At the police department, Roman, still milling over his conversation with Anna, looks up as a knock comes to his door.

Kayla drags Steve in, and they are discussing Benjy amongst themselves. Roman whistles to get their attention. He wants to know ‘what da hell’ is going on.

“It’s simple, Commander. You the dude your people found at the Samsters little safe-house?”

“Benjy.”

“Well,” Kayla cuts in, “he’s trying to convince us that he is a victim of Stefano’s.”

<HR>
“Oh my God,” whispers Sami looking over at John and Marlena from across the booth they share at the Brady Pub, with tears in her eyes. “I… excuse me.”

She gets up and goes behind the bar and up into the house, after a wordless conversation of understanding with Caroline. She rushes over to the table, and orders EJ to leave. He has just finished reading the report. He looks up into Caroline’s face and snarls.

“Whether your lot likes it or not, I’m stuck with you. Those children are mine, just as your dearest “Frankie” predicted,” he says to Caroline referring to Caroline’s pet name for Celeste.

<HR>
Shawn (D) comes down the stairs of the Kiriakis Mansion, dressed for an interview. He looks for Belle, but can’t find her. Stepping out onto the patio, he sees Philip, Belle, and Claire sharing the pool like a family. He stops short, ready to just turn around and leave until Belle spots him.

She climbs out (with Philip watching with subtlety while he holds Claire) and goes to hug Shawn, but he reminds her that she’s all wet. She’s rubbed the wrong way by his reaction, though she understands. Shawn waves to Claire. He tells Belle that after he gets back, the three of them have to have a little chat. He swears he doesn’t have time to get into details now, or he’ll be late. He kisses her cheek. Philip wishes him luck, as he leaves.

Philip notices Belle’s looking a little out of sorts. He asks her to take Claire for a moment, as he climbs out of the pool. He says he’ll put her down for her nap, if that’s okay with her. Belle tells him it’s fine, still seeming dejected and preoccupied.

<HR>

Meanwhile, Caroline is furious at EJ’s pompous insinuations.

“Family is not your ticket to disturb my restaurant. I suggest you leave, Mr. Wells.” Caroline turns on her heels and goes into the kitchen. Lucas resonates Caroline’s sentiment, telling him that he and Sami are moving to a safe-house until the babies are born, and then, no matter what the test says, HE, not EJ, will raise these children.

“Over my dead body,” proclaims EJ vehemently, to which Lucas warns his foe not to tempt him. EJ proceeds to goad Lucas, reminding him that Hope is a cop, who shouldn’t ignore such an obvious threat on his life just because her cousin uttered the words.

Hope smartly puts the Brit in his place. “Elvis, if you were smart, you wouldn’t try to use such tactless tactics to get the Salem PD on your side. You raped my niece in a car that wasn’t yours to drive. You shot my good friend, John, and proceeded to manipulate another, Steve, to remove his kidney, to prolong the life of the vilest criminal to cross paths with my department. So, nice try. Better luck next time. Oh- and get out, or I will bring you in on charges of trespassing, among any other fun things I can dream up. Capiche?”

<HR>
Steve reminds Kayla how Benjy, too, manipulated them. She points out that Benjy never lied. Steve can’t refute this. Roman says that there could be a way to get to the bottom of this. Under normal circumstances, he’d bringing in someone from the force that knows sign language, but since the two of them have that close bond with Benjy, he might break easier.

Kayla tells her brother that Benjy can read lips now, but he can only communicate through sign language. Steve said it came back to him like riding a bicycle, so whatever they want to try is golden. Roman tells them that the deal is this: “I’ll release him into your custody. Pretend that you’ve bailed him out, lull him into a sense of security. Make him feel guilty for what he did.”

Steve says that’s crazy enough to work.

Then, Anna comes in, wondering if she’s interrupting.

<HR>
Steve and Kayla were just leaving. Roman asks if he can help Anna. She just wanted to be polite and say goodbye, letting him know that Tony’s lawyer would be arriving shortly. Roman doesn’t buy it, and wonders why she’s doing so much for a man that isn’t whom she fell in love with anymore. Anna claims she never said that, thanks Roman for putting words in her mouth, and turns to leave, but Roman grabs her arm. He thinks he got to her earlier, and that she’s ready to talk- but scared, like Sami said.

“Believe what you want, Roman. But I’m leaving. See you around,” She leaves and he slams his fist on the desk, sure that he was onto her, but unable to do anything more. He remarks that she’s just as slippery as ever.

<HR>
John follows EJ outside, and the youngest DiMera laughs, wondering if he needs an escort. John warns EJ that he will pay for what he did to him. Elvis reminds John that he doesn’t remember, but John promises that he will. EJ scoffs.

John tells him he could make it easy on him and just tell him. Elvis laughs, telling John he’s quite the comedian. John reminds EJ about the knife. He tells John that it’s been fun, but he has a property to get his arse off of, excusing himself.

<HR>

Philip returns from upstairs, donning a shirt. He finds Belle in the study, pouring over a book. He asks if she’s all right. She claims to be fine, without looking him in the eye. He takes the book, and asks her to look at him. She does, soured that he’s being so demanding. All he wants is for her to talk to him. She can trust him.

She tells him that Shawn’s not so sure. He asks if she’s suddenly become a damsel in distress who needs a man to tell her what to believe. She’s offended, but he tells her he’s just trying to make a point. She sees it, but Shawn has his reasons for distrusting Philip. He understands, but Belle did let him take Claire upstairs. Belle pauses. He knows that she doesn’t believe that he’s the monster Shawn wants her to believe.

Belle gets up, uncomfortable with the conversation. “Look, Belle, I know this is a lot to ask, but all I want is your friendship again. You need to be able to talk to someone without feeling like you’re going to hit a brick wall. No strings.” She looks at him warily, but hugs him, feeling tentative.

<HR>
Next on…



-Stefano attempts to make things right
-Caroline keeps Stephanie in line
-Benjy admits his fear for Stefano
-Adrienne agrees to Hope’s terms