At Jessica and Ben's house, Curtis urges Sarah to stay, but first Sarah confronts Jessica, saying that she can't understand why Jessica is asking Sarah to be her foster daughter when Jessica hates her. Sarah asks Jessica if it is because she feels guilty about Marshall's death and Bonnie's imprisonment, and Jessica, angered, admits that she is doing it only because Bonnie begged her to. Finally, Jessica and Sarah agree that they should give living together a try because both of them love Bonnie. They tell Ben and Curtis, but a telephone call interrupts their optimistic gathering. Jessica rushes off to meet Dr. Daniels while Ben, Curtis, and Sarah happily go to the shelter to get her belongings.
At the metro, Craig and Molly agree that Craig will persuade Dusty not to testify against Molly so that the charges of obstructing justice will be dropped. In return, Molly agrees not to tell what she knows about Craig helping the police to build a case against Paul, and to keep quiet about Annabel Fettle's part in Cabot's adoption. As they talk, Craig receives a call from the Lakeview Hotel, telling him that his "Auntie Bell" is checking in and wants to run a tab at the bar. The two leave for the Lakeview, where Craig somehow manipulates Molly into letting Annabel share her room at the Lakeview. As Molly and Annabel leave, wreathed in clouds of Annabel's cigarette smoke, Craig places a call to Mitzi, to see if they have their story straight in which she had agreed to say that she saw Paul put something in Rose's glass before the wedding. Craig obviously does not know about Mitzi's poisoning.
Barbara is in the hotel bar with Jen, who begs Barbara to tell the police that she took the glasses from the dressing room, since this evidence is damning to Paul. Barbara refuses and turns away from Jennifer, who then accuses her of killing Rose herself. Barbara turns and faces Jennifer and dares her to prove that Barbara is the killer. Jennifer's cellular phone rings, and the caller is Dr. Walker Daniels, who has looked at a slide containing methanol and water, and has exclaimed, "I'll be damned!" Dr. Daniels insists that Jennifer come to the hospital immediately, and Barbara follows her to the hospital. When Jennifer discovers Barbara at the hospital she demands that Barbara leave, threatening to call security. When Dr. Daniels shares his discovery with her, Jennifer insists that they call Jessica.
Paul's detective comes to the penthouse with evidence that Barbara had hired a hit man to kill Rose, although Barbara had cancelled the hit. Paul tears a sheaf of large bills in half for the detective to offer as incentive to get the hit man to talk directly to Paul. When the detective and the hit man arrive at Paul's apartment, the hit man tells Paul that Barbara had hired him a month before to kill Rose, but that after a few hours she cancelled the hit and told him that she was going to do the job herself. When Paul tries to get the hit man to go to the police with him, the hit man refuses, saying that he never talks to the police. Paul offers the hit man protection through his father, James Stenbeck, and issues a veiled threat about people who stand in his way. Inexplicably, Paul orders the detective and the hit man to stay in his apartment, while he "gives [his] mother what's coming to her."
At Rose's house, Mitzi regains consciousness to beg Jack, "Don't let me die," reminding Lily of Rose saying those very words before she died. Lily, Dusty, Carly, and Jack rush Mitzi to the hospital and Lily demands that they test her for methanol. Soon Dr. Bob Hughes confirms that Mitzi was poisoned with methanol, but that they caught it in time because of Lily's suggestion. Dusty tells Jack that Paul overheard his conversation with Mitzi, so that Paul could have gone to Mitzi's ahead of them to poison her martini. Barbara, walking toward the hospital exit, overhears their conversation and rushes off. Jack calls Hal, who immediately goes with a crew to search Mitzi's house. Lily and Dusty try to force Jack to arrest Paul, but Jack insists that he must follow police procedure, so Lily and Dusty rush off to find Tom Hughes, the District Attorney, to see if they can force him to act more quickly. At the hospital, Carly apologizes to Jack about her suspicions of Mitzi, then goes in to apologize to Mitzi. At the sleeping Mitzi's bedside, Carly wonders if Mitzi could have poisoned herself, but stops herself and apologizes to Mitzi. As soon as Carly leaves, Mitzi opens her eyes. Carly and Jack leave the hospital.
At Mitzi's house, Hal sends the martini shaker and glass to be analyzed, then Holden and Luke enter because Luke has seen something that might be important. Luke tells Hal that he heard loud voices at Mitzi's house and saw a thin man run off. When Hal asks if the man could have been Paul Ryan, Luke says that it could have been. After everyone leaves, a shadowy, gloved figure stealthily opens the door. Barbara Ryan walks in.
At the police station, Dusty and Lily rush up to Tom Hughes to try to get him to arrest Paul. As Tom refuses, Paul walks past them on his way to find Hal. Lily grabs Paul by the arm and tells him, "We know you poisoned Rose." Dr. Daniels, Jessica, and Jennifer enter the station and Walker announces, "That's scientifically impossible!"
Chris dreams of Alison. Alison says goodbye to Chris as he sleeps and is interrupted by Nurse Tish, who suggests Ali should be with her husband. Alison goes to see Aaron and says she told Chris the truth. She claims Chris took the news well, but asks Aaron to keep up with their charade for a few more days, until Chris and Alison can inform their families. Aaron is suspicious but agrees. Walker informs everyone that Rose wasn't poisoned by the champagne. Paul, cleared, confronts Lily and Dusty and insists they answer for what they've done. Jessica advises Paul not to talk to anyone until she and Tom finalize things. Jennifer inadvertently informs Craig about Mitzi's poisoning, cluing him in on why his plan went awry. Craig encourages Rosanna to go see Paul. Barbara has broken into Rose's bathroom and Hal enters, catching her in the act. She tries to cover but Hal isn't buying. He announces that he has confiscated certain household items, cuffs Barbara and hauls her off. At the station, Paul wants answers from Barbara. Tom tells Lily and Dusty he doesn't have a case against Paul. Dusty is looking for another way to indict Paul when Holden kicks him out against Lily's wishes. As Barbara gears up to tell Paul something important, Jennifer and Rosanna come in. Jack says Mitzi was poisoned because she used Rose's things. Hal reveals the poison was in the mouthwash, and encourages Barbara to come clean. Mitzi calls Craig, wanting money or she'll spill what he had her do. Holden is called away and Dusty calls Lily, saying he's found damning evidence that could change everything. Meanwhile, Barbara confesses to murder.
Mike and Katie make love. After, Katie is unnerved by the feeling that Simon is present when she hears something but discovers Snickers in the closet. Katie confides her feelings to Mike, and convinces him she isn't having second thoughts. Later, Katie awakens after making love with Mike and is still troubled. She realizes she hasn't said goodbye to Simon and does so, taking off her wedding ring. She's finally able to fall asleep. Mitzi threatens to call the cops unless Craig comes up with more money for her pronto. He persuades her to give him a little time. Craig searches through Rosanna's accounts, looking for money he can give Mitzi. Molly calls Craig and declares that the deal is off. He reminds her she needs him to call Dusty off and she agrees, reluctantly, to take care of Annabelle. Molly sends Annabelle back to the Lakeview but Annabelle has other ideas. Dusty shocks Lily with the evidence he's found. Lily is convinced of Paul's guilt, until Rosanna arrives with news that Barbara is confessing. Dusty thinks Barbara's confession is a ploy and that Paul is still guilty. Lily begins to have doubts, but Dusty presses his case and brings her around. Rosanna apologizes to Craig for thinking he might have set Paul up. Craig thinks everything is under control and then Annabelle shows up. Lily and Dusty bring their evidence to Tom, who is shaken. Barbara admits to killing Rose. She finishes her statement and tries to reassure her children. A broken Hal tells Emily that Barbara confessed. She comforts him. A distressed Jennifer leaves, and a hardened Paul tells Barbara he doesn't love her. Privately, Barbara vows that Paul will never know the truth.
The alarm clock goes off and a hand reached for the button. Paul laid there staring at the ceiling and rises to the sound of the song "Change of Weather." As he walked away an image of Rose was watching him. The scene fades over to Dusty shaving and as he was wiping his face the image of Rose appears in the mirror. The scene fades over to Lily holding Rose's scarf as she was getting ready to leave for the courthouse. Holden tried to stop Lily from leaving but she looked sadly at him and hugged him. The scene fades over to Emily, Will and Hal. Hal was leaving for the courthouse and Emily told him that they would be ok. Hal touched Will's head and looks sadly at Emily as he walked out the door. The scene fades over to Craig and Rosanna where Rosanna was thanking Craig for taking care of Cabot. As Rosanna left, Anabelle Fettle was standing in the corner. The scene fades over to the courthouse where Barbara arrived in handcuffs as everyone looked on. As the court convened, Tom asked the judge if he could introduce new evidence. Barbara's lawyer asked for an adjournment until he had a chance to review the evidence. The judge agreed and told everyone to be back tomorrow. Hal told Barbara that he did not tell Will. Barbara asked if she could call Will and Hal arranged for her to use the judge's chambers. Paul asked Jessica what was going on and Dusty spoke up that they had enough evidence to put him away. Lily told Paul they finally had the proof that Paul killed Rose. Hal asked Jennifer to go see about Barbara but Jennifer came out saying Barbara left the building. Paul demanded that Hal do something. Hal said they would find Barbara. Rosanna intercepted and wanted to take Paul for coffee but Jessica told Paul they needed to discuss the new evidence. She told him that the police had searched his computer and discovered that his computer showed he had visited websites that dealt with Methanol. Paul said he never went to any of these sites then realized that Barbara had mentioned getting the Methanol on the Internet. Paul then turned to Hal and asked him about Methanol being part of household products. When Hal confirms, Paul says, "Oh my God."
Craig gave Anabelle a passport, a plane ticket to Singapore and some money. Craig got rid of her just as Lucy came in. Craig asked Lucy to watch Cabot and went to look for Mitzi. Mitzi showed up at Lily's wondering why she can't get into Rose's house. Emma told her that she was not welcome and to leave. As Mitzi turned to leave Craig was standing there. He gave Mitzi the money and she told Craig she wasn't going to leave town just as Carly approached them. Mitzi tried to leave but Carly told them that Tom said there was another suspect. Carly asked why Mitzi had a suitcase. Mitzi said she was kicked out of Rose's and asked Carly if she was happy. Carly replied that she wasn't but it was a start!
Aaron went to the hospital to see Alison and ran into Chris. After asking Chris a few questions he realized that Alison hadn't told Chris and that she lied to him again. Aaron later paged Susan. When they both discovered that Alison had disappeared, Susan panicked.
Katie cooked Mike some breakfast and was about to deliver it to Mike when he came out of the bedroom. He noticed that she took off her wedding ring and he was glad she did. She hesitated but finally told Mike she loved him while they were taking a shower. Afterwards they were lying in bed and told each other that they loved each other. As they laid down Mike confessed that he was starving. After Katie got up to fix Mike something to eat the phone rang. When Mike answered, no one was there.
Emily tried to convince Will to help her make a pie but Will wanted to go up to his room. Emily left the room for a minute and when she came back she found Will sending his mother an e-mail using his palm pilot and took it away from him. When Will ran up the stairs, Barbara showed up demanding to see Will. Emily and Barbara argued and when Emily realized that Barbara had escaped, Emily tried to call the police but Barbara hit her over the head and left with Will!
A mysterious man wearing a wedding ring hangs up when he hears Mike's voice answer Katie's phone. Katie tells Mike she needs to head out to visit Margo. But before she goes, she gives Mike a surprise gift. He opens the small box and finds a watch. He wears it for about five seconds, and then she takes it off again because she wants to inscribe something special on the watch. She thinks that when he's "looking down at the watch you can think about how much you mean to me."
Carly spies on Mitzi as she checks into the Lakeview. Mitzi flashes her newfound cash around and rents the Royal Suite for $500. Carly's peepers nearly fall out of her head. After Mitzi strolls away to the gift shop, Carly writes a check for $500 to buy from the clerk the hundred dollar bills Mitzi used. She has ideas about tracking the serial numbers on the bills. As soon as the clerk hands Carly the money, Mitzi returns. Mitzi grabs Carly's arm and demands to know what she's up to. Carly says, "I'm watching a fast mover. For a girl who didn't have two nickels to rub together yesterday, you sure are throwing around a lot of cash today...where'd you get it?" Mitzi tries to walk away, but Carly warns her she will get to the bottom of Mitzi's story one way or another.
Craig visits Margo and he tries to pump her for the latest info on Rose's murder case. Jack steps in and says they have an APB out on Barbara, but he won't say why. Craig simmers, straining for information, but Margo cuts him off. Jack, having a rare upper hand, taunts him. Craig gets a call from Mitzi who demands to see him.
Mitzi and Craig meet up at his home. He tries to calm Mitzi, but she threatens to bring him down with her if she is exposed. Craig says he doesn't respond well to threats, and Mitzi says she doesn't look good in orange. Craig boils everything down to this, "It's her hunch against your word." With no one to disprove Mitzi's word, Mitzi can't get in trouble.
Carly shows the cash to Jack and tells her husband she thinks Mitzi is in cahoots with Craig. She thinks Craig paid Mitzi to tell her story about Paul. Carly finds herself in a familiar pickle. She wants to warn her sister about Craig's behavior, but she doesn't want to seem like a home-wrecker.
Mike asks Henry to meet him to go jewelry shopping. They spend time looking at several different pieces. Later, Henry is worn out and Mike lets him leave. Ten minutes later, Mike finds a perfect gift...an engagement ring.
Paul starts to put two and two together and asks Rosanna to create a diversion so he can escape the courthouse unnoticed. Later, Rosanna starts to throw a fit, until she faints. Everyone rushes to her aide, and Paul slips away. It takes Hal ten seconds to notice Paul is missing, then he rushes after him. Jen tries to stop her father. Hal tells his daughter he won't pursue Paul with a bunch of uniforms. An officer alerts Hal that Barbara was spotted near his house. Hal rushes home. Back inside, Dusty asks Ro where Paul went. Rosanna denies knowing anything about Paul's plans. Lily has a meltdown. "I hope you can live with yourself! You! You are keeping Rose from moving on!! Nobody understands that Rose cannot rest!" She runs out of the room, and Dusty follows. She collapses into his arms and sobs. Dusty vows to make Paul pay for Rose's murder.
Emily lays limp on the floor with the bloodied rolling pin nearby.
Katie visits Margo for lunch. As Katie looks at a menu, Margo notices her naked ring finger. Katie announces her love for Mike and Margo is excited. Katie says, "Simon is my past, and Mike is my future."
Paul arrives at Hal's place looking for Will, but finds Emily clinging to life. Paul calls for an ambulance. He gently slaps at Emily's face to try to keep her conscious. He asks if Barbara injured her. Emily gasps, "I know....I know where they are..." When Hal arrives with Jen, Paul tells him EMS has been called. Jen goes upstairs to look for Will, and Paul slips away again as Hal strokes his wife's hair. Later the EMS team takes Emily away on a stretcher. Hal tells Jen to look for clues where Barbara might have taken Will, and then he follows the ambulance to the hospital.
Will and Barbara are in her car driving to a secret location. Will is concerned about Emily and what's going on. Barbara says, "What's going on is that we're leaving Oakdale, right now, for ever." Later, Babs and Will arrive at a helipad. She says a pilot will soon pick them up and take them to Canada. Then they will get on a flight to South America. He wants to know why he didn't go to school today. She says she admitted to Rose's murder in court and she didn't want him to hear the news from a classmate or on television. Will realizes she should be in custody right now, and asks her if she escaped. She asks him to leave the country with her, but he wants to know if there is another way. Babs says if they stay, she will go to prison and she will never see Will again. "Do you love me enough to go?" He reluctantly nods his head. She hugs him tight and says, "As long as we have each other, we'll be alright." Babs sends her son to the banks of the river to waves his arms at the incoming chopper. After he's gone, Paul announces his presence. Barbara is caught of guard. Paul says, "You surprised me. For once in your life you finally told the truth." She pulls at his heartstrings and tells him if he loves Will, he'll leave and never turn back. He questions her erratic behavior over the past few weeks. Barbara admits to all those things and more, "I'm irrational. I'm unbalanced. I'm a liar. I'm a murderer. And I'm a mother who loves her children and will protect them...leave it at that."
Barbara and Paul have a conversation the audience isn't privy to, and all of a sudden Barbara is as grounded as she has ever been in more than a year. She and Paul both know what needs to be done. She says, "If you really understand, you need to leave here and not tell anyone the truth." Paul wants to take Will and sort out the details with Hal. Barbara doesn't consider that an option and presses him to let them go. "Do you destroy your family, or do you allow us to survive?" Will returns and Paul looks at him with a knowing stare. "Mom didn't kill Rose, did she? Because it was you." Will's lower lip quivers, and Barbara's shriveled heart breaks.
At Katie's place, a hand timidly opens the door to Katie's bedroom. Simon enters her room, sighs, and leans down on her desk.
