Making a killing
JANUARY
Hope hunts down Dr Malcolm (Adam Leadbeater), the evil doctor whose torture gave Bo the brain tumour that killed him, and she tries to choke a confession out of him until Rafe intervenes. Ben knocks out Chad during a brutal life- or- death struggle at the cabin and ties him to the bed with Abby after she begs him not to make Chad another Necktie Killer victim. Ben gets out the lighter fluid and pours it all over the bed, Chad and Abby, then he holds the baby in his arms as he sets the bed alight. Caroline has a vision about Victor suffering a heart-attack, Ciara visits her father’s grave, and Belle asks why Sami is willing to endanger her life by stashing the DiMera fortune in Belle’s bank account.
FEBRUARY
Hope tortures Dr Malcolm, and Ciara is kidnapped. Ben takes the baby and flees, leaving Abby and Chad to burn to death. Chad dumps Abby after Andre brainwashes him to fall in love with Belle, but Abby breaks the spell when she tells Chad that he (not Ben) is baby Thomas’s biological father. Victor and Kate’s son Philip Kiriakis (John-Paul Lavoisier) returns to Salem and dates Belle after Shawn (Brandon Beemer) sends her divorce papers. Patch-obsessed Ava Vitalli (Tamara Braun) fakes being at death’s door, and Kayla accepts Patch’s marriage proposal, but Ava has a baby secret. Eduardo admits to John that he has been hired to kill him, exposing their shared past, and Eric kills Daniel in a drunk driving incident.
MARCH
Maggie has to decide who gets Daniel’s heart in a transplant operation – Eric or Brady. Nicole grieves and Eric is arrested, and Chad asks Abby to marry him. Rafe covers up the truth that Hope has killed Stefano in a blind rage, Hope admits to Roman that she murdered Dr Malcolm, and Andre vows revenge on Hope and Rafe. Ava gives Patch a photo of their son, Kayla catches Ava in a hotel room with Joey, and Ava kidnaps Kayla after knocking her unconscious to force Patch to find their child. Chase runs away after Ciara catches him bullying Theo. Victor’s little brother Deimos ( Vincent Irizarry) blackmails Phillip to help him destroy Victor, and Belle and Phillip have sex just before Shawn returns to Salem to discuss their divorce. John meets his birth mother Maude Robicheaux (Eve Brenner) but she double- crosses him, and Patch tries to seduce Ava in order to save Kayla.