Killer mystery
Who would beat up Rafe and leave him for dead in an alley?
Rafe isn’t going to see his attacker coming. Weekdays SABC3 (*193) 17:00
Salem is a dangerous town for a cop – with two big crime families at work and loads of shady deals going on, you can make a new enemy every day. So when cop Rafe Hernandez (Galen Gering) is attacked, beaten and dumped in an alleyway by some random henchman on Thursday 16 June, Detective Hope (Kristian Alfonso) already has suspects of who he’s working for. On Monday 20 June, Dr Cameron (Schuyler Yancey) reveals that the attack was meant to be fatal! “Whoever did this wasn’t trying to land Rafe in the hospital. They were trying to send him to the morgue,” he says. So we’ve helped Hope narrow down her list of Salem’s deadliest men…
STEFANO DIMERA
Motive: with her exhubby Stefano (Joseph Mascolo) back in Salem, Kate (Lauren Koslow) is so afraid for her lover Rafe’s life that she’s left with no choice but to break up with him on Thursday 9 June. Innocent after all? On Monday 20 June, when Kate reveals the affair while flinging accusations at Stefano, Stefano’s son EJ (James Scott) tells his fiancée Sami (Alison Sweeney) that Stefano obviously had no idea. “I was watching Stefano. Now, I know him better than just about anybody and he’s not very often caught off- guard. But he was by that,” EJ insists.
EJ DIMERA
Motive: EJ is intensely jealous of the connection his son Johnny (Aaron and Griffin Kunitz) has with Sami’s ex-husband Rafe. On Thursday 16 June, EJ overhears Johnny tell Sami that he liked it better while they were living with Rafe. And EJ’s not a happy camper when Rafe calls him moments later to arrange a meeting so that he can give EJ a special kid version of an FBI agent’s jacket that he got for Johnny. Moments after speaking to Rafe, EJ makes a mysterious phonecall and tells someone, “I have a job for you…” Innocent after all? EJ insists that he had nothing to do with the attack but he wouldn’t have to be there personally to get rid of his rival, would he?
NICK FALLON
Motive: on Thursday 9 June, Rafe questions his brother-in-law Nick (Blake Berris) about why Nick doesn’t want biological dad Will (Chandler Massey) near Nick’s wife Gabi’s (Camila Banus) baby. And after speaking to Will, a furious Rafe warns Nick on Thursday 16 June that he’s going to tell Gabi the truth about Nick’s homophobia. Will and his boyfriend Sonny (Freddie Smith) immediately suspect that Nick is behind the attack. Nick has killed before – he murdered his crush Melanie’s (Molly Burnett) abusive adoptive father Trent Robbins (Roscoe Born) in 2008. And he has the prison contacts to help him kill again. Innocent after all? On Monday 20 June, Nick produces a parking receipt that supports his story that he was nowhere near the alleyway at the time of Rafe’s attack. But like EJ and Stefano, he wouldn’t have to be there in person…
SECRET SUSPECT #4
There are at least two more ex-prisoners loose on the streets of Salem at the moment. Nick’s ex- cellmate Vargas (Sean Douglas) is definitely up to no good and on Friday 24 June, Hope asks an officer to find out whether the mysterious shoe print in the alley that she finds on Monday 20 June could match the prison shoes issued to “Jensen” (Derek Magyar), a murderer who’s just been released on a technicality. The attacker’s identity and motive will be revealed soon.