Monday, May 21, 2007, Episode #5063

Ashley has a little daydream.

In the lab at Forrester Originals, Ashley sets a timer and then closes her eyes to sample a fragrance. Rick comes in and turns down the lights. Ashley points out that she's working. Not anymore, Rick proclaims, telling Ashley that they're going to need some privacy. Rick approaches Ashley and starts to kiss her passionately. But when the alarm from her timer starts to beep, Ashley comes out of her little daydream and realizes that she should be getting back to work.

Nick pleads for Rick to help him.

Rick is still at the police station visiting Nick, who pleads for Rick to look around the Forrester Originals offices for something that might clear him, even if means Rick has to check up on Phoebe's old man. Rick agrees to look around, because he wants to get to the truth. As Rick leaves, Storm comes in. Nick tells Storm what Rick said earlier about Ashley hearing a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot. Storm points out that Ashley hearing a bang doesn't prove that Nick's not guilty, and they need to prove that in light of the evidence against Nick. Nick hopes Rick might find that evidence. Storm tells Nick that Brooke went to talk to Stephanie, so he hopes his sister might get something out of La Forrester. Nick agrees that they need to find something, and soon.

Phoebe makes harsh accusations toward Ashley.

Phoebe barges into the lab at Forrester Originals and lashes out at Ashley for calling Ridge a killer. Ashley clarifies that she never called anyone a killer. Phoebe doesn't believe that and accuses Ashley of retaliating against Ridge for blowing her off by telling lies about Ridge to Rick, who hates Ridge with a passion. Ashley tells Phoebe not to jump to conclusions like that. Phoebe asks what else she should think given how Ashley told these things to Rick. Ashley points out that Rick is one of her few friends in Los Angeles, so she thought she could confide in him. She thinks Phoebe needs to calm down and stop making baseless accusations. Phoebe insists that no one but Nick, who hates her dad, could accuse her dad of doing the nasty things Nick claims. Before Ashley can respond, she gets a call from Storm, who asks her to come to the courthouse to speak with him and Nick. Ashley says she'll be there and hangs up. Ashley then tells Phoebe that she has to go, but she wants to be clear that she likes and respects Ridge as much as anyone she's met in L.A. But at the same time, she wants to tell the truth, and she's not going to worry about Phoebe's conclusions by doing so. Phoebe asserts that Nick and Rick will always think the worst of her dad. Ashley points out that she knows little about Shane other than the fact that Phoebe couldn't convince the guy to stop coming around, so she wonders if Phoebe's the one who should have a guilty conscience over Shane's death instead of her.

Storm gets a call about Nick's trial date.

At the courthouse, Nick and Storm wonder if Brooke will believe that Ridge killed Shane. Ashley is escorted into the meeting room by a guard, who gives her three minutes to talk with Nick. Storm introduces himself to Ashley and tells her that he and Nick want to hear more about the loud bang she heard at Forrester Originals not too long ago. Ashley tells Nick that she didn't withhold that information from him. She just didn't think anything of it until after she talked with Nick, because Stephanie insisted that the noise came from the freight elevator, Nick asks Ashley if she's seen anything new in the building since that night, like new carpet or furniture. Ashley explains that stuff like that comes into the offices all the time, so it's hard to pin down. Storm asks Ashley if she'll testify that the noise she heard could have been a gunshot. Ashley says she can't really testify to anything; even Ridge and Stephanie's odd behavior since that night isn't too unusual, since the Forrester family, like her own family, is a bit odd. Nick asks Ashley what she makes of Ridge suddenly going to Paris. Ash reminds him that she is friends with the Forresters and works with them, so she doesn't want to believe the worst of them. Still, she intends to tell the truth. While Ashley and Nick talk, Storm gets a call from the judge, who informs him that the D.A. has petitioned the judge to move the trial date up. "That dirty bitch!" Nick exclaims, ranting about how Stephanie knows he's getting close and is trying to stop him. He thinks they have to do something to prove Stephanie is lying before they go to trial.

Rick is caught in the act.

At Forrester Originals, Rick enters Ridge's empty office and looks around. As he checks the office out, he flashes back to his many confrontations with Ridge since returning from Paris. Phoebe comes in and sees Rick looking under the desk and on the floor; she says she knows what he's doing and wants it to stop! Rick tries to explain, but Phoebe accuses him of trying to find something he and Ashley can take to the police. Rick insists that Nick did not kill Shane, but he's not making any assumptions about who did. Then why is he searching through her dad's office instead of looking on the beach or on the Marlin? Phoebe asks. Rick points out that Shane was last seen alive here. "By me!" Phoebe asks, wondering if Rick suspects that she killed Shane. Rick tells her to get serious, but she asks what she's supposed to think when she finds him here, looking for evidence that points to her dad. Rick insists that he isn't trying to railroad Ridge, but Phoebe thinks that's what he's doing, no matter what his intentions are. That's why she's begging him to let go of his hatred of her father, for the sake of their love.

Brooke tries to get the truth out of Stephanie.

At the Forrester mansion, Brooke asks Stephanie if Ridge killed Shane. Stephanie asserts that Ridge is not a murderer! Brooke agrees, but she also thinks some accident might have happened that led to Shane's death. She wants to believe Stephanie, who loves Ridge even more blindly than she does, but she feels like Stephanie doesn't trust her, and she can't shake that feeling unless Stephanie opens up her and tells her the truth. So she's surprised when Stephanie calmly says, "It wasn't murder" and explains everything. Stephanie tells Brooke how Shane tried to kill himself, how Ridge tried to stop him and how Ridge panicked when he remembered the warning the judge gave him when he lied that he had shot Grant to cover for Rick. Brooke is stunned as Stephanie explains how that panic led Ridge to dump the body in the Bay. Brooke asks if this was Stephanie's idea. Stephanie replies that she didn't even know until she saw Ridge carrying the bag with the body to his car and she followed him to the marina. She confronted Ridge, who explained everything and wanted to call the police even then. But she stopped him, because she figured Shane was a drifter who would never be missed. Brooke is shocked that Stephanie can so casually talk about the loss of a human life, but Stephanie reminds her that it was an accident. An accident that turned into a murder case, Brooke points out, a case that Ridge and Stephanie both let Nick take the blame for!