"Feeling like he had no one else to turn to, Stuart showed up at Tad's door to enlist his help in tracking down Marian. He told Tad that his life depended on his help. Tad excused himself to answer a phone, which turned out to be a frantic SOS call from Opal. Opal asked her son to hurry over to Cortlandt Manor so that he could help sort out the mess that Palmer had apparently gotten himself into. Stuart showed Tad the letter he received from Marian and asked for his help in finding Marian. Tad skimmed the note and sadly informed Stuart that he didn't think that he could help him. The letter seemed definite in its intent. Stuart begged Tad to do something to help him because he couldn't live with Marian. For the first time, Stuart admitted that he was in love with Marian. Stuart was overcome with emotion at his revelation and said that he felt "tingly." Tad bowed his head and told Stuart that he was sorry for setting him up for the fall. Tad believed that had he not encouraged Stuart to chase after Marian, he never would have had to deal with the way that Marian had dumped him. Tad had forgotten that Marian could be heartless at times and said that he mistakenly believed that Marian had changed her ways. Tad remarked that Stuart deserved better than getting a "Dear John" letter in the mail. Stuart insisted that he could tell when people were lying---and Marian was lying in her letter. It pained Tad to see that Stuart was headed towards heartbreak. "She kissed me," Stuart said softly. Finally, Tad agreed to help Stuart---but not until after he handled the fiasco at Cortlandt Manor.
At the Manor, Palmer smiled pompously as he stated the obvious: there was nothing in the secret room. Palmer explained that the room was just a sitting room and nothing more. "Where are they, Palmer?" Mike asked crossly. Erica nodded along like she had some idea as to what was going on. "Yeah, where are they," she added. Adrian looked at Palmer and announced that he wanted to search the rest of the house.
Upstairs, Dixie arrived at the house and was completely unaware that she'd walked into the middle of a whirlwind of activity. She greeted Belinda with a smile before asking Opal if she could see Palmer. The glum look on Opal's face made Dixie wonder if perhaps Palmer had no gotten his eyesight back. Tad arrived and immediately asked Opal what was going on. Opal gave a very brief rundown of what was going down. Her explanation very quickly touched on two important things: a search warrant and spies. Dixie asked Opal what the secret agents could possibly want with her Uncle Palmer. "I have no idea," Palmer said confidently as he returned to the room. One by one, everyone filed back into the study. Still, no one really knew why Mike and Jack had descended upon the mansion. Mike announced that the search warrant had been issued so that he could look for "the last prisoners of war." Belinda asked to review the warrant and soon realized exactly what was going on---but she found it hard to believe. Mike told the tale of stolen Nazi treasure. Palmer wondered what the tale had to do with him. Citing Palmer's known military stationing, Mike stated that Palmer had been located in the exact location where the missing paintings had once been held. If that did provide enough proof, Mike also noted that Palmer had been a quartermaster in the army. This high-ranking position provided Palmer with everything he needed to smuggle five priceless pieces of art out of Europe. Adrian added that Palmer had a stack of books in his library that just happened to be about the artists of the missing paintings. Palmer claimed that he appreciated art and that the books were an accompaniment to his hobby. Mike unleashed the final blow, asking Palmer why his secret room was equipped with a climate control system much like those used in museums to protect paintings from cracking and chipping. The room grew silent and all eyes focused on Palmer. Palmer slowly ran his fingers through his gray hair. He appeared flustered for several minutes before lowering his arm and telling Mike and Jack that he'd tell them the truth---but only if Opal left the room. Opal refused to leave, saying that she had a right to hear what Palmer was about to say. Palmer said that he goes to the secret room to "escape the pressures of [his] marriage." He growled that he cannot tolerate hearing his wife call him "Love Bug" one more time. Opal was devastated. Her heart crumbled into a million pieces as her eyes welled with tears. She dashed out of the room and locked herself in her bedroom. She was so crushed that she wouldn't even let Erica in to see her. Palmer took great pleasure in firing Adrian on the spot, but Adrian said that he wouldn't accept being fired---and quit his post. Jack apologized for intruding and told Palmer that he wouldn't bother him any more. Mike was furious with Jack and told him not to believe Palmer's story. Jack blasted Mike for leading him on a wild goose chase. He figured that Mike had made up the bogus story in order to make him look like a fool. Jack warned Mike that he had stepped over the line and threatened to have him locked up for concocting bogus charges against Palmer. Jack and Mike left. Erica told Palmer that she was sorry for Mike's actions and said that she may be inadvertently to blame for the Mike's behavior. She was referring, of course, to Mike and Jack's battle for her love. She figured that Mike wanted to make Jack look like a fool so that she would then opt to be with him. Palmer thanked Erica for her offer to talk to Opal, but he said that he'd much rather be alone. Belinda was upset that Adrian had let her go on and on about him being a male stripper when, in fact, he was really a secret agent. She had told Opal that the she wanted to try to help Adrian, who she assumed had little education, better his life. Everyone filed out except for Tad and Dixie. Palmer motioned towards the door and told Tad that he was free to leave. "Oh, gee," Tad sneered. "Can I?" Tad said that he wasn't going to leave until he made Palmer pay for the way that he's treated Opal. Opal returned to the room, her mascara streaming down her cheek. In an extremely powerful dialogue, Opal and Palmer squared off over his public admission that she embarrasses him. Even as Opal cried, she managed to display a hurt, yet angry, side of her personality. She said that she's known that she embarrasses her husband, but stated that it was not right for him to have said "cold, heartless things" in front of their friends. Palmer shrugged indifferently and told his wife that he had asked her to leave the room. Whether she was there to hear the insults or not, Palmer had still said nasty things about Opal. Opal claimed that she was glad to have heard the truth. The thing that most hurt Opal was that she and Palmer had appeared to be on the road to recovery. He had kissed her---he had told her that he wanted to be with her. Now, that all seemed like a bitter, distant memory. Opal asked Palmer point-blank if Mike's accusations were right. Palmer snapped that Opal needed to mind her own business. "This is our house [and] our marriage," Opal replied, indicating that what was going on was her business. "You can't have your secrets and me," she said as the floodgates opened. Opal turned and started to walk out of the room. Palmer called out to Opal and asked her where she was going. "I'm keeping it a secret," Opal said caustically. "How do you like those apples?" Opal stormed for the room and headed up to her bedroom. Palmer also left the room, leaving Dixie to wonder how Opal and Palmer's marriage could have taken such a wrong turn after so many years. Tad looked at his ex-wife and told her that if anyone should know about happy marriages falling apart, it would be them.
Back at Jack's office, Mike and Jack sipped coffee together and wondered what their next course of actions should be. Jack worried that Palmer had packed up his paintings and shipped them out of the country. Mike smiled slightly and remarked that Jack gives up too easily. Erica stormed into the office and was stunned to see the two men---supposedly bitter enemies---having coffee together. Jack stated that his argument with Mike had been staged so that Palmer would think that he was off the hook. Erica turned to Mike and accused him of creating the mission about the stolen artwork. Surprisingly, Jack came to Mike's defense and informed Erica that the mission was legitimate. Erica couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was crushed that Opal had been hurt and didn't want to see her suffer any more. She threatened to go back to Cortlandt Manor and tell Palmer that Jack and Mike were still on to him. Before she could leave, the two men warned Erica that she would face time in jail if she tipped Palmer off. Erica's neck snapped back. Were the two men she loved really willing to toss her in the hokey? Erica turned and walked away, but not before she was again reminded that telling Palmer would be a bad, bad move.
In the crypt, Marian found Lee's knife on the floor. She took it carefully in her hands and slowly approached Lee from behind. She had the knife raised in the air and appeared ready to make her move, but Lee turned around and asked her what she was doing. Marian quickly came up with a lie about wanting to use the knife to cut up Lee's candy bars "just the way" he like it. Lee thought for several minutes and replied that he doesn't remember ever having his candy bars cut up. Lee bought the lie, chalking up his deteriorating memory to his illness. Marian again asked if Lee could take her away from Pine Valley. He refused, saying that he couldn't leave town until he'd taken care of the Chandlers. "You know," he said rather nonchalantly, "a daughter for a daughter." He decided that he was going to have to quit his job immediately so that no one would suspect that "John Lee" was really Lee Hawkins. Marian wanted to know what Lee was planning. She implied that their marriage made them partners in the plot. Lee, however, refused. He explained that telling her what he had planned would ruin the surprise. He did, though, hint that it had something to do with the carnival because that was the place that "he," a reference to Adam, had taken "her," a reference to Joy, away.
Back at Cortlandt Manor, Palmer returned to his secret room and asked himself what he was going to do now. He pushed a hidden button and a secret panel opened in the wall. Inside the secret room's secret compartment were all five of the missing paintings.
The troops returned to Wildwind after coming up empty in their search for Lee Hawkins. Mateo was furious that he had been unable to find Lee. Hayley tried to assure her husband that he'd done the best he could. Ryan stepped in and said that Mateo's best wasn't good enough. It was not a put-down of Mateo. He was actually siding with Mateo, agreeing that it is hard to accept the fact that Lee is still running free. Stuart rushed into the room and asked Mateo if he knew anything about John Lee. Hayley said that John was working for them. Stuart explained that John had supposedly run away with Marian, but noted that he didn't believe it. Gillian gave Stuart instructions to John's room and Stuart headed off to find the man. Lee lurked in the hall with his knife drawn. Stuart returned some time later and reported that all of John's things were still in his room. If he had gone away, hadn't taken anything with him. Stuart knew that he had to make his mStuart lay sprawled on the ground with Lee hovering menacingly over him. Lee held the blade of his knife over Stuart's chest and prepared to make a downward thrust. The blade glistened in the moonlight. It was that glistening that may have saved Stuart's life. Liza saw the shiny metallic blade as she made her way towards her car and screamed in horror. The scream caused Lee to stop what he was doing. For a brief moment it looked like he might turn and head towards Liza, but he didn't. Instead he quickly dashed off before Liza could get a look at him. Liza scampered over to the body tha
Inside the crypt, Marian carefully unscrewed Helga's name placard from the wall. After removing the fourth screw, the heavy metal nameplate fell tot he ground with a loud clunk. Marian apologized to "Helga, darling" for disturbing her final resting place, but she knew that the nameplate was her key to getting out of the mausoleum. She lugged the heavy object over to the door and tried to use it to pry the door open. It didn't work. She hurled the nameplate across the chamber in a fit of rage, now realizing that she might be trapped forever. When the placard hit the wall, a tuft of dirt drizzled into the chamber. Marian pounded on the wall and called out to Stuart to save her. She had no idea, but Stuart happened to be walking by on the outside. Stuart heard a muffled cry and managed to hear his name. He turned and slowly walked towards the mausoleum."
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