Daily Updates

From: rika1@mindspring.com (Rika)
Subject: PC: Update, Thursday, 5/28/98
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 16:22:22 GMT
X-Server-Date: 29 May 1998 16:24:18 GMT

                          PORT CHARLES UPDATE
                         Thursday, May 28, 1998

TODAY'S STORYLINES:
-------------------
* Let Them Eat Sponge Cake
* Joe Scanlon, Cabana Boy

LET THEM EAT SPONGE CAKE
------------------------
Lucy is dressed in her Marie Antoinette costume, and has just
encountered her latest escort service "date" -  The Executioner,
complete with black costume, hood, axe, and guillotine.  Lucy tries to
get away - I must be in the wrong place, yada, yada, yada - but
Monsieur L'Executioner (speaking in a deep and heavily accented voice)
directs her to stand in front of the guillotine.  He prepares the
guillotine for use; Lucy, single-minded in any situation, tries to
question him about whether or not he's ever encountered Eve.  He tells
her to stop stalling.

Lucy's next gambit is that she wants some cake - she offers to
retrieve a sponge cake from her car (who but Lucy would fill in the
details this way?); he slams the door shut and grabs her shoulders,
drawing her back over to the guillotine.  She asks him if that
"Cuisinart-type blade" in the guillotine is real; he assures her that
it is, and that "this is what I'm paying for."  She begins to babble
about misunderstandings in the negotations with Munson; he bellows,
"SILENCE!" (and sounds like the man under the hood for the first
time), and promises her it won't hurt a bit.  Lucy stares at the
guillotine in terror.

She admits that she likes "my line of work," but she's not willing to
lose her head over it.  He forces her to her knees in front of the
guillotine, telling her that her crimes must be punished.  What
crimes, she wonders.  As he opens the guillotine to accommodate her
head, she reminds him that he's going to make an awful mess.  Then she
wonders, "How in the world do I get myself into these things?"

That was the $64,000 question.  Kevin yanks the hood off his head and
remarks, "That's a good question, Lucy."  Lucy is at first overjoyed
to see that it's Kevin; she throws herself into his arms.  Then she
stops, realizing what Kevin has done, and smacks him, asking, "What
the hell are you doing to me here?"  Kevin angrily tells her that she
just took the words right out of his mouth.  She wonders how he found
out what she was doing; he explains about encountering "Hercules" at
the hospital and hearing about the Enchanted Escort Service.

Lucy explains that she's trying to prove that Eve is the killer.
Kevin recognizes - and admires - the fact that Lucy will do just about
anything to protect the people she loves, but he is concerned that she
is putting herself in danger.  She insists that she hasn't been in
danger - until now.  He wonders how long she'll be able to go on as
"Police detective turned hooker" before she has to sleep with someone.
She responds (and, if I were Kevin, this wouldn't calm me down in the
slightest), "Well, I haven't had to *yet*."  Kevin figures it's just a
matter of time; they won't all have heart attacks like Hercules did.

Lucy thinks she's very close to proving that Eve was a hooker, and
thus that she's the murderer (I don't know why the second suspicion
automatically follows from the first, but that's Lucy for you).
Besides, there's the fact that Eve's bracelet was found by Devlin's
body to consider.  Fine, Kevin answers, then suspect Scott - he's the
one who found the bracelet and didn't tell the police.  Lucy figures
Eve has totally bamboozled Scott.  Kevin asks the question your
updater asked above - why would Eve have to kill Devlin because she
used to be a hooker.  Plus, he reminds her, Eve and Grace were
friends.  And why would Eve want to kill Julie?  Lucy figures Eve is
trying to frame Julie.  Kevin suggests sarcastically that maybe Lucy
is the murderer and is trying to frame Eve.

Kevin wants her to stop going on the escort service "dates."  She
insists that she can handle them, but Kevin tells her she can't
control these types of men - they could hurt or kill her, and he won't
stand for it anymore.  If she won't stop deliberately putting herself
in danger, he'll stop it for her.  Lucy wants him to stop getting in
her way, and instead help her prove that Eve is the killer.  Kevin
remarks, "You haven't heard a word I've said."  Lucy retorts, "Ditto."

Kevin, back in his full executioner costume (hood and all) and
carrying his axe, pays Munson a visit at the Enchanted Escort offices.
Munson recognizes him as "Angela's afternoon Delight."  Kevin shoves
him back into his office; Munson asks him to take off the mask, but
Kevin won't.  Kevin tells him his exploitation of women is disgusting,
and he's there to tell him that Angela Delight isn't working for him
anymore.  Munson tells him, if he wants Angela to himself, to take it
up with her.  Kevin decides Munson just doesn't get his drift; he
takes his huge axe and slams it into Munson's desk by way of
clarification, as Munson cowers against the wall.  Kevin insists,
"This woman is off limits!"

Munson is mad at this treatment (and who can blame him), but Kevin
doggedly sticks to his main point - that Angela is not going to work
for Munson anymore.  Munson threatens Kevin with the connections he
has in Port Charles; Kevin pulls off his hood and says, "Well, then, I
guess you've just met your match."  Munson laughs when he sees that
it's Lucy's "jealous boyfriend."  Kevin explains that he's not just
*any* jealous boyfriend - he's the author of "General Homicide," the
book that seems to be inspiring real-life murders in Port Charles.
Kevin suggests a that perhaps he'll write a sequel:  "A two-bit,
900-number pimp with the IQ of a potted plant ends up chopped into
thousands of bite-sized pieces because he makes his living selling
women."  Munson doesn't think that sounds so good.  He goes through
his card file, finds "Angela's," hands it to Kevin, and assures him
that he's never heard of Angela and she won't ever work there again.
Kevin turns to go, leaving his axe impaled in Munson's desk,
remarking, "It's good we talked.  These are hazardous times; someone
could get hurt."

Back at the Lighthouse, Lucy is out of her costumer, and presumably
the sponge cake in her car has been moved to the kitchen.  She is
arguing with Munson, who is firing her.  She figures out that Munson
is scared, and that Kevin must have visited him.  Munson does find
Kevin and the "General Homicide" murders scary - in fact, he figures
that Kevin is probably the murderer.  Lucy insists, first, that Kevin
isn't the murderer and second, that she can keep working for Munson
without Kevin knowing it.  Munson has a higher opinion of Kevin's
intelligence than Lucy, apparently, because he tells Lucy, "Don't
ever, ever call me again."  Lucy hangs up, furious.

She is still seething a few minutes later when Kevin arrives home out
of costume.  Lucy snipes, "If it isn't the High Executioner returned
from a hard day of work."  She asks if he returned the costume; he
remarks, "I thought about buying it; that way I could take it out,
like Batman, whenever I need it."  Lucy asks if he really believes the
Batman comparison - he's ridding the world of the evils of an escort
service?  Yes, Kevin answers, telling her that he visited Munson.
Lucy explains that she knows - Munson fired her.  She's furious that
Kevin's trick cost her a link to Eve's past.  He assures her that he'd
do it again - "Do you honestly believe that I wouldn't stand in the
way of anything that would hurt you?"  He's not willing to take the
chance that she might get hurt.  He's come close enough to losing her
before in the midst of other crazy - or risky - schemes.

Lucy doesn't see what's wrong with taking some risks.  Kevin reminds
her that not long ago he sat by her bedside after Rex poisoned her and
fought off the doctors who tried to tell him he had to live his life
without her.  This softens her, and she hugs him.  But she wants to
prove the murderer's identity because she sees what the guilt about
the book is doing to Kevin.  He insists that he is responsible; Lucy
insists that he's not.  "Then the killer has some kind of grudge
against me," Kevin retorts, and Lucy explains that that is why she has
to find out who it is.  (Um, hello, if that's the case, why suspect
Eve, of all people?  She and Kevin are friends.  But never mind.
Lucy's explanation right now is only a half-truth.)  Kevin shares her
desire for the responsible person to be caught, but he wants Lucy to
stay far away from it.  She stammers, "I will try."  Kevin is no fool
- he tells her that "try" isn't good enough.  She doesn't answer,
which ought to worry him a LOT.

Later on, Lucy is sitting on the couch, distracted and upset.  When
she hears Kevin coming, she jumps and opens a magazine.  He tells her
that he's going to go see Mac.  She asks why - about Katherine or
about the GH murders?  Both, he explains.  He leaves; she stands in
the doorway and watches him go, looking sad and distracted.  Victor
comes up behind her and calls her name; she jumps and shrieks, which
makes Victor scream (which was funny; you had to see the two of them
gasping in shock at one another).

Lucy threatens to put a bell around Victor's neck; he remarks that she
was deep in thought (he's absolutely right).  Lucy explains that Kevin
wants her out of trying to solve the murders, but she can't stop
thinking about them.  Victor responds with enthusiasm - he thinks he's
on to something.  Then he stops himself - Monk is probably right that
getting mixed up with something like this is dangerous.  Lucy reminds
him that "You know me well enough by now - I'm not going to get myself
into something that's too hairy" (HA!  Besides the fact that this is
absurdly untrue, I'm tempted to remark that considering the wigs she
wore as Lady Godiva, Xanadu, and Marie Antoinette, her recent exploits
have been "hairy" indeed.  But I digress).  Lucy believes Kevin needs
her help.  Victor asks how close she is to finding the killer, and she
claims to be very close.

It occurs to Lucy that Victor could help her.  He puts up token
resistance, but one gets the general sense that Victor is wrapped
securely around Lucy's little finger, because he caves very quickly.
He asks about the plan.  Basically, she wants to use Victor for cover
to explain absences so that she can go off and sleuth.  They'll say
they're going to the mall.  Victor stops her there - he doesn't need
anything (oh, I don't know, Victor, you ought to let Lucy update your
wardrobe a bit).  Lucy explains that it's a ruse.  She'll "dump" (yes,
she said that) him at a Senior Citizen center, and he can hang out
there while she searches for the killer.  He finds that a terrible
plan - he could be much more helpful than that.  He can be very
resourceful.  Lucy decides he's right - his help is exactly what she
has needed.  Victor looks thrilled.  (Is that the Knell of Certain
Doom I hear?)

JOE SCANLON, CABANA BOY
-----------------------
We're at the Recovery Room, where Karen and Courtney are eating ice
cream and where Joe has just encountered them.  Karen is surprised to
find that Joe and Courtney know each other - in fact, while Joe was in
college, they dated.  Courtney's parents managed a summer resort where
he worked as a lifeguard and cabana boy.  Courtney never imagined Joe
would become a doctor; she teases that thought he'd become a roadie
for a rock band.  Joe admits that he liked to party.  Karen presses
for more details, but Joe isn't comfortable with his new girlfriend
hearing details from his old one.  He teasingly hands Courtney a
dollars to "buy her silence."  Courtney assures him that silence about
Joe Scanlon is worth lots more than a dollar.

When we return to them, Courtney is telling about Joe organizing a
staff crap game.  Courtney's father fired Joe, but Joe crashed a party
at the club, gets drunk, jumps on the bandstand with his guitar and
gets a "Lawrence Welk-style orchestra" to rock and roll (is it just
me, or did one of the writers see "Dirty Dancing"?).  For some
inexplicable reason, this obnoxious behavior got Joe his job back.

Joe asks about Courtney's husband; she explains that he left when
faced with Neil's medical crisis, and they're divorced.  Courtney
picks up the stuff she bought for Neil (except for a huge panda; maybe
it's Karen's because I doubt it's one of Mike Corbin's customers) and
heads for the hospital.  Joe asks the question that will no doubt come
back to haunt him many times over:  "What kind of pathetic man ditches
on a son that has cancer?"  Karen remarks that it seems Joe and
Courtney were very close; he admits that, but says it was a long time
ago and they were very young.  He also admits that he still thinks
about her.  Then he clarifies - he thinks about her and is grateful
that he grew up and moved on.  He wouldn't want to be with anyone but
Karen.  They kiss.

Karen and Courtney are at the hospital, talking, when Frank approaches
them.  Karen makes the introductions, suspecting they know each other.
Frank, with notable coldness, asks Courtney why she's in town, and she
explains about Neil.  He tells her that Joe and Karen have said nice
things about Neil and he hopes Neil gets better.  Courtney leaves to
return to Neil's room.  Frank tells Karen that Courtney didn't turn
out to be what Joe thought she was; Karen insists that people can
change.  Frank disagrees - a leopard can't change her spots, besides,
Courtney probably wouldn't want to change.

And, sure enough - Courtney is in the hallway on the phone with a
married man with whom she's apparently had an affair.  She is
extorting money out of him for her continued silence about the affair.

-------------------------
by Rika, Thursday updater