At the hospital, Caroline was reading a magazine when Steve peeked into her room to see how she was doing. Caroline reported that she was feeling more like herself with each passing day. Pleased to hear that, Steve abruptly changed the subject, wondering if Caroline was still having dreams about Bo. Caroline confirmed that she was.
"He's in a hospital. It's not a nice one, like this; it's old and neglected. He's been hurt. There's a lot of blood, and his chest was bandaged," Caroline explained. Steve asked if Caroline could tell him anything specific about the room she had seen Bo in. "Well, it looked like an operating room. There's a steel tray with surgical instruments, and there's a big light overhead," Caroline replied. Steve started to ask if Caroline knew where the hospital was located, but before she could respond, Kayla arrived and abruptly ended the conversation.
Kayla and Steve stepped into the hallway, where she reminded him that Caroline was still in a fragile state. Steve understood but suggested that Caroline's dreams about Bo might actually be real. "What if the drugs they pumped into your mama's system have somehow juiced up her intuition?" Steve mused, prompting Kayla to respond that he sounded like a crazy person. Conceding that his theory seemed far-fetched, Steve nevertheless maintained that the details in Caroline's dreams were eerily specific.
Kayla suspected that Steve was just trying to look for an excuse to resume his search for Bo, despite the fact that he had previously promised her and Joey that the mission he had just returned from would be his last one. Steve denied the accusation, insisting he was just interested in reuniting Bo with his family. "Fine. I will try to not be cynical about what your motives are. But in the meantime, why don't you make a promise that you can keep? Stay off the subject of Bo when you're with my mother. It will only make her miserable and undermine her recovery, and I won't have that," Kayla stressed before returning to Caroline's room.
Kayla apologized to Caroline on Steve's behalf, pointing out that he could be annoyingly persistent at times, especially when he got an idea stuck in his head that he wasn't willing to abandon. "Just stop it, would you? You're either making excuses for Steve, or you're pushing him away. The man came here to make amends, and you're acting cynical and dismissive. How is that fair, Kayla?" Caroline wondered. Kayla reminded Caroline that Steve had a history of making promises he couldn't keep, but Caroline advised Kayla to keep an open mind regardless.
"I see the way he looks at you. He loves you," Caroline added. Kayla countered that Steve loved adventure more and would always choose it over her, Stephanie, and Joey. "I have waited half my life for that man, and you know what? I'm not gonna do it anymore. I have to protect myself," Kayla insisted. "Oh, to hell with protecting yourself! If you love him, as I'm sure you do, then just let your guard down and go for it. Give him a chance -- if not for Joey's sake, for your own," Caroline advised.
In John and Marlena's townhouse, Marlena laughed and cheered triumphantly from her spot on the couch, prompting John -- seated at the desk, with his eyes glued to his laptop -- to wonder what he had just missed. "Oh, uh, Will and I play this word game, and, you know, we're both fairly competitive. Yikes. I can't wait till he sees what I just scored," Marlena explained. John informed Marlena that she wasn't the only person who had scored that day, adding that he had just achieved a minor victory of his own in the search for the truth about his past.
After a quick phone conversation with someone, John ended the call and happily reported that a woman named Louise was on her way to Salem to meet with him. Marlena was more cautiously optimistic, stating that she hoped Louise would be able to give John the answers he was looking for. "Well, she's gotta know something. I mean, she was teaching at Winterthorne when Ilya Petrov was there," John pointed out.
Shuddering, Marlena said she hated that man, and she hated what he had done to John, too. "Doc, I don't want to relive that time, either, but he was the one who brought me here to Salem as Stefano's pawn. I gotta get those memories back. You see, there is a big hole from the time Forrest Alamain 'died' to when I arrived in Salem as the Pawn. If I can find out more about Ilya Petrov, I might be able to fill in those missing blanks and find out who my parents are," John noted.
In Will and Sonny's apartment, Gabi rushed to Will's side and shook his lifeless body, tearfully begging him to wake up. Retrieving her cell phone from her purse, Gabi called Rafe and sadly informed him that Will was dead. However, when Rafe arrived, Gabi was desperately trying to revive Will with CPR. After checking Will's pulse, Rafe pulled Gabi aside and told her it was too late to save him.
In response to Rafe's inquiries, Gabi confirmed that the apartment door had been ajar when she had returned home, and she hadn't moved Will's body. "Rafe, he's so cold! We have to cover him," Gabi said, but Rafe told her she had to let the paramedics do their jobs first. Rafe tried to convince Gabi to leave the apartment, but she refused, insisting that she had to stay with Will. When Rafe asked, Gabi explained that Arianna was with a babysitter at that time. Sobbing in Rafe's arms, Gabi wondered how she was going to tell Arianna that Will was gone for good.
Later, Hope arrived and was horrified to see Will's body lying on the floor. After hugging Rafe, Hope forced herself to approach Will's body. Kneeling beside it, Hope inspected the necktie and noted that it was the same kind that had been used in the other attacks. Hope took that to mean that the same person was responsible, but Rafe pointed out that something was different -- the location. "The coroner agrees with me; it didn't happen here," Rafe added.
Rafe continued that the crime scene didn't match up with Will's injuries. Rafe was certain that Will had been killed elsewhere and had then been moved to the apartment. Hope was eager to find out exactly where Chad was, but Rafe remained skeptical that Chad was the culprit, especially since Chad and Will had been friends. Staying focused on Chad, Hope started giving Rafe orders until he finally interrupted and assured her that he knew how to do his job.
Hope apologized, assuring Rafe that she hadn't meant to imply that he didn't know how to do his job. "It's gotten personal," Hope added, shaking her head while struggling to hold back her tears. Rafe understood and offered his own apology, explaining that he was running on fumes. Reluctantly, Rafe and Hope started making plans to inform Will's loved ones. Hope contacted Lucas first, telling him only that he needed to get over to Will and Sonny's apartment right away.
When Lucas arrived and saw the crime scene tape, he wondered if Will was okay. Hope tearfully informed Lucas that Will was gone, but he didn't believe her. When Rafe hesitantly elaborated that Will had been strangled, Lucas still refused to believe what he was hearing, reasoning that if Will really had been strangled, someone from the hospital would have alerted him so he could be there for Will when Will recovered from the attack. When Lucas tried to rush off to the hospital, he found Hope standing in the doorway, blocking his path. Hope stretched out her arms to give Lucas a hug, but he recoiled, maintaining that Will couldn't be gone.
Lucas finally broke down in Hope's arms, insisting that he wanted to see Will. Rafe reluctantly revealed that Will's body had been taken to the morgue, prompting Lucas to lash out, warning Rafe never to say those words to him again. "Who would do this? Who would do this to my boy? He's a good boy! He was getting his life together, and he had a sweet family, and a great job! He was a great writer! He really was! I mean, you know how proud I was of him?" Lucas tearfully asked Hope, who assured him that she knew.
Upon realizing that Rafe and Hope believed that the person who had killed Will was the same person who had previously killed or attempted to kill Serena, Paige, and Marlena, Lucas lashed out again, complaining that if Rafe and Hope had just done their jobs for once, Will would still be alive. Lucas quickly apologized, assuring Rafe and Hope that he hadn't meant what he had just said. Lucas asked about Arianna, and after Rafe informed him that she was with a babysitter, Lucas wondered if Sonny had been contacted yet. Hope replied that she was waiting for Victor to call her back so she could tell him what had happened.
Hope added that she had assumed that Lucas would want to be the one to deliver the news to Sami. "Oh, God, Sami! How am I gonna tell Sami?" Lucas tearfully wondered. Pacing the apartment, Lucas angrily kicked some furniture as he continued sobbing. Wanting to give Lucas some time alone with Hope, Rafe left after Lucas promised to go to the police station later to give a statement, vowing that he would do whatever he could to help the police catch Will's murderer. Hope offered to call Sami for Lucas, but he declined the offer and made the call himself.
Steve went to John and Marlena's townhouse to tell John his theory about Caroline's dreams. "So, Caroline's psychic now, and we're taking that as proof that Bo's alive?" John asked incredulously. Steve maintained that the dreams were just too specific to be hastily dismissed, and he insisted that if there was even the slightest chance that Bo was still alive, he had to at least follow up on the lead. John pointed out that Steve was going to need a plan, and Steve agreed, promising to let John know as soon as he figured out what that plan would entail.
Catching a glimpse of John's laptop screen, Steve apologized for forgetting to ask how John's own search for answers was going. After John provided a quick summary of the progress he had made, Steve mused that it was too bad that Victor had eliminated Petrov, since Stefano definitely wasn't going to give John the information he was seeking. John agreed but vowed that he wasn't going to give up. Meanwhile, Marlena emerged from the bedroom in a bit of a daze, her cheeks wet with tears. "Doc, what is it?" John wondered. "It's...Will," Marlena managed to reply.
At the hospital, Victor went to see Caroline, who wondered how she could ever thank him for what he had done for her. Victor insisted that he didn't want Caroline's thanks; he just wanted her to keep her eyes shining brightly for many more years. "I promised you I would move heaven and earth to see you well again, and I meant it," Victor added. As Caroline kissed the back of Victor's hand and thanked him, Maggie peeked into the room -- and quickly left again after witnessing Victor and Caroline's private moment.
Maggie returned to the waiting area and tried to grab a disposable cup so she could pour herself some coffee, but her shaking hands made it difficult to accomplish the task. Meanwhile, Kayla approached and wondered if Maggie was okay. Maggie confirmed that she was, adding that she was glad Caroline was doing well. Victor interrupted and asked if Maggie was ready to leave. Maggie nodded shakily, and as she and Victor headed toward the elevator, Hope arrived and sadly informed them and Kayla that Will had been murdered.
Stunned, Victor excused himself so he could contact Sonny, while Hope, Maggie, and Kayla comforted each other -- and agreed that Caroline couldn't be told the devastating news yet because she was still too fragile. Meanwhile, Steve entered Caroline's room. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here. I saw [Bo] again. I know where he is. You have to help him; he hasn't got much time!" Caroline stressed.
At the police station, Marlena, John, and Rafe comforted each other, still in shock. "My sweet...heart. You know, life was just never very easy for him. But he always tried to be strong and reliable, and he -- and he was brave. He loved his little girl. Oh, my... Oh, my God! I know what he felt! The terror! I -- oh, he must have been so scared!" Marlena sadly mused.
John asked Rafe if Chad had been apprehended yet. Rafe shook his head, explaining that, while there had been reason to believe that Chad had fled the country, that was starting to look more and more like a ruse. Although Rafe still found it hard to believe that Chad was capable of murder, he admitted that the evidence always seemed to point right back to Chad. Rafe added, however, that he couldn't think of a reason for Chad to want to kill Will, whom he had considered a good friend.
Changing the subject, Marlena said she hadn't been able to reach Sami yet. Rafe didn't know if Hope had managed to contact Sami, but he assured Marlena that Hope would be arriving at the police station soon, along with Lucas. Rafe abruptly excused himself so he could take care of something. "I'm worried for Sami...and the children. They just loved him so much, and he just adored them," Marlena sadly told John, who promised her that they would help Sami and the kids get through the tragedy. Meanwhile, Lucas entered the police station and headed straight toward Marlena, breaking down in her arms as she did the same in his.
While Marlena was assuring Lucas that she and John would be there for him if he needed a babysitter for Arianna -- or anything else -- in the days ahead, Sami arrived and hesitantly approached Marlena, accepting a hug from her while staying fairly composed but clearly struggling to maintain that state.
In Ben and Abigail's apartment, Ben got distracted while having sex with Abigail, recalling how he had struggled with and ultimately strangled Will. When she noticed that Ben was shaking, Abigail pulled away and wondered what was wrong. Ben claimed he had just been admiring how beautiful Abigail looked in the candlelight, and they picked up where they had left off.
Later, while trying to sleep, Ben had a nightmare about the police storming in to arrest him for murdering Serena, Paige, and Will. Ben protested that Chad was the culprit, but Chad followed the police officers into the apartment and wondered if Ben had really believed he would be able to get away with killing three innocent people and framing Chad for the murders, just to keep Chad and Abigail apart. Abigail quickly decided that Ben was guilty, and when he told her he had done it all for her because he loved her, she countered that she had never really loved him. As the police dragged Ben away, Abigail passionately kissed Chad, who declared that the baby she was carrying was no longer Ben's.
Ben gasped as he woke up, relieved to realize that it had all been a dream -- and that Abigail was still sleeping soundly. Later, Abigail's phone started vibrating on the nightstand next to her side of the bed, waking her up. After a brief conversation with Jennifer, Abigail ended the call and stared at her phone in disbelief, hesitantly informing Ben that Will had been killed. "You mean Chad DiMera got to him?" Ben asked. Abigail warned Ben not to go there, but as she started sobbing, he couldn't resist continuing. "I'm so sorry, but maybe now, you can accept that Chad's not well. He's a very sick and twisted man, and he has to be stopped before somebody else gets hurt," Ben insisted. Ignoring the comment, Abigail went to get dressed, stating that she needed to be with Gabi and Arianna.
At the DiMera mansion, Chad was in the study, reading a news article about Clyde's arrest. "I still can't prove you've been setting me up. But if it's not you...then who?" Chad wondered. Later, Chad was horrified to see a breaking-news alert pop up on his laptop screen -- "Journalist Will Horton found dead -- probable link to NECKTIE MURDERS..." Chad sank to his chair in shock. "Oh, my God, not Will," Chad muttered. Chad soon learned that there was a statewide manhunt in progress -- with him as the target. "How is this even possible?!" Chad roared as he sent some things flying off the desk in anger. As Chad took a few deep breaths, he seemed to realize something.
In Paris, Sonny was packing in his room, having just listened to Will's voicemail message earlier. After stuffing one last shirt in his suitcase, Sonny looked down at his wedding ring, smiling as he spun it around the ring finger of his left hand. Meanwhile, Sonny's phone started ringing, and when he answered the call, Victor greeted him. Sonny said he had actually been about to call Victor himself, and he added that he was going to take a few days off so he could return to Salem for a visit. "Sonny, there's something you need to know," Victor began, but Sonny interrupted, expecting an argument. Sonny assured Victor that there was no reason to worry, since he wasn't backing out of the expansion he was doing for Victor; he was just going to work on it remotely for a few days.
"No, you don't understand. I'm not arguing with you. I'm calling to tell you that you need to come home...right away," Victor clarified. Sonny's smile faded away as Victor informed him that Will had been murdered earlier that night. Sonny insisted that wasn't possible. "Uncle Vic, you don't understand. I'm on my way home to see him! I have to let him know that --" Sonny began, and Victor interrupted to assure him that Will had known.
"He didn't know! He didn't know that I was coming home to make things right. He has to know that I love him. He needs to know! I need to tell him!" Sonny protested. As Victor replied that Sonny needed to be with his family at that time -- and that he had already sent the jet to Paris -- Sonny let his cell phone slip out of his hand then sank to the floor as he started sobbing in disbelief.
Alone in his and Abigail's apartment, Ben stared at an article about Chad's disappearance, wondering why the police hadn't been able to find him yet. "I'm right here, you son of a bitch. I don't know how I didn't see it all this time. It was you, wasn't it? Wasn't it?!" Chad shouted, having slipped into the apartment through the fire escape.
Andre texted Aiden and ordered Aidan to meet with him at the DiMera mansion. Andre offered Aiden a deal to clear his debt. Suspicious, Aiden asked for details. Andre asked Aiden to steal all the evidence against Chad and destroy it. Aiden countered that if he committed a crime by tampering with evidence, the DiMeras would be able to blackmail Aiden for the rest of his life. Chuckling, Andre said he did not care about Aiden and would be happy to set him free. Andre added that Aiden had 24 hours to make his decision.
Aiden returned to his office. Worried, Aiden noted aloud that he could not help the DiMeras. Aiden stared at his file on Hope. Aiden then looked up Hope's life insurance policy on the computer. Shaking his head, Aiden whispered no and looked over at his photo of Hope.
In the park, Abigail comforted Gabi and Adrianna. Gabi was distraught and did not know what to say to her daughter. With a sigh, Abigail asked Gabi what had happened. Gabi told Abigail that she had found Will in the living room. Gabi asked Abigail if Chad had killed Will. Avoiding the question, Abigail said that the police were working on several theories.
Adrianna started to fuss. Overwhelmed, Gabi noted that she had been in such a hurry that she had not grabbed Adrianna's pajamas. Abigail suggested that Gabi stay with Jennifer, but Gabi preferred to stay with Rafe. Gabi and Adrianna headed off to the police station. Alone in the park, Abigail cried.
In the police station, Sami and Lucas sat with Hope. Sami was in denial and wanted details. Hope admitted that there was evidence that Chad had been at each of the crime scenes. As Sami nodded, Hope added that Chad had also attacked Marlena. Sami asked Marlena what had happened. Marlena said that Chad had been working with her to restore his memories about the nights of the murders.
"So Chad DiMera attacked you. He murdered my son. And other people. That's not him. That's not Chad," Sami said matter-of-factly. "I worked for him for months at Countess W, I never saw a hint of that," Lucas added. Marlena confirmed that Chad had been drinking heavily. Confused, Sami shouted that Chad did not make sense as the killer. Rafe entered and promised to find Will's killer. Sami rose and hugged Rafe.
When Rafe asked why Sami was in town, she noted that she had planned to return to Salem because it was the anniversary of E.J.'s death. Sami talked about the children, and she thanked Rafe for letting the kids talk to him about E.J. With a sigh, Sami said she did not want to tell the children that their brother had been murdered by their uncle. Rafe said he would find the killer.
Marlena offered to travel to California and help talk to the children. Lucas added that he would go to California as well. Sami asked Rafe to catch the killer. With a nod, Sami asked Rafe to take her to see Will's body.
As Hope escorted Lucas and Sami to the morgue, Marlena said to Rafe, "You're not convinced that Chad is the killer." "I'm not the only one," Rafe countered. Marlena said she was not sure. Marlena added that Chad did not fit the profile of the killer. When Rafe asked for specifics, Marlena noted that Chad had personal relationships with people. Marlena noted that Chad had gone out of his way to spend time with children. With a sigh, Marlena told Rafe that Chad had saved her life in Italy.
Rafe was shocked by the revelation. Marlena said that she had let it go and had not told anyone. Marlena added that Chad had taken a risk in defying his father to help her escape in Italy. Shaking her head, Marlena said she could not picture Chad murdering Will.
After Rafe left, John checked on Marlena. Marlena confided that she was worried about Sami and the children. When John asked why Sami had returned to town, Marlena admitted that it was the one-year anniversary of when Sami had seen E.J.'s body in the morgue.
In the morgue, Sami asked Lucas how their son looked. A dry-eyed Sami noted that she had not been able to remember a happy childhood memory for Will. Lucas reminded Sami of when they had taught Will to dance. Lucas cried, and Sami gently hugged him. "I wish we'd done better with him," Sami said. Lucas assured Sami that Will knew how much they loved him. Lucas added that despite their problems, Will had found happiness with Sonny. Starting to cry, Sami noted that Will had deserved more time with his daughter.
"Goodnight, sweetheart. You sleep well. Your daddy and I are here, and we're gonna keep the tigers away," Sami said as she kissed her son's forehead. Sami and Lucas walked to the park. Sami urged Lucas not to be alone, and he said he would stay with Kate. Sami told Lucas that he did not need to walk with her, but he did not want to leave her alone. Sami said she had talked to Will earlier in the day, and Will had said that he was going to fly to Paris to see Sonny. With a sad smile, Sami said that Will had been hopeful about his future with Sonny.
"It's a good way to die, maybe," Sami said. Confused, Lucas asked Sami why she was not emotional. Sami said she was not ready to accept that they would be burying their son. Lucas escorted Sami to Marlena's penthouse. Sami and Lucas agreed to meet in the morning to discuss the funeral. With a nod, Sami hugged Lucas. Lucas promised to make a list of all the happy memories from Will's childhood.
"There's a lot more than you think," Lucas said, choking back tears. Still dry-eyed, Sami thanked Lucas and walked him to the door. After Lucas left, Sami offered to stay at the pub, since John was living at the penthouse. Marlena told Sami that she should not be alone. Marlena asked to take care of Sami. With a nod, Sami hugged her mother, but she still did not shed a tear. Tired, Sami went to bed. In her room, Sami stared at the wall, thinking.
In the living room, John and Marlena agreed that Sami was not doing well. Marlena said that everything would sink in over time. John added that things would be worse then.
In Ben's apartment, Chad confronted Ben about the murders. Chad told Ben that he had figured out that Ben had killed Serena, Paige, and Will. Furious, Chad screamed that Will had been Ben's friend. Chad called out to Abigail, but she was not home. Ben challenged Chad to prove that he had murdered anyone. Chad swore to keep Abigail away from Ben.
"She's not yours. I'll keep her safe," Ben said. Shaking his head, Chad said that Abigail would end the relationship when she heard what Ben had done. Ben picked up his phone and started to dial the police. Ben reminded Chad that there was an APB on Chad. Chad punched Ben, and the two battled around the apartment. As they fought, Ben thought about the argument he had overheard between Chad and Abigail. Ben seemed to experience a surge of strength, and he pummeled Chad. Chad struggled, and Ben started to choke him. Chad broke free.
"I'll take your body to the police," Ben said. Chad disagreed. Ben punched Chad, knocking him out. Ben then repeatedly slammed Chad's head against the footboard of the bed and threw him aside. As Abigail returned home, Ben dove to the floor and pretended to have been knocked out. When Abigail opened the door, she rushed to Ben and asked him to wake up. A fake groggy Ben said Chad had broken in. Abigail looked up and saw Chad lying on the floor nearby. Ben said Chad had attacked him, and he begged Abigail to call the police. Abigail called 9-1-1.
At the police station, Hope and Rafe discovered that the ties that had been used to murder Serena, Paige, and Will, had been ordered wholesale in bulk. Hope found invoices attached to the DiMera account. An officer called Hope and informed her that Chad had been spotted. Hope and Rafe rushed to the scene.
After telling Ben that the police were on the way, Abigail went to check on Chad. Ben begged her to stay away from Chad because he was dangerous. When Ben noted that Chad was the killer, Abigail asked if Chad had admitted to the crimes. Ben said that Abigail had been next on Chad's kill list. In disbelief, Abigail said no.
The paramedics arrived and carted an unconscious Chad off to the hospital. Rafe questioned Ben about what had happened. Ben lied and said that Chad had ranted about Serena and Paige, and Chad had yelled that Ben did not deserve Abigail. With a raised eyebrow, Rafe asked why Chad had waited to attack Ben until after the other victims. Ben said he did not understand Chad's motivations. Abigail said she did not understand what had happened. From the doorway, Rafe listened as Ben told Abigail that Chad had not been able to stomach losing her.
After the police had left, Abigail cleaned Ben's wounds and noted, "I thought I knew him." As Abigail went to the kitchen, Ben thought about when he had choked Will. Upset, Ben started to rock. Abigail asked Ben what was wrong. Shaking his head, Ben said he needed to get some air. Ben left and walked to the park.
At the hospital, Kayla examined Chad, who was unconscious and handcuffed to the bed. Kayla informed Hope and Rafe that Chad had suffered a fractured skull. When Rafe noted that they needed to speak to Chad when he woke up, Kayla informed them that Chad was in a coma. The detectives left, and Kayla returned to work at the nurses' station.
Abigail arrived and informed Kayla that Ben seemed to be okay. Abigail looked across the room at the guard posted outside Chad's door. Kayla told Abigail that when Chad woke up, he would be charged with murder. Abigail looked through the window at Chad, and she cried.
As they strolled in the park, Nicole and Daniel discussed when they should get married. Daniel thought they should wed right away -- as in the next day. Nicole laughed it off, but she could tell Daniel was serious about not waiting until spring. They agreed to get together that evening to figure out a date to do it. When Nicole fantasized aloud about honeymooning on an exotic beach, Daniel suggested the Maldives.
Nicole had never heard of the Maldives, but she was sold as soon as Daniel described the remote Indian Ocean archipelago. Daniel got a text message and had to leave for the hospital. Nicole said she would need to take up some of the slack because Kate would likely be a wreck in the wake of Will's murder.
In the park outside Horton Square, Kate dried her eyes as an emotional Lucas hung up with the funeral home. Kate was grateful that Lucas had called her the previous night after everything that had happened between them. "It doesn't matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore. My son's gone!" Lucas wailed as Kate took him into her arms and let him cry. Kate and Lucas cried together and shared some of their favorite memories of Will. Kate asked if Lucas had been to a meeting, but Lucas assured his mom that taking a drink was the furthest thing from his mind.
Lucas and Kate agreed that they never wanted there to be distance between them in the future and promised to remember Will before they let it happen again. Lucas tearfully thanked Kate for accepting Will and making him feel comfortable about coming out. Kate reassured her son that Will had known how much Lucas had loved him. Lucas fretted that all he'd done in a while had been to yell at Will. Kate began to cry even harder when she realized that Will and Sonny would never have the chance to work things out and that Arianna would grow up without her daddy.
Lucas reassured Kate that it would be okay because it had to be, and Kate acknowledged that they had to be strong for Arianna. Kate asked how Sami was doing. "She's been quiet and dry-eyed," Lucas admitted. Tilting her head with concern, Kate noted, "That's not good."
Anne met Theresa in Horton Square at Theresa's invitation. After giving Theresa a somewhat chilly greeting, Anne ordered a Bloody Mary and asked why Theresa wasn't joining her in a drink. "Well, for one thing, my cousin Will was murdered last night," Theresa pointed out. Anne rather sarcastically expressed her condolences, reminding Theresa that she hadn't been very close to Will. Theresa insisted that she was very sad about Will's death, which had been a shock because he'd been so young, and he'd had a young daughter.
Theresa explained that she'd wanted to see Anne because she felt bad about what had happened between them, plus Theresa needed some advice, and Anne was her best friend. Anne pointed out that she was Theresa's only friend. Anne assumed that Theresa needed advice because she was having problems with Brady. Theresa insisted that things were good with Brady; the problem was with her business partners. Laughing, Anne pronounced, "The three of you, you're like the witches in Macbeth."
Theresa complained that Kate and Nicole had sent her out for coffee, and Theresa really only knew how to fight dirty. Anne encouraged Theresa to hang in there until she spotted Kate and Nicole's weaknesses. She advised Theresa to "suck up" to Kate by being sweet, and to make sure Kate didn't cut Theresa out of anything. "Meanwhile, I'm going to see what I can dig up on her, just for, like, insurance," Anne promised. "You're the best, Anne. You're my best only friend," Theresa declared with a grin.
"So -- when's the next meeting of your coven?" Anne asked. Theresa said she'd learned it was that day by hacking into Kate's calendar. Kate and Lucas arrived just then, and Nicole approached them from the opposite direction. Anne urged Theresa to stick to her guns until she accomplished her goal -- confirmation that she was on track to be a designer. "Go, Grasshopper. Go get what's yours," Anne instructed as she left.
Theresa approached Kate and Nicole just as Lucas was leaving. Theresa expressed her condolences to Kate, who wasn't exactly gracious. Ignoring Kate's brush-off, Theresa asked about the meeting with the designers from Milan. Kate impatiently replied that the meeting had been a conference call, which she'd already handled. Nicole assured Kate that they could postpone everything else they had to do that day, but Kate maintained that she would prefer to keep busy. When Kate and Nicole began discussing the budget and "comps," Theresa politely requested a copy, since she was a co-owner.
"Your plate is going to be full enough when you start designing, Theresa... You want to have your best foot forward when you meet Flavia, don't you?" Kate asked. Theresa was thrilled when Kate said Theresa would be learning from Flavia Penneti -- assuming Theresa had some new designs to show Flavia. Theresa excitedly announced that she was designing a dress for "Salem's biggest wedding;" she just had to draw the ideas that were in her head. "Yeah. You know, do that," Nicole said. "Get to work, kid," Kate added brusquely as she and Nicole left.
Brady went to Marlena's townhouse, where Eric let him in. Marlena and Eric said Sami was in her room -- and hadn't shed a tear since she'd arrived in Salem. They all agreed that Sami needed to let out her grief before it exploded. Just then, Sami emerged from her bedroom, dressed and ready for the day, still calm and dry-eyed. Sami seemed surprised to see Brady, who pulled her into a hug and expressed his sympathy. Brady asked about the kids, and Sami said she'd decided not to tell her other kids about Will until she could do it in person.
Marlena said if Sami wanted to fly the children to Salem and break the news to them there, they would all have the family's support. Sami maintained that she didn't want the kids to associate Salem with death. Emphasizing that Sami was safe there, Marlena and Brady both urged Sami to let out her feelings. "No, I can't!" Sami said vehemently, tears filling her eyes, but she took several sharp breaths and set her jaw to keep from crying.
"Honey, what are you afraid will happen if you let go?" Marlena asked. "I might not get back up. I mean, I almost didn't when I lost E.J., and I have three children who are counting on me to keep it together." Marlena reiterated that Sami could take the kids to Salem and let the family help. Sami reminded the others that she had moved with the children to Los Angeles to keep them away from Stefano -- and she intended to continue keeping them as far away as possible. Eric and Brady encouraged Sami to let her grief out, because they could take it.
"So -- what? You're just all going to stand there and stare at me until I start crying?" Sami demanded, while her family did just that. Sami burst out into hysterical laughter, which nearly turned to tears when it died down. She spotted a recent picture of Will and Arianna on a table and lamented that it would be Arianna's last picture with her dad. "How does that make you feel?" Marlena asked. "Don't shrink me!" Sami hissed, rolling her eyes.
Marlena repeated that Sami had to open up about her feelings, and Brady and Eric weighed in with similar thoughts. Sami lashed out at everyone in the room, insisting that she didn't want counseling or medication. "So tell me: what else you got?" Sami demanded. "What else do you want?" Marlena asked. "I want my son back! That's what I want! I want Will back!" Sami shouted, shaking and choking up. Biting back her fury, Sami stormed out, slamming the door behind her.
Marlena requested that Eric not follow Sami, who wouldn't open up with the others around. Brady correctly guessed that Marlena had deliberately used "shrink speak" with Sami to get a reaction out of her and to get her to access her grief. After Brady headed out for the hospital, Eric informed Marlena that the police had caught Chad. Eric related what he knew about what had happened with Chad and Ben the night before. Marlena acknowledged that she still wasn't convinced of Chad's guilt. She explained that when she'd regained consciousness, Chad had seemed really worried about her.
Eric reminded his mother that Chad had fled afterwards. Marlena pointed out that the Salem police likely wouldn't have believed Chad, since the evidence against him had been piling up.
Nicole and Kate headed to the Edge of the Square to discuss business over drinks. Kate informed Nicole that Giovanni, the photographer Kate had wanted, had accepted their offer the previous night. Nicole admitted that she hadn't told Eric about that yet. Kate urged her to hurry so they could put out a press release. Nicole asked sarcastically, "What about Theresa's editorial input?" She accused Kate -- without judgment -- of playing Theresa. Kate maintained that she was merely teaching Theresa an important life lesson. Nicole joked, "Yeah, me too. And I'm just saying I'm sleeping with one eye open."
Kate was gone when Eric showed up a little later. Nicole embraced him and expressed her sympathy about Will. After making sure it was all right to discuss business, Nicole broke the news to Eric that Kate had offered the Basic Black photography job to Giovanni Carpolini, who had accepted it. Eric completely understood, since Giovanni had been shooting editorial fashion for a very long time. "I couldn't even compete against that," Eric said, adding that all he could really think about was that his family needed him.
After picking up some vitamins for Tate at the hospital, Brady ran into Daniel outside Chad's room, outside of which a police officer was standing guard. Daniel updated Brady that Chad would be arrested if he ever regained consciousness. Brady wanted to know if they had checked Chad's blood-alcohol level, but Daniel couldn't divulge that information. Brady explained that, right after Serena's murder, Chad had asked Brady a lot of questions about alcoholic blackouts. Brady asked Daniel to notify him if Chad woke up.
While Daniel and Brady were talking, Daniel got a text message containing a picture of the Maldives from Nicole. Brady asked if the couple had set a date yet, and Daniel said they wanted it to be soon. The men agreed that life was too short to waste. Brady promised that he'd make sure that Nicole could take a nice, long honeymoon. Daniel said he was just glad Nicole was doing something she loved.
Later, Brady returned to the Kiriakis mansion and found Theresa hard at work on her drawings -- but clearly frustrated, as there were wadded-up sketches all over the living room floor. He teased her about one of the rejected drawings, on which she'd scribbled, "You want fries with that?" Since she knew Brady had just been at the hospital and she'd heard what had happened with Chad, Theresa remarked that Chad was lucky. "He's in a coma," Brady pointed out. "He's lucky my cousin Sami didn't get to him first," Theresa clarified.
Brady cautioned Theresa that he might not be around much as he helped his family. "Don't apologize. They're my family, too," an understanding Theresa reminded him gently. As if it had just dawned on him, Brady noted that they were all connected. Theresa said that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. As Brady headed upstairs to check on Tate, he encouraged Theresa, "You've got some drawings to work on."
Sami headed to Will's and ducked under the crime scene tape to enter the apartment. After she opened the door, she hesitated a moment to look around before walking inside. Sami found Will's sticky-note-covered notebook and tablet computer on the couch. Sniffling, she picked up the tablet and gazed at the wallpaper -- a photo of Will and Arianna making silly faces at each other -- before accessing the Salem Spectator website, whose front page featured a picture of Chad and the headline, "NECKTIE KILLER CAUGHT."
Sami set down her purse and noisily slammed the tablet's cover shut. She found one of Will's shoes on the floor and picked it up, but she couldn't locate its mate, so she clutched that one shoe to her chest. She noticed the yellow tent-shaped crime scene markers on the floor but tried to ignore them as she began straightening up -- until she righted a photo on the sofa table and saw that it was of her and Will, taken at Will and Sonny's wedding.
Moving the shoe to the crook of her arm, Sami held the photo to her chest as she continued looking around. Spotting Arianna's overturned stroller and the little stuffed elephant that had tumbled out of it, Sami picked up the toy. Memories of Will, from his infancy to his wedding day to her saying goodbye to him in the morgue, began flooding back. Trembling, Sami moved toward the couch, but she kicked over one of the markers and caught her foot on the edge of the rug.
Sami knelt down and tried to replace the markers where they had been. She placed her palm on the spot on the floor where her son's body had been found, and at last she broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. Through her tears, she looked again at the photo of herself and Will then she took a deep breath and tried to stop crying. After she put the picture on the desk and placed the little elephant next to it, she picked up the tablet and returned to the story about Chad. Although her lower lip still trembled, Sami's expression hardened into one of steely determination.
A little later, Sami crept into Chad's hospital room. She yanked a pillow out from under his head and stood with it in front of his face, glaring down at him, as if she intended to smother him with it.
At the Horton Town Square, Eduardo spotted Eve and called out to her, but she didn't respond until he called her name a second time. Looking up from her cell phone, Eve explained that she had just received a text message -- and, for a second, she had expected it to be from Paige. It had, however, simply been a courtesy message from her cell phone carrier, letting her know how much money they would be taking out of her checking account for her latest bill. "I just wonder how long it's gonna take for it to really hit me that I'm never gonna hear that phone ping with a text saying, 'Hey, Mom, you want to hook up for some coffee?'" Eve mused.
Eduardo told Eve it was great that she'd had that kind of relationship with Paige, recalling that when he had learned that his eldest daughter, Arianna, had died, he had realized that he hadn't even known what she'd looked like anymore. "I always knew that I'd pay for what I did to my children; I knew that wherever they were, they probably hated me, and that I deserved that. It didn't occur to me that my punishment would be to outlive them," Eduardo mused, adding that he had decided to stay in Salem and at least try to make amends for what he had done to his first family, even though he knew there was a good chance that they would never forgive him.
Eve admitted that she would have criticized Eduardo's decision before Paige's death, arguing that he had no right to want to be a father to kids he hadn't even bothered to play a part in raising, but she had since realized just how important it was to keep children close. Eve added that she felt sorry for Eduardo because he had missed years' worth of time with the smart, loving, beautiful child they had made together. Eduardo said he was surprised that he had received such a generous response from Eve. Shrugging, Eve replied that she had to learn how to put her life back together, whether she wanted to or not, and she was simply tired of harboring anger.
Paul approached John and Marlena's townhouse just as John was saying goodbye to Louise, who promised to look through the Winterthorne yearbooks and try to locate a picture of the kid John was hoping to reconnect with. After offering John his condolences, Paul asked about the kid John was looking for. John explained that the kid was a missing piece of his past. Paul thought he was the only thing from John's past that John hadn't known about, but John clarified that his early years had been even more complicated.
John offered to get Paul something to drink, but Paul wasn't in the mood, admitting that he couldn't stop thinking about what had happened to Will. "I can't tell you how guilty I feel. If I'd never come to Salem, Sonny and Will would have been together, and that little girl wouldn't have lost her father," Paul pointed out. John countered that if Paul hadn't moved to Salem, Sonny likely wouldn't have gotten the blood he had needed to survive his stabbing. John added that Will had died because he had gotten in the way of a serial killer, and the only person who bore responsibility for that was the serial killer himself, Chad DiMera.
Changing the subject, Paul picked up a picture of the kid John was trying to locate, asking John to clarify what he had meant about the kid being a missing piece of his past. "The kid in that picture is me," John revealed. John was hesitant to elaborate because he wasn't sure if Paul was ready to hear the story yet, but Paul argued that, as a part of John, he had to know. John conceded the point, admitting that Paul was actually one of the main reasons he had decided to resume his search in the first place.
John gave Paul a brief summary of his complicated origin story, explaining that, years earlier, a man named Ilya Petrov had kidnapped him and had taken him to Salem to work for Stefano DiMera as a blank slate known only as the Pawn. John continued that he had eventually met Marlena, who had helped him find the strength to fight back and regain control of his own life. John added that, during one of his previous searches for the truth about the missing part of his past, he had discovered that a family -- the Alamain family -- had adopted him as a toddler and had named him Forrest. Meetings with members of that family had revealed that Forrest had supposedly drowned in a swimming pool accident as a young kid, but when they had agreed to dig up Forrest's coffin, they had learned that it had contained nothing more than sand all along.
John explained that he had recently learned that Petrov had once worked as a teacher at the Winterthorne Academy in Vermont, and he was trying to find out if that was where he, as Forrest, had crossed paths with Petrov. Paul wondered if John was sure he wanted to learn the details of his childhood, since it sounded like it had been particularly rough. Nodding, John insisted that he needed to know the truth.
Paul said he was glad John had shared the story with him. John hoped that doing so had been the right thing to do. Paul admitted that he had often fantasized about who his father might be, since his mother had never said much about the man. "And then I met you, and you turned out to be better than anything that I'd dreamt up. I hope that when you find out who your parents were, you get half as lucky as I did," Paul concluded.
After giving the matter a bit more thought, Paul remembered that when he had been in the Triple-A leagues, he had roomed with a guy who had gone to Winterthorne Academy -- a school he had hated but had been forced into because attendance was a family tradition. Paul no longer kept in touch with the guy -- who had gone on to play for the Cubs -- but offered to reach out to him, guessing that his father had probably been at Winterthorne around the same time as Petrov and Forrest. John gratefully accepted the help and seemed touched when Paul stressed that no thanks was necessary because he would happily do anything for his father.
Justin found Gabi waiting for him at the police station, having learned from his secretary that he was headed there. Gabi asked Justin if she could go back inside Will and Sonny's apartment, reasoning that it would make things easier on Sami and Sonny if someone else gathered Will's belongings for them. Justin was fine with that, since the forensics team had already gotten everything they needed from there.
Changing the subject, Justin wondered if it would be okay for him to continue to think of Arianna as his granddaughter. "Why wouldn't you? Of course you can. Sonny is one of Arianna's daddies. Of course," Gabi assured Justin. Gabi wondered if Justin was going to be prosecuting Chad himself. Nodding, Justin promised to make sure that Chad spent the rest of his life in prison.
Kayla went to the Kiriakis mansion to check on Adrienne, who admitted that she still couldn't believe Will was dead. Adrienne started fretting about the guilt Sonny was undoubtedly feeling, but Kayla interrupted, stating that she was more worried about how Adrienne was doing. Kayla pointed out that Adrienne had received confirmation that she had inherited the BRCA1 gene mutation but had not yet contacted Kayla to discuss her options. Adrienne admitted that she was finding the whole thing kind of hard to process -- and there was a part of her that wished she had never taken the test in the first place.
Meanwhile, Sonny walked into the living room, and Adrienne -- who hadn't even known that he was headed home because he hadn't answered any of her recent calls -- rushed over to give him a hug, which he eventually had to end because she was making it hard for him to breathe. Kayla offered Sonny her condolences, stating that Will had been more than just a nephew to her.
Kayla was pleased to see Sonny again but wished that their reunion could have occurred under different circumstances. Nodding, Sonny revealed that he had actually made plans to return to Salem before he had heard the news. "Will left me this message, and I listened to it over and over again. I started thinking, 'What the hell am I doing here?' I realized I still loved him, and I needed to be here with him and Arianna. But now I've gotta tell my two-year-old daughter that she's never gonna see her dad again," Sonny sadly added.
Kayla excused herself to give Sonny and Adrienne some privacy, stressing that she wanted them to call her if they ever needed anything. After Kayla left, Adrienne hugged Sonny again then contacted Justin to let him know that Sonny was back in Salem. When Justin arrived at the mansion a short time later, he embraced Sonny, who admonished himself for the way he had ended things with Will. Justin reasoned that Sonny had simply been trying to heal from the pain of everything that had happened that year. Justin thought that was understandable, and Sonny hoped Will had felt the same way.
Adrienne tearfully mused that Sonny should have had more time with Will. "But I didn't. Now he's gone. I mean, how am I supposed to live with that? I've never gone through anything like this in my life. I didn't know that I could feel this much hurt," Sonny replied. Adrienne assured Sonny that he would find a reason to go on with his life -- Arianna, perhaps -- and would eventually learn to live with the pain. Observing that Sonny looked really tired, Adrienne offered to make him something to eat so he could rest for a while, but he declined, stating that there was something he needed to do first. Slowly, Sonny exited the mansion.
Later, Justin ran into Eve in the town square and wondered how she was doing. Eve said it helped to know that Chad had been caught, and Justin nodded, hoping that would help Sonny, too. As Justin received -- and ignored -- a phone call from Adrienne, Eve offered him her condolences and suggested that they could go somewhere for coffee -- or something stronger. Justin asked for a rain check, stating that he had just realized there was something he couldn't avoid dealing with any longer.
Justin returned to the Kiriakis mansion and told Adrienne he had canceled his scheduled meeting so they could talk about whatever it was that she had wanted to tell him earlier. Justin assumed Adrienne wanted to discuss their relationship, but she clarified that she wanted to talk about something else -- something that wasn't easy for her to talk about. "No matter where we end up, Justin, I've loved you since I was seventeen. You're one of the most important people in my life," Adrienne began, adding that she had a decision to make, and she had realized that she couldn't make it until she told Justin exactly what she was dealing with. Adrienne proceeded to fill Justin in on her mother's recent breast cancer diagnosis -- and her own discovery that she had inherited the BRCA1 gene mutation.
At the hospital, Sami hovered over Chad's bed, pillow in hand, and ordered him to wake up and tell her what it had been like to murder her son. Sami guessed Stefano had convinced Chad to murder Will as a way of punishing her for taking Johnny and Sydney away from Salem. Fighting back tears, Sami angrily slapped the handcuffs linking Chad's right wrist to his hospital bed, predicting that they weren't going to stop him -- and the police wouldn't be able to do anything else to stop him, either. "I promised my son justice...[even] if I have to do it with my bare hands," Sami added, gritting her teeth as she pressed the pillow against Chad's face.
As Sami held her position, apologetically assuring Chad that she was actually doing him a favor, Marlena rushed into the room and pulled her away from him. Marlena told Sami that killing Chad wouldn't solve anything, but Sami countered that it would make him pay for what he had done. Marlena reminded Sami that there was a police officer stationed right outside Chad's room, and she wondered how Sami had even managed to gain access to the room in the first place. Sami explained that she had told the police officer that she was Roman's daughter and had been given permission to visit Chad.
After reassuring herself that Chad was still alive, Marlena turned to face Sami, who asked her to refrain from giving a lecture about how seeking revenge wouldn't change the fact that Will was dead. Marlena reminded Sami that she had three children who needed her. "What about my first? What about my son? What does he need? What should I be doing for him? Because my son is gone. And don't tell me you've never wanted revenge against Stefano, because I've been there, and I've heard you say it," Sami tearfully countered. Marlena conceded that she knew all about revenge, including the fact that it never offered the kind of comfort one hoped it would.
When Marlena and Sami emerged from Chad's room, they found Stefano in the waiting area, along with one of his employees, who was helping him get around while he was bound to a wheelchair. Sami lunged toward Stefano, but Marlena held her back. Stefano smiled and warmly greeted Sami and Marlena, offering them his condolences. "Take your phony sympathy, and you can shove it!" Sami snapped, advancing toward Stefano again. Stefano snarled at Sami and clenched his fists as Marlena intervened. "I can tell you right now, if your son manages to wiggle out of this, I will kill him myself, and maybe you next," Sami vowed before storming off.
Stefano entered Chad's room and told his employee to wait outside. "Keep fighting, my son. Please, please, please, do not give up, all right? I cannot lose another child," Stefano said as he sat at Chad's bedside. Meanwhile, at the nurses' station, Daniel offered Kayla his condolences then asked about Caroline. Kayla pulled Daniel aside and told him about the experimental treatment she had given Caroline, stressing that the matter needed to stay between them.
In a secluded section of Horton Town Square, Marlena told Sami that it was sometimes easier to feel enraged than it was to feel the pain of a loss. "But Will's not lost; he was murdered. Will has a -- had a husband, and a daughter, and a family who loved him, and that didn't matter at all to the bastard who killed him, because he's a DiMera. After all this time, it's still them. And I just have to wonder who's next. And I wonder if it will be Allie, because she's not one of theirs. And you wonder why I'm angry?" Sami countered.
Marlena clarified that she wasn't concerned because Sami was angry; she was concerned because Sami wasn't expressing that anger. Marlena added that there were times when she looked at Sami and got the impression that Sami was feeling hollow, like she wasn't experiencing any feelings at all. Sami complained that she was Marlena's daughter, not her patient. Sami started to leave after insisting that Marlena needed to let her deal with her grief in her own way, but Marlena stopped her, stressing that she didn't want to be Sami's therapist; she just wanted to be Sami's mother.
"All the problems with DiMeras -- I feel like it's because of John and me. And the odd thing is that you and I have exactly the same reaction to it," Marlena mused. Surprised, Sami wondered if Marlena was saying she sometimes went hollow, too. "Sometimes, I can't bear the thought of all the pain of losing someone I love," Marlena confirmed. Marlena admitted that when she had heard the news about Will, she had gone straight into denial mode, reasoning that it had to be a mistake because the serial killer had previously targeted women, and Will was young and strong, so he could have fought back.
"And I said to myself, 'You know, I thought I'd lost John so many times, and he always came back,'" Marlena added. "But Will's not coming back," Sami sadly pointed out. Nodding, Marlena described that realization as a punch in the gut, prompting Sami to wonder why Marlena wanted her to feel that pain. Marlena thought that was all Sami could feel, because Will had been her son. "That's right -- he was -- and he's not anymore. And we have to live with that. All because the son of Stefano DiMera decided to kill him, because that's what Stefano does -- Stefano kills everything that's good," Sami tearfully replied.
Sonny hesitantly approached his and Will's apartment, eyeing the crime scene tape that had been cut down but had not yet been cleared away. When Sonny opened the door, he found Gabi standing in the living room, and she rushed over to give him a hug as they both began sobbing. Sonny walked across the room and knelt beside the spot where Will's body had been found, pressing his palms against the floorboards.
Sonny broke down, crying uncontrollably, as Gabi asked if he wanted to be left alone for a while. Sonny wasn't able to answer right away but eventually accepted the offer. Sonny hugged Gabi again, stating that he wanted to see Arianna later. Gabi left after assuring Sonny that he could see Arianna anytime. Sonny looked around the room, struggling to hold back a new wave of tears. When someone knocked on the apartment door, Sonny assumed it was Gabi, but when he opened the door, he found Paul standing outside.
When Marlena and Sami returned to the townhouse, Sami quickly excused herself, stating that she was going to get some rest. Marlena stopped Sami and handed her a stack of mail, explaining that she had tried to send it to Sami, but it had gotten bounced back to her for some reason. Sami retreated to the guest bedroom and impatiently sorted through the mail, not particularly interested in any of it -- until she opened one of the envelopes and pulled out a single sheet of yellow paper. "Oh, my God, it's from E.J.," Sami muttered in disbelief.
His face puffy and tear-stained, Sonny answered the door of the apartment and found Paul standing outside. "I'm so sorry," Paul murmured. As Paul entered the apartment and closed the door behind him, Sonny began weep in disbelief because the apartment looked exactly the same as it had when he'd left for Paris -- even though it had just been a crime scene. "Like Will could walk in at any minute!" Sonny remarked incredulously. Paul reached for Sonny's shoulder to comfort him, but Sonny pulled away.
Sonny picked up a framed photo of himself and Will looking relaxed and happy together. Sonny related that when he'd gotten the call about Will, it had felt like when a bomb went off in a movie. Paul understood how it could have felt that way. Sonny said all he wanted was to have the previous eight months back, and Paul agreed that he wished Sonny could have that. Sonny declined Paul's offer to help pack a few things. As he headed out, Paul reassured Sonny, "Will knew you loved him. He didn't give up, because he knew you loved each other."
As she reclined on the bed in Marlena's guest room, Sami leafed distractedly through the mail that had piled up at her mother's house until she found a letter that interested her. She opened the envelope and was stunned to see a letter in E.J.'s handwriting on a sheet of yellow paper. "My darling Samantha, if you are reading this, then it means something terrible has happened to me," the letter began.
E.J. explained that he had given the letter to a lawyer with instructions to send it to Sami within a year of E.J.'s death. E.J. blamed his death on his father. Sami pressed the paper to her nose and inhaled deeply before she continued reading. E.J. described how furious Stefano had been that Sami and E.J. had reconciled. E.J. had been prepared to take off with Sami the kids if he hadn't managed to placate his father.
E.J. went on to say that if Sami had gotten the letter, he'd obviously miscalculated, and his father had somehow managed to get rid of him. "Now there will never be peace with Stefano. I can see to that. I can make sure that you and the children are safe," the letter said, puzzling Sami. The letter stated that there was a key and an address in the envelope. Sami snatched up the envelope, and there was, indeed, a key inside. As she held it, she read that the key was to a safe deposit box in her name in Zürich.
"Inside that box, you'll find my last gift to you: ammunition. I'm giving you the means to take your revenge. It's your choice," Sami read. "Just know that, wherever I am, in whatever passes for heaven or hell, there is only one thing that gives me peace: I will always picture us together, with our children, on our own island far away. That is the only image that can sustain me through any eternity without you. I will hold it for us, as I have always done. All my love..." Sami read aloud, beginning to sob. "Oh, E.J.!" she cried.
When E.J.'s words fully sank in, Sami hastily re-folded the letter, stuffed it in the envelope, grabbed her purse and jacket, and hurried out. As she rushed into the living room, Sami nearly ran into Marlena, who stopped her. Marlena asked if Sami wanted to talk about what had happened in Chad's room the night before, but Sami did not. Marlena asked if something else were bothering Sami, but before Sami could reply, Sonny showed up.
Sami and Sonny rushed into one another's arms and cried together. Calling himself a coward for leaving town, Sonny blamed his departure for Will's death. Marlena assured Sonny that he was not responsible nor could he have stopped it. Urging Sonny to listen to Marlena, an anxious Sami left without much of an explanation. Sonny believed that Sami had left because she did blame him. Marlena reassured him that was definitely not the case; Sami was just reeling like the rest of them. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry," Marlena cried, putting her arms around Sonny.
With a henchman standing watch, Stefano sat at Chad's bedside and tearfully pleaded with his son to fight. When Rafe walked in, Stefano ordered him to leave. Reminding Stefano that all the evidence in the three murders pointed to Chad, Rafe said he couldn't leave because he needed to question Stefano. Rafe asked Stefano if Chad had returned to the DiMera mansion after leaving for Club TBD the night of Serena's murder. Stefano didn't reply except to suggest Rafe ask the staff. Rafe wanted to know if Stefano had hidden Chad in one of the secret rooms on the night of Paige's murder.
"You're looking for an alibi for him, aren't you? You believe Chad is innocent, huh?" Stefano remarked with surprise. Rafe maintained that he only wanted to follow the evidence -- and the D.A. was ready to indict Chad the minute he regained consciousness. "But the real killer is still out there," Stefano asserted angrily. Rafe said he needed solid proof of that in order to do anything. As Rafe left, a look of determination crossed Stefano's face.
As Abigail entered the apartment she shared with Ben, she spotted a broken piece of pottery, a relic from Chad and Ben's fight, under the couch. Abigail knelt on the floor to pick it up, emotionally murmuring, "Chad," to herself as Ben emerged from the bathroom. Abigail explained that she'd said Chad's name because she hadn't been able to stop thinking about the fight between Ben and Chad. Upset, Abigail apologized for not being there, but Ben was glad she hadn't had to experience the fracas.
"It was the scariest thing I've ever seen, the hatred in his eyes. He wanted to kill me," Ben said. Abigail put her arms around him, seemingly as much to comfort herself as for Ben. Abigail noted that it made no sense for Chad to show up there and fight Ben. "He's in love with you, Abigail, and I'm in the way... You [chose] me, and he never accepted it," Ben said.
Abigail pointed out that no matter how obsessed Chad might have been with her, he had been on the run, so it still made no sense to her that he would show up there. Ben contended that Abigail couldn't force it to make sense because Chad was a madman -- and Abigail had to accept it, because otherwise she or the baby could get hurt. "There's no telling what a monster like that will do," Ben added.
Rafe arrived to get Ben's official statement. Abigail left with a vague excuse about dropping some things off at work. Ben seemed a little reluctant to repeat everything he'd told the cops the previous night, but Rafe pointed out that they needed to make sure they had an airtight case against Chad. With the memories of what had really happened the night before still fresh in his mind, Ben recounted Chad had broken in and started "raving." Rafe asked if Ben could describe the "raving" in other words and more detail.
Ben maintained that Chad had been spewing "nonsense babble" and had repeatedly declared, "You can't have her! She's mine; I'll take her!" Ben had assumed that Chad would eventually calm down, but while Ben's back had been turned for a moment, Chad had sucker-punched him. "But he didn't knock you out. You fought back," Rafe questioned. Ben guessed he'd just gotten lucky -- or else he could have been the one in a coma.
After he finished questioning Ben, Rafe headed out -- but he stopped just as Ben was about to close the door behind him. Rafe musingly noted that Ben and Abigail had been dating nearly a year, and Abigail had broken up with Chad long before that -- so Rafe wondered why everything had suddenly escalated. Ben guessed that the pressure had just built up in Chad after he'd lost Abigail, and since Chad had known he'd probably get caught, perhaps he'd decided that if he couldn't have Abigail, no one could -- especially Ben.
Rafe admitted that Ben's theory made sense. "I guess we'll see when Chad wakes up. If he wakes up," Rafe said. After Rafe left, Ben leaned against the desk and exhaled deeply, rubbing his face as if he were dizzy. He straightened up, looked in the mirror, and asked his reflection, "What happened to you?" Looking tormented, Ben picked up a photograph of himself and Abigail and gazed at it for a long moment before placing it on the desk and smashing the glass with his fist.
Stefano's henchman was pushing Stefano's wheelchair toward the elevator doors just as Abigail was exiting. Abigail could only stare at Stefano with terror in her eyes while he growled, "Stay away from my son." Her fear turning to anger, Abigail insisted that she had never believed that Chad was guilty and had tried to help Chad by finding a place for him to hide out -- then he had attacked Ben out of the blue. Abigail wondered why Chad would have done something so foolish when he knew the cops had been looking for him. "I don't want to believe that he's guilty, Stefano," Abigail added. Without a word, Stefano gestured to his henchman, who wheeled the old man onto the elevator.
When Sonny arrived at the hospital, Abigail hugged him tightly and expressed her sympathy. She urged Sonny to let his parents take care of him. When she learned that Sonny had seen Gabi, Abigail asked if he'd seen Arianna. "I'm not ready for that," Sonny confessed. Clearly distracted, Sonny kept looking over Abigail's shoulder while they were talking. Indicating the room with the cop outside, Sonny finally asked, "Is that his room?"
Abigail confirmed that it was and informed Sonny that Chad was in a coma but would be arrested if he ever regained consciousness. Sonny expressed disbelief that Chad would have killed Will when Chad had been Sonny and Will's best friend -- and Chad and Will had known one another for a very long time. Because she understood that feeling, Abigail put her arms around her cousin again.
After Sonny left, Abigail wandered over to the window into Chad's room and studied her ex. "You can't be that monster," Abigail whispered. The cop startled Abigail by asking what she'd said. "Nothing," Abigail muttered, walking away.
Sonny was sitting alone on a bench in the park when Paul showed up on his nightly run. Paul removed his earbuds and thought about it for a moment before speaking to Sonny, who heard Paul's footsteps and turned around. "I swear I'm not stalking you," Paul said as lightly as possible. Sonny remembered that Paul had always liked to run at that time. Paul asked what Sonny's plans were after the funeral.
Sonny said he intended to return to Paris after he made sure Arianna and Gabi were okay. Paul wondered if Sonny had even considered staying in Salem, since there were people there who could help Sonny. "Your daughter is here," Paul reminded Sonny. Sonny didn't think it would be fair to a two-year-old little girl for him to stay in Salem for a little while when he planned to leave again. "Do you know that?" Paul asked gently.
"I don't know anything," Sonny said. Paul suggested that Sonny not make any major decisions, reminding Sonny that he'd always talked about family no matter where he'd gone in the world. Sonny admitted that Paul was right, but Sonny had no idea what he'd do after the funeral. "That was good advice. Thank you," Sonny said sincerely before getting up and walking away.
Eric ordered another drink as he sat at the bar in the Edge of the Square, looking at the Basic Black website on his tablet. "I'm celebrating," Eric absently told the bartender as he read the headline, "Giovanni Carpolini signs EXCLUSIVE to photograph New Lines."
A little later, Eric met Sami in the park outside Horton Square. Sami was taken aback when she smelled alcohol on her twin, but he lied that he'd been with a friend. Before she told Eric why she'd called him, Sami made him promise not to tell anyone and to try to be objective and clear-headed. Sami produced the letter from E.J., and as Eric skimmed it, he asked if the handwriting were E.J.'s. Sami confirmed that it was, although she conceded that it could have been forged.
"But...it's really specific stuff that E.J. knew would mean something to me," Sami insisted. Eric pointed out that Sami had lived in the DiMera mansion for a long time, and Stefano could have bugged the place. Reminding his sister that she'd asked him to be objective, Eric urged Sami to be skeptical about everything in the letter but asked what she thought. Sami said she believed it was E.J. because it sounded like him and evoked the same feelings she'd had for him toward the end. "So it's exactly what you want to hear," Eric pointed out.
Eric asked why else Sami believed the letter was from E.J. Sami explained that E.J. would never have let "some random junkie" get near him, much less kill him, so she thought Stefano had perhaps put a hit out on E.J. "If that is true, then I -- I will strangle him," Sami threatened, adding determinedly, "Stefano is responsible for taking my husband and my son from me, and I will make him pay." Sami wanted to track down E.J.'s lawyer and get him to explain the key, but Eric worried she would just be taking the bait.
Sami asked Eric what she should do. Eric didn't think Stefano was going anywhere, but Sami thought it felt like she should do something about the letter right away. "It'd certainly be a lot easier...seeking revenge on Stefano, than what you came home to do," Eric noted. "Sami, listen to me: you are burying your son tomorrow. That's what's important. That is the only thing that's important right now," Eric stressed.
Eric asked Sami what she would do after the funeral, and Sami admitted she didn't know. "Just promise me that you won't strangle Stefano. I don't want Dad to put you in jail," Eric said with a wry smile. Returning the smile, Sami declared that strangling was too good for Stefano. "Maybe whatever E.J. left me in the safe deposit box..." Sami mused, holding the key but not finishing the thought.
In the DiMera study, Stefano played of chess with André, who was impressed that his father hadn't lost his strategic skills. André remarked that it was Chad's best option to remain in a coma until they could figure out how to spirit him from the hospital to somewhere safe. As Stefano took André's queen with his bishop, he declared, "Perhaps there is a third option."
