Episode 95, originally published 25-Apr-98

Once More With Feeling

Diane is in her office. She has the blueprints for Newman Towers spread out in front of her, but her thoughts are not on the "Towers" part. Over and over she replays her mental videotapes of Victor reassuring her that he loves her and that his thing with Nikki is over, interleaved with her mental videotapes of Victor saying he's changed his mind. Tears stream from her eyes and drip onto the prints. Finally she gets up and storms out of the door.

Diane storms into Victor's office with Connie following behind her. "I'm afraid he's not here," Connie here. Diane stares back at her with eyes so intensely focused that they could probably beat Superman at burning holes in what they stare at. Diane says coldly to Connie, "It's ok. I'm quite accustomed to waiting." Connie stares back, uncertain as to what to do. "Alone," Diane adds. Connie shrugs and walks back out.

A short while later, Jack enters Victor's office to find Diane holding a letter opener, poised to throw across the room. As he watches, she flings it forward and it hits the painting of Victor she's made for him. It strikes his chest. "Nice shot," Jack says. Diane shrugs. "I've been practicing all night with dinner cutlery and that tall portrait in Victor's apartment," she says. "But I have to admit, this is more satisfying," she says. Jack smiles. "A woman after my own heart," he says. She looks at him blankly. "The only heart I'm after today is Victor's," she says, as if trying to explain her distant mood. She withdraws the letter opener and returns to Victor's desk to try again. She holds it in her hands. "Nicely balanced," she remarks. "As are all the knives at the apartment. Nothing but the best for Victor," she says, gritting her teeth. She throws again and it lands in Victor's forehead just as Detectives Salena Wiley and Warren Bates enter. They eye the painting, then Wiley nods to Bates.

"Diane Jenkins?" Bates asks. "I prefer Newman," she says. "Diane Newman." "Diane Newman, then," he asks again. "Guilty," she says. "Uh, she didn't mean it that way," Jack says, realizing who Diane's talking to. "I'm Detective Bates and this is Detective Wiley," Bates says. "Mrs. Newman, you're under arrest." "Arrest?" Diane says, raising an eyebrow. "But I didn't kill him yet." "Diane!" Jack scolds her. "For the murder of Nikki Newman," Salena says. Jack is stunned. `Nikki murdered?' you can see him thinking. "You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right--" Salena starts. "I know, I know," Diane says. "Anything true I say about that scum can and will be used against me, etc. etc." "Anything you say AT ALL can and will be used against you in a court of law," Bates adds just to make sure it's proper. As Bates cuffs her, Salena goes to the wall and, putting on gloves, takes the letter opener and puts it into an evidence bag. Then, still wearing the gloves, she takes the framed image from the wall. Meanwhile Jack is trying to figure out what to do. "What's this all about?" he asks. "Mr. Abbott, I'd just stay out of it if I were you," Salena advises him.

"But--but--Nikki--can I see her?" Jack asks. Salena looks to Bates who says finally, "That's not possible right now." "Not possible? Why?" Bates sighs. "She's--well, her--her body hasn't been found," she says finally. "Not found? Then how do you know she's dead?" Jack says optimistically. "Oh, she's dead all right. No one could lose that much blood and--" Salena starts to say. "Blood?" Jack interrupts. "How much blood." Salena gives Jack her card. "Tell the officer at the ranch I said you could go in." They haul Diane off and leave Jack there running his hands through his hair.

Genoa City Court. Glenn Richards prosecuting. "I call Carl Williams," he says. "Carl Williams," repeats a bailiff. There is a gasp from the people in the court as Carl Williams enters from the hallway and takes the stand. The bailiff holds out a Bible and asks, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" Carl places his hand on the Bible and says "I do." then sits. Glenn says to Carl, "Will you describe the scene of the crime, please?" "There was blood all around the room. On the wall, in letters formed from that blood, was written `YOU STOLE MY HUSBAND'." There is a gasp from the audience and the judge bangs his gavel. "Order in the court. Another outburst like that and I'll have the room cleared." Glenn hands Carl a piece of paper and says, "I show you now prosecution exhibit A and ask you to describe it." "It's a marriage license issued to Victor Newman and Nikki Landers." "And this, labeled prosecution exhibit B?" Richards asks, showing him a sheaf of papers. "These are documents from the Dominican Republic, authorizing an immediate dissolution of marriage--incidentally, they're not valid under Wisconsin Law." In the courtroom, Nick hears this and, somehow sensing that his father's remarriage is in jeopardy, blames Diane for the fact and scowls at her as would an injured animal of the wild.

"Just answer the questions I've put to you," Glenn says to Carl. He goes on, "The Genoa City courts were apparently satisfied that they were legal because they issued this item, prosecution exhibit C, didn't they?" He hands another document to Carl. Carl looks at it and says, "Yes, that's a waiver of the 6 month waiting period after a divorce in order for Victor Newman to marry Nikki Landers due to special circumstances--she was thought dying due to 4 bullets in her very lovely chest, I believe." Glenn nods and then says, "So it would be fair to say that Diane Newman might have had reason to believe her husband had been stolen--" "Objection!" comes Michael Baldwin's voice from across the room.

The judge looks up, "Ah, Mr. Baldwin. I assume you're here with the consent of the State Bar?" Michael nods. "Ironically, your honor, Mr. Newman arranged that just days ago." "But you're not representing Mr. Newman now?" the Judge asks. "No, Your Honor. Seeing the incredibly sleazy way in which Mr. Newman manipulated individuals and the system itself in order to have my license was restored, I was forced to disassociate myself from any further dealings with Mr. Newman. I am a changed man since my time in prison, Your Honor." "And I'll be watching his every move to be sure that's so," Cricket says. "And you are?" the judge asks, for the record. "Oh, sorry," Cricket says. "Christine Blair," she explains. "Miss Blair," says the judge, "I would have thought, given your past problems with Mr. Baldwin that--" "It's a long story, Your Honor," she explains, "but look, let's just say that with `friends' like my ex-husbands have recently turned out to be, Mr. Baldwin has recently been looking better and better. And," she admits with a blush, "it turns out he's really pretty good in bed, too." "Objection!" comes a voice from the public viewing area. The judge bangs a gavel and says, "Sit down, Mrs. Romalotti. You are not on trial here, though I have to admit this does look like some of your work. Anyway, getting back to the business at hand, I'm going to sustain Mr. Baldwin's objection. The witness is not qualified to opine on what Diane Newman might or might not have had reason to believe."

It's the evening and Victor arrives at Diane's jail cell. "Victor!" she says. "Yes, Diane, it is I." "You're still my husband," she says, "the divorce wasn't legal." "Yes, apparently that is so, and assuming you did not kill Nikki--" "Victor, I didn't." "But the handwriting was on the wall." "It was, Victor, but it wasn't MY handwriting... someone beat me to it." "But it said, `You stole my husband'--what was that about?" "I can answer that," Cricket says, entering. "Well, I really wish you would," Victor says. "It wasn't Diane who did this--it was the housekeeper, Sarah. She's the one who shot Nikki the first time, but Nikki lived. So she came back to finish the job. The husband wasn't you, Victor, it was Joshua." "Joshua?" Victor says. "Joshua who?" "Joshua Landers, Nikki's husband. And also husband to another woman--Veronica Landers. He'd thought Veronica was long dead, but really she was still alive, and masquerading as a housekeeper at the Ranch." Victor looks surprised and embarrassed. He says to Diane, "My goodness, I had no idea. Look, we've got to get you out of here so that we can fly off into the sunset and resume our romantic honeymoon together." "One thing at a time," Cricket says. "First we have to make this case in court. It's not going to be easy..."

Back in court the next day, Cricket and Michael are whispering back and forth. "I think I can do an end run around this entire thing," Michael says. Cricket rolls her eyes but sits back to watch. Michael stands and says, "Your honor, we ask for a directed verdict of `not guilty'." "On what grounds?" the judge asks. "On the grounds that there was no corpus delicti--no body." The judge shakes his head. "Sorry, counselor. It's pretty clear all this blood came from somewhere. If not from a dead body, it's your burden to say where." Michael sighs and sits down. Cricket stands and says, "The defense calls--" Suddenly, a door opens in the back of the room and in walks a very bloody Nikki. She is barely able to stand. She collapses, in fact. There is lots of commotion as everyone contemplates the significance of this. The judge finally bangs his gavel and says, "Order! Bailiff, is that Mrs. Newman?" "The dead woman?" the bailiff asks, checking her pulse. "Yes, it seems to be," he confirms. The judge bangs his gavel again, for no apparent reason and says, "There, Mr. Baldwin, is your corpus delicti." As if to dispute the matter, Nikki turns her head upward and says in her very best Monty Python voice, "But I'm not dead yet!" "There!" Baldwin says, "she's alive!" "Bailiff, check her pulse." He does. "She's dead," he says. "No I'm not!" Nikki protests. "I heard that!" Michael says. The judge sighs. "Oh, this is getting tedious. I hereby dismiss this case. Mr. Richards, please meet with your victim and when she's ready to die we can do this all over again from the top." Diane rushes excitedly to Victor who says, "Just one moment..." and he rushes to Nikki to see how she's doing.

Back at Victor's apartment, Diane and Victor are talking. "You want me to what??" Diane asks Victor incredulously. "Well, as you know, our previous divorce had a flaw in it so that we're still married. But I need to divorce you again--this time correctly--but just for a very little while, you know," he says. Before she can speak, he continues, "Nikki is on the edge of death and she could die at any moment. I just want to give her this last request..." "No, Victor. No, no, no, NO, NO!" "But I don't understand why you're being this way--I told you it would be just for a little while--are you concerned I might do what I did before and change my mind?" "Yes, Victor, I'm concerned about that. Don't you think there's a bit of a risk there?" "But that was because of a misunderstanding--I thought I really was married to Nikki. Now we learn that the divorce didn't work. So, of course, I could not really have done that." "But Victor, you just said you were going to try to do this one legally." "Well, that's true. I try to do everything legally. You wouldn't want me to break the law, would you?" "I wouldn't want you to divorce me either." "But Nikki--she could die!" Victor pleads. "Victor, you have to promise--I mean really promise--that you're coming back to me." "But of course, my darling. That was always my intent." "Oh, all right. I must be crazy for doing this, but all right. You can marry Nikki."

Jack enters Diane's office later. "Why are you here?" he asks. "Why aren't you out touring the world with Old Moneybags?" "He's not my husband, Jack." "He's what?" "I told him he could arrange another one of those quicky divorces and he's gleefully on his way to get it. But he swears it's only temporary." "And you're willing to believe him?" "I have to, Jack. He's my husband..." She looks at her watch. "At least, I think he is." Jack shakes his head. "You know," he says, "the last time this happened, I was just there waiting for you. But as soon as Victor was free, you were gone again. I just can't keep waiting on you, you know?" Diane is surprised, but understanding. "I know, Jack. But he is coming back to me. He has to." "How can you be so sure?" Jack asks. "Because I swore I'd hunt him down and kill him if he changed his mind again."

Days pass and we find Diane at Victor's apartment reading the morning paper. The headline is "Nikki and Victor Reunite." The subhead quotes Victor saying, "What the hell, let's just stay married." A sidebar story notes "Billionaire Newman files patent on own DNA for use as new medical technique. Victor clones expected to be in common use at hospitals worldwide by 2015." Diane slams down the paper and heads out of the apartment.

At the ranch, everyone is waiting for Nikki's arrival. Well, almost everyone. Nick and Sharon, Doris and Noah, Victoria and Cole. Nick whispers to Sharon, "Hey, where's that other kid of yours?" Sharon drives the heel of her shoe into her heel of a husband's shoe. "Her NAME is Cassie. And she couldn't be here. She had something more important to do." "More important than my mother and father?" Nick says in a tone that plainly indicates his belief that a higher priority does not exist. "Yes, as a matter of fact. She thought so." "What?" Nick asks. "Well, if you must know, she had a funeral to attend." "A funeral?" Nick asks, puzzled. "That's right, a funeral." "But who's died? Mom came out fine." "Nicholas, you may or may not be aware that before your mother remarried your father, she was married to someone else--" "Oh, yeah," Nick says, "that guy who stunk up the house." "HIS name is Joshua," Sharon says with a bit of irritation in her voice. "And Cassie found his body rotting outside on the ground below your mother's window." "Well, I had to do something with him," Nick says. "Miguel was away and he was really starting to smell." "Cassie thought it was undignified to just leave him out in the open like that, so she and Cindy decided they wanted to hold a funeral." "NOW?" Nick asks. "Couldn't she wait?" Sharon stares into Nick's eyes. "Nick, one doesn't get to choose when a funeral will be. It interrupts other plans. Besides, I thought you didn't even like her." "I don't. But Mom does. And she'll know something up if Cassie's not here."

Cassie enters covered in blood. Sharon rushes to her. "Are you ok?" "Oh, I'm fine. Joshua didn't fit in a shoebox. That's how Millie and I used to bury our pets when they died. So we had to cut him up into smaller pieces." "We?" Sharon asks. "Well, Miguel and his girlfriend Veronica helped. It was Veronica's idea that we cut him up. And I found the shoeboxes in your closet--I hope that's ok." Miguel and Veronica have entered behind her. Miguel says to Cassie, "Come on, let's go get cleaned up. We can't have Sra. Newman seeing us like this." The three of them duck out of sight.

Diane, wearing gloves, is happy to find the Tack Room has been left unlocked. She moves quickly to Cole's laptop and finds his notes on the Landers shooting. "Ah ha. I knew you'd be following the details of this... This is just the information I need." She pulls out a notepad and makes some notes of her own on paper.

Later, Victor and Nikki enter their bedroom at the ranch. (We've been spared the `welcome home' scene.) "It's so good to be home," Nikki says. She goes to the window and looks out. "Oh, look," she says, "Miguel's planted something in the garden below--I wonder what it is?" "Well, we shall have to remember to ask him," Victor says. Then, as she turns away from the window she sees a bloodstain on the carpet and stops to shiver. "Don't look at that," Victor says. "Tell you what," he continues, "I'll take this side of the bed. That way, you'll hardly even notice." "Oh, Victor," Nikki says smiling, trying to reassure him. "You don't have to be worried. When you're with me, I can't think of any other man--not even if he was my husband and was brutally murdered here in my bedroom. So just relax and stop feeling like you have to compete. Joshua meant nothing to me... you're all I ever wanted." The two undress and slide into bed.

Just then, Diane enters carrying a gun that's an exact match of Sarah's, but with a silencer. "Diane!" Nikki says. "I don't know what you think you're doing but it's not going to work. Victor is mine now, and you can't make him change his mind." "I don't intend to make him change his mind," Diane says. "I intend to kill you both." "Kill us?" Victor asks. "But Diane, I explained all of this to you. I know I had promised to come back to you, but I changed my mind. Can't you please just understand that and get out of here--all of this gun-pointing is not at all good for Nikki's heart." Diane cocks her head a bit ... oh, and the trigger, too. "Not good for her heart?" Diane asks. "Not good for HER heart? I'll show you not good for someone's heart." She fires directly into Nikki's chest several times. Victor starts to move toward her. "They'll know it was you," he says, pleading. "No, Victor, they won't. I've studied how she did it the last two times. Cole took careful notes. Everything will point to her and they'll be afraid to arrest me again after the last time..." "But Diane, wait. Don't you understand? Nikki is dead now. I was only with her for a little while, remember? To make her last few moments happy. But she is gone now. So you and I can--" "Good bye, Victor," Diane says. And she squeezes the trigger.

That's all for this episode. Hope you learned something. Don't miss Episode 96!
If you missed any older episodes, see the index.

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