Release day finally came for Brooke and, from the look on her face, it hadn't come a day too soon. Trevor met with Brooke in her room to discuss some legal maneuvers. His advice was straight to the point and included pointers on how to give her testimony and what she should say to score the most points with the jurors. His most important piece of advice, however, might have been when he reminded Brooke not to let Keith get her riled up. Trevor told his client that he doesn't want to know what went on in the hospital room, but he does want her to promise that she will not "have a relapse" before the trial concludes. Brooke assured Trevor that her recovery was permanent and let Trevor know that she knew he and Belinda had gone out on a limb for her. Trevor warned Brooke that the road ahead would be full of twists and turns and he hoped that the road wouldn't lead to "Central Europe." Brooke swallowed hard, but went on unfazed. Belinda arrived a little later than she had anticipated, but she hadn't counted on being summoned to Cortlandt Manor. When she arrived, Trevor handed her a note that had been messengered to their office. Belinda opened the note and gasped. The note was from her brother, Noah. The letter said that Rose, Belinda and Noah's mother, had developed a heart condition and was in serious health. Belinda felt helpless. She knew that it would be nearly impossible for her to be with her mother since both Rose and Noah (along with Julia Santos) are enrolled in the witness protection program. The door swung open and Adrian stepped inside. He apologized for the interruption and told Belinda that he has a solution to her problem. The pair went into the hall and Adrian offered to use his ties to the government to get Belinda to see her ailing mother. Belinda worried that Adrian wasn't taking the situation seriously, but he assured her that his job forced him to be serious at all times. Back inside, Trevor tried to convince Brooke that it was necessary to have Laura testify at the trial. Brooke, however, felt that calling Laura would reopen all of her old wounds and nixed the idea.
Dixie wasn't exactly sure how the topic of conversation had gone from Opal and Palmer to her and Tad, but she didn't like it. "We are over and done with," Dixie said with lots of agitation in her voice. While Tad agreed that their marriage was over---the divorce pretty much sealed that one---he argued that they still had some unresolved issues to talk about. Tad wanted to be able to have open dialogue with Dixie and not just the exchange of niceties that they've been having. Dixie wondered why Tad was having a problem with their current friendship. Tad quickly explained that he didn't have a problem with it---he just wanted them to wrap up some loose ends. Dixie started to walk away, so Tad grabbed her hand and asked her once again to stay. Palmer walked into the room and demanded that Tad, who he referred to as a "cad," let go of his niece's hand. Tad and Palmer bickered back and forth over whether or not Palmer had to right to control Dixie's life. Palmer, in turn, threatened to sick the Dobermans on Tad if he didn't leave immediately. "Uncle Palmer," Dixie sassed. "Butt out!" Each in turn, Palmer and Tad asked Dixie when she would stop letting the other control her life. Dixie appeared to side with Palmer and told her former husband that he should leave her alone and accept their relationship as is. Tad left, but not before warning Dixie that she'd walked right back into Palmer's domineering grasp, and Palmer chuckled to himself. He went on and on about how Dixie had made the right decision in divorcing Tad. His braggadocio went on for a long time and he might have continued indefinitely had Dixie not told him to "shut up." Dixie told Palmer that Tad had been right to blast him for hollering at Opal. Palmer looked absolutely stunned. How could his niece had betrayed him? "Are you still...," Palmer asked before Dixie cut him off. She told him not to even begin thinking what he appeared to be thinking. She gathered her things and stomped off towards the front door. She ordered her uncle to apologize to Opal immediately. Palmer claimed to have already apologized and asked for advice on what he should say. "It's your mess, clean it up," Dixie snapped. Then, almost whimsically, Dixie chirped, "and if you did take those paintings---give them back."
At Tad's house, Tad, Brooke, and Jamie briefly discussed Brooke's trial. Jamie was still aglow from his father's promise that Brooke would never have to go to prison. Perhaps it was not the wisest thing to do, but Tad again assured Jamie that Brooke would not go to jail. He did, however, add a disclaimer to his promise. He said that he'd roll a peanut clear across the country-with his nose---if he couldn't live up to his promise.
Dixie and Junior sat down and talked about Junior's day with Adam. Junior said that he had an okay day, but that it lacked the fun level that he used to have when they all lived at Tad's house. Dixie reminded her son that those days were behind them. Junior nodded, but remarked that it would "be neat" if they could somehow do it all again. "Yeah," Dixie said softly and with a twinge of sadness. "It would be neat."
Ryan and Mateo were vehemently opposed to Hayley's decision to use herself as bait to trap Lee Hawkins. Hayley explained that she needed to stop Lee before he hurt someone else. That someone else, Mateo feared, could be his beloved wife. Hayley explained that she wanted her husband's nightmares to end. The couple embraced as one of the housekeepers entered with a note. The note turned out to be a goodbye note from John. In the letter, John told Mateo and Hayley that he had "a hot date with a hot babe" in Bermuda. Armed with the note, Hayley and Mateo headed out to find Stuart and break the news to him that Marian really had given him the boot.
Stuart poked around outside the mausoleum hoping to find the source of the noise. He heard a rustle in the nearby bushes and moved in for a closer look. He might have stumbled upon Lee had Hayley and Mateo not approached from the other direction. Hayley showed Stuart the note and waited for her uncle to break down. Stuart said that he was happy for Marian, a statement that confounded both Hayley and Mateo. Stuart said that if Marian is truly happy with John, he'll be happy. He quickly noted that he knows that she cannot be happy with John. He decided that the only way to find out once and for all would be to fly to Bermuda and check in on Marian. Hayley worried that Stuart might find Marian and John in a compromising position. Stuart was certain that he wouldn't. Stuart quickly forgot about the noise he'd heard, deciding that it must have been Mateo and Hayley. Inside the crypt, Marian had also given up on the voices that she'd heard. She determined that she was hallucinating and curled back up against the wall.
Once the couple left, Ryan laid into Gillian for suggesting that Hayley be used as bait to capture Lee. It was her dumbest idea ever, according to Ryan. Gillian began to cry. This was hardly the reaction Ryan had anticipated from his wife. "You know nothing about me," Gillian sobbed. Gillian said that she cries more often than one would believe. She also stated that she didn't want to come off as mean when she suggested that Hayley be used as bait. She said that she wanted to see Lee captured so that her nightmares---and Hayley's---could end once and for all. Gillian told of a nightmare she has in which she is being chased by a faceless man. She is unable to run and ends up falling into a ditch. The man starts to bury her alive and she is unable to call for help. Gillian decided that she could take Hayley's place in the sting. Ryan objected to that plan, too. He didn't want to put Gillian in harm's way either. Gillian was moved by Ryan's devotion and the two slowly leaned towards each other in preparation of a kiss. They never got a chance to kiss because Mateo and Hayley returned to the house. The couple announced that they'd come up with a way to thwart Lee's carefully crafted plan to rub her out: they were leaving Pine Valley for a few weeks. Where they were going, they didn't know. But they knew that when they got back, the danger would be out of the way.
Lee entered the crypt and told Marian that he'd caught Stuart poking around outside. Marian worried that Lee might have hurt Stuart. Marian's concern infuriated Lee and he hauled off and slapped Marian on her cheek. "You said it was over!" he yelled. Marian held her cheek. She didn't appear to be in pain so much as she was shocked by the way in which Lee was treating her. Marian was relieved to learn that Stuart on his way to Bermuda. There, she figured, he would not be hurt by Lee. Lee smiled deviously and told Marian that by the time Stuart returned, he would have already enacted his plan. Lee curled up on a blanket that he'd placed on the concrete floor and closed his eyes. Marian frantically dug through her purse hoping to find something that she could use to get out of the crypt. She came across a bottle of pills that she'd been given after a recent root canal. She carefully dumped the contents of the capsules into one of Lee's drinks. She shook the container so that the medicine would dissolve completely and then placed the bottle by Lee's makeshift bed. She remarked that she never thought that her root canal would have done her any good. She cast a piercing glance at the now fast asleep Lee. "Nighty night, you crazy bastard," she growled.
To escape the paparazzi, Brooke spent a few hours before the resumption of her trial at Tad's house. Her move didn't go unnoticed and soon the media flocked just outside Tad's house. Dimitri was also able to find Brooke, but Tad wished that he hadn't. Dimitri's request to see Brooke was promptly---and coldly---turned down by Tad. Tad felt that Dimitri had already influenced Brooke negatively and he wasn't about to risk seeing Brooke take another wrong turn. Brooke entered the room and thanked Tad for wanting to protect her, but she insisted that she didn't need protection---at least not from Dimitri. Not wanting to unnecessarily upset Brooke on her big day, Tad agreed to let Dimitri and Brooke talk. Tad left the room with a warning that Brooke had better be there when he gets back. Brooke mused that Dimitri had risked blindness from the flash of cameras just to see her. She reminded Dimitri that he needs to keep cool in court and refrain from slugging Keith. The two chuckled. Jamie entered the house and asked so many people were camped outside. He didn't want Brooke to go to court because he still feared that he might never get to see her again. Brooke assured her son that she would be home for dinner just like every night. Dimitri stepped in with an idea that made everyone happy. He said that he had arranged for Jamie to have a party at Wildwind with Amanda. Jamie liked the idea, but said that he wanted Junior to go as well. Dimitri had no objections and the deal was done. Jamie dashed upstairs to gather his belongings and Brooke took time out to thank Dimitri for taking Jamie's mind off of the trial. Things got awkward, yet heated and the pair looked like they were trying to figure out what to do next. Tad entered the room before the two so much as hugged and said that it was time to head to court.
At WRCW, Liza returned to her office and found a beautiful floral arrangement on her desk. She picked up the phone and left a message on Jake's machine thanking him for the flowers. When Liza turned around, she noticed that Allie had let herself into the office. In a voice barely about a whisper, Allie said that the flowers were not from Jake---they were from her. Liza was confused, to say the least, about Allie's sudden change of attitude. Allie apologized for her actions and said that her "insecurities" had made her act so violently. She said that she now knows that Liza doesn't have any desire to reunite with Jake. Perhaps, she said, the reason she was so concerned was because she knows that Liza could get Jake back if she wanted to. "I know that Jake is just a donor, not a father," Allie said somewhat philosophically. Liza wondered if Allie would be so level-headed if her first attempt at getting pregnancy didn't succeed and she needed Jake to give a second donation. Allie replied that she hopes that Liza will get pregnant after just one procedure. That really didn't answer the question. When pressed for a definitive answer, Allie said that she would "not stand in [Liza's] way" if she needed a second procedure. She stated that she has no reason to be angry with Liza. Allie had no realized that she had been the reason that Jake left her, not Liza. Allie claimed that she hoped that Liza would some day be able to forgive her. She handed over a present that she'd picked out for the baby---a pink bunny rabbit. Liza smiled meekly and told Allie that she could forgive her. The two women embraced and mended their fences. Jake entered the office and observed the tail-end of the hug and immediately wanted to know what was going on. Allie bowed her head shyly and said that it would probably be best if she left. Liza filled Jake in on the details, but Jake seemed skeptical of Allie's sudden turn around. He said he'd like to believe that Allie was telling the truth---like to. Allie could see that Jake wasn't about to forgive her and decided that it was time to leave. Liza asked Allie to stand outside in the hallway while she talked to Jake. When Allie left the room, Liza told Jake that she honestly believes that Allie has reverted to her more sane self. Surprisingly, Jake needed a great deal of coaxing just to conceded that Allie might be telling the truth. Liza urged Jake to reopen dialog with Allie. It was no secret that he loves Allie and that she still loves him. Why, she asked, would they be willing to lose that love? Jake agreed to talk to Allie and stepped outside. Jake told Allie that he needed to drop by Tad's house and invited her to join him. Back inside the office, Liza poured over a stack of paperwork. David Hayward entered her office carrying a bottle of apple cider and two glasses. He assured Liza that he'd come in peace---and to toast the "little bundle of joy."
Over at Tad's, Jake asked Allie where they should begin. Allie had an answer, but it required no words. She leaned over and kissed Jake.
At Wildwind, Jamie, Junior, and Amanda had to wait for the groom (who also doubled as a lifeguard) to show up before they could go swimming. Probably like many of the guests, Amanda had never seen the pool and asked for directions. Peggy had the job of watching the three children and told Amanda that the pool was just beyond the mausoleum. Junior was the only one who knew what a mausoleum was. When he told his two playmates that dead people were buried in mausoleums, it naturally aroused their curiosity.
In the mausoleum, Marian tried to will Lee into waking up and drinking the laced drink. She looked over and noticed that pill sediment had accumulated on the bottom of the glass bottle. She carefully crawled over and took the bottle in her hands. She turned her back and began to gently shake the bottle. Suddenly, a hand appeared on her shoulder. Marian screamed in horror and told Lee that he'd frightened her. She handed him the apple juice and told him that he should drink the juice to help rebuild his stamina. Lee said that he wasn't thirsty and told Marian that she should drink the juice. Marian had to come up with a good reason why she couldn't take a swig of the juice. She held up a bottle of water and told Lee that she was on a special diet that required her to drink twelve glasses of water each day. Lee bought her tale and agreed to drink the juice. After drinking the beverage, he said that he felt dizzy and tired. Marian encouraged Lee to lay back down and take a nap. Lee said that he'd just woken up and tried his best to stave off the sleepiness. He lost the battle and curled up on the ground in a deep sleep. Marian carefully reached into Lee's pocket and took hold of the key.
Outside, Junior and Jamie dared Amanda to go inside the mausoleum and see what was there. Amanda was nervous, but decided that there was nothing to be afraid of. She slowly walked towards the door. By that time, Marian had unlocked the door and was struggling to pull the door open. She only had the door open a crack when Lee jumped up and pushed it shut. Marian screamed in horror, which, in turn, scared the children senseless. They all screamed and ran back to the main house. There, they told Peggy that they had heard a scream coming from the mausoleum and that someone must be trapped inside. Lee threw Marian across the room. He loomed over her and that her that since she hasn't learned her lesson yet, he'll have to give her a lesson she'll never forget.
Outside the courtroom, Tad was surprised to see Dixie lurking in the corridor. She explained that she'd been subpoenaed to testify for the defense. Tad was surprised to learn that Dixie would be testifying. He quickly tossed that conversation aside and told Dixie that she'd been right when she said that she didn't want to discuss the reasons they'd split. The only problem was that now Dixie really did want to go back to the past and talk about what had gone wrong. Both had changed their stance hoping that it would make the other happy. Dixie became irritated by Tad's swap and started to storm away. Instead, she fought her urge to be angry and asked Tad how he was feeling. Tad admitted that he was still worried that he might not be able to keep his promise to Jamie.
Judge Foster gaveled court to order and told the jurors that they should disregard anything that they may have heard or seen about the trial during the extended break. Keith approached the bench and asked the judge for a chance to refresh the jury's memory about the case the prosecution had presented. Trevor objected and told Keith that closing arguments were created as a way to remind the jury about the case he'd presented. Judge Foster agreed and said that he wanted the trial to proceed. Dixie was the first to testify and her testimony did a great deal in helping Brooke's case. Since Dixie and Brooke were not really good friends, it carried a lot of weight that a former enemy would testify for Brooke. Dixie told the court about Brooke's decision to have Jamie spend time in Pigeon Hollow. She also said that from talking to both Brooke and Jamie showed that they were both terrified of Jim Thomasen, something that became apparent when Jamie suffered nightmares about his mother's now-deceased fiancé. Keith had no questions for Dixie, but reserved the right to call her back to the stand later. Judge Foster told Dixie that since she could be called back to testify, she needed to stay in Pine Valley. Dixie smiled slightly and looked directly at Tad. Dimitri was next on the stand and he, like Dixie before him, helped Brooke greatly. Under questioning from Trevor, Dimitri told of his investigation into Jim's past and how he'd given Brooke his handgun for protection. Dimitri mentioned that he managed to obtain an FBI that showed that Jim was a suspect in an arson case in New Jersey. The Feds had found explosives at the scene of the fire, explosives that were identical to the ones that had downed Transglobal 149. Also in his sworn testimony, he told the court how Jim had kidnapped Edmund and handcuffed him in an aqueduct near the Jersey Shore. Dimitri stated that both he and his brother had nearly died at the hands of Jim Thomasen. On cross-examination, however, Dimitri innocence started to fade away. Jack prevented Keith from rushing to question Dimitri, telling him that cooler heads would prevail. Keith paid little attention and went into a barrage of hard-as-nail questions. He wanted to prove that Dimitri's testimony could not be believed. He tried to bring up Dimitri's affair with Maria and Maddie's kidnapping as marks against his credibility. Neither line of questioning was allowed. He was, however, allowed to ask Dimitri if he'd ever taken Edmund's child out of the country without Edmund's permission. Dimitri had no choice but to admit his "crime." That opened the door just wide enough for Keith to get his foot inside. He wondered why Dimitri had offered his gun to Brooke, why he'd posted her million dollar bail, why he'd offered to fly her to Pigeon Hollow to see her son, and why he'd confessed to shooting Jim. "Do you love Miss English?" Keith asked. Dimitri gritted his teeth and issued a resounding, "no." Keith pressed on in spite of Trevor's objections. The jury and spectators began whispering to each other as Keith reminded Dimitri that he was under oath.
When the children raced into the parlor and announced that they had heard a ghost, Peggy had no way of knowing that they were telling the truth. Thinking that they were letting their imagination run wild, Peggy played along with the kids. She told them that the ghost must've been "the ghost"---the Wildwind ghost. She said that when Dimitri, Edmund, and Angelique (Dimitri's first wife) were younger they used to talk of seeing and hearing a ghost in the mausoleum. Amanda insisted that it couldn't be a ghost because ghosts don't make noise. Peggy told the children that she'd prepared lunch for them and asked them not to go near the crypt again. Once she left the room, all three children agreed that they had to return to the mausoleum.
It was obvious that Jake was enjoying the kiss, but that didn't stop him from pulling away. He told Allie that kissing was "not the way to fix things." Allie argued that submitting to their passion was just what they needed and begged Jake to make love to her. Allie's fervor failed to accomplish what she'd set out to do. In fact, it accomplished just the opposite. Jake told Allie that she was "pushing things." He implied that Allie wanted to have sex with him so that she could be "neck and neck with Liza." Allie was offended by the insinuation and insisted that her apology to Liza had come from the heart. Jake could not help but wonder what had caused Allie to suddenly have a change of heart. Allie drifted off and had flashbacks of her cryogenic room chat with Adam. She heard him envision the future---Liza carrying his child and Allie carrying Jake's. "You couldn't possibly hate me more than I do," Allie said softly. She called Jake the "only good thing" in her life and said that losing him had hurt her deeply. Allie knew that Jake had given her many chances in the past to prove herself. Now she wanted another shot or, as she called it, a "third chance." If Jake had said that he did not love Allie, he would have been lying. He knew that nothing would be gained by denying the truth. He told Allie that he doesn't want to walk away from her, but he needed to know if she would still be okay with his role in Liza's pregnancy if Liza needed to undergo another round of insemination. Allie calmly stated that she would be quite comfortable and even supportive if Liza's first attempt at getting pregnant failed. The mailman deliver the package that Jake had been waiting for and he decided that it would be best for him and Allie to go out and enjoy was what left of the day. He suggested a canoe and fishing trip to Willow Lake. Allie would've loved to go, but she said that she had other plans. She had enrolled in an emergency medical training course, saying that it was as close to being a doctor as she could get. Jake was overjoyed and gave Allie a big hug.
At WRCW, Liza demanded to know who had told David that she was trying to get pregnant. David mentioned that he'd learned the truth from Allie. Liza was furious. David quickly explained that Allie hadn't actually come right out and told him. He'd more or less figured it out on his own after overhearing an argument between Jake and Allie. Liza remarked that Allie had made a quick turn around because she'd sent her flowers. David was surprised that Allie was being nice to Liza. Showing his inflated sense of self-worth, David determined that Allie must have taken him up on his advice to think of Liza's situation as a "clinical procedure." Liza could do little to prevent herself from laughing in David's face. She reminded the doctor that Allie hates him. Why, she asked, would Allie listen to anything David had to say. She then thought about she'd said and wondered why she was listening to David. David told Liza that he'd be more than happy to donate sperm just in case her first procedure failed to yield the results she wanted. He imagined a beautiful and intelligent child if he and Liza were to have a child together. Liza listened to what David had to say, but when he finished talking she walked over to the phone and called security. David told Liza that he'd leave under his own power and Liza told security that she'd taken care of the intruder herself. Before leaving, David told Liza that he actually did have a reason for dropping by. He reminded Liza of the patient whose heart had mysteriously stopped. He had mentioned this patient to Liza after Liza had suffered a similar "attack" after the explosion. He told her that the woman had just delivered a second healthy child. This was supposed to make Liza less fearful that her health might somehow interfere with a healthy pregnancy. It meant little to Liza and she told David to put his stethoscope back in his pocket because she would go to her own doctor if she wanted a checkup. David quickly slipped in a comment about the medical program Liza had pitched to him before she found out that he tried to kill Adam. Liza said that her offer was part of her plan to trap David and that she had never planned in creating a medical-news program for WRCW. David had still not left---and he still had another reason why he'd made his unexpected visit: He liked Liza. Liza was shocked by the statement and asked David how he could possibly like her. In a statement that sounded eerily like something that Adam had once told Liza, David told WRCW's honcho that they were very much alike. David finally agreed to leave. Even after he left, his presence was felt. Liza sat in her chair and sighed. She seemed to drift off in her thoughts. When she came back around, she phoned the stage manager, Rudy, and asked him to look into whether or not their competitors aired medical programs.
In court, Dimitri knew that he had to tell the truth about his feelings for Brooke. He repeated that he is "not in love with Brooke." He did, however, say that he loves Brooke. The difference, he said, was like night and day. He lumped his "love" for Brooke into the same type of love that he feels for Edmund, Maddie and Sam, and even Erica. Keith asked Dimitri if he would ever lie for someone that he loved... someone like Brooke. He used Dimitri's bogus crime scene confession that he killed Jim as fodder for his line of questioning. Dimitri closed his eyes for a few seconds and admitted that he would lie if necessary. On redirect, Trevor asked Dimitri why he had lied at the gallery. Dimitri said that at the gallery he was not under oath and therefore did not have to tell the truth. Dimitri was done on the stand and Judge Foster called a brief recess. Dimitri got off of the stand and walked in Brooke's direction. Instead of walking over to Brooke, he bowed his head and scurried out of the courtroom. Dimitri was followed out by Tad and Edmund, both of who blasted Dimitri for hurting Brooke's defense. Brooke exited the room illuminated by a frenzy of photographic flash. Dimitri pulled her aside and told her that he was sorry if he had hurt her chances. He said nothing more and headed out of the courthouse.
Back inside, Edmund was the next to take the stand. His testimony proved much more beneficial to Brooke's defense than his brother's. Trevor asked Edmund how he felt about Jim when he was first introduced to him. Edmund stated that he had his suspicions about Jim from day one. When he learned that Jim was involved in insurance fraud, Edmund said that he thought even less of the man. After some investigation, Edmund said that he learned that Jim's dirty deeds went far beyond simple insurance fraud. Jim caught on to Edmund's investigation and then kidnapped him and handcuffed him in the aqueduct. While imprisoned, Edmund claimed that Jim had confessed even more crimes, including ordering a prison hit on Judy Morton (the woman Edmund had interviewed in prison) and blowing up Flight 149. Trevor mentioned that Edmund's wife, Maria, was on that doomed flight. Even after Jim's death, Edmund continued his investigation. Trevor asked Edmund why he hadn't given up the chase. Edmund said that he wanted to prove that Brooke was right about Jim. Edmund said that when he went to New York, he found a box full of photos of young children. One of the young girls that Jim had snapped photos of turned up in a pornographic magazine. Keith objected to the implication that Jim had been the one to take the dirty pictures. Edmund produced a sworn affidavit from the publisher of the magazine stating that Jim had sold him the picture in question. On cross-examination, Keith looked for things that would prove that Edmund had something to gain by Jim's death. The fact that Brooke, Jim, and Edmund were all owners of Tempo reemerged. Keith noted that Edmund had made a substantial monetary gain from acquiring his late partner's shares of stock in the magazine. Trevor was allowed to ask Edmund a few more questions. Edmund had apparently earned a cool million dollars from Jim's stock---but that was barely a drop in the bucket to compare to Edmund's total worth. In fact, Edmund was a known philanthropist who had given well over a million dollars to charity in the previous twelve months. In short, the money he'd received as a result of Jim's death meant very little. Judge Foster again called a recess. Jack told Keith that Edmund's testimony had scored big for Brooke's side. Keith was chomping at the bits to cross-examine the next witness for the defense---Brooke. At the defense table, Janet told Brooke that she could read the jury and that the pendulum was slowly swinging in Brooke's favor. With that, court resumed and Trevor called Brooke to the stand.
Lee was not pleased by Marian's attempt to escape. Marian was fast on her feet and came up with a way to lessen Lee's anger. She said that she was trying to get Lee to notice her because all he's done recently was hit her. She told Lee that she wanted him to make love to her. Lee was aghast by "Joy's" flirtatiousness. Still believing that they were living in the 1970s, Lee told Marian that a proper woman would never ever bring up the topic of sex. Marian told Lee that in the 90s, wives can talk to their husbands about sex. Lee had no idea that "the 90s" were and asked Marian what she was talking about. Marian didn't want to discuss trivial details and asked Lee to make love to her. Lee unbuttoned his shirt and watched as Marian started to perform a striptease.
Outside, Amanda, Junior, and Jamie returned and started poking around again. The decided that they would try to kill the ghost. Amanda rolled her eyes and said that a ghost could not be killed. Dimitri walked up the path and asked the trio what they were doing. Junior told Dimitri about the ghost and asked if he had a key so that they could go inside and look around. Dimitri chuckled and told the kids that they were expected back at the house for a picnic. They all seemed to give up on the ghost chasing and headed back to the house.
Back inside the mausoleum, Lee kissed Marian's neck and was very much in the mood. Marian, however, cringed in fear. She told herself over and over to imagine that Stuart was the one kissing her. It didn't work. She could take no more and ordered Lee to get off of her. "You little whore!" Lee hollered. He stood up and hovered over Marian. The next thing that was heard was Marian screaming in terror.
A game of checkers failed to keep Jamie's mind off of his mother's trial. He pushed the checkerboard off of the table and stomped across the room. Amanda and Junior knew immediately that their friend was worried. Jamie wondered what would happen if his father, Tad, could not keep his promise to keep Brooke out of jail. Amanda assured her pal that her father was the best lawyer on the planet and that he would get Brooke cleared of all charges. She then said that if something went wrong and Brooke was sent to jail, she and Junior would always be there for him.
Now that the kids were safely back at the house, Dimitri returned to the mausoleum to check on the reported noise. Dimitri almost seemed to buy into the idea that a ghost was lurking around inside. Lee panicked when he heard the jangling of keys coming from outside the mausoleum. He loomed over Marian's limp body---she had been beaten into unconsciousness---and clutched his ever-ready knife. He told Marian that he wasn't going to go down by himself. He assumed that Stuart had caught up to them and was ready to die to protect his "wife." Outside, Edmund grabbed Dimitri's arm before he was able to unlock the door. He scolded his brother for running out of the courtroom. Sure, Dimitri hadn't exactly helped Brooke's case, but Edmund knew that Brooke would want to see Dimitri's face in the back of the courtroom. There, he could wink or smile to let Brooke know that everything was going to be all right. Dimitri didn't think that he could make Brooke believe that everything was going to be all right because he couldn't convince himself that everything would work out for Brooke. Edmund told Dimitri that a real friend would be there for Brooke no matter what. Of course, Edmund knew that Dimitri wanted to be more than just Brooke's friend. Dimitri tried to deny his feelings for Brooke. Edmund, however, tried to force his brother to confront his true feelings for Brooke. Dimitri claimed that Brooke was under enough pressure as a result of the trial and that she did not need him hanging around and bringing her down. Edmund wondered what would happen if Brooke's trial suddenly went away. Would Dimitri still treat Brooke like a "little sister?" Dimitri issued a surprising reply, even if it was an obvious attempt to dodge the question. "I wouldn't wish myself on my worst enemy." The best thing Dimitri thought that he could was to "bow out" of Brooke's life and hope that Trevor could undo some of the damage that he had caused.
Brooke took the stand and the court exuded a nervous anticipation---everyone was waiting to hear exactly what Brooke would say in her own defense. Trevor likened Brooke's testimony to a "binding agent" in cooking. By that, he meant that Brooke's testimony would be the testimony that made everything come together and make sense. Brooke's testimony began with a recount of the plane crash that had nearly taken her life. She told the court that Jim had been the one to pull her from the wreckage. "I thought he was an angel sent from God," Brooke said. This total stranger had risked his life to save her. That alone was enough to make Brooke feel like Jim was her "lifeline." Over the next few weeks, Jim always seemed to be there just when Brooke needed him. "He was always there to pull me back from the edge," said Brooke. Trevor took a decidedly rough approach with his client. He wasn't holding her hand and leading her on a gentle walk down a garden path; he was forcing her to answer a barrage of difficult questions. Brooke was stunned by her attorney's abrasiveness. She failed to see that Trevor was actually trying to help her. He couldn't let Brooke sing Jim's praises as the man who had saved her life. Looking a lot like a deer trapped in the headlights on an oncoming car, Brooke blinked several times before stating that she was ready to continue with the questioning. Trevor asked Brooke when Jim and Laura had first met. Brooke said that she didn't know the exact date because the two had met before she knew either of them. Trevor asked Brooke why neither Jim nor Laura had revealed that they knew each other. Brooke didn't go into the details of Jim and Laura's past encounters. She said that she didn't realize Jim and Laura's awkward behavior around each other because she was "cut off" from reality. She blamed the trauma from surviving the plane crash on her failure to pick up on her daughter's uneasiness. Jim, she said, knew the stress caused by "cheating death." Something must have gone wrong between the time Brooke thought of Jim as a hero and their final showdown in the gallery. Brooke said that she began suspecting that Jim wasn't such a good guy when she found a piece of luggage hidden in his hotel room closet. The luggage, distinctive in its design, matched a fragment of luggage found by federal investigators at the crash scene. The recovered luggage carried traces of plastic explosives. Brooke stated that she desperately wanted Jim's story about loan sharks planting the luggage to be true. Jim was "like a cancer" in Brooke's life, she testified. The only problem was at the time Brooke didn't know---or rather failed to believe---that the man who had pulled her from the plane wreckage could be such a "monster." A series of coincidences finally opened Brooke's eyes to her fiancé, a series of events that included Mateo and Hayley's run-in with a pair of thugs in New York and their subsequent near-death experience when carbon monoxide flooded their apartment. Brooke was about to mention the bugging device that Jim planted in her house, but Keith objected on the grounds that there was no proof that Jim had ever planted such a device. That pushed Brooke ever closer to the breaking point. She began babbling on about Jim's other crimes---taking pornographic photos of Laura and taking out insurance policies on her and Edmund's lives. Her outburst pushed the pendulum back in the prosecution's direction. Keith objected, saying that Brooke was offering information that had not yet been proven. Judge Foster asked Brooke to calm down, but allowed her to continue answering Trevor's questions. Trevor asked Brooke to tell him what happened on the night of April 14, 1998. Brooke said that she had phoned Jim and asked him to meet her at the gallery so that she could confront him about all of his evil doings. Brooke stated that not only had Jim admitted to taking the pornographic and indirectly blowing up Flight 149, but he stated that he'd also killed Edmund and Dimitri.. Trevor asked Brooke if she'd shot Jim at that point. She shook her head. She said that Jim continued to boast of his crimes and that she tried to phone the police, but that Jim yanked the phone from the wall. Again, Trevor asked Brooke if she'd shot Jim at that point. Brooke shook her head. She tearfully stated that she hadn't used the handgun until Jim threatened to go after her son and take pornographic pictures of him. Trevor wondered why Brooke had shot Jim---Jamie was hundreds of miles away in Pigeon Hollow at the time. Brooke wiped the tears from her eyes and said that Jim would have found her son eventually. Even if he didn't, there were dozens of children out there who Jim could have preyed upon, children who, unlike Jamie, had no one to protect them. Brooke said that she envisioned Jim "murdering [Jamie's] soul." When he walked towards the door, she said that she shot him. After the initial shot, Jim turned around and started walking towards her. She shot him again---and again---and then again. "I shot him until he was dead," sobbed Brooke.
During a brief recess, Brooke stretched her legs in the hallway. Dixie and Tad offered Brooke their support and wished her well during the upcoming cross-examination. Dixie and Tad returned to the courtroom. Brooke took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder. Standing a few feet behind her was the only person that she was really looking for---Dimitri. Brooke smiled and thanked Dimitri for being there for her.
Court resumed and Brooke readied for what she knew would be an intense series of questions from the prosecution. She had no idea how intense those questions would be. Keith held up one of the blown-up images of Laura that Brooke had hung in the gallery the night of the shooting. He questioned Brooke as to why she would want to enlarge a photo of something that she supposedly found so offensive. Brooke nervously stated that she wanted to use the photos to force Jim into a confession. From there, Keith poked into Brooke's past. He asked her how many times she'd been married and why each of those marriages, of which there were three, had ended. Brooke testified that she'd been married to Adam Chandler and Tad Martin. Both marriages ended because her two husbands were interested in other women. Oddly, the women in both cases turned out to be one, singular woman: Dixie Cooney. Keith noted that Dixie was a younger woman. In the back of the courtroom, Dimitri nervously chewed on his fist. Keith made several references to Brooke's broken marriages and told the court to be on the lookout for a developing pattern. Keith noted that Brooke had written an article on teenage prostitution for the April edition of Tempo magazine. He asked her to briefly discuss how a girl could be roped into becoming a prostitution. Brooke said that usually a "broker" or pimp has sex with the young girl to establish a sense of "power" over her. Then it becomes easy for the broker to order the girl into turning tricks. Keith asked Brooke when she first realized that Jim and Laura had had sex. Brooke's eyes popped out of their sockets as she strongly replied, "never!" Keith laughed slightly and reminded Brooke that she'd just testified that young girls are lured to the dark side after having sex with a pimp. He then implied that Brooke must have known that Laura and Jim had had sex---perhaps they'd even had it under her roof. Brooke was devastated. She quietly told Keith that what he was saying wasn't true. She appeared too stunned to issue a reply. Then came the blow that prompted Dimitri to say, "here goes the ball game." Keith, now yelling, said that Brooke could see that another of her relationships was headed down the same path---she was going to be left for a younger woman. He stated that Brooke felt that she wasn't young enough or "hot enough" to hold Jim's interest. SO to end the relationship between Jim and her daughter, Brooke sent Laura to China and then murdered Jim.
Pine Valley's Odd Couple doesn't go by the names Felix and Oscar; they use Jack and Mike. The two men crowded into Jack's car and sat outside Cortlandt Manor...waiting. They were not entirely sure what they were waiting for, but they knew that they needed to keep an eye on Palmer. If he was going to try to move the stolen artwork out of the mansion, they were not going to let the move go unnoticed. The two bickered like an old, married couple over ever aspect of the stake out---including what type of Chinese food to order. As the pair looked on, Palmer was in motion. They let his car pass by before tailing him.
At Linden House, Erica, dressed in a sexy dress, gently nibbled on the neck of a scantily clad man. She told him that he had made her forget both Jack and Mike. No, Erica had not reverted to her days of being a conniver. The display of affection was actually quite innocent. A photographer snapped off photo after photo of the action, which would later be turned into a new marketing campaign for Enchantment. As Erica finished up the photo shoot, Palmer arrived at her door. He had called her earlier to tell her that he wanted to talk to her, but he'd told her cryptically that he couldn't talk to her over the phone. Erica apologized yet again for Mike and Jack's behavior the day before. Palmer accepted her apology, but said that it would be very hard for him to forget what had gone down. He stated that Opal had locked herself in the bedroom and refused to come out ever since the fiasco. Palmer, with a crafty look on his face, asked Erica if Jack was telling the truth when he said that he was going to forget about Mike's allegations and drop the investigation. Erica became very nervous and headed to the beverage cart to get herself a bottle of sparkling water. Palmer could see that Erica was a bit nervous, so he tried another approach. He told Erica that he wasn't just asking for himself, but he was also asking for Opal---he wanted to make it up to Opal. Erica nodded and told Palmer that he owed Opal an awful lot after telling a room full of people that he built his secret room to get away from her. Palmer said that his story was "certainly not the truth." Erica, still not wanting to break her promise to Jack and Mike, was at least relieved that Palmer's story was a lie. The truth, he said, was that the room was built so that he and his ex-wife, Daisy, could have "intimate romantic encounters." Erica wondered why Palmer would need to have a secret room in order to have sex with his wife. Why not use one of the existing rooms. Palmer claimed that Myra Murdoch, Daisy's mother and his housekeeper, who he likened to the Ghost of Christmas Past, had always meddled in their private life. Erica quickly noted that Adrian had said that Palmer still uses the secret room. Palmer explained that his feelings for Daisy still linger and that he sometimes goes into the room to relive the past. Again, Palmer asked Erica if Jack was really going to drop his investigation. Erica told Palmer that whatever Jack had told her had been told in confidence.
Outside, Jack and Mike knew that one of them had to go inside the house and find out what Erica and Palmer were talking about. They also knew that it was very likely that Erica would blab the details of their investigation to Palmer. Now for what they didn't agree upon---who would be the one to go inside. Citing his experience as a spy and his ability to eavesdrop, Mike volunteered himself for the mission. Jack, however, worried that Mike would use the opportunity to try to put the moves on Erica. Jack was ultimately the one who got the green light to go inside, but it didn't come without protest on Mike's part.
Back inside, Palmer tried to use whatever leverage he had to make Erica tell him what was going on. He reminded her that he'd always been in her corner and that she probably wouldn't had control of Enchantment if it were not for him. The battle between doing what was right and what she wanted to do must have been killing her. Finally, Erica came up with a way to do both the right thing and the wrong thing. "If only there was nothing to tell you, then I wouldn't have to break my problem," Erica said in one of her most confusing statements. "So you're telling me," Palmer started before being cut off by Erica. "I told you nothing," she snapped. It was then Palmer's turn for a confusing statement. In short, he asked Erica if there wasn't something that she wasn't supposed to tell him, then she would tell him what she knew. Erica understood what Palmer was trying to say and replied simple, "Perhaps." The doorbell rang and Erica sauntered over to the door. When Jack entered, Palmer chuckled to himself and became extremely quiet. He knew that it wasn't just a coincidence that Jack had shown up at Linden. Palmer claimed that he'd dropped by for Erica's advice on how he should handle his crisis with Opal and then dashed towards the door. Once Palmer was gone, Erica blasted Jack for not trusting her. She found it horrible that her former fiancé didn't believe in her ability to keep a secret. Jack knew that Erica had blabbed or at least ninety-percent certain. The two began exchanging snide remarks until they fell into each other's arms and began kissing passionately. Both wondered how they had gotten along without each other for so many weeks. Erica took Jack by the hand and led him to the steps. As they walked up the staircase, the front door swung open and Mike appeared. Eating his dim sum from the Chinese restaurant, Mike chirped, "Pork, anyone?"
Brooke broke down as she listened to Keith imply that she killed Jim because she was worried that Jim and Laura were carrying on an elicit affair. Brooke shouted that Keith was lying and that she killed Jim because he was trying to hurt her son. Judge Foster admonished Brooke for her outburst. Keith had one final question for Keith---causing Trevor to object fervently. He told the judge that he wanted Keith's question to pertain to the trial and not Brooke's personal life. Keith brought up the fact that Brooke, as part owner of Tempo, would stand to earn a sizeable chunk of cash as a result of Jim's death. Thinking that he'd done his job of breaking Brooke, Keith announced that he had no more questions for the witness. On redirect, Trevor hoped to minimize most of the damage done by the prosecutor. In a surprisingly odd series of questions, Trevor asked Brooke why she had gotten on the stand and done everything that he'd previous advised her not to do. Brooke said that it was hard to listen to some of the things Keith had said because they were not true. Trevor asked Brooke if her outburst on the stand was because she'd suddenly realized that Keith was right when he said that Brooke feared that Jim and Laura were having an affair. "No!" Brooke said coldly. He asked Brooke what had driven her to shoot Jim. Was it the photos Jim had taken of Laura or was it his claim that he'd killed Dimitri and Edmund? Or maybe it was the fact that Jim had killed, Laura's mother. To each, Brooke shook her head and said no. When asked if Brooke shot Jim because she believed that Jim would harm her son, Brooke softly said yes. She bowed her head and started to sob. With that, Trevor announced that the defense would rest. He hoped that seeing Brooke on the stand with tears in her eyes would leave a lasting memory with the jury. It was time for closing arguments, Judge Foster warned both attorneys to "avoid histrionics." In the back of the courtroom, Edmund told Dimitri that he believed that Trevor managed to win back the jury. Dimitri, however, wasn't so sure. Dixie looked at the jury and told Tad that she feared the worst. She then wondered if Brooke would have been better off if she hadn't convinced Dimitri to tell her where Brooke had fled. The bailiff appeared at front of the courtroom and handed Keith a sheet of paper. Keith mumbled something to the judge, something that caused Trevor to loudly object. The jury was quickly cleared from the courtroom and Keith announced that a new witness had suddenly materialized. The witness, Keith announced, would help to "un-vilify" the victim. He argued that the defense had labeled Jim as a "monster," a "child abuser," and a "pornographer." Trevor objected to the witness. He said that no one was sure that the witness was who he claimed to be and that he hadn't had a chance to interview the witness. Judge Foster called a fifteen minute recess while he decided whether or not he would let the prosecution call the surprise witness. While everyone in the courtroom ooh'ed and aah'ed, Brooke slipped out of the courtroom through a side door. Dixie was the only one to notice that Brooke slipped out and headed after her. Brooke looked out a window in a side room. She was obviously thinking about the future. Dixie entered the room and asked Brooke if they could talk. She told Brooke that she had no idea that Keith was going to use her in his case against Brooke. Dixie admitted that she'd never thought of herself as "the other woman," a woman who had broken up two of Brooke's marriages. Brooke told Dixie that she didn't want them bringing up the past. The important thing, Dixie said, was that they had gotten past their differences and become friends. "Jamie tells me you draw really cool dinosaurs," Brooke smiled weakly. Janet poked her head in the room and told the two women that Judge Foster was ready to announce his decision. In the courtroom, Judge Foster ripped off another of his priceless lines. "I don't like surprise witnesses," he groused. "In fact, I don't like surprises of any kind." He felt, however, that he needed to help "balance the portrait" of the victim and to do that he needed to let the prosecution call its witness. Trevor still objected, but he knew that he had to honor the judge's decision. Trevor asked that it be noted on the record that if the case needed to be appealed, this decision would be his primary reason for seeking a new trial. Dixie leaned over to Tad and asked him who would possibly want to testify for Jim. At about the same time, Edmund remarked to Dimitri that the witness must be a "degenerate." The jury was called backed into the room and a nervous chatter erupted in the courtroom. Phoebe found it incomprehensible that someone would "sear under oath to Jim's sterling character." Edmund asked Phoebe to hope that the witness' testimony would be so bizarre that a mistrial would be granted. A long period of time passed without any testimony or comments by either attorney. The chatter grew louder. Janet looked to Janet and told her that he was "playing by the rules and getting killed." Brooke turned towards the back of the room and smiled meekly to Dimitri. He returned the forced smile. The bailiff appeared in the front of the room and called the mystery witness: Robert Thomasen. The name alone was enough to get the courtroom buzzing. One by one, the spectators turned to the back of the courtroom to get a glimpse of the witness. Phoebe nearly fell out of her seat. Dixie's mouth gaped. Brooke was the last one to turn around, perhaps spurred on by the nervous chatter around her. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped. She slowly rose from her chair and stared quietly at the witness. Robert Thomasen, if you'll excuse the expression, was a dead ringer for Jim.
