Monday, May 14, 2007, Episode #5058

Ridge tries to reassure his daughter.

In his office at Forrester Originals, Ridge recalls the events of the night Shane died. Phoebe stops by; Ridge asks why she's there so late. She replies that she needed to tell him that she may have told the wrong thing to the wrong person. "I do that all the time," Ridge remarks before asking exactly what she said. Phoebe explains that Nick asked her over to his house earlier; she thought it was going to be for some big family moment with her mom, but when she got there, Nick only wanted to ask her about Shane. "He thinks that you killed Shane and set him up," Phoebe frets. Ridge tells her not to make too much of Nick's suspicions, but Phoebe reminds him how he was there when Shane called her and he told Shane to stay away. But what she didn't tell him is that Shane showed up there anyway, despite being told to stay away. She didn't want things to get out of hand, so she asked Shane to leave and asked security not to let him back in. Now she told all this to Nick, who thinks Shane had a run in with her dad on the way out that led to Shane's death. Seeing how upset Phoebe is over this, Ridge tells her that this isn't her fault. Phoebe tells Ridge that she wanted him to know, since she didn't want him to think she told Nick too much. Ridge thanks her for telling him.

Ashley considers Nick's plea.

At her beach house, Ashley can't believe Nick thinks Ridge killed Shane and set Nick up to take the fall. She's had enough of Nick's crazy theories and tells him that his five minutes are up. Nick pleads for her to hear him out, since his life is on the line. He asks her to think back to the day of Forrester Originals' Rodeo Drive opening, when Stephanie sent everyone home early to thank them for their hard work. Ashley recalls that she was in the lab that night, killing time until her date with Ridge. Upon hearing that Ashley had a date with Ridge that night, Nick thanks her for her time and turns to leave, but Ashley tells him that she never saw Ridge that night, since he didn't make their date. She went to Ridge's office, but he wasn't there, so she called Stephanie, who said Ridge was called away on a business emergency. She found Ridge's cell phone in his office, so she guessed that he left in a hurry. So Ridge left in a hurry and didn't come back, Nick recaps. Ashley replies that she doesn't know when Ridge left, but he came back later, since she saw a light in his office and knocked on the door. Stephanie answered and told her that Ridge was busy on a call to Sydney, so she didn't see Ridge then either. Maybe because Ridge was changing out of his bloody clothes, Nick suggests. Ashley says that's not it; she explains that she spoke to Ridge the next day and guessed that he broke their date because he still wasn't over Brooke. Nick's thinks that's more like another reason for Ridge to frame him than an explanation, but he thanks Ashley for her time and asks her to call him if she thinks of anything else.

Taylor wonders why Stephanie is bothered about Nick.

At the Marone mansion, Taylor tries to understand why Stephanie is bothered by Nick's attempts to clear his name, Stephanie asks if Nick thinks Ridge put Shane's blood on one of Nick's shirts. Taylor is astonished that Stephanie hates Nick so much that she'd want him to be convicted for a crime he didn't commit! She's annoyed that Stephanie keeps answering her questions with more questions of her own and wonders what Stephanie is even here. Stephanie replies that she's Taylor's friend, and she's concerned about the man Taylor has married. Taylor asks Stephanie if she really thinks Nick killed Shane; Stephanie doesn't think Taylor wants to hear her thoughts on whether Nick is more capable of murder than Ridge. Taylor admits that she doesn't think Ridge is a killer, but she can't fathom why her "dear friend" is here to dance on her new husband's grave. Stephanie insists that she IS Taylor's friend, and she DOES care. But Taylor thinks Stephanie couldn't care less about the fact that Taylor will be left alone and pregnant if Nick goes to jail. Stephanie says she doesn't want anything bad to happen to Taylor, but Taylor points out that anything that happens to Nick happens to her, too. "A friend like you I don't need," Taylor remarks as she shows Stephanie the door. Stephanie argues that she's only trying to spare Taylor heartbreak and tragedy, but Taylor won't stand here and listen to Stephanie cheering on the sidelines for Nick to go down.

As Stephanie is about to leave, Taylor gets a call from Nick, who tells his wife that he just saw Ashley and may be on to something. Stephanie hears Taylor say Ashley's name and waits. Nick tells Taylor he has one stop to make before coming home and hangs up. Stephanie asks Taylor if that was good news. Nick thinks so, Taylor says. She best that Stephanie will be crushed if this lead pans out and Nick finds out who the real killer is.

Phoebe tells her mom that she went to see Ridge.

Alone in the house, Taylor sits on the couch and talks to the baby she hopes is inside, promising to keep both the baby and the baby's daddy safe. She thinks back to when she told Nick about the procedure at the police station and showed him the ultrasound photo that said was their future. Phoebe comes in and tells Taylor that she went to see Ridge, so he'd know about Nick's suspicions. She can't believe Nick is doing this. "Defending himself for a crime he didn't commit?" Taylor asks. Phoebe says she was referring to Nick thinking her dad is guilty. She wants to believe that Nick is innocent, but she can't see why Nick has to blame her dad. She thinks someone would have heard if Shane was shot in their offices.

Stephanie warns Ashley about Nick.

Ashley thinks back to the night of Shane's death, when she and Stephanie were in the lab and heard a loud bang. Stephanie said it was the freight elevator, but Ashley can't help but wonder now. Stephanie drops by the beach house to talk to Ashley; she apologizes for coming by so late and hopes she didn't wake Abby, but she wanted to know how Ashley's evening with Ridge went. She hopes no one, like Nick Marone, interrupted them. Ashley admits Nick came by tonight. Stephanie advises her not to let a desperate man like Nick bully her into saying anything. She tells Stephanie that she told Nick that she never saw Shane, even though Nick said Shane was in the building that night, the same night Ridge cancelled their date because of that business emergency. She admits to Stephanie that talking to Nick got her thinking about that night, and she recalled the loud bang that Stephanie thought was the freight elevator. She remarks that she hasn't heard that sound since, but Stephanie covers that they must have fixed the elevator. Ashley comments that the noise sounded like a gun shot. Stephanie disagrees and asks Ashley not to even suggest that to Nick, who will keep dogging her out of desperation. She suggests Ashley slam the door in Nick's face if he comes back again.