - he gave her the dream that she always wanted. JR stops her and tells the real truth: that he was divorcing Babe. Krystal doesn't want to believe it but JR makes it very clear that what she was about to hear was the truth. She asks him if he told Babe about the divorce before she died, and JR confirms as much. He goes on to tell her that he also demanded full custody of their son so that he could get Babe away from him forever. Krystal points out that Babe would never let him get away with that, but JR replies that she would if they stakes were high enough. He then admits that he knows the truth about the paternity of the baby she is carrying and although Dixie wanted him to do the right thing and give Tad his daughter, he planned to use to get Babe to do exactly as he asked. Horrified as she takes it all in, Krystal needlessly confirms that the last few days of Babe's life were actually a living hell. She asks JR how he could make Babe choose between her mother and her son and he tells her it wasn't that hard. He then cuttingly asks if she still wants to call him son. Enraged, Krystal tosses aside JR's arrogant need to have his son all to himself and berates him for needing to cause as much pain as possible instead of just making the divorce clean. She tells him that she can't believe that he was ready to betray both Tad and his father - the two men who stood beside him despite all of the rotten things he did. JR tells her that he did it because he couldn't trust Babe but Krystal slams it home that Babe couldn't trust him either - but at least she tried. With a note of finality, she tells him that she never dreamed there would be anything good about Babe losing her life but now, knowing the truth, she is glad that Babe died before having to make the decision that JR put in front of her.

On the patio, Adam asks Colby for her side of the story. She tells him that Babe gave her the dress and that she thought it a good idea to wear it as a tribute. She admits that she thinks because she never knows the right thing to do, her brother now hates her. Adam tells her that all she can do is love him, and eventually JR will come around. Morosely, Colby admits that she should have never told her brother Krystal's secret. Interest piqued, Adam asks his youngest daughter to fill him in. Colby tells him that she didn't really hear anything; rather, she made something up and blew it out of proportion to make JR mad at Babe. Now, she says, with Babe gone, there is no way to make up for it. Adam tries to tell her that everything is all right, but she points out that she isn't crying for Dixie or Babe - she is crying for herself and how stupid and selfish she had become. She notes that it's not hard to understand why everyone hates her. With that admission, Adam tells his daughter that he loves her. Colby notes that when Charlotte is born, she will be easily loved - which is nothing like her big sister. Adam tells her that Charlotte will make it easier for the whole family to love each other. He tells her that she is completely irreplaceable, and when she asks him how she can make up for all of the wrong that she'd done, he says that they will get through the pain together.

Erica catches up with Jeff and fills him in on what happened with Josh. She tells him that since he was always sympathetic to the way Josh felt about Babe, it's possible that he could make their son come home. Jeff agrees to track him down and do what he can. Erica asks if she is overreacting, and Jeff tells her that she has every right to feel the way she does. She thanks him for being the only one that understands and, with a hug, tells him that she doesn't know what she would do without him. The hug is brief and is followed by a kiss that Jeff lays fully and passionately on Erica's lips. She breaks away, but only to tell him that she doesn't want him to stop. As hope flickers in his eyes, she tells him that she is amazed that he understands her, doesn't shut her down and loves her for who she is. She then says that she has tried to take care of her family on her own, but she doesn't want to be alone anymore. They resume kissing and start to tear off clothes before Jeff sweeps her off of her feet and carries her over to his bed.

Tad shows up at the Chandler Mansion but before he and Adam can exchange any words, they hear Krystal yelling at JR in the living room. The two men join them and ask what is going on. Krystal demands that JR be thrown out of the house but they want to know what the fight was about. With a gleam in her eye, Krystal dares JR to tell Adam and Tad exactly what he had planned to do."

- Soap Central