JANUARY - AUGUST 1971:
Despite protests of innocence, Dr. Jim Fields remained the prime suspect in the murder of his former girlfriend Rosella Gray. Jim professed his innocence, arguing he had not given Rosella a key to his apartment. However, based on an anonymous tip, the police obtained a search warrant for Jim's apartment and uncovered a house key and note signed "R." Jim was soon indicted for Rosella's murder. Despite the evidence against her fiance, Liz vowed to stand by Jim. Adam agreed to defend to Jim, and recalling Dr. Charles Weldon's threats, began to suspect Charles was the real killer.
Jonah Lockwood convinced Laurie to move out of her parents home and in to an apartment with Jonah's friend Tango. Nancy was concerned about Laurie's safety, as the apartment was located in a seedy section of town. Behind Laurie's back, Jonah tried to make time with the free-spirited Tango, who enjoyed dabbling in the counterculture drug scene.
Across town, Nancy's sister Cookie suffered romantic troubles of her own. Diagnosed with melancholia, Cookie's condition worsened. Noting that Tiffany Whitney's roving eyes seemed to look in Ron's direction, Cookie became obsessed with the idea Tiffany and Ron were having an affair. At first, Cookie's fears were completely irrational. But after many months of Cookie's jealous, neurotic nagging and neglect, Ron finally did succumb to an affair with Tiffany, herself bored with being the wife of a preoccupied politician. Geraldine, learning about the affair, discredited Cookie's accusations by goading her into mental instability. When Cookie ultimately displayed violent and aggressive behavior toward the pair, Ron committed her to Greenhaven Sanitarium. Meanwhile, Colin discovered the affair between his wife and his PR man, too. Colin managed to set aside his anger, realizing the negative publicity would ruin his career.
With her parents in Europe, Mike in Capitol City, and Laurie in an apartment of her own, Nancy grew bored and restless. She decided to fly to the island of St. Elenora, which seemed to be the source of trouble for so many people. There, she investigated Keith's former fiance Suella Duval. On the island, Nancy learned Suella had drowned in a boating accident. However, Suella's grandmother insisted to Nancy that Suella had been a very strong swimmer, and her death seemed extremely suspicious. Meanwhile, Nancy was secretly being followed by someone. First, the stalker placed a poisonous scorpion in Nancy's bed, with the intent of scaring her away. Nancy was bitten, but the species of scorpion wasn't deadly, so Nancy wasn't seriously harmed. Next, the stalker spiked Nancy's drink with poison. This too failed when she was discovered and had her stomach pumped in time. Nancy returned to Monticello, this time asking Adam for help with the case.
Along with Nicole and Professor Neil Davenport (Colin Whitney's campaign manager), Adam flew back to St. Elenora. His investigation uncovered claims that Keith Whitney had secretly married Suella before her death. Doing his own investigating, Professor Davenport managed to locate Suella's former home. He went there and was astonished to find a Monticello newspaper dated the same day as Keith Whitney's death. Before Davenport could take the evidence to Adam, he was bludgeoned to death by an unseen assailant. Davenport's car was later found at the bottom of a ravine, leading authorities to believe he had died in a freak car accident.
Back in Monticello, Bill and Martha Marceau decided to purchase a new home in Graham County. Kate Sloane, a nurse at Monticello General and the house's former occupant, warned the Marceaus that the house was haunted. They didn't heed her wild tales and moved in anyway. However, it soon became apparent that Kate Sloane's stories might be true. At night, Martha heard footsteps, sounds of laughter, and even saw blood dripping from the walls. Normally level-headed and rational, Martha told Bill that the paranormal experiences convinced her that Kate was telling the truth. Suspicious, Bill decided to investigate the background of their home. He was surprised to discover that Kate's late husband was Frank Sloane, a thief who had supposedly drowned a year earlier, after falling into the Monticello River during a shootout with several of Bill's own officers. The Sloane house had been placed on the market, as Kate couldn't pay the back taxes.
Secrets were also floating around the Whitney Mansion. Adam Drake continued to suspect Geraldine's mysterious brother Dr. Charles Weldon was responsible for the deaths of Suella Duval, Rosella Gray, and Professor Neil Davenport. Indeed, Geraldine often spent time in the company of Charles, whispering and planning secret meetings. However, the case suddenly took a new turn when Charles' body was discovered at the base of a tower on the family's summer estate. When Geraldine hired Adam to replace Charles as her trust fund manager, Adam discovered Charles had embezzled over a million dollars from the account. This prompted the police to rule Charles' death as a suicide. Satisfied with the ruling, Adam decided the only way to prove Jim's innocence would be to find the key-maker who duplicated Jim's house-key for Rosella. Meanwhile, an intruder broke into the Whitney mansion. Shortly afterward, Geraldine received an anonymous call from someone who claimed to possess a manuscript written by Charles, which contained all of the Whitney family's dirty secrets. Geraldine secretly agreed to meet the blackmailer in the park to exchange money. At the park, Geraldine accidentally came face-to-face with the blackmailer and was shocked to discover it was her "late" son Keith, who now disguised himself as a bearded hippie named Jonah Lockwood! Keith's death had been staged by Geraldine and Charles to cover up a dirty family secret: Keith had been in the boat the day his fiance Suella Duval drowned. Fearing Suella's scandalous death would ruin Colin's Senate nomination, Geraldine devised and executed Keith's "death" then paid him to go into hiding in Mexico. Geraldine begged Keith to return to Mexico, and he agreed, but Keith really didn't want to leave without his true love...Laurie Karr.
By June, Mike Karr returned from Capitol City and was disheartened to learn about Laurie's growing relationship with Jonah. Mike felt that Jonah, Laurie's roommate Tango, and Tango's pot-smoking boyfriend Max were negative influences on his daughter. Meanwhile, Tango continued to carry on with Jonah. One day while Jonah was out, Tango let herself in to his apartment. She happened to discover a briefcase that contained a photo of Keith Whitney. Bored, Tango penciled in a beard and mustache on the picture, and she was shocked to realize that Jonah Lockwood and the late Keith Whitney were one and the same. Stupidly, Tango confronted Keith the evidence, demanding payoff money. Keith went to Uncle Charles, whom Keith knew had embezzled over two million dollars from Geraldine's trust fund account. At first Charles agreed to help, but after accidentally learning that Keith had murdered Suella Duval and Neil Davenport, Charles refused to be an accomplice to murder and threatened to expose his nephew. Later, Keith lured Charles to Hawley Farms, the family's summer retreat. Meeting in the turret of a high tower on the estate, Keith pushed Charles to his death and skillfully arranged the murder to look like suicide. When Adam discovered Charles' embezzlement from the Whitney's, everyone seemed satisfied that Charles had murdered Suella Duval and Neil Davenport, then committed suicide as he was about to be exposed as a murderer and thief. Meanwhile, Keith planned to get rid of Tango, too. After inviting Tango and Max to a college pot-and-pill party, Keith tipped off the police, who arrested Tango and Max for drug possession.
At Greenhaven Sanitarium, Cookie Christopher made progress by realizing that perhaps Ron hadn't been unfaithful after all. One day while visiting, Ron spoke with Cookie's psychiatrist Dr. Kevin Reed. Unaware that a tape recorder had been activated, Ron confessed his affair with Tiffany Whitney to Dr. Reed. Later, Cookie accidentally heard the tape and went insane with anger. Finding a pocket knife in Ron's jacket, an enraged Cookie attempted to stab him. Afterward, Cookie exhibited the behavior of a small child, insisting that Mike and Nancy were her loving "parents" who would take care of her and protect her from evil people like Ron and Tiffany.
