The Mary's Place gang prepared refreshments for after Quinn's funeral. Mac is going to run Tony's editorial. Cheryl figures it's over for her and Scott.
The killer stuck stars on the magazine picture of Cheryl and found a florist in the Yellow Pages.
Mitch enlarged photographs for Michael. Michael and Donna left Tops to go to Quinn's service as a blonde came in. She made a sinister phone call, mentioning John Hudson by name. She knows what to do.
MJ told Adam she would understand if he wanted his ring back. He just looked at her as she stretched out her hand holding the ring. [He looked almost as though he would have liked to be unforgiving a while longer, but faced with an ultimatum he might have to relent.] She said she knew she'd betrayed his trust and asked him to say something. He chewed her out a little for making the task force look stupid, almost getting Chad killed, almost getting HERSELF killed, and causing Ken Barton to commit an entirely unnecessary crime. She cried. He yelled at her when she said she was sorry. He said it wasn't good enough. He suggested they take a little time until they were thinking more clearly. She looked down and held out the ring for him to take. But HE said, "I gave you that ring because I loved you. That hasn't changed." He asked to be left alone. She put the ring back on and left. Adam looked a little murderous.
Everyone was very nice to Zack about Quinn's death. They all left for the church.
The killer traced a letter to Cheryl. Mother praised him for making it seem as though Scott wanted to see her. [Dear Cheryl, it says. I had such a fun time last night. I really want to get to see you this OBSCURING THUMB maybe we can go horseback riding Saturday and take in a movie Saturday night. Love, Scott. Now, I don't think the killer intends to copy the actual letter, but just to imitate Scott's handwriting. But consider, when would Scott have written such a note? Even ignoring the fact that it's so formal and stilted, why would he have written at all, instead of talking in person or by phone? I don't mind his copying Scott's handwriting, but it should have been a more probable note.] Mother said we could have a reward, so we ate a Good Boy. We're to teach Cheryl a lesson she won't forget.
Zack made a speech. Greg lurked in the background. Adam stood alone and looked stiff. Zack read a poem, supposed to describe the way he felt about Quinn:
Never in life could I capture that free live spirit of a girl in the torn and tattered net of my words.
With gay uplifted finger you beckoned
and faltering I followed you down paths
I would not otherwise have known or dared.
Limping after you up that secret mountain
where you sang without need of voice or words,
I touched briefly the torch you held out and bled,
pricked by a thorn from the black deep rose of your courage.
From the gutter of my defeated dreams
you pulled me to heights almost your own.
Only in your dying la[d]y could I offer you this poem.
I do not grieve for you
in your little square plot of indiscriminate clay
for now shall you truly dance
oh great heart
oh best of all my [songs]
the dust be merciful upon your holy bones. *
Tom sobbed. Zack swore to avenge Quinn's death. Adam looked even more fried than before. The Corys attacked MJ about her being Chad's alibi. Tom attacked Adam for letting Chad go. Adam got up to make a speech. He announced that he would find the killer and put him away. He promised. Tom was unreasonable. MJ ran out of the room. Mary followed her. MJ cried and said everything was her fault. Mary reassured her. She did ask her if she had feelings for Chad so that Adam should be upset. MJ said she and Chad had been close but she didn't feel anything for him now. She said the alibi meeting had been about Cheryl. Mac gave Adam Tony's editorial to read. Adam took it personally. Mac is a jerk. Adam reminded him that Tony was a suspect. Felicia and Dr Glaser made a date. Dr Glaser told her and Donna that he was afraid if he had started working with the task force sooner some of the senseless killing could have been avoided. Felicia said Lisa felt the same way. Donna told Dr Glaser she had to remember the third face. Michael told Mac and Jamie about his undead brother. Mitch phoned to say he might have snapped John. The blonde eyed him. Mitch suspects her of something. Michael left Donna with Dr Glaser. MJ told Mary she was afraid Adam would never trust her again. Adam narrowed his eyes at her from across the room. Cheryl approached MJ. Mary left them alone. Cheryl, obnoxious chit, told MJ that she thought she and Chad were still in love. MJ informed her that she had never loved Chad. Adam watched her and did not hear Lisa when she offered to help. MJ looked at him and ran out. Adam looked speculative.
Michael examined the enlargements and agreed the pictures resembled John. He was puzzled as to why John would avoid him and his mother. The blonde looked over.
Dr Glaser suggested hypnosis. Donna decided she wanted to start immediately. Adam collected Lisa and suggested she help immediately. They left. Mary looked pensive.
MJ took a walk in the park and found Chad on a bench. [Maternity park!] She hung back. A young girl who had talked to some of his girls came up and asked for his help. Shana is 16 years old and she's from Ohio. Chad was civil. She said she wanted to be a singer. MJ looked indescribably sad and hurt and disapproving. Chad suddenly and surprisingly peeled some bills from a huge wad of money he kept in his shirt pocket [such a man, nary a bulge] and told her to use it to go home. [Smart move, Chad. How many 16-year-olds leave home without a reason? Sure, it's admirable, his exercising restraint and not putting her out on the streets, but he hasn't likely helped much. [How many 16-year-olds flee to Bay City looking for their big break?]] She protested. He brooked no resistance. He told her to do it right. She kept bringing up "the other girls" until he lost patience and told her the other girls weren't going to be anything but hookers. He apologized for yelling. MJ wept silently. Chad told Shana not to take shortcuts. Shana left. MJ emerged from the shrubbery.
Dr Glaser told Donna she had to get Michael's permission. She rushed off to get it. Greg insisted on giving Nancy a ride home. Jamie left.
Adam took Lisa back to his wicked bachelor pad. She found she had taken Cheryl's scarf by mistake. [It's pink. Luckily, it has Cheryl McKinnon stitched on it in blue, so we know. It's like summer camp, year round, in this place.] Adam asked Lisa to try to have an impression. She still had Cheryl's scarf in her hands when she started to feel something.
MJ told Chad she'd overheard. He said he should probably have given her the same advice. She asked him why he'd been crying earlier. He tried to leave but he felt funny. She made him sit down. He asked why she was helping if she didn't love him. She said she cared about him. [That's slightly legit. I think I would probably still be carrying a grudge, and I hope I would have extricated myself from prostitution very early on in the game, like, as soon as I knew his intentions. I count it as an extreme act of non-friendship and disloyalty, and I don't forgive betrayal like that.] He showed her a letter from his mother and looked away while she read it.
The blonde was about to approach Michael when Donna barged in. Donna told Michael about the hypnosis and looked at him pleadingly, as if she were his daughter wanting new ice skates, for Pete's sake. [another little thing in this endless list of sexist situations. As usual, I am upset.] The blonde motioned for her check. Mitch approached Felicia.
Lisa told Adam a young blonde was in danger and clutched the scarf. Adam looked at it and asked if it were Cheryl. She said yes. He phoned for help and dragged her to Mary's Place.
Chad's mother is certain he's innocent. She has promised not to intrude in his life because of her murky past, but she loves him. He hadn't heard from her in years. He cried a little some more. He loves her. MJ comforted him. He kissed her. She pulled away and fled.
* From "For My Mother" by Christy Brown. [Ed. modern note: It has always bothered me that Zack was treated as chief mourner for Quinn, especially with Thomasina present, and given how brief and new their relationship was. And the poem never felt very appropriate to me, since their closeness had been forced upon Quinn because her business had failed and she had been forced to work as Zack's secretary, with Zack goading her to loosen up etc. But the poem is from the perspective of someone who sees the other person as an inspiration which never came through in Zack's interaction with her. I did not know at the time who Christy Brown was (this was before My Left Foot) or that it was from a son to a mother, but that makes a lot more sense than this.]↩