Rachel had called Paulina, Gary, Cass and Felicia to the Cory Mansion.

"Carl's alive? Are you sure?" said Felicia.

"I'm sure." said Rachel.

"It looks that way." said Gary.

The doorbell rang; a moment later Claudia entered the living room. "Zack Wilder to see you, Mrs Hutchins."

"Show him in." said Rachel.

Zack appeared to have been drinking. "I've got to warn you about Jordan Stark!" he said, "I thought that man could walk on water, but he's nothing but a criminal! I overheard him talking with his daughter Zoe-"

"Zoe?" said Felicia.

"She calls herself Remy, but her real name is Zoe."

"OH!" said Paulina, "Nick was right! He told me not to trust Remy!"

"What exactly is Jordan Stark up to, Mr. Wilder?" said Rachel.

"I don't know the details, but he intends to kill you - and Cass Winthrop."

"WHAT?" said Cass, "Why Me?"

"He says you deserve to die for your 'disloyalty'."

"Come to that, what does Stark have against Me?" said Rachel, "I've never even met the man."

"I don't know!" said Zack, "He told me that you were the reincarnation of his lost love."

"And you believed that?" Cass was incredulous.

"Do you think we only live once?" said Zack, "That we are born and we die, and that's all that there is?"

"Well- "

"I remember All my past lives!" said Zack, "Being burned at the stake for heresy in Spain in 1489; being a member of Sir Francis Drake's crew when he circumnavigated the world; being a violinist at the court of Louis XIV -"

"I'm Sure you've led some fascinating lives," said Rachel, "But we are losing sight of the main point, which is you telling us everything you know about Jordan Stark."

"I don't really know much." said Zack, "Just what he told me - which was probably all lies! And what I overheard, which was that he's going to kill you-"

"And Me!" said Cass.

"-After he's made you suffer. He was going to kill you earlier this year, and your husband was supposed to take the blame, but he ruined that by dying."

"So that's it!" said Rachel. "Carl must have figured out part of the plot! That's why he faked his death!"

"But who IS Jordan Stark?" said Cass.

"Alexander Nikos." said Felicia.

Everyone looked at her.

"Just before Alexander - died, he asked me to look out for his daughter - Zoe."

"That has got to be a coincidence." said Cass, "Nikos is dead! You Saw him die!"

"We saw him go limp and stop breathing." said Rachel, "Actors 'die' like that all the time; it doesn't mean that they're really dead."

"But - a lot of people saw the - the body." said Paulina, "Doctors, morgue attendants - Police - he couldn't have fooled them all!"

"No - I imagine he had to pay some rather large bribes to keep them silent." said Rachel. "And it wasn't for long. Nikos' body was released to representatives of his family, and cremated - supposedly."

"So now what do we do?" said Cass. "Go into hiding?"

"So far, it's all guesswork." said Rachel, "First of all, we find out if Remy really IS Zoe Nikos."

"How?"

"I seem to recall that Nikos' daughter has been in the news quite a bit - getting arrested for public mischief, that sort of thing. There must be photographs of her."

"The Herald probably has some in their files." said Paulina. "I'll ask Jake."

"Do that," said Rachel, "In the meantime, do you think you can treat the girl the way you always have - not let her suspect that we're on to her?"

"I'll try." said Paulina.

"Good!" said Rachel, "Cass, Felicia - carry on your normal lives, as best you can. Gary - Find Carl!"

****

Nikos gave Remy a small bottle.

"Put that into something Paulina eats or drinks." he commanded, "It doesn't matter what - it's tasteless and odourless."

"Paulina? But - I thought it was Rachel you were going to kill, not Paulina!"

"Rachel must suffer before she dies." said Nikos, "Watching her favorite daughter's slow, agonizing death will be torture for her."

"Well, okay." said Remy, "I know just the thing; Paulina gets really thirsty, standing over the hot stove, so she swigs Diet Coke, right out of the bottle."

****

Paulina went straight to the police station, and burst into Joe's office.

"Tell me, Joe, how did you manage to buy that piece of land for our dream house? A five-acre lot on Meadowlark Lane doesn't come cheap! I know exactly how much money we have in the bank, and it's not enough!"

"I borrowed the money from Pop." said Joe.

"Eddie doesn't have that kind of cash!" said Paulina, "You got the money from Alexander Nikos, didn't you? You took a bribe, to cover up the fact that he was still alive! And here I thought you were Mr. Integrity! How much did he pay you, Joe? A hundred thousand? Two hundred? Half a million? How much was your integrity worth?"

"Does it matter?"

"No, not really. I told you when we reconciled that if you let me down again, we were through." said Paulina, feeling strangely calm, "Don't come back to the house, tonight or any other night. I'll send your things here. I don't want to see your face again."

Note: Somehow, I never get tired of the scene in which Paulina finally comes to her senses and scrapes Joe the Jerk off :-D.