From: Robert Willers <willers@trombone.sps.mot.com>

THE CITY Update for Friday, July 5:

[Sorry this is late.  Our dial-in system was down last weekend...]

STORYLINE: KISSIN' COUSINS
 (location: Men's social club)
* Tony tells Carla that he was just having a pleasant conversation with
 his Uncle Gino, but Carla continues with the bitter pounding on him.
 She gives him a hard time about Stephanie, and he tells her she has a
 big mouth.  She says he has lost his sense of humor, and he says no, he
 finds her trying to be a mafia princess very funny.  She threatens that
 if he keeps bothering Gino, he'll be "laughing out the other side of
 your face."  "Are you threatening me, Carla?"  "No, that's more like a
 promise."
* He asks what she's so worried about.  She just doesn't want him to
 hurt Gino.  She says it hurts Gino that Tony has always looked down on
 him, and says he became a cop to hurt him.  No, says Tony, he became a
 cop because that's what he wanted to do.  She asks why he came here,
 and he admits that he wanted to see if there was any "buzz" about the
 murder.  She asks why he's interested.  He says because it happened in
 his building.  "So move.  Or go play cops-and-robbers on some other
 block."  She says she has a date.  He asks how she has time to date,
 being as she's so busy harassing people.  She claims that he just can't
 stand the thought of her with another man.  "Yeah, it's actually a
 _very_ frightening thought.  You and some poor, unsuspecting Ivy League
 snob.  Uncle Gino for a father-in-law, leg-breakers for ushers, and my
 cousin Carla, the human piranha, as a bride."  "That's cute, Tony, but
 you know we're not real cousins.  More like *kissin'* cousins.  So you
 don't have to be so ashamed about getting so hot-and-bothered every
 time I'm around."  Tony leaves, telling her she's a legend in her own
 mind.
* [Tony goes to see Ally -- see below.]

STORYLINE: SUSPECT LIST
 (location: Police station)
* Alex enters with two cups of coffee and delivers one to Lucy -- just
 the way she likes it.  "I have a memory like an elephant."  "Yes, and
 just as subtle."  He asks if Danny is still a suspect.  She changes the
 subject, and Alex says he wants to know -- as a friend to the family.
 "You mean as a friend of Danny's sister, Jocelyn."  He asks her to
 help him.
* Alex says Danny's not stupid; he wouldn't have left the gun at the
 scene.  Lucy says smart people make mistakes, then she tells him that
 they haven't closed the case; Danny isn't their only suspect: they
 have Angie and, for motive, Tess.  Alex points out that Tess was having
 dinner with Buck.  Lucy says she has more trouble with that story than
 with Angie's sleepwalking alibi.  He asks if she followed the money
 trail like he asked.  Yes, straight to the Penthouse, but Sydney has
 an alibi: she was with her maid.
* She asks about Tony -- he had just been arrested for attacking Jared
 and he thought he had a "hit" out on he and Ally.  Alex says that Tony
 didn't kill anybody.  No, of course not, he was in a church -- an empty
 church, as luck would have it.  Lucy's phone rings: she writes a note
 on a napkin then gets up to leave.  She thanks him for the coffee.  He
 asks what's up and reminds her of a favor he did for her in Corinth.
 She puts the napkin in his pocket, saying that he spilled his coffee,
 and leaves.  He gets it out and reads it, then a concerned look comes
 over his face.
* [Danny gets busted -- see below.]

STORYLINE: YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT
 (location: Ally/Jocelyn/Molly's apartment)
* The three Robertses and Molly enter after Lou's funeral.  Joanna goes
 to "freshen up."  Danny goes to Molly and Jocelyn and asks them not to
 say anything to his mother about the cops questioning him about Jared's
 murder.  Jocelyn says they agreed to no more secrets.  Danny asks for
 just a couple more days, then.
* Ally enters and asks how it went.  It was rough; they're all worried
 about Joanna.  Privately, Jocelyn tells Ally that she felt like they
 were burying a stranger...like she and Danny never even had a father.
* Danny asks his mom if she wants anything to eat.  She says she's not
 hungry, but Molly offers to go downstairs to the deli [not the bar?!]
 and get lunch.  There's a knock on the door: it's Tony.  Molly leaves.
 Tony says he just came by to offer his condolences: it's lucky that
 they have each other.  He offers to go upstairs and fix that drawer
 that's bothering Ally.  What drawer, she asks.  Then she gets the hint
 and they go upstairs.  Joanna says Tony is right, they do have each
 other, and she thanks them for coming today.  Jocelyn and Danny both
 say there's no way they wouldn't have been there for her.  Joanna says
 they need to leave the past and look to the future.
[Upstairs.]
Tony "fixes" the non-broken drawer.  He says that Danny and Jocelyn need
 time alone with their mom, and he needs time alone with her.  He moves
 to kiss her, but she pulls back, thinking about the people downstairs.
 They sit on the bed and he convinces her that in times like these, you
 have to grab onto whatever makes you happy -- he had to feel her and
 make sure she is real; make sure *they* are real.  They kiss.
* Ally pulls back and says they should go downstairs.  She asks about
 his visit with Joey.  It turned into a family reunion, with Uncle Gino
 and Carla.  She says she hasn't heard about Carla.  He says she doesn't
 want to hear much about her.  He does want to talk to Uncle Gino some
 more, and he wants to go inside the funeral parlor to see who shows up,
 but (as he picks up her camera) he can't really go into the funeral
 parlor.  She gets very excited.  He tells her not to go in, but to take
 pictures from outside.  She says she can get close-ups from across the
 street, promises to be careful, pecks him on the cheek, and leaves.  He
 starts to tell her not to be obvious, but she asks him to give her some
 credit.
[Downstairs.]
Molly enters with four large grocery bags.  Ally apologizes to Jocelyn
 and says she promised to do a photo shoot for someone, then she leaves.
 Joanna goes to help Molly in the kitchen, and Danny says she must be
 feeling better.  Jocelyn says they can't pretend everything is all
 right.  Danny asks how she'll stay off the bottle if they tell her.
 Jocelyn says she'll take care of her.  He asks how, with a job.  She
 says she quit her job: she can't represent both Danny and Sydney at
 the same time!  "Represent me?  Don't you think you're jumping the gun
 a little bit?"  The doorbell rings: it's Lucy and O'Brien.  They enter
 the apartment and arrest Danny.  Joanna hugs Jocelyn; Alex enters.

STORYLINE: AH, JARED, WE VIEWERS HARDLY KNEW YE
 (location: Funeral home)
* Sydney "just checks" Jared's body again.  An attendant is going to
 bring the rest of the mourners in, but Sydney doesn't want to deal with
 so many people.  He offers her the side exit; she thanks him.  Turning
 back to Jared's body, she calls to confirm her appointment to go over
 his estate.
* [At the Penthouse.]
Jackson [Pine Valley DA -- sorry, but I don't watch AMC] has arrived to
 help Sydney out.  "It's been a while."  He says he can't handle her
 case, but all of Jared's papers seem in order: she retains full control
 of Chase International.  She says there's another pressing problem: the
 police are asking some difficult questions.  Well, then, says Jackson,
 you won't want to hear what I'm going to tell you.
* Now that Jackson is the DA, he'd have to give any information to the
 authorities, so he doesn't want to hear anything from Sydney.  Fine,
 she says, let's talk about something else.  She brings up the coffee
 bars and Danny, eventually getting back to the conspiracy theory the
 police have come up with.  He stops her: "Don't go there."  She can't
 believe that her good friend and the best criminal defender out there
 can't even talk with her about this.  He asks if the police have any
 evidence linking Danny with the crime.  Oh, just circumstantial: it was
 done with his gun which had his fingerprints on it.  He can't believe
 he is asking this, but he asks if the police have any evidence that the
 two of them were intimate.  "No, I don't think so; I was very careful."
 Jackson almost falls off the couch.  Sydney says it only happened once
 and, besides, she slept with *him*, too.  Yes, but Jared didn't end up
 dead afterward.  She practically begs him to help her.
* Jackson tells her that if they arrest Danny, she has a problem: if the
 cops start threatening him with life behind bars, or worse, he might
 make a deal.  He pulls the business card of "the best defense attorney
 in the country" out of his jacket; he'll call him and fill him in -- on
 *some* of what she told him -- and tell him to expect her call.  "Now,
 if you need a shoulder to cry on, then you call me."  She says he has
 always had a calming influence on her.  That's odd, says Jackson, she
 has always had the opposite effect on him.  He kisses her on the cheek.
 "Give a girl an 'A' for effort."  "I'll give you an 'A-plus'."  She
 thanks him and he leaves.  Now, says Sydney, I have to get out of these
 widow's clothes.

(End of the show:)
A pair of woman's legs enters the funeral parlor.  They walk to Jared's
 body.  We see that it is Carla.  She takes off her sunglasses.  She
 speaks to him: "You look sad, Jared.  Not that I blame you.  So close
 to having everything the way you wanted it.  Now, this.  You promised
 to make me the head of Chase International, but now it looks like your
 widow is back in the saddle again.  Don't worry, Jared.  She won't be
 for long."  She kisses Jared on the lips.
[At the Penthouse.]
Sydney puts her robe on.  She finds blood on it.

-----
|  "...You're shaped like a croissant is..."           |  Bob Willers  |
|  --Hugo (a gargoyle, voice talent: Jason Alexander)  |  Phoenix, AZ  |
|    to Quasimodo, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME         | MY opinions!! |
+------------ willers@trombone.sps.mot.com ------------+---------------+


